Chapter 19
After that day, a strange thing happened in the Grand Duchy.
The beautiful tree that extended its branches up to the second floor where Ariel stays, suddenly bloomed overnight.
After all, it was the result of Ariel’s secret training.
And just like the busy Ariel, the Grand Duke and Ahin were also occupied.
“Why are you obstructing Ariel’s registration to this extent? Are you aiming for Ariel?”
The Grand Duke was greatly angered by what happened at the temple, and everytime he would question the Emperor, he would only answer like this.
“Since you already know, then there’s no need for me to hide it? I’ll be honest then. I want to adopt Ariel as my daughter. I intend to discuss this when the Empress returns.”
It was truly a fantastic remark.
But of course, the Grand Duke objected.
“Does that make sense? You already know that Ariel will be my daughter, but what about adopting her as yours?”
“That’s it. You heard it right, so yeah, that’s it.”
The Emperor said in a carefree and stubborn manner, which made the Grand Duke angrier.
“What shamelessness is this, Your Majesty? What kind of older brother would covet his younger brother’s daughter?”
“She’s not even your real daughter. Oh my Ariel, don’t you think she would prefer to be an Imperial Princess rather than being a Grand Princess? So how about handing Ariel to me?”
At the shameless Emperor’s question, the Grand Duke shook his head resolutely.
“I will refuse. Ariel is already my daughter.”
However, the Emperor did not give up and continuously sent gifts to the Grand Duchy.
It was a ploy to earn Ariel’s favor.
The Grand Duke and Ahin had to be all over their heads just to defend their place.
Avoiding other people’s eyes, they’re both catching and kicking the Imperial Knights who tried to approach Ariel, and burned all the gifts sent by the Emperor.
This matter reached the Emperor’s ears, and the enraged Emperor, once again, summoned the Grand Duke by Imperial order.
* * *
“Oh, I’m finally seeing my little girl’s face!”
He hugged Ariel, who just entered the palace, and sat her down while engaging in a tearful reunion.
“Now, sit here comfortably and let the servants will bring you delicious snacks.”
After flirting with Ariel, the Empero glanced at the Grand Duke and screamed at him.
“Don’t you know that burning things bestowed by the Emperor is not different from harboring ill-intention!”
“I have to do that to protect my daughter from my greedy older brother who covets his own niece.”
“Why are you even doing this when she’s not even your own child! Let your older brother finally have a daughter!”
The Grand Duke did not answer the Emperor’s words.
After all, what can he say?
It was absurd to start a conflict because of a child they had just met.
He thought so, so he stopped refuting.
The Emperor, guessing the Grand Duke’s thoughts, laughed internally.
He smiled like a winner.
On the other hand, Ahin, who was looking back and forth between his uncle and father, widened his eyes.
‘She wasn’t his father’s daughter?’
Of course, he definitely assumed that she was his father’s illegitimate child, but what could this mean?
‘She definitely resembles my father.’
Ahin stared blankly at his father, who’s keeping his mouth shut and silent, and suddenly shook his head.
‘No, that’s not the problem now.’
Even if that was the case, there was the affection that had been built up until now, so he won’t let Ariel be taken away by his uncle.
To be more honest, Ahin actually liked Ariel quite a bit.
She is his father’s illegitimate child who suddenly appeared.
A cheeky little girl who looked down on him as if crawling from an unknown woman’s stomach is not enough.
But that cheeky attitude was cute in its own way, and it was also cute of her to stir the whole mansion while running around with her short legs.
The day she mistook the princes for monsters, Ahin really liked the fact that she hugged his legs tightly while trembling terribly.
She seems to depend on him.
He doesn’t know if it was because he hadn’t seen many children, or because he thought they were blood relatives, but it didn’t matter.
Now, his priority was to protect Ariel from his uncle.
Therefore, Ahin stepped out with a firm expression.
“Your Majesty, please allow me to have a say on this matter.”
“Ahin, you?”
The emperor eventually nodded his head as if giving him permission to say something.
“My father is an upright man. It must have took a lot of determination for such a person to accept a child willingly and bear the responsibility of having an illegitimate child. And the moment he made that decision, my father already accepted the child as his own. The same goes for me, the biological son.”
Ahin’s eyes sharpened.
“That’s why Your Majesty cannot adopt that child.”
“What, because of that?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“What is this!”
As the Emperor stood up, Ahin spoke calmly.
“Your Royal Highnesses don’t like Ariel, do they?”
Slump—
The emperor slumped on the throne, as if his legs gave up.
‘This little smart guy!’
It was a sharp point.
In fact, a few days ago, he asked the twin princes what would it be like to have Ariel as their younger sister.
Since she was a cute and lovely child, he expected that the princes would also like it.
But…
“No!”
“No, Father!”
As soon as he shot the question, the princes shook their heads.
“What? Why!”
When the Emperor asked why,
“She’s so cocky!”
“Mmm, I’m scared, heuuuu.”
That’s how they answered.
“These guys! Did I raised you guys just to hold on to your father’s ankles! These unfilial boys!”
[T/N: Holding on to someone’s ankle means restricting that person to do what he wants or getting in the way to have it]
The emperor burst into a rage and kept this matter strictly silent.
