Chapter 8
It was a very burdensome smile.
Miltiades was unfamiliar with her bright eyes and smile, so he put her down and turned away.
He wanted to run away, but the child followed him.
She seemed to be focused on following him, and Miltiades unconsciously slowed his pace to help her keep up.
“Hehe!”
Miltiades looked down at the laughing kid.
“She’s my daughter.”
His daughter, the saintess who was treated like a miraculous being in the Holy Empire, was copying the words he had said in the meeting hall.
“She’s my daughter!” Her cheerful expression and clasped hands made her look adorable. “She’s my daughter~!”
Miltiades couldn’t understand her.
“Are you that happy?”
Hearing his question, she grinned at him and nodded. She was smiling so widely that Miltiades smiled as well
“You were so cool!”
He didn’t know what made him cool, but seeing her excitement wasn’t so bad.
“You were the coolest. Just like a knight!”
There was a lot he needed to correct.
He wasn’t her dad, and he definitely wasn’t the kind knight she was imagining. However, he couldn’t seem to say anything.
“Daddy!”
The child ran over to him as if he were her actual dad.
He knew that he would never be able to treat his actual children properly.
That was why Miltiades didn’t understand this child.
“Hehe! Daddy!”
It was the first time a child laughed at him and liked him. It made no sense that she trusted him, especially since they had only met a few times.
‘Are all children like this?’
“It’s okay, Daddy.”
The child raised her head, and her plump cheeks were flushed red.
She had a cute and lovable smile.
“I won’t bother you. I won’t throw a tantrum either. I won’t ever let you regret choosing me as your daughter.”
It seemed like she was explaining how useful she was. Miltiades suddenly felt his mood dip.
“What?”
He didn’t want her to feel self-conscious.
He looked down at the child for a while, and she started to feel anxious.
‘Is she scared of not being chosen?’
Miltiades put down the child and tapped her forehead.
“Don’t worry about those things.”
The child rubbed her forehead and grinned.
“Okay!”
He had never thought about becoming a father, but…
‘Having one doesn’t seem so bad.’
Miltiades looked down at the smiling child, not knowing a collar had been placed on his neck.
* * *
In spite of the commotion, the adoption and the move to the Northern Empire went smoothly.
“I didn’t know! Well, I’ll find out later.”
There was something more important I had to do first.
“Is it here?”
I had to choose my guardian knight.
“Yes, the dormitory for the paladins is here.”
“Wow, it’s my first time here.”
There was a strange atmosphere in the air here just like the novel described.
“Saintess!” Benjamin came out to greet me in front of the dorms. “What are you doing all the way out here?”
“The saintess is here to choose one of the knights.”
The answer came from behind me.
Benjamin’s eyes widened at Luciana’s words.
Yes, the reason I was here was to choose a knight to guard me.
“I want to see Ludwig.”
“I’ll call him right away.”
Usually, saintesses could not take anything from the temple when they were adopted, but this was an exception.
Especially because I was going to the imperial family!
Because my adoption was a special case, I could choose one of the paladins to be my guardian knight.
‘He’ll probably be there to watch over me.’
I had refused all the knights the senate and the pope chose for me. I wanted to choose him myself. And the person I chose was one of the only knights I could trust in this temple.
‘Ludwig of the Holy Sword.’
Ludwig was honest and he didn’t side with any faction. He was an unlucky genius who believed in only his faith. Since he wasn’t in a faction, he had to do a lot of odd jobs. Priscilla found him when he came to the Vatican and made him her guardian.
‘He was loyal to Priscilla until death.’
Ludwig had died for Priscilla.
‘I won’t let him die.’
I was waiting for Ludwig to come when it happened.
“Oh, I can’t believe I’m meeting such a precious person in this kind of place.”
I froze when I heard the charming low voice talking to me.
‘This voice is…’
I quickly turned to the side to see a man standing next to me.
‘I’m in trouble. Why is Duke Ravenhook here?!’
Priscilla’s deadbeat dad was here.