I Picked Up My Father Who Left Home 112
“You’re not seriously planning to bring him here today, are you?”
Cassian spoke, his discomfort plainly evident.
He already didn’t like the idea of meeting the emperor today, and facing that man’s face without any mental preparation was something he absolutely wanted to avoid.
Of course, mental preparation didn’t seem likely, even if given 100 years.
“Of course not. His Majesty wouldn’t be able to send the crown prince over so quickly, either.”
It wasn’t a trivial matter to relocate the crown prince.
Even though it was an unofficial matter, there were even more details to consider because of that.
“Just tell him it’s fine to take his time—even 500 years would do.”
“By then… I doubt I’ll even be alive,”
Lia replied with a slightly dumbfounded expression.
“My angel baby isn’t part of this world to begin with. Not some lowly human crawling all over the empire, but an actual angel.”
“………..”
Lia fell silent.
It had been a while since she’d faced this kind of ‘angelic attack,’ and she felt oddly flustered.
Even though she had asked him not to call her that so many times, he persistently addressed her as ‘angel baby.’ But calling her that was one thing—treating her like an actual angel was entirely another.
“…I don’t even have the energy to argue anymore,”
Lia finally said, letting out a short sigh of resignation.
“Of course, because it’s the truth.”
Cassian sounded perfectly confident.
After all, how could something so lovely and adorable not be an angel?
Lia’s charm wasn’t something mere humans could aspire to touch.
“Ah… sure.”
Lia decided to just let Cassian’s words wash over her.
After all, logic didn’t work on him. No matter how much she insisted she wasn’t an angel, it would be pointless.
“So, you’re just meeting the emperor and coming back?”
The reason Lia was going to the imperial palace was to deliver the emperor’s response to a favor Cassian had asked.
But whether she’d only meet the emperor or also run into that annoying brat was uncertain.
“While you’re there, shouldn’t you meet Jeshuan as well?”
“Why bother? We’ll be seeing him so often in the future, it’ll be tiresome.”
Cassian’s tone was laced with personal bias as he responded curtly.
Lia chose to ignore Cassian’s complaints this time as well.
Considering his personality, this level of grumbling was actually quite restrained. At least he wasn’t storming into the imperial palace to cause trouble because he hated the idea.
Lia, having already faced several such near-disasters with Cassian, felt this was a rather peaceful atmosphere by comparison.
Even so, there was no predicting how he might act next. Hence, Lia carefully explained her reason for wanting to meet Jeshuan.
“I need to inform Jeshuan that I’ve decided to accept His Majesty’s request.”
“You don’t need to go see him separately; the emperor will take care of that.”
It was impossible to proceed with changing the crown prince’s residence without his knowledge in the first place.
Moreover, the emperor had already brought up this matter in his presence. There was no need for Lia to personally explain further.
“…I’ll come back early,”
“Ha. You’ve never come back early after saying that.”
It was as if Lia had a hidden treasure waiting with that brat. Every time she went to meet him, she only returned late in the evening.
And every single time, she had said she’d return early.
Naturally, Cassian’s trust in that statement was at an all-time low.
Feeling a twinge of guilt at Cassian’s words, Lia flinched.
However, no matter how much Cassian wished otherwise, she couldn’t skip meeting Jeshuan if she had business in the imperial palace.
As she pondered how to persuade Cassian, Lia eventually spoke in a slow, melancholic tone.
“…I guess your affection for me has faded.”
Her face looked utterly downcast as she said this.
“Huh? I didn’t expect to hear something like that,”
Cassian responded, his expression one of shock.
“But… you don’t believe anything I say anymore. That’s fine. It’s natural. I’m no longer cute, right? That’s why you don’t feel like trusting someone who isn’t cute anymore.”
“…That’s not true,”
Cassian muttered, his rare moment of flustered surprise showing on his face.
“It’s okay. Even if it’s sad that you don’t trust me anymore, how could I blame you?”
“That’s not what I—”
“It’s fine. You don’t have to explain. I wouldn’t trust someone who wasn’t cute either.”
Meanwhile, Lia intentionally drooped her shoulders and lowered her gaze, putting on an expression like a helpless little bunny.
