[ Well. He wasn't expecting...this...when he maneuvered Miles into taking the emperorship. He'd imagined that the boy would simply scamper off to bask in the mixture of fear and egoism that the phrase Your Imperial Majesty always engenders. And he's in quite a bind, because - well - yes, he'd wanted Miles to be Emperor to serve as something of a puppet, and someone with an actual legitimate claim, and so on and so forth - but he can't disobey him. And the little erstwhile Lord Auditor is proving to be...persistent. Which he should have thought of, really, considering that they don't name someone Auditor if they're pliable...

Well, shit.

By forces a friendlier smile, and says: ]

Dear cousin, you know quite well what you're dealing with. How old were we when we first met? We've known each other practically all our lives, if perhaps we haven't known each other well.