He wondered if the princes’ attitudes would be advantageous for the Grand Duke if he heard about it.
‘Ahin, you’re so quick to notice.’
The Emperor, who had been depleted of power, belatedly came to his senses and shouted out loud.
“This Emperor would adopt that child, so what’s the importance of the opinions of the princes!”
With that, Ahin smirked.
“Your Majesty, do you remember when you asked me the other day if I could accept Ariel’s registration?”
“Hmm, what about it?”
“At that time, Your Majesty was worried that my position would be narrowed by the arrival of an unexpected child. So why don’t you also do that for the princes?”
It was a clean shot.
‘Damn it!’
Everything he had done to delay Ariel’s registration to his younger brother’s family is now holding him back.
As the emperor lost his words and trembled, the Grand Duke’s lips curved into a smile.
Just about the time when the Grand Duke is about to strike the last shot…
“Your Majesty, the Empress, is entering.”
The voice of an attendant rang, and the door opened for the Empress.
Her silver hair was neatly tied back, but her face looked sickly in plain street clothes.
“Empress, you came back without saying anything!”
The Emperor got up in surprise.
“Didn’t you tell me there was something you wanted to discuss?”
“It wasn’t more urgent than the health of the Empress! I was going to talk to you about it once you got better.”
The Emperor’s voice was full of concern, but there was a feeling of joy that he couldn’t hide.
“A day or two in the countryside is relaxing, but I got bored after being there for four years. It was just in time that Your Majesty sent a letter, so I immediately came.”
After answering with a smile, the Empress turned her head towards the Grand Duke.
“It’s been a while, Grand Duke.”
“I greet Your Majesty, the Empress.”
The Grand Duke’s eyes grew dim.
He lost his mother when he was young, and his sister-in-law acted as both his mother and older sister.
When he heard the news that such a person suddenly fell ill, it was as if the sky was falling.
‘I thought she would be okay if she recuperated in a place with fresh air.’
But for some reason, her sickness looked more obvious than before she left.
The Grand Duke was about to ask how she was doing but…
“……?”
The Empress suddenly flashed against his eyes and sprinted past him.
It was an incredibly lively pace for a sick patient.
“So this is the child Your Majesty spoke of!”
Her destination was towards Ariel, who was eating the desserts brought by the servants.
“Oh my, look at these chubby cheeks!”
She bent her knees and met Ariel’s gaze and touched Ariel’s plump and flushed cheek.
Then the Emperor ran in haste and nodded his head.
“Look at these jewel-like eyes! Aren’t they just like mine?”
“Yes, I can see it! And this cute lips looks similar to mine!”
“Even her tall nose resembles me!”
“Oh my, look, aren’t our earlobes look alike?”
The Emperor and his wife chatted among themselves and touched Ariel’s whole body.
“……”
“……”
The Grand Duke and Ahin could only watch blankly.
* * *
Meanwhile, Ariel, who was distracted by the sweet desserts, belatedly noticed the existence of the Empress and tilted her head.
‘Who is this woman?’
She felt a familiar energy in the body of this unfamiliar woman.
‘Wait, this is Veto’s energy.’
Veto, the God of Death.
It was definitely his energy.
…And it was very strong.
‘Tsk, she’s going to die soon.’
Ariel shook her head in pity, but the Empress laughed and tapped Ariel’s nose.
“Very cute.”
‘This, this human!’
No matter how fearless she is in the face of death, she dared to touch the body of this Goddess despite being human!
Ariel was about to scream.
“Come on, my little girl. Did you say your name was Ariel?”
But the Empress interrupted her attempted scream.
‘How dare you cut off a Goddess?’
Ariel was really about to scold her severely this time but…
“You like sweet desserts right? So I prepared this specially for you, would you like to try it?”
‘What’s this?’
What the empress held out was a white plate.
The plate contained an orange flesh the size of an adult fist covered in white whipped cream.
At first, she thought it was a common fruit topped with whipped cream, but the fragrance was quite different from other fruits.
So naturally, Ariel involuntarily reached out to it.
And the moment she took a big bite…
‘This is crazy!’
As soon as it touched the tip of her tongue, it melted in her mouth and gave off a sour taste, and soon the sweet taste of fresh cream covered her whole mouth.
A taste that she never tasted before.
“What’s this? What fruit is this? Where did it came from?”
When Ariel asked urgently, the Empress smiled and answered.
“It’s a fruit called Belof. It only grows in my hometown, Velianeo, in small quantities. Is it delicious?”
Nod. Nod.
Ariel, who frantically nodded her head, suddenly caught her breath.
“Wait, by any chance, I can’t eat this fruit without you?”
The Empress smiled benevolently even at Ariel’s rudeness.
“Well, it’s like that. In the whole continent, it only grows in our territory.”
In fact, she has no reason not to eat Belof just because the Empress is gone. After all, the Empress’ parents has been sending Belof to the Imperial family since a long time ago.
The Empress only said that as a mere playful show-off towards a child.
Ariel, unaware of this, opened her mouth wide while holding both of her cheeks.
‘She has to live!’