“There will never be a day when I don’t find my angel baby adorable,”
Cassian declared firmly, his voice full of conviction.
“Then you trust me, right? That means I can go meet Jeshuan, correct?”
Lia’s eyes sparkled as she seized the opportunity.
“…Tsk, fine.”
Cassian reluctantly nodded.
Lia’s face lit up with a bright smile.
It seemed normal methods wouldn’t have worked to persuade him, so she resorted to this approach—and it worked better than expected.
Indeed, illogic could only be countered with illogic, and stubbornness with stubbornness.
Feeling smug, Lia internally patted herself on the back, having learned and adapted from Cassian’s past behavior toward her.
“But just this once.”
“Yes!”
Lia enthusiastically nodded, her expression glowing.
In truth, this would be the last time she’d need to visit Jeshuan in the imperial palace, meaning there would be no more delays in returning to the duchy because of him. Still, she didn’t bring this up.
Mentioning it would likely irritate Cassian unnecessarily.
“Be careful. And don’t be late.”
“Of course!”
Satisfied with how smoothly things had been resolved, Lia beamed a happy smile.
But the moment didn’t last.
Cassian, looking somewhat serious, opened his mouth as if he had something to say.
“…I have something to ask.”
Despite his serious expression, Cassian’s tone was casual, as if the question wasn’t of great importance—just something he was idly curious about.
“What is it?”
“Have you ever been injured before?”
“Injured?”
“So, I was wondering if you’ve ever been injured, even slightly.”
“Why do you ask all of a sudden?”
“I was just curious. If something like that had happened, I thought maybe I could scold you a little, even now.”
Despite the odd question and reasoning, Lia didn’t suspect anything.
She had grown used to Cassian’s sometimes inexplicable actions and had learned to accept them without much thought.
“Not that I can recall.”
Of course, even if there had been an incident, she wouldn’t have mentioned it.
Cassian’s idea of ‘a little scolding’ might not align with hers, and the results could be unpredictable. Who knows?
Even mentioning that she had once tripped on some stairs might result in Cassian destroying every staircase in the duchy.
Thankfully, none of that had happened.
As far as Lia could remember, she’d never been hurt badly enough to draw blood or endure significant pain.
“I see,”
Cassian replied, seemingly satisfied with her answer, and didn’t press further.
But the intent behind his question wasn’t as light as it appeared.
Cassian wanted to know whether the poison he had suffered had involved Lia’s blood.
Her current response couldn’t completely confirm or deny this possibility, as there was still a chance her blood might have been taken without her knowledge.
Still, he preferred to believe that the culprit might have used Lia’s mother’s blood instead of hers.
He had to believe that.
If the poison had indeed been created with Lia’s blood, it would mean the enemy knew she was a Saint.
That was something Cassian could not allow.
No one could be allowed to know Lia’s true identity as a Saint.
***
After finishing her breakfast and roughly wrapping up her morning tasks, Lia quickly prepared for her outing and headed straight to the imperial palace.
Upon arriving at the palace, the first place she went was the emperor’s office.
Unlike usual, she didn’t go to the annex where Jeshuan stayed, which made her feel slightly awkward.
In addition, she felt a bit nervous.
It wasn’t just because of the emperor’s request. After all, her answer to that request had been essentially decided from the beginning.
While delivering her answer, Lia planned to request holy water, which could verify familial relationships, as the reward the emperor had previously mentioned.
She was confident the emperor would comply.
While the holy water was held only by the imperial family, it wasn’t a treasure so precious that they couldn’t part with it.
The main issue was that the procedure to obtain it was tedious and somewhat complex.
Usually, it took more than a week after requesting it from the emperor to actually receive the holy water.
Because creating holy water was no simple task, it wasn’t something they could easily distribute.
But Lia didn’t want to wait that long.
She had no desire to waste unnecessary time.
That was why she planned to use the excuse of compensation to obtain the holy water and expedite the process.
Guided by a maid, Lia soon arrived at the emperor’s office. She carefully opened the door and entered.
The emperor greeted her warmly.
After Lia respectfully bowed to him, the emperor got straight to the point.
“I assume your visit means you’ve decided on an answer to my request?”
