A week later. The delegation departed.

Though the princess wanted to meet the Saintess and told the Emperor, he flatly refused.

While there was trust between the Saintess and Adelia, the Emperor had no trust in the Saintess.

Even when Adelia casually asked, since it concerned Ariana’s safety, she didn’t receive a good answer.

In the end, Ariana only watched the Saintess’s departure from afar.

“I hate you, Sister! You said you’d let me meet the Saintess!”

“But Father opposed it.”

“I don’t understand! What’s dangerous about the Saintess? She’s the Saintess!”

After the delegation left, Ariana expressed her cute anger with puffed cheeks.

Unlike Ariana who frowned in anger, Adelia was grinning broadly.

‘She’s cute even when angry!’

Her twitching cheeks were cute, and her pouting lips were adorable.

If this was what irritation looked like, she could handle it all day.

Adelia strongly resisted the urge to poke those chubby cheeks. If she did that, Ariana would really hate her.

“Father loves the princess too much, that’s why.”

Though she opposed keeping her confined to the palace in the name of love, knowing the Emperor’s heart well, she couldn’t push her opinion further.

Adelia lifted Ariana, who had been hanging her head low, into her arms. Ariana smiled broadly as if she had never been upset.

She snuggled tightly in Adelia’s embrace. A fresh fruit scent wafted gently. She rubbed her cheek against the soft embrace like a spoiled child.

“But…… I don’t like being only in the palace. I want to go out too. I want to see outside, go to festivals……”

Ariana mumbled complainingly with her face buried in the embrace.

During the week Adelia was recuperating in the palace, something different happened to Ariana.

Among the nobles who visited the palace to meet the Saintess, there were quite a few children. While the adults attended to business, the children gathered in one place to eat snacks and play. By chance, Ariana passed by and discovered the gathered children.

Having no friends her age, Ariana immediately joined them and mingled with the children.

The Emperor, who heard about this later and followed, made all the children there cry and earned only his princess’s hatred.

Fortunately, she heard that Ariana exchanged letters with some children she got along well with.

She must have heard about the festival from those children too.

“What do you want to do most among those?”

“Hmm…… actually, I want to see the sea too but Father will definitely oppose that…… I want to see the festival! I want to eat street food and play games…… Ah! I want to go to the auction house too! My friend said there are many fascinating things there, so it’s amazing!”

Ariana listed her dreams while folding her fingers one by one. Stories flowed endlessly from her small mouth.

Expectation and excitement sparkled like flames in her red eyes.

Adelia pondered for a moment while cradling the princess.

“Though the delegation left, the festival isn’t over yet. Shall we ask His Majesty?”

“Really?”

At the mention of the festival, Ariana’s eyes lit up differently. She had only heard stories but never seen a festival directly. She couldn’t even enter the banquet hall because she hadn’t had her debutante yet.

Though it would be difficult to stay long at the festival, Ariana couldn’t hide her excitement at the fact of her first outing.

Her red eyes were filled with anticipation and expectation.

Ariana nodded. Her pink hair tied on both sides swayed along with her head.

“Yes! Let’s go ask now!”

“Hmm……”

Adelia trailed off, rolling her eyes to check the wall clock, then smiled brightly.

“The timing is good. His Highness should be there too if we go now, perfect for getting permission.”

“Then let’s go! Ah, put me down now. I’ll walk!”

Ariana wiggled her legs in the embrace. Adelia kissed her chubby cheeks and carefully put the princess down.

Once her feet touched the ground, Ariana clenched her small hands. Her eager face looked like steam might burst from her nose like in cartoons.

“Let’s go!”

Ariana took determined steps forward. Adelia followed slightly behind, thoroughly appreciating the cute back of her head.

With a goofy smile that made her look soft, Adelia was quickly turning her thoughts.

‘Too bad there are no children’s jewels at today’s auction. Still, since we need permission, we should increase security forces and add guards from the merchant guild for extra duty today…… Double pay for overtime….’

They quickly arrived at the Emperor’s office. Before entering, Adelia gulped.

