Monster – it is a word, a label, mere characters on a page. Yet it burns, it burns and it burns until his blood is at a boil. Crimson eyes narrow into slits as a scowl marrs his face with its darkness – a word, yet not a word he is prepared to hear from Kougyoku. Just what has he done to earn her scorn? Not a single moment comes to mind – he's been minding himself, steering away from the title 'old hag' as of late, and he's been somewhat behaved.
…Is it, perhaps, his intentions to go to war against the Empire, to fight Kouen alongside Hakuryuu? Is the princess's reason jealously, maybe – jealous that he chose Hakuryuu to be King over her? No, that doesn't seem like Kougyoku he tells himself.
"A monster am I, Old Hag?"
His is reply is short, his tone harsh, and overall he is not impressed. No, he had expected better of her, his Candidate. It is through him that she has power, respect, and dignity. It is because of his magic that she is a soldier, capable of turning an entire battlefield upside-down. Monster…
He scoffs, rolls his eyes, and pushes it off – or tries. But it hurts, he knows this, because deep down he knows she's right. He is a monster. He strives for war, kills anyone in his path, while all the he laughs in the faces of the innocent. The pain of others brings him joy – oh, twisted and cruel magi, surely that is the definition of monster?
It is with a click of the tongue that he turns heel, leaving the princess with less than a word. He has no time for this – such a meeting should've have been deemed pointless. He has a war that he must prepare for. A wonderfully terrible war.