Chapter 92 - His Savior

Miltiades woke up to a voice calling for him. The sun was shining in his eyes when he opened them. He didn’t know what time it was, but it appeared to be morning. His body felt heavy as if someone was holding him down, but he made an effort to sit up. The maids gathered around the bed all looked at him in shock.

“What’s going on?” It was the first time he’d seen so many servants in his bedroom. Miltiades tried to get up from the bed but felt a weight on his leg. He looked down to see the small child holding onto him, asleep. He didn’t know how long she had been here.

“…Amelia.” His young daughter was sound asleep and didn’t seem like she would wake up anytime soon. Barely able to focus, he realized some things that he hadn’t noticed before. Small stones, perhaps guardian statues, were scattered around his bed.

“His Majesty has finally awakened!” The Grand Chamberlain, Liam, gathered his wits about him and cried out in joy.

Achillios came running from the drawing-room after hearing the Grand Chamberlain’s announcement, “Oh, Your Majesty!”

Miltiades didn’t know where to begin asking about the situation. At last, he bellowed, “Everyone, get out.” His head was ringing.

***

After Miltiades learned what had happened through Achillios, he focused on the part after he fainted.

“She told you to fetch the guardian statues?”

“Yes, Her Highness suddenly asked me to fetch the statues if we wanted to wake you up. As you know, Emperor Gieks got rid of all the guardian statues. We went to some trouble to find what remains of them.”

Miltiades ignored Achillios’s whining. He didn’t understand why Amelia would suddenly ask for the guardian statues. He wondered if the things that he saw in his dreams were indeed these statues. It didn’t make any sense, but with the saintess added to the equation, he became slightly convinced.

“I want to know what happened that day, Your Majesty.” Achillios was asking about what happened after Helene came to find him. Miltiades wanted to answer, but he didn’t remember anything after the two of them were alone.

“You don’t have any memory of it?”

“Are you positive that Helene is dead?”

“Yes, I checked a few times.”

“And Enoch?”

“He has some internal injuries, but they are not serious. He’ll be able to return in a few days.”

Achillios reported the events of the past few days to Miltiades. And then he asked one last question, “What should I do about this incident?”

“Cover it up.”

The ease with which Miltiades replied confused Achillios, “Pardon? You’re going to let it go?”

“If it gets any bigger, Vios will be involved.”

“Ah.”

Everyone believed the perpetrator was after Miltiades, but he thought otherwise. Their real target was Amelia. There was no other way to get a small child into that area alone. The perpetrator wanted him to kill her, or to severely injure either one of them. If so, he would either lose the right to take care of the saintess, or she wouldn’t exist in the world anymore.

Everyone associated with this incident had evil intentions, and Miltiades couldn’t take any chances. He didn’t know if Pope Raphael had anything to do with it, but he wasn’t someone to cross.

“Conduct a secret investigation. Don’t let anyone know about it.”

“Yes, I understand,” Achillios was excited. This was his specialty, after all.

Miltiades’s eyes narrowed, “Did you look into the saintess like I asked you to?”

“Ah, that. Of course, I did, but…”

“But?”

Stroking his chin, Achillios’s expression grew serious, “I couldn’t find any other information except what Vios has given us. Some official records have also been tampered with. I believe…”

“…The Pope is hiding something about the saintess.” Miltiades didn’t take much of an interest before this, but now the situation had changed.

Achillios knew exactly what Miltiades wanted, “I’ll look further into it.”

Miltiades gestured for him to leave, but just as Achillios turned around, the emperor called out to him again, “Achillios.”

“Yes?”

Miltiades glared quietly at Achillios. There wasn’t any anger or bloodlust in the emperor’s eyes, but he was firm. He was like a mountain, unwavering and indestructible, as he warned Achillios, “Don’t cross the line.”

He didn’t need to specify whose line he was referring to. Pleasantly surprised, Achillios had a light smile on his face. The first man who had ever caught his attention was indeed something special. “I’m being serious, so don’t worry.”

Miltiades made a face, and just as Achillios was about to ask what his expression meant, Amelia woke up and called out, “Daddy!”

Achillios bowed when he heard Amelia’s voice, “I’ll take my leave.” Miltiades felt an urge to go over and beat him up, but he couldn’t resist the little doll running up to him.

“Daddy!” He didn’t know that he was capable of feeling this way upon hearing someone call him ‘Dad.’ Amelia nuzzled her cheek against his neck, “Good morning.”

Miltiades grinned as Amelia smiled at him. Had the morning light ever felt so nice? It seemed especially radiant today. “…Good morning to you.” Amelia grinned widely as her father struggled to utter such a mundane phrase. It really was a good morning.