Chapter 5

“…”

Kanis was at a loss for words.

Unable to respond, she looked up at the blue sky outside the window and thought to herself.

Yenen, it’s your Master.  

It’s all my fault.  

I suddenly have a child.  

And now, I have a husband too.  

Where are you, and what are you doing right now?  

Yenen!  

I’m sorry.  

Please come save me.  

***

After that bombshell statement, Michael, as if he had anticipated it, was surrounded by soldiers and dragged before the Emperor.

Kanis, leaving Michael behind, was led by Jehel to the Crown Prince’s Palace.

Sitting in an unoccupied room, she seriously contemplated running away, but her anger wouldn’t let her.

She didn’t want to tuck her tail and flee like this.

It was only late at night that Michael was released by the Emperor.

What the two of them discussed was none of Kanis’s concern, but she had things to say, so she waited for Michael until late into the night.

When he came to see her, he hadn’t even had time to rest from his journey, still wearing the same outfit he had worn earlier in the day.

The cold air from outside, carried in by his cloak, reached Kanis’s feet.

In contrast, Kanis sat on the edge of the bed in colorful pajamas.

As soon as Michael entered the room and saw her, a faint laugh escaped him.

Her crossed arms and frosty expression were meant to convey her displeasure, but unfortunately, it was impossible for her to appear intimidating.

She was, after all, just an ordinary six-year-old child with freshly washed, rosy cheeks.

“Michael Clobern.”

Michael, however, walked over with a deliberately serious expression, knelt in front of Kanis, and met her gaze.

“What is it?”

Kanis, aware that he was merely humoring her, couldn’t help but feel annoyed.

At least she could watch Michael, who was usually composed, play along obediently with a child’s whims!

Suppressing her anger, Kanis began speaking in a calm, reasoning tone.

“If your dream is to become a father, then find a good person to marry or adopt a child.”

“Well, I don’t recall ever dreaming of such a thing.”

Kanis replied in a serene tone.

“Then you’re just crazy?”

“As I said earlier, I thought it was an appropriate way to lure out the Master of the Mage Tower. There was no other intent…”

Michael suddenly stopped speaking, then slightly curled his lips into a smirk as he looked at Kanis.

At that moment, Kanis saw it—his eyes glinting obnoxiously red.

“Surely… you didn’t take what I said earlier seriously, did you? Did you really think I was going to become your father?”

Kanis flared up.

“Nonsense! I wouldn’t want a father like you even if I were given one. What’s wrong with you?”

“A father like me? While I’ve never dreamed of it, I wouldn’t be lacking as a parent.”

“The fact that you’re so confident disqualifies you.”

“I’m rich, handsome, young, and even have a good personality. I’d make an excellent parent anywhere. You just lack taste.”

“Kids don’t live off their father’s looks! What does being handsome have to do with anything?”

“Why wouldn’t it matter? Do you know how much the things a child frequently sees during their formative years influence their aesthetic sense? Besides—”

“You’re not even my real father.”

Michael’s eloquent speech came to an abrupt halt.

“Why did you act without even asking me about my father? What if my father actually showed up?”

“…”

“You probably assumed there wouldn’t be one. Judging by how I look like someone abandoned by their parents.”

“…”

“You’re rude. You’re really… such a rude person. That’s why I don’t need a father like you. I’d rather not have one at all. Got it?”

“…”

“Did you think I’d be grateful to anyone who decided to be my parent?”

In the past, she had been grateful.

She was afraid of being abandoned again.

So, she wanted to be liked.

She tried her hardest not to be hated.

But Kanis was no longer that child.

Even if her body had returned to that time, she had no intention of letting her mind regress as well.

“I’m sorry.”

“…”

“Can you forgive me?”

It was an honest apology, devoid of excuses.

Kanis wasn’t so petty as to reject such an apology outright, but—

“If you want forgiveness, go and tell them it wasn’t true.”

She couldn’t miss this opportunity.

“That’s not possible.”

