Chapter 79 - Misunderstanding

Why was Berrict suddenly asking me this? Was he trying to test me? He was still smiling, but the atmosphere was different. His experienced gaze pierced right through me. I realized that there was no fooling him. 

“His Majesty has many knights. He’s also an excellent knight himself. I’m curious as to why you chose me when you could have asked the other two,” he made a lot of sense. But my answer hadn’t changed from the beginning. “You’re the best choice,” I replied simply. Kais was rough; he had a lot of scars, and he became cold as a way of self-protection. He didn’t know when he would fall and finally break. 

“Neither Daddy nor Callian can do it.” Miltiades, who didn’t know how to love, would only hurt him. And Callian could never understand Kais; he had never experienced what Kais had. “It has to be you.” Kais would become stronger just by breathing—that’s the power of the male lead. So he didn’t need someone who could simply make him strong. Instead, he needed someone to guide and steady him. And Berrict was the only adult who could do that. 

“You know what’s important to you.” That was quality more precious than strength. I looked into his blue eyes full of experienced wisdom and said a silent prayer. Berrict finally smiled at me, “Looks like His Majesty has gained a wonderful daughter.” A wave of relief washed over me. “Yep!” I nodded, and Berrict’s smile widened, “Please take care of His Majesty.” 

“I should be the one saying that…” I glanced at Kais and turned to Berrict, “Take care of Kais, Berrict.” Kais gave us a look of disgust, but he didn’t have a choice from the beginning. 

“I have to tell you something,” I gestured towards Berrict and he leaned in close to me. In a hushed whisper, I told him the most important part: that the male lead had all the mental strength of a cracker.

***

After safely handing Kais over to Berrict, I headed back to the palace. Some of my maids were looking around nervously. I tilted my head in confusion. 

“Your Highness!” 

“Where have you been?” 

“Please hurry!”

I was puzzled by their gushing, “What happened? Did you guys miss me that much?”

“Oh, Your Highness. Of course, we did!”

“No, but…!”

“…His Majesty is here right now!”

Daddy?! I grinned and ran into the room. The maids were yelling something after me but I couldn’t hear them in my haste. 

“…Huh?” As I came to the room, I immediately stopped in my tracks. Miltiades was sitting in a chair with his eyes closed while releasing dark energy, and Callian was standing next to him. The Grand Chamberlain and my knights all had their heads to the floor. Whoosh. An air of discomfort filled the room. 

“Your Highness!” The maids rushed in behind me and quickly fell silent when they saw what was going on. I turned to Mia with widened eyes. She shook her head. 

Then Miltiades opened his eyes, “Amelia.”

“Hm?”

“Where did you run off to?” 

Was it okay for me to tell the truth? If I said something wrong, Kais might get into trouble. “Uh… I took a walk?”

“A walk,” Miltiades had a slight, knowing smile on his face. I knew that look. He only smiled like that when he was pissed off. “I took a walk and visited Kais,” the air became slightly less tense when he saw me speak the truth, but his smile lingered. 

“You were hurt because of that bastard, and yet you went to see him?” 

“I’m totally fine!” I gave him the widest smile I could muster, but Miltiades wasn’t buying it. I didn’t know why he was in such a bad mood. This was a bad sign. The others seemed to be thinking the same thing. If this continued, something bad was going to happen. 

At the sight of Callian’s helpless expression and Margaret’s trembling body, I made up my mind. It was the best thing to do!