American: Native Empire

The day was slowly fading away.

The second prince of the Wakan Tanka Empire, Clear Raindrop, was not very fond of this darkness.

It was because he had to go and see the great spirit and the emperor of the empire, Father, soon.

Knock knock.

“Your Highness, the emperor has entered the palace.”

“Okay. I’ll get ready.”

As expected, that time had come again today.

“Sigh…”

Clear Raindrop let out a deep sigh.

If possible, he did not want to have a meeting with Father.

In fact, his older brother had refused to have a meeting with Father for the whole week.

It was because he was deeply immersed in stargazing at the observatory every night.

But Clear Raindrop did not have any plausible excuse, nor did he have the will to express his opinion boldly to Father like his brother.

‘Let’s stop thinking and go.’

Clear Raindrop shook his head vigorously and started to prepare for the meeting with Father.

There was a reason why Clear Raindrop was like this.

He was the second prince of the empire who inherited the blood of the great spirit.

Therefore, he had naturally received great expectations from a very young age.

The people of the empire thought that since he inherited the blood of the spirit, he would have inherited Kim Kiwoo’s outstanding abilities as well.

Clear Raindrop also thought so when he was young.

He felt proud when he understood that he inherited the blood of the great spirit, and he thought he could become great like Father.

But reality was different.

Clear Raindrop’s head was not very brilliant.

He learned to read and write later than other children.

He did not have the wisdom to see through everything like Father.

He needed a lot of time to understand one thing when someone taught him.

Eventually, a doubt arose in Clear Raindrop’s mind.

‘Am I really a descendant of the spirit?’

This thought did not leave his head.

After that, Clear Raindrop’s paranoia began.

He felt as if everyone around him was greatly disappointed by his dull head.

There were actually some maids or teachers who had such thoughts, but Clear Raindrop felt it more strongly.

He was very afraid that Father would be disappointed in him too.

That’s when his meeting with Father became a burden.

He did not want to show his incompetent self to Father.

“Brother!”

When Clear Raindrop arrived at his destination with his reluctant steps, Yellow Flame had already arrived there.

Yellow Flame was Clear Raindrop’s younger brother who was two years younger than him.

“Did you wait long?”

“I just got here too.”

“I see. What about brother?”

“Haha. He went to the observatory as usual.”

Clear Raindrop chuckled at that remark.

‘Brother is really amazing.’

Of course, it must have been because Father allowed him to go to the observatory instead of having a meeting with him, but that was only for a day or two.

It had already been a week since he went to the observatory every night.

Clear Raindrop shook his head slightly.

“Then we only need to go in.”

“Yes.”

Clear Raindrop knocked on the door carefully.

Knock knock.

“Father. May we come in?”

“Yes. Come in.”

“Yes.”

Creak!

As soon as he got permission, Clear Raindrop opened the door.

And then, the familiar scenery of the room entered his eyes.

“Haha. The crown prince went to the observatory again, huh?”

“Yes.”

“That guy.”

Kim Kiwoo quickly grasped the situation as soon as only the second and third princes entered the room.

“Alright. Sit down there.”

“I understand.”

As soon as they finished speaking, the princes sat down in their familiar seats.

‘They have grown up a lot.’

Kim Ki-woo looked at his second and third sons with a new appreciation.

He currently had five children.

The crown prince, who was now twelve years old, the second prince, who was ten, the third prince, who was eight.

And the fourth prince, who was four years old, and the fifth princess, who had just turned one.

He had one child after another, and before he knew it, they had grown this much.

‘I used to worry that I wouldn’t have a daughter.’

He didn’t have this worry until the crown prince and the second prince were born.

No, he was rather happy.

It was better to have two sons who could become the emperor of the Wakan Tanka Empire than one.

But when his third and fourth children were also boys, he started to feel anxious.

He wanted to have a beautiful daughter.

Did his earnest wish come true?

A daughter was born last year.

Thanks to that, Kim Ki-woo was able to ease his worries.

“So. What did you do today?”

“Yes, father. I…”

The conversation between father and son continued.

“Ha ha. Is that so?”

Kim Ki-woo listened to his children’s lives and smiled constantly.

He spent some time with his sons like this, and then sent them back.

The time with his sons was a great source of energy for Kim Ki-woo.

But there was one thing that bothered him in his heart.

‘They are becoming more and more uncomfortable with me as time goes by.’

Especially the second prince.

He tried not to show it, but he was clearly depressed.

The report from the palace staff was the same.

He was worried a lot lately because of his academic achievements.

‘Is it inevitable?’

No matter how busy he was with work, he tried to spend some time with his children like this.

But apart from that, his children grew up and became more uneasy with him.

Moreover, he knew how big the expectations from others were for them.

But there was nothing he could do about it.

He couldn’t tell the people around the princes not to have expectations for them.

‘They are also human beings.’

Only he was special.

Kim Ki-woo’s children were ordinary people who had the same lifespan as others and learned knowledge like everyone else.

