40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 40 40. A Dinner Party ([-])

Gold-carved arabesques shone on the marble columns, and the ground was spotless and glistened like glass.From any angle, this room is exquisitely like a palace.

No, maybe it is.

Khalil stared expressionlessly at a mirror in front of him. The person in the mirror had a handsome face, but the excessive paleness and gloom ruined everything.

If you saw him with your own eyes, you wouldn't think he was handsome, you would only think he was eerie and terrifying.

Illuminated by the soft light around him, he looks like a ghost.And his expressionless face brings a subtle boredom. If you look closely, you can find the disgust hidden in the details.

+You don't seem to like the room I arranged. +
A voice sounded, it did not appear in the air, but appeared in Khalil's heart.

Psionic.

What a power of convenience.

+ Don't tell me you like it. +
+ I have to design everything in this style.This ship in a sense represents the symbolic status of the Emperor.It could just be a boat, but, in most cases, it's not. +
+ Another political consideration? +
+ If I'm going to be Emperor, I must be. +
+Is talking to me psychically included on your 'must do' list? +
+ Yes. +
+ When does the dinner start? +
+ Four 10 minutes later.Get ready soon, one of my sons will probably ask you lots of questions at the dinner party. +
+ I can not answer. +
+I also wish you could not answer, or even attend this dinner, but you and I both know that's not possible. +
Caryl Rohars closed his eyes and sighed deeply.The voice in the ear is far away, it fades and disappears little by little, but the echo still exists.

It was his first psionic conversation, and it felt strange, but Khalil didn't like it.

He didn't ask Ghost if he would attend the dinner, he already knew the answer.

And since the Ghost was in—no, since Conrad Coates was in, he had to be.

Nothing else, just for political reasons.

Khalil understood many things when he saw the religious decorations on the ship and people's worship of the 'Emperor' along the way.

However, just understand it.

"Dinner," he said to himself, still looking in the mirror. "I'm going to a dinner party."

Having said that, he smiled.Not for anything else, but because he suddenly realized the identity of Khalil Rohars.

A son of a nobleman, is there any problem attending a banquet?At most, it's just that the nature of this banquet is somewhat special.

An emperor who is reclaiming human lost ground in the galaxy, and his demigod son to the banquet
Presumably the dishes will be very rich.

Maybe someone will even record what they all said, what they ate, and draw the scene
Just, can I still eat normal food?

With a sigh, he stood up.There was a special dressing area in the spacious room, and no one explained it to him, it seemed that the 'Emperor' had told him that he didn't need an introduction of common sense.

He really doesn't need to.

He didn't even want this room.

Khalil walked into the changing area with a blank expression. It was a long corridor with a dark carpet on the floor.

The ceiling is a mirror, and a huge mirror is placed at the end.On the right hand side, there is a small door with dark wood grain, which was opened.

Inside is a resplendent shower room, which provides a large bathtub for soaking in the bath, but the shower head is hidden above the ceiling.

There is a strange smell of incense spreading from inside, and they come from some white boxes placed on the wall, which reflect the light like white jade.A total of thirty towels were hung on the hanging table made of gold, waiting softly.

Both sides of the corridor are filled with men's clothes of different sizes, ranging from dark robes embroidered with gold thread to tight tops with lace sleeves, and there are dozens of styles of boots.

Staying at the door, Khalil didn’t walk in right away.He looked at the place and took another deep breath.After that, he walked into it expressionlessly.

The sound of bathing sounded quickly and ended quickly.
-
"Believe me, Conrad, it's going to be a great dinner."

"How rich is it?" Conrad Koz asked in confusion.

Fulgrim couldn't help smiling, and he spread his hands in an exaggerated gesture - something very unusual.

"Very rich."

he said softly. "There are more than 100 dishes that I have eaten. Today is the day of your return. Father should let those respectable chefs prepare more. Tonight, you can enjoy it."

"enjoy?"

"Yeah. Look at how skinny you are."

Leaning against the door of the fitting room, Fulgrim sighed unavoidably: "My brother, this is already the smallest size I can find, but it still looks roomy on you."

"Isn't it good to be lenient?" Curz asked.

He stood in front of a dressing mirror with a carved double-headed eagle, wearing a loose black robe, with a pendant presented by Fulgrim hanging on his chest.The black hair was combed back, and a special fragrance was spreading in his nostrils.

He didn't like the taste very much.

