Being responsible

Ragnar was startled by the question, as that was not what he was expecting. "Your majesty… I… marriage, I…"

"Alright, alright, forget about it. Let's focus on other things. I admire your strength of character, child, but that's all you really have at the moment. Don't let your successful tribulation get to your head. You're too weak to be talking about the good or bad of the human race. These are things you're not yet qualified to even think about, so let's focus on something else. Tell me, why do you think you're being sent to your death?"

A hint of shame flashed through Ragnar's mind. It had been a very long time since he felt like a child being admonished by an adult, but before the emperor, that is what he truly was. Like the emperor said, there were too many things he was unqualified to know. But what he did know was that, despite the miniscule size of the empire compared to the origin realm, it was not just the humans of the empire who were being supported by the emperor.