‘Let’s win! The princess wants this!’

Eventually, Ariana’s outing plan was postponed. At least she received permission for the Empire’s Foundation Festival outing, so it wasn’t a complete failure.

* * *

“My daughter.”

“It’s Ariana.”

“They came together.”

“It’s my wife.”

The moment Ariana and Adelia set foot on the floor with the office, the Emperor and Lucian’s ears perked up, detecting their presence.

The presences were familiar—Ariana bouncing excitedly with cute steps and Adelia walking lightly with steady, graceful steps.

From the moment they sensed the two outside, the father and son tidied the office. Instead of listening to the ministers’ useless talk, they pushed broken cups and torn paper remnants into a corner.

“We should set up fire magic. To have such trash in the same space as Ariana.”

“I’ll ask my wife about it.”

The Emperor and Lucian glared at the corner where they had pushed the trash. Though the garbage stuffed under the large wall clock was completely hidden from view, they disliked having an imperfectly organized office when Ariana was coming.

They wanted to burn and eliminate all traces, but there was no suitable magic. They couldn’t blow up the office just to burn that.

Lucian regretfully stroked the spinel brooch on his chest. The silver chain swayed lightly, making a pleasant sound.

Next were the scattered documents. They neatly organized the papers as if they were already processed matters and stacked them on one side of the desk.

Lucian pulled the Emperor’s scattered papers on the table to his side as if they were his own.

The aides there hadn’t sensed Ariana and Adelia’s presence. They only blinked at the unprecedented sight.

‘Has His Majesty finally gone mad….’

‘His Majesty and His Highness cleaning…… People who’ve never had a speck of dust on their hands….’

‘Did they even know how to clean? I thought they only knew how to make messes, throwing things and leaving….’

The aides who had such slightly irreverent thoughts blankly savored the precious sight.

This work was done in the blink of an eye. The two moving was dozens of times faster than borrowing the hands of maids outside.

After instantly cleaning the room, they returned to their places. The Emperor to his desk, Lucian sitting on the sofa crossing his long legs.

They pretended to be working with documents and quill pens in hand. Though they knew of Ariana’s visit, they couldn’t concentrate on work.

Lucian and the Emperor stared intensely at the door while needlessly fixing their hair and clothes.

Shortly after, small voices were heard from outside. Then the large door slowly opened.

“Ariana!”

As soon as the office door opened, the Emperor and Lucian rose from their seats as if they had been waiting.

The two men came striding to the door, bumping shoulders competitively.

Adelia carefully released the hand she was holding and let Ariana enter first.

The Emperor, who entered half a step first, bent down to grab Ariana’s waist and lifted her up.

“Dad, I’m here!”

“My daughter came to see me.”

The Emperor skillfully sat Ariana on one arm and held her firmly. Ariana wrapped her arms around the Emperor’s neck in an embrace.

The Emperor and Ariana faced each other. When Ariana smiled broadly with crescent eyes, a faint smile spread on the Emperor’s lips.

Seeing the affectionate father and daughter, a smile spread on Adelia’s face too.

Lucian, who lost Ariana by a hair’s breadth, looked at his father with an irreverent face and clicked his tongue briefly. Then he poked Ariana’s cheek.

“She came to see me.”

“How presumptuous. Look how she’s in my arms. Of course she came to see me.”

The Emperor twisted his body to block Ariana from Lucian’s view. Only Ariana’s cute hair poked out slightly to the side.

Lucian clicked his tongue in regret.

Adelia stopped suppressing her laughter at the sight and let out a small laugh.

“Welcome, my wife.”

At Adelia’s laughter, Lucian turned his head. He stepped forward and extended his hand in escort.

Adelia placed her hand on his with upturned lips.

“Always a pleasant sight.”

Though their gazes were naturally directed at Ariana, Adelia wasn’t disappointed at all.

Like how the moon appears when the sun disappears, it was natural for people’s attention to go to Ariana first.

Rather, she felt honored that the attention showered on the princess turned to her at just one word.

“I greet Your Majesty the Emperor.”

“Unnecessary. Come in.”