"Clothes that are too baggy will appear frivolous, lifeless—and, above all, out of decorum, Conrad. Didn't he teach you?"

"."

"Conrad?"

".Is etiquette required for eating?"

"Of course." Fulgrim nodded. "If you indulge yourself and eat and drink too much, you may lose more things while losing your manners."

But I'd rather wear loose clothes than squat in a corner and eat nutrition cream.

Staring at the mirror, Ghost thought so.

Loose clothing can hide more weapons, and Khalil likes to wear clothes with wide and long sleeves, so that others can't see his knife.

Concealment of weapons is necessary.The ghost spoke to himself in Khalil's voice.

He didn't like the man in the mirror, not at all.

The person in the mirror is like a god under the decoration of clothes, and the dark agate-like eyes make this sense of alienation from the past even stronger.

It's not that the ghost has never seen his own appearance. When climbing buildings and steeples in the cold wind, he occasionally sees his own reflection on the glass.Sometimes I can see my own face in the cloudy mirror formed by the acid rain.

That face was the first time he knew what he looked like.And now this one.
He didn't like the change, and he didn't like it here either.

Ghost never thought that he would miss that dark corner.

"Conrad? Are you all right?"

Fulgrim's voice came from far away down the corridor, with obvious concern, not fake, but genuine.This kind of emotion without reason, purely from the blood, made Ghost unable to parry.

He memorized each of their names.

Rogal Dorn, Fulgrim, Ferrus Manus, Lorgar Aurelion.

And they called him Conrad Coates.

I'd rather be called Midnight Ghost.he thinks.The man you call Father hasn't even spoken a word to me.

"...I'm fine." The ghost replied with a voice that belonged to Conrad Curtz. "Will Khalil be at the dinner party?"

"Of course he's going! God, man, don't you think we'd be rude enough not to let him in? He's—"

Fulgrim stopped talking and shook his head with a somewhat apologetic expression.

"Sorry, Conrad," he said softly.

".Why do you have to apologize?"

"what?"

"Why are you apologizing, Fulgan?"

Conrad Koz repeated, turning around, lips pursed tightly: "You guys have been nice enough to me, why do you apologize? Other people who meet for the first time just use swearing and bullets instead of greeting , why are you apologizing?"

"I--"

Fulgrim froze.

"—don't apologize, I know the reason, but please don't apologize."

Conrad Coates said calmly. "Khalil won't mind if you don't let him participate, and neither will I. But I won't participate either."

"Of course we'll have him -- no, no, of course we'll have him!"

For the first time since they decided to pursue the brilliance that their father sowed, the Chemosians were so flustered.

He didn't understand why his brother would say things like not going to dinner when everything was normal, although he quickly realized that the problem was his own words, but...
"What is said unintentionally is often a true thought."

Conrad Coates said. "Mr. Fulgrim, I actually know that you despise him."

"I didn't say that, Emperor, Conrad!"

"Details reveal the truth."

Conrad Koz replied calmly. "Khalil Rohars is a mere mortal to you. I know that."

"So, even if he raised me, it's just his luck. Even if he protected me in Nostramo, it's just a coincidence. I appreciate your love, but I don't think I deserve such a heavy thing."

"Brother!" The Chemos stood there with a pale face. "Please, don't do this."

"I must, as Khalil said, if there is any dissatisfaction, it should be raised as soon as possible, instead of letting it take root in each other's hearts and become a bloody barb. So, don't apologize, Mr. Fulgrim."

He was silent for a moment.

"I know you see me as a brother, but have you ever wondered if I would like to be your brother? The man you see as your father—he hasn't spoken a word to me."

"And Khalil"

His language was broken, he seemed a little illogical, he finally looked like a one and a half year old child.

"You look down on him."

Ghost pursed his lips, his eyes widened, his voice trembling.

"You apologize only because you accidentally said what you really thought, because you didn't want to hurt my feelings. You apologize, Mr. Fulgrim, not because you are truly sorry for your words."

Fulgrim finally had nothing to say.

His lips trembled, his noble appearance was a little weak because of his pale face, his eyes were full of sadness and shame—the sadness came from seeing the truth that Conrad Koz tremblingly said, shame, It also comes from the truth he said.

silence.

Unrivaled silence.

"But I'll be at the party," said the ghost. "I don't want to break your hearts."

　Update a chapter in advance, and release Chapter 2 later
　　
　
(End of this chapter)