Chapter 72 - An Uneasy Feeling

I sensed that there was something I knew but couldn’t quite remember because of all the women circling Miltiades. My dad never had a first love or a wife who died young, nor did he love the female lead. “Ah, he’s amazing. Just absolutely perfect.” There were many kinds of trashy men and I only liked the best ones! 

“Saintess, there’s a riot over at the survivors’ camp.” 

“What? Is anyone hurt?”

“From what I heard, about ten of them have slight injuries.”

The timing was fishy. “Why is there a riot all of a sudden? I thought we gave them everything they wanted.”

“Apparently someone’s going around inciting the others.”

“Who?”

“They claim it’s one of the drunkards, but this guy seems to have a motive. He was slinking around and spreading rumors that someone is back.”

“Someone is back? Who is it?” Although it seemed like a false rumor, I had a bad feeling about it, “Now that I think about it, remember Claud, who went missing? Have you heard what happened to him?”

“Would you like me to find out?” 

“Yes,” I wasn’t exactly curious, but the whole thing made me feel uneasy. 

***

The assassination attempt on the emperor happened a few days after Priscilla was adopted in the novel and Miltiades had collapsed. “I’ll never let them get away.”The most important thing was to find the culprit before they get to my Miltiades. However, the novel focused more on Miltiades’s recovery than the assassination attempt itself.

Despite all the imperial physicians at his side, Miltiades was still bedridden, so people searched for someone with divine power. According to the doctors, it would be difficult to recover even with divine power, but Priscilla was the saintess after all. Miltiades was healed, but Duke Ravenhook succeeded in taking everything from him. 

‘How happy was she when people finally sought her out, even though they barely paid any attention to her and didn’t care that she was the saintess before that?’ Recalling the event that caused Priscilla to be used, I frowned. ‘It’s best not to get mixed up with that family.’ 

But who was the culprit? “Was it Duke Ravenhook?” Considering who would stand to gain the most from this assassination, he seemed to be the most likely suspect. “I must find the culprit, but who’s able to pull off an assassination attempt on the emperor?” I searched my memory for clues but found nothing. There was nothing else I could do. “Well, I didn’t want to do this, but…” I made up my mind: I was going to stick to my dad 24/7! “Luci, I wanna go see Daddy!” 

***

I headed for the office as soon as I woke up. The grand chamberlain gazed at me nervously but still let me in without any fuss. 

“Daddy!” I ran over and latched onto him.

The maids smiled, “The princess really likes His Majesty.”

“His Majesty is so blessed.” 

“Where did you find such an adorable daughter like her?” 

Miltiades looked at me quizzically, “What are you doing here so early?”

“I miss you.”

“Aww,” everyone’s hearts melted at my words, even Callian’s. But I ignored them and fixed my gaze on one person, “Am I not allowed?” I silently gazed at my feet when Miltiades quietly held me and sat me down on his knees. “Hehe,” I beamed at him and reached over for a hug when I heard him say, “You’re just like a puppy.” 

“Does that mean you think I’m cute?” I was indeed acting like a puppy, hanging around Miltiades and following him everywhere. Miltiades was amazed by how happy I seemed when I was around him, “Do you really like me that much?” 

“Yeah,” I replied. How cute! I must have been infatuated with him since anything he did was adorable in my eyes. Seeing Miltiades in a good mood thanks to the love pouring out of my eyes, the Grand Chamberlain gave his report, “Your Majesty, the Minister of Finance asked to see you.”

“Send him in.” The Minister of Finance walked in with the grand chamberlain and paused when he saw me, “Glory upon the light of Rahel.” 

“What do you want?”

“I wish to report the international budget.” ‘The international budget?’ I stared at the papers in Miltiades’s hands. 

“Do you want to see them?”

“Yeah.” I couldn’t understand the curly numbers, but I looked at the document carefully. Miltiades seemed to find it funny as he laughed out loud. The Minister of Finance and the Grand Chamberlain weren’t used to seeing the both of us together. I could hear them talking, “Is His Majesty already preparing for the princess to be his heir?” That wasn’t true. But it didn’t stop there. Most of the nobles who came to meet with Miltiades looked at me as if I was a ghost. Some even screamed in shock. 

One of them remarked, “The princess seems to be really fond of Your Majesty.” The corners of Miltiades’s mouth tilted upward slightly, but I knew that this was a sign that he was happy. How cute. I stuck to Miltiades like gum on the sole of his shoe until the morning tasks were complete and we finished eating lunch. Marquis Bartolch, whom I’d met before, saw me sitting on Miltiades’ lap and asked, “Aren’t you uncomfortable?”

“Nope! I love being in my daddy’s arms!” 

The marquis didn’t seem to understand me, but Miltiades had a look of satisfaction on his face. My dad definitely loved me. 

“You should be addressing His Majesty more formally now that you are officially the princess. Please call him ‘Father Emperor.’”

“Father Emperor?” I liked ‘Daddy’ better because it seemed friendlier. Miltiades read my reaction, “Call me ‘Daddy.’”

“Okay!” 

Marquis Bartolch frowned in disappointment, but he couldn’t go against Miltiades’s wishes. If he was that upset, he should have become emperor himself! 

Just when I thought the day would pass uneventfully… Boom! Boom! Boom! A series of explosions occurred in rapid succession. 

“Stay here,” Miltiades got up as soon as he heard the noise. He handed me over to Callian to hold. 

‘What’s going on?’ I was so shocked that I ran over to Luciana. She went out to investigate. When she returned, she had a grave expression on her face. “Luci, what happened?” I asked. 

“Saintess, Kais has been kidnapped.”

“What?”