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The long-awaited movie never started in the end, though not for the reason one would expect…

“Your Highness, His Majesty has decreed that no one is to enter the room,” came the strident voice of the scarred bodyguard.

Oh? So that’s where his bodyguard has been hiding.

“Stand aside!”

Sersan’s voice was agitated, coupled with his swift but chaotic footsteps, he was clearly in distress.

A short while later, Sersan came barging in through the room’s door, chest heaving as he yelled, “Lady Mo Na, are you all right–”

The words got stuck in his throat at that point. He was half-expecting to mount a daring rescue, but unfortunately for him, he was instead treated to the sight of me sitting down with his father for a cup of coffee. And Misseger, of course. His eyes went wide with shock, clearly not expecting this scene at all.

Honestly, I had a rough idea of what he had in mind. In all likelihood, he was expecting his father to use force on me, which he might have had I not changed the topic entirely.

“Your Majesty…” Because the bodyguard was afraid of harming the prince in an altercation, he did not dare use too much force, allowing the prince to slip through in the end. He fell to one knee under the withering gaze of Andassis the Seventh, “Your subject has failed.”

“It’s just Sersan so I’ll look past it. Baku, return to your post outside, and don’t let another through this time.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Baku rose to his feet and left, but not before throwing an unhappy glare towards the prince. However, the prince was still too surprised to notice that bit of hostility.

“My dear son, could you perhaps enlighten your father as to why you’re in such a hurry that you’ve completely forgotten your decorum?’

“… My apologies, Father, I was too hasty in my judgement.” Now that he had time to grasp the situation, his agitation quickly subsided as he fell to one knee and apologised.

“Oh?” Andassiss the Seventh raised an eyebrow. “So what was it then?”

Merciless and straight to the heart. Everyone knew why the prince was in such a hurry, but was that truly something that could be voiced out loud?

“…” Beads of sweat started to drip down the prince’s forehead. He clearly could not say that he suspected his father of nearly committing adultery. Even the messiah couldn’t save him at that point. And I still needed those two to not be at loggerheads with each other, not while I had an impending doom to avert; the last thing I wanted was for this kingdom to be embroiled in some petty family dispute.

“Ahem.”

I lightly coughed as a prelude to a timely rescue. However, that never came to pass as Andassis the Seventh suddenly picked his son up in a hug and gently set him down.

“Well, since you’re here, that saves me the trouble of seeking you out.” The king flashed an unexpectedly loving smile at his son, “Lady Mo Na was just saying how she was about to show a “movie”. Your arrival was most timely.”

That’s it? I thought you would at least give the boy a thump on his head. Not physically, of course. Just an expression. Bah… all that matters is that they hand me their treasury.

“Movie?”

Because the prince had only joined us midway, he wasn’t privy to the conversation about me being an otherworldly person, or about the movie theater.

“Movies are a speciality of Lady Mo Na’s hometown, I do not know the details myself, so let’s leave the stage to her.”

As he said that, I could faintly detect a hint of triumph in his voice, as if he had somehow taken the lead against his son. Was that why he was being so magnanimous all of a sudden?

“…”

Sersan seemed to have picked up on that fact as well, but too bad for him, I wasn’t one for repeating myself, and the movie was about to start.

“In that case, prepare to be amazed, Your Majesty, for the showing of the very first movie in this realm. I’m sure after watching this, there will be no doubt as to my identity.” Having said that, I had my electronic implant project a theatre-like screen. “Lingling, fetch me a movie about exosuits and mobile armors, have the language adjusted as well.”

A second later, the starting credits rolled on screen with resounding fanfare, startling Sersan, Misseger and the king.

“Where is this noise coming from?” Misseger looked around in confusion, unable to determine the source of the sound that was coming at her from all directions.

“This painting… It’s so real! I feel like I could almost touch it with my hands…” Unlike Misseger, Sersan was more enraptured by the CG before him.

“What heavenly craftsmanship is this?!” Andassis the Seventh gripped on the handles of his chair with shaking hands.

The actual movie hadn’t even started yet and these three bumpkins had already been awed out of their seats.

This movie was about how the Gaians discovered another mineral-rich planet during their space exploration. However, that planet was filled with all sorts of powerful Primal beasts.

In order to harvest these rare resources, the Federation constructed a mining settlement on the planet, along with several outposts.

Naturally, the native Primal beasts did not welcome these metallic invaders. Thus began a bloody, drawn-out battle between man and beast.

What began as small skirmishes finally escalated into a full-blown war where, after countless experiments and trials, mankind deployed an experimental mobile armor to defeat the strongest beast on that planet, securing the planet.

Honestly, this was about as mainstream as a film could get. The 3D effects were great, but everything else was just passable.

Yet to the minds of these technologically backward people, such a movie was no less shocking than forbidden magicks.

In just the short span of thirty minutes, countless explosions, shouts of “kill them”, and etc. filled the room. There were times when even Sersan jumped to his feet in excitement, as if he was the one riding the mobile armor to war against the beasts.

Shameless Self-promotion

I hate this novel.

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