Father, It Is Time for Me to Kill You!

I could not bear to see people suffer.

It was somewhat embarrassing to say, but I had never cared much about how ordinary people lived. My status as the Sun God Bird and a prince had made my life exceedingly dull, yet the lives of ordinary people seemed even more tedious just to think about. I rarely gave them a proper glance—not out of contempt, but because I simply did not care.

Until one day, bored out of my wits, I left the Imperial Capital and came to a small town on the surrounding plains. Like a child watching ants, I wanted to see how ordinary people lived.

After all, these ordinary people were the subjects Grandfather spoke of, the ones he cared about most. They were also the ignorant masses Father spoke of, forever disappointing and worrying him.

So I wanted to see with my own eyes and experience for myself why these people, smaller than ants when I flew in the sky or stood upon a mountain summit, could haunt their thoughts so utterly.

I saw many things that made me uncomfortable.

I saw a husband and wife. The man worked on a farm, clearing manure, gathering eggs, cleaning the grounds. His work was unbearably hard. The woman washed clothes for others from dawn till dusk, her hands soaked pale and swollen, earning nothing but bitter money through endless toil.

I listened to their words and learned that their child was studying in the Imperial Capital. The tuition was expensive, and the shortfall was still enormous. Their child was sensible, studying diligently and working part-time in the Imperial Capital, but there was never enough money. They planned to find work at a candle workshop, twisting candlewicks to earn a little more for their child's living expenses, even though