Adelia placed her hand on her chest and bowed her head in an abbreviated greeting. The Emperor left a short word and turned sharply as if not caring about greetings.

Adelia familiarly received Lucian’s escort and stepped into the office.

Then suddenly, Adelia shivered.

‘When did the escort become familiar?’

In her previous life, the concept of escort barely existed, and as a Count’s daughter, she had only memories of being hit by men’s hands rather than escorted.

Her first escort was Lucian, and until now, he had taken charge of all her escorts.

The firm calluses on his hand, the careful grip, the warm touch, even the unconscious habit of stroking fingers—everything had become familiar without her realizing.

Adelia raised her head to face the Emperor and princess.

The Emperor, who had walked with long strides, sat in the highest seat with Ariana on his lap, looking at her lovingly.

Though it was a faint smile, his love for the princess was clearly evident.

‘This is uncomfortable.’

Adelia wrinkled her eyes. Seeing that scene made her chest feel tight, as if something was blocking it. It felt like an impurity was interfering with her breathing.

It was as if she had become that impurity. She had blocked the passage where air flowed freely, stopping the flow. It seemed like she would block the happy ending of such a harmonious family.

Adelia released Lucian’s hand and sat down.

Lucian silently watched Adelia as her hand quickly disappeared as if the escort was uncomfortable.

Because Adelia didn’t turn her head, his view was filled with her snow-white back of the head. Even after she sat down, his gaze remained fixed on one spot.

Adelia avoided his gaze and opened her mouth.

“The room is clean today. Nothing unusual must have happened.”

“It’s always been clean. Nonsense.”

“That’s right, sister. The office has always been clean whenever I visit.”

Ariana nodded and said. But at those words, Adelia tilted her head. The office she had seen was always a mess, like a war had broken out.

As she opened her mouth to contradict the princess’s words, she met the Emperor’s intense gaze.

Adelia quietly closed her mouth.

The truth that one word from the princess about wanting to visit the office would quickly spread through palace servants, and attendants would immediately clean the office, disappeared beyond that moment.

Soon maids entered with refreshments. The snacks Adelia had tipped off to the maids beforehand were laid out on the table.

There was a variety, from sweet cakes that Ariana loved to bitter green tea cookies matching the Emperor and Lucian’s tastes.

As soon as the refreshments came out, the Emperor cut a small piece of the glossy chocolate cake and popped it into Ariana’s mouth.

Like a baby bird, the princess received the food and smiled while chewing.

“Delicious!”

The princess’s eyes sparkled as the sweet food entered her mouth. The three watching the princess who enthusiastically attacked the cake with her fork, forgetting her purpose for visiting the office, had satisfied smiles on their faces.

After finishing one piece of cake, Ariana eyed the strawberry cream cake next. Sweet melting cream was dotted with sweet and sour strawberries. As Ariana reached out toward the cake, the Emperor quickly removed the plate.

“That’s enough snacks. Too much isn’t good for you.”

“But……”

“Let’s have snacks after dinner.”

“Hmph…… Alright.”

The princess dropped her head regretfully and put down her fork. The Emperor returned the plate he had removed and stroked the princess’s head, seemingly pleased.

“By the way, what brings you here? Both of you came to the office.”

Though Ariana often came to play in the office, Adelia only visited when she had business, timing her visits. Since she only came selectively when incompetent ministers were being scolded, she had never visited at this hour.

At the Emperor’s question, Adelia hid both hands behind her back and pulled out a thick envelope from dimensional storage.

[Noble Family Tax Settlement and Merchant Guild Record Discrepancies. Part 1]

It was a document that could shake the lifelines of dozens of noble families. It was her trump card saved for negotiating with the Emperor.

Though she was presenting Part 1 now, she had divided it into three parts by tax evasion amounts, so there was still much to negotiate with.

She planned to use this to get permission for the princess’s outing.

Just as she was about to speak the logically prepared words in her head—

“Dad, I want to go to the festival today!”

“No.”

Ariana’s request for permission to go out was settled that instantly.

Unlike Ariana’s bright words, the Emperor’s response was cold and rigid. His gentle demeanor shown only to Ariana was half hidden.

Not expecting such an immediate refusal, Ariana could only open and close her mouth in surprise.

‘Ah. This is bad.’

Adelia, who had anticipated this situation, sighed. She put the documents back into dimensional storage. Her intuition told her that even presenting this wouldn’t allow an outing today.

Instead, Adelia took out something else from dimensional storage. This time it was a well-wrapped book.

She had wrapped the pink-covered book neatly in light brown paper, tied it with lace ribbon, inserted a few dried flowers, and sealed it with wax.

[How to Make Your Lovely Child Run Away.]

‘Don’t know who wrote it, but it’s perfect.’

She had found this book by chance while visiting bookstores gathering information about white magic.

At first she wondered what kind of book this was, but when she read it, it turned out to be a parenting book criticizing overprotective parents and suggesting the right path.

It matched the Emperor and princess’s situation so well that she immediately bought it.

Adelia watched the situation while contemplating when to give this book.

“Why…… You wouldn’t let me meet the Saintess, and now I can’t go to the festival……”

“If I say no, that’s that. It’s all for your own good.”

Ariana whined while grabbing the Emperor’s clothes. The Emperor’s lips twitched at her cuteness. But contrary to his rising lips, his answer came out firmly.

He drew a clear line, saying it was for her own good.

Though Ariana continued to plead with puffed cheeks, the Emperor’s answer remained unchanged.

“Dad, why do you never explain why?”

“You’re still too young……”

“Always saying I’m young! Hiding everything from me! I don’t know, I hate Dad!”

Ariana shouted while clenching both hands tightly. The accumulated unfairness exploded.

The princess hopped down from the Emperor’s lap and stomped toward the door, breathing heavily.

“Dad, I really hate you! I won’t play with you!”

Ariana flung open the door with a bang and went outside. The aide standing outside saw the heavy atmosphere lingering in the office and quietly pushed the door closed.

The door closed with a thud. At the same time, the Emperor’s heart fell with a thud.

The Emperor stared at the door where the princess had disappeared with a hardened face.

When she spoke with puffed cheeks, she was just cute, but the moment she pushed away from his embrace and ran out, he felt his heart falling from the sky to the ground.

Though she often got upset, she would soon make up and come back smiling, but he sensed this time would be different.

“She said she hates Dad……”

The words ‘I hate Dad’ kept ringing in his ears. Those unfitting words from that lovely voice stabbed the Emperor’s heart.

The Emperor collapsed with a deep sigh. He rubbed his face with both hands and messed up his hair. Looking pitiful as he held his forehead with his suddenly haggard face.

The Emperor fumbled in his clothes looking for cigars made with bitter herbs. But there was no way they would be there since he had quit after Ariana was born.

He let out another deep sigh. The weight of the sigh was so heavy it seemed like the office on the high floor might sink to the basement.

Since it happened so suddenly, Adelia and Lucian had no chance to stop it. The two blinked at each other. They had many thoughts about how to handle this situation.

Instead of Lucian, who wasn’t good at comforting and empathizing with others, Adelia spoke first.

“Um…… Father?”

“……”

Though Adelia called out to the Emperor, there was no response. The Emperor was just quietly muttering the princess’s last words while chewing his lips.

‘I think there was a similar moment in the original work….’

The moment when the Emperor and Ariana clashed over not being allowed to go out. Adelia wracked her brain.

‘Though it was years later, the situation is similar.’

There was an incident where the princess wanted to go out and asked the Emperor, but he refused, deepening their conflict. And a few years later, the princess attempted to run away.

Though the princess’s first escape was settled while turning the continent upside down, even after that, the Emperor raised the princess as a treasure inside the palace and didn’t let her go outside. That led to the princess’s second escape.