Chapter 66 - Chilled Emotions
Marquis Bartolch shrugged at Miltiades’s fury, “You don’t have to actually name anyone as empress. Just pretend you’re looking, please? Who would dare go against your decision anyway?”
“There will never be an empress of Rahel. Go look elsewhere.”
“Your Majesty, it’s not good for Her Highness to be without a mother.”
“…”
Usually, Miltiades would’ve ignored whatever the marquis had to say, but now he appeared to have softened. The marquis was quite surprised, “Please think this over. Doesn’t the princess need an empress to teach her how to navigate society? Think about what will happen if she has to attend all the events by herself.”
“How could she be alone if she has me?”
“But surely there are some roles that you can’t fulfill,” replied the marquis. Miltiades’s face fell.
“Please reconsider, Your Majesty.”
Miltiades drummed his fingers on his desk. Marquis Bartolch made some good points.
At last, the emperor replied, “Fine, but under one condition.”
“What is it?” The marquis had an uneasy feeling about this.
“Get my daughter’s permission,” replied Miltiades. Marquis Bartolch’s face darkened.
“It won’t be an easy task,” Miltiades grinned as if to say ‘good luck.’ The marquis sighed; he was facing one obstacle after another.
“But Your Majesty, did you take your medicine?”
“…”
“I heard from Dimitri that you’ve become more unstable.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“How can I not?”
Miltiades had an uneasy look on his face. At that moment, there was a knock at the door, “Your Majesty, Her Highness is here.”
“Send her in,” replied the emperor, who then looked at Marquis Bartolch, “Get out.”
“No, I want to meet Her Highness,” The marquis stubbornly refused to leave, no matter what Miltiades did.
With the sound of footsteps, Amelia entered the room, “Daddy!” She immediately spotted Miltiades and ran over to hug him.
Marquis Bartolch looked at her in delight, “It seems that Her Highness loves Your Majesty very much.”
“That’s right, I like Daddy!” Amelia nodded and stuck to Miltiades like a piece of stale chewing gum, “But who are you, Grandpa?”
“I’m Marquis Bartolch.”
“Oh, the Western Eagle!” Amelia’s eyes brightened.
The marquis laughed, “Oh, you know my family crest? I’m curious as to who your teacher is.”
“I don’t have one.”
“Pardon?”
“I don’t have a teacher.”
“…” Marquis Bartolch immediately looked to Miltiades, who ignored his pointed gaze. “Your Majesty, haven’t you started teaching Her Highness anything?”
“She’s only six years old.”
“That’s the perfect age to start!” The marquis rolled his eyes, “There’s no way such a brilliant child can go on without being educated. This is all for the future of the empire. It’ll be a loss to mankind!” Amelia laughed at his words. It was funny to see Miltiades being scolded for a change.
“Looks like Daddy’s in trouble.”
“…”
The emperor glared at Marquis Bartolch, “Get lost. I’ll let it slide this time because the princess is here, but next time I won’t be so kind.”
Marquis Bartolch knew to back down when he had to. As he exited the room, Amelia’s eyes twinkled mischievously, “So it turns out that you can get scolded too!”
“…”
“It’s okay, I’ll keep it a secret from Callian. To be honest, I often get scolded by Luciana.”
“She dares to scold you?”
“Yup, I get into trouble for saying weird things, running around, and eating too many sweets. Last night I got into trouble for going to bed late.”
“Those are valid reasons.”
“But I’m cute.”
“…”
“Aren’t I?”
“Yes, you are.”
“Daddy, you’re handsome! Super handsome!” Amelia pulled him in for a hug, and Miltiades looked at her strangely.
“I heard you’re sending back three of the slaves. What happened?”
“They want to be your slaves.”
Miltiades made a face. He was just about to ask what the hell she meant when Amelia continued, “Never mind about that! Right now, I have a complaint!”
“A complaint?”
Amelia nodded, “I tried not to say anything for your sake, but I can’t hold it in any longer.”
“For my sake?” Miltiades didn’t know where she had learned such words from. It was refreshing to see her speak so seriously.
“Listen, Daddy! My name is Amelia Priscilla Lux Vios Rahel, right?”
“That’s right.”
‘Amelia Priscilla’ was chosen by them both, ‘Lux’ because she was a priestess, ‘Vios’ to show that she was the heir to the Vios Empire, and ‘Rahel’ because she was part of the Rahel imperial family.
“What’s the matter?”
Amelia looked shocked and hurt at Miltiades’s question. “There’s a huge problem!” she yelled.
“What is it?”
“Daddy, are you an idiot? I don’t have a last name!”
‘An idiot…?’ Miltiades frowned at being spoken to like that for the first time. There wasn’t anyone in the whole empire bold enough to call the emperor such a name. In fact, no one was in a position to do so.
So then Miltiades asked, “Why do you need a last name?”
“…!”
Once again, Amelia reacted with shock and horror. She held her face in her hands as she cried, “You didn’t adopt me! I adopted you!” Then she grew tearful, “Daddy, you’re a meanie. I even adopted you as my dad! Did your love for me grow cold?”