“You said you were sorry.”

“I am sorry.”

“Sounds like you’re just trying to get away with words.”

“Kanna.”

Michael placed his hands on either side of the bed.

Kanis stared back at him with a sullen expression.

His reddish-purple eyes were right in front of her.

This time, his serious expression didn’t seem fabricated.

Having lived for 300 years, Kanis had developed the ability to read people’s thoughts or intentions just by meeting their gaze.

Sometimes, it was so clear that she thought she’d never be able to form normal relationships again.

But strangely enough, this didn’t work well with Michael.

She often felt the urge to crack open his head just to figure him out.

Still, as a human, he should be capable of reflection and of sincerely accepting others’ words.

Just then, Michael spoke in a voice more genuine than ever.

“I’ll become a great parent, so you can forgive me.”

After a moment of silence, Kanis finally asked.

“What did you say?”

“A great parent—”

“Hold on. Didn’t you hear what I said earlier?”

“I listened carefully. You said you don’t need a parent like me.”

“…”

Kanis made a face full of exasperation.

It was quite literally a face filled with expletives.

Then, a thought occurred to her.

“Wait, don’t tell me… this was your plan all along?”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“You were planning to win me over and earn points until Kanis returns.”

“Win you over? I’ve never used such vulgar expressions in my life—”

“You figured that if you treated me well, she might reconsider.”

“An intriguing hypothesis.”

“And by becoming my official father, you wouldn’t have to explain or clean up the mess.”

“…”

“Do you have some sort of grudge against Kanis Riventi?”

To the point where you wouldn’t even mind suddenly having a six-year-old child at the age of twenty-seven?

Was it because he had never been rejected before, and that one rejection had completely turned him around?

Kanis couldn’t even understand why he had proposed in the first place.

The young Crown Prince confessing his love to someone who had lived over 300 years and was no longer fully human felt like an isolated incident—a standalone event with no beginning, cause, or conclusion.

But Kanis knew that nothing in the world happened without reason.

There must be a context, a motive, and a purpose.

Her only guess was that it had been orchestrated by the Imperial Family.

Perhaps they had intended to fully bind Kanis Riventi to the royal family to eliminate any potential threat.

It wasn’t the first time such discussions had taken place among previous emperors.

But Michael made Kanis doubt.

Were all his words and actions merely part of his duty as the Crown Prince?

Kanis felt as though she was trying to fit the wrong key into a lock.

There shouldn’t have been any hidden intentions that Kanis Riventi couldn’t read.

“Of course, I said it because I wanted your forgiveness. But if you later tell the Master of the Mage Tower how good a father I was, I won’t stop you.”

“…”

“You might even cry and beg not to be separated from me. Or perhaps…”

“Fine, have it your way.”

Kanis cut him off, clutching her throbbing head.

She wondered how he planned to explain himself to the Master of the Mage Tower when she returned, or how he intended to handle her wrath.

So, you had a plan all along. A madman’s plan.

Kanis jumped off the bed and took a step closer to Michael.

“But can you do it well?”

Michael raised an eyebrow, waiting for her next words.

With his face right in front of hers, Kanis grinned mischievously like a troublemaker.

In that case, it wouldn’t be bad to become the disruptor of his plan.

“Do you have the confidence to make me say, ‘I can’t live without you’?”

Michael’s lips curled into a faint smile.

Then, with a shameless and composed expression, he replied.

“Of course. I’m confident.”

Judging by their expressions alone, the two already seemed like a perfect pair.

“On one condition.”

“Name it.”

“Let me bathe alone.”

“Alone? That’s dangerous.”

“For me, having servants attend to me is even more dangerous. I’m not used to it.”

He wouldn’t know.

The mental trauma of having one’s clothes removed, being washed, and dressed by others while being praised with remarks like “You’re so patient” and “You’re so mature”!

Kanis Riventi was certain she’d lost a part of her dignity during that experience.

“I have a condition too.”

“Say it.”

“Don’t call me a madman.”