“Haha…… Surely not.”

Is this what parental intuition feels like? Adelia awkwardly laughed and avoided his gaze.

If the Emperor had been his usual self, he would have found it strange, but he was too preoccupied with Ariana’s matter to notice.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier. My emotions got the better of me and I spoke harshly.”

“It’s fine. Since Your Majesty has understood the necessity of the Princess’s outings, I’ve already forgotten about earlier.”

Adelia tilted her head slightly and gave a gentle smile.

How could she refuse the Emperor’s apology? Even if he wasn’t the Emperor, she had no intention of refusing an apology that felt so sincere.

But contrary to her calm exterior, she was jumping for joy inside.

‘I don’t have to leave the Empire! I can keep seeing the Princess!’

She wasn’t afraid of earning the Emperor’s hatred or running away to unfamiliar places. Adelia’s only worry had been not being able to meet the Princess anymore.

She had received the Emperor’s apology. Now that she could stay in the Empire, she felt like she could float away with happiness.

Adelia quickly suppressed the corners of her mouth that were starting to rise inappropriately.

“That’s a relief then”

The Emperor sighed deeply while rubbing his face.

The Emperor, who usually controlled his power with mental discipline, had been greatly shocked by Ariana’s situation and was emanating stronger energy than usual. Upon hearing belatedly that several shadows had complained of pain and multiple palace servants had been carried away, he frowned.

“It’s been years since I lost control like this. I couldn’t contain myself, like a child.”

“You know I’m a white mage, so no matter how intense the killing intent, I’m fine.”

Adelia said with a shrug of her shoulders. For a white mage who could block even swords, mere killing intent was nothing.

While others said they felt their strength drain and their legs tremble just from feeling the Emperor’s energy, to Adelia, it felt as light as a passing breeze.

Perhaps that’s why even when the Emperor was angry today, she was only slightly scared by his contorted face and angry voice rather than his energy.

Unlike Adelia who thought nothing of it, the Emperor shook his head and said,

“If you weren’t a white mage, that frail body would have collapsed long ago. It’s my principle to never harm those who give honest counsel, though I might touch those who try to deceive with sweet words.”

“Un… I see! As expected, you’re amazing.”

For a moment, the word ‘unexpected’ slipped out. Fortunately, it only barely emerged before being pulled back, but she had to make an awkward response to cover it up.

She felt cold sweat running down her spine.

As Adelia’s lips trembled while forcing a smile, the Emperor let out a snort.

“It must be unexpected. That I, called a tyrant, would think such things.”

“Haha…… You caught me.”

“It’s just that there was no one who would give me honest counsel. Only useless bastards who were too scared and offered nothing but flattery.”

“Haha…… They were all useless indeed.”

Adelia awkwardly smiled and took a sip of the tea placed before her. Thanks to that, the truth that was about to surge up went back down.

‘Well, that’s because you give off an aura that makes people feel like their heads will fly off if they say anything!’

“So did you come to apologize to me?”

Having put down her teacup, Adelia returned to her composed self.

As she gazed at the Emperor with intelligent eyes, he slowly nodded.

“Yes. You spoke rightly and I was wrong. And……”

“You came to ask how to improve the Princess’s mood, right?”

Adelia quickly cut off the Emperor’s words.

The Emperor had been trailing off his words, and she also wanted to change this gloomy atmosphere.

“Yes…… I just couldn’t figure out what to do.”

“Did you ask others before coming to me?”

“Yes, Lucian and Lawrence gave their opinions.”

“Hmm…… His Highness must have suggested jewels as gifts, and the Prince must have suggested snacks?”

The Emperor flinched at Adelia’s words and tilted his head, looking at her in disbelief.

“…… How did you know that?”

“It’s obvious what those two would think.”

Lucian was a practical person. With his tendency to value money and honor, most of his gifts to Ariana were expensive jewels and clothes. Thanks to his careful selection of items that matched her taste, the Princess loved them.

Lawrence was good at understanding others’ likes and dislikes. So he would give Ariana things she liked—dolls, snacks, small decorations, and toys. These were gifts appropriate for her age. Of course, the prices were inappropriately enormous for her age group.

“Usually the Princess would accept these moderately well, but this time she’s angry enough to tell Your Majesty she doesn’t want them, so they would have the opposite effect.”

Ariana was a child who could feel the heart behind gifts rather than their worldly value. No matter how expensive the gifts were, they were precious to Ariana simply because they came from family.

What mattered to Ariana was not the gift but the heart behind it.

“Then what should I do? She says she doesn’t want jewels, doesn’t want snacks, doesn’t want clothes.”

“Have you apologized to the Princess?”

Adelia asked in a questioning tone.

At that moment, the Emperor slowly raised his head. Like a flame wavering in the wind, his red eyes shook violently.

The Emperor silently shook his head slowly.

As expected. Adelia let out a low sigh.

“Then an apology should come first. Show the Princess your sincerity, Your Majesty. Then her anger will subside.”

It was such a basic solution it was almost laughable. But conversely, it was so obvious that it had been overlooked.

“With an apology…… Will Ariana come back?”

“No matter how expensive the gift, nothing is better than sincerity.”

“Yes…… That’s right.”

A sincere apology.

The Emperor clenched his hands tightly in self-reproach.

He had only desperately called out to Ariana when looking for her, but had never once expressed how he truly felt.

Even the apology he was going to give to Adelia.

“And while that should be enough to soothe the Princess’s heart, you shouldn’t stop there but should continue to comfort her. Since an apology