human
Vincent:  “If you have an objection, voice it to me personally.” The standoff was ended by the very person who had inspired it: the emperor himself.
gpt
Goz:  Goz snapped his head back down respectfully. “Your Majesty!” he exclaimed. “If this plan was indeed of your own design, then it has my full support! I, Goz Ralphone, shall stake my very life on—”
human
Vincent:  “That’s enough of your twittering. Shut your mouth.”
gpt
Vincent:  Ordered silent for the third time that day, Goz ceased speaking, but an audible grinding of teeth could be heard.
human
Chisha:  Once Vincent was satisfied, Chisha addressed him. “Your Majesty, allow me to tender my profound appreciation. However, I myself was most terrified, may I say. I never considered that the loss of your arm might be part of the act. Had I but known…”
gpt
Vincent:  “You would have reconsidered trading places with me as my body double?”
human
Chisha:  “…Most likely. Not to say I’m in any hurry to get my own arm blown off.” Chisha replied diffidently, putting a hand to his chin.
gpt
Vincent:  Vincent made a sound in his throat. By the time the generals realized it was the emperor’s laughter, he had already continued to speak. “As I said, it was a necessary price. Without it, peace with the kingdom could not have been bought. In any event, there seems every chance that feral beast-boy would have noticed the difference between you and I.”
human
Chisha:  “And for that reason, Your Majesty, you gambled with your life?”
gpt
Vincent:  “Hence, why I told the man not to aim for the heart or the head. It seems that was enough.”
human
Chisha:  “As you say, Your Majesty.” Chisha put a hand to his own chest, bowing his head deeply. With that, the exchange between the emperor and his body double was concluded.
gpt
Groovy:  “Hey, Your Majesty, I gotta ask… If ya didn’t even tell Chisha here, does that mean you’re the only one who knew everything that was goin’ on? Mogro and I didn’t hear shit about what was gonna happen…”
human
Vincent:  “You and Mogro knew twenty percent. The contemptible Chisha, fifty. The silent Goz there, ten percent. And as for that blustering, undisciplined, disrespectful thing, zero.”
gpt
Mogro:  “Cecils, commotion. Even now.” An uncharacteristic word of sympathy came from Mogro. The strongest man in the empire had not even been summoned to this audience. The Blue Lightning of Volakia had been entirely ignorant of anything that was going on. Though, it was not because the emperor didn’t trust him.
human
Vincent:  “That thing has his own way of life. Faced with the right enemy, he will give his all and then some. I seek nothing more than that of him.”
gpt
Groovy:  “Hey, hey, if the whole point was for him to win, then—”
human
Vincent:  “He lost once. It will not happen again. Under any other circumstances, I would not even furnish him with a second chance to be defeated.” Vincent, his chin still in his hands, pulled his lips back. The predatory grin told Groovy and Mogro everything.