But he had no choice.

As long as they were born as Kim Ki-woo’s children, they had to deal with it.

Parents couldn’t live their children’s lives for them.

That’s why he felt more sorry for the second prince who was frozen stiff.

‘I hope he doesn’t get eaten up by this pressure.’

Kim Ki-woo wished earnestly.

Of course, the crown prince was an exception.

‘He is a real freak.’

Kim Ki-woo laughed naturally as he imagined the crown prince looking at the stars with a telescope even now.

‘He should feel more pressure than anyone else.’

The expectations for the crown prince were different from those of other princes.

He was the closest person to the throne, so it was natural.

But the crown prince didn’t care about those expectations.

He was optimistic by nature and proud of being born as Kim Ki-woo’s son. 

He didn’t feel any burden at all.

Of course, he would ignore everything else when he got into one field and focus all his attention on his interest area.

Thinking about the crown prince made him want to see his face.

‘Sigh. I have to go see him if I miss him.’

Come to think of it, it had been a long time since he visited the observatory.

It wouldn’t be bad to visit the observatory for both seeing the crown prince and checking on things there.

***

Kim Ki-woo realized his thought right away.

He left the palace at midnight and went to the observatory.

“Father!”

Thud thud thud thud.

Thump!

The crown prince, Wide Sky, ran out as soon as he heard that Kim Ki-woo had arrived.

And he hugged Kim Ki-woo’s chest.

“Ha ha! You little rascal, didn’t you miss your father?”

“He he.”

He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

“Oh, Your Majesty!”

As expected.

Many astronomers who were in the observatory followed the crown prince and came out.

But Kim Ki-woo raised his hand to stop them.

“Ah, ah. Go back to your work. I just came to see the crown prince.”

“Your Majesty…”

“Hey. I told you to go back.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Kim Ki-woo said firmly.

He didn’t want to be disturbed by his time with the crown prince.

When the astronomers retreated, Kim Ki-woo looked at the crown prince and smiled brightly.

“So. Did you enjoy looking at the sky with the telescope?”

“Of course! The telescope is amazing. It makes things that are far away look so big! Like they came right in front of me!”

The crown prince drew a large circle with his arm and exclaimed.

“Ha ha. That’s amazing.”

“Right?”

Wide Sky’s face was filled with a clear smile.

“But you should stop bothering the astronomers now.”

“Hmm… No, they said they were happy that I came.”

Kim Ki-woo chuckled.

Who could tell the crown prince not to come?

They must have told him to come anytime.

He seemed to have not shown any sign of displeasure.

Kim Ki-woo teased him well.

“There are only two telescopes in the observatory right now, right?”

“Yes! You know everything, father!”

The crown prince sparkled his eyes with admiration.

Of course he knew.

The person who brought the lenses for the telescopes in the observatory was none other than Kim Ki-woo himself.

‘If the glass processing technology improves, we can make low-magnification telescopes, but…’

It was still a distant story.

Kim Ki-woo continued his words.

“But if you monopolize one of them, the other scholars won’t be able to observe the sky, right?”

“That’s true…”

The crown prince smiled sheepishly.

He understood what Kim Ki-woo meant.

“I got it. I won’t come to the observatory from tomorrow.”

“You made a good decision. There are many other amazing things in this world besides the sky. Let’s try to find them.”

Even if Kim Ki-woo didn’t say this, the crown prince’s interest would have shifted to somewhere else soon.

It had always been like that.

For example, until a week ago, the crown prince’s interest was all about steel.

‘That was nice.’

Every time Kim Ki-woo finished his work and came back, he ran to him and asked countless questions about steel.

The person who made steel was none other than Kim Ki-woo himself.

Especially recently, as the steel industry developed and things like springs and gears were made, the crown prince’s curiosity exploded.

‘The steel industry is developing well even without my attention.’

He just occasionally gave them some conceptual ideas, and they made things like springs and gears on their own.

This was different from chemistry.

“But I want to see the sky for today! Father, you look with me too. Okay?”

“Ha ha. Let’s do that.”

“Yay! Then let’s go in quickly!”

Kim Ki-woo nodded gently at his son’s urging and entered the observatory.

“You’re here.”

“Yes. You’ve been working hard.”

“Not at all. Don’t you have a lot of things to do, Your Majesty?”

The head of the observatory, Far-sighted Eyes, had no trace of resentment on his face.

“Did the crown prince bother you a lot these days?”

“Not at all. It’s a pleasure for an astronomer to see the crown prince interested in the universe.”

“Ha ha. Is that so?”

The crown prince said with a smug smile, raising his hand to his waist.

He looked very cute.

Kim Ki-woo handed him the telescope and told him to look at the sky.

As soon as he did, the vast sky seemed to welcome the telescope and ran away.

“You are very energetic.”

“You are such a rascal. You always bother the people around you.”

Kim Ki-woo chatted with him about various things, looking at his distant eyes. 

Then, he changed the topic.

< The Crown Prince. > The end