Chapter 42 - An Elder Plots

‘Oh, this is a new kind of bullsh*t.’ I was surprised my dad was listening to this. ‘Is his sword still in its sheath? Is this… the power of love?’ My cranky mood instantly got better. Daddy was listening to this crap for my sake. He definitely loved me. Feeling happy, I said, “It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s his first time being a dad. Of course, he’ll make mistakes.”

“What do you mean? Saintess! This isn’t something you can look over!” Elder Marxen hadn’t raised me either, but he kept going on. “Your guardian should help you learn about the world and properly raise you, but he’s of no help! So we should immediately—”

“Daddy’s doing his best for me.” I cut him off and asked him, “What can you do for me?”

Elder Marxen looked confused as if he hadn’t expected me to take my dad’s side. “I, I can do many things for you. If it’s for you, the most precious existence in the Holy Empire, I can do everything.”

He was good at buttering me up. “So, tell me exactly what you’ll do.”

“That…”

“Three, two, one, done. Since you can’t respond within three seconds, then you have nothing planned. But you’re saying you can do anything?”

Elder Marxen’s face flushed. He looked upset that he had nothing to say. “Ho, it seems like you’re too young to understand…”

‘I know everything.’ “Oh my!” I purposefully widened my eyes in shock. “Are you looking down at me for being young?”

“…” Elder Marxen bit his tongue.

It looked like the idiots in the holy empire still hadn’t realized what was going on. I was done dancing in the palms of their hands.

“I chose Daddy. Are you ignoring my will?”

“Why would you phrase it like that? I’m just doing this for your sake—”

“For my sake? That’s weird. It seems like you’re going against my decision.” The only thing Elder Marxen couldn’t take away from me was my dad. “Can I see this as a challenge against the priesthood?” My smile suddenly turned cold. 

“What? What do you mean against the priesthood? How could you twist my words?”

“You’re making it sound like that.” I looked at Elder Marxen, who was in denial, and smiled, “That’s why you need to watch your words.”

I was staring at the expressionless Elder Marxen when I felt someone looking at me. As I glanced to the side, I found Daddy looking in my direction. I smiled at him. If Daddy had an argument with the holy empire, the only one at a disadvantage would be him. So I had to finish this myself. 

“My words are more important than Grandpa Pope’s.” The saintess was higher up in the ladder than the pope. After all, the first pope had been a saintess. “I’ll be the next Pope, so you should watch out, right?” Elder Marxen tried to say something, but couldn’t. His face turned red. I looked at the trembling elder and called for Luciana, “Luciana.”

“Yes, Saintess.”

“Elder Marxen isn’t feeling well, so he said he’s going back to the Holy Vios Empire today.”

“Yes. I’ll prepare for his departure.” 

“Th-that!” The surprised Elder Marxen tried to interject, but he couldn’t say anything when I smiled. He must have understood it to mean ‘shut up and get lost.’ 

I hammered the final nail in his coffin.“If the elder continues, he might start a war between the Vios Empire and the Rahel Empire.” Miltiades, who was standing silently this whole time, let go of the hilt of his sword and ordered Callian, “Take care of our precious guest.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

I turned around and brightly smiled at my dad. ‘That idiot probably doesn’t know.’ I had taken my dad’s side, but I had also saved Elder Marxen’s life. The only person who didn’t know he was about to die was the man himself.

* * *

As Elder Marxen lifelessly left, Berrict went up to Miltiades and asked in a low voice, “Your Majesty, what do you want me to do?”

“Get rid of him.” Miltiades’s golden eyes, which Amelia praised as stars, were cold.

“Yes. I understand.” Berrict bowed.

Miltiades emotionlessly turned away from Berrict and looked at Amelia. She was smiling widely.

When the elder who had been sneaking around had come up to him, Miltiades had honestly considered how many years of war he wanted to deal with. ‘Would it have taken a hundred years?’

No one wanted to start a war against the holy empire because they could revive themselves. They were nicknamed the ‘zombie army.’ Miltiades was about to embrace the consequences and permanently shut the elder’s mouth when Amelia had appeared. 

‘It’s his first time being a dad. Of course, he’ll make mistakes.’ Miltiades felt that it was worth listening to the bullsh*t if he got to see the little Amelia protecting him. 

He didn’t know if she had noticed his gaze, but she turned to him. As their eyes met, Amelia’s smile became wider and she whispered, “Did I do a good job?”

Miltiades saw her sparkling eyes that wanted to be complimented. He unconsciously smiled. “You did well.”

“Yay!”

The happy little child was cute. She was cute enough to make him want to see it again. Miltiades was shocked at the unfamiliar emotions he was currently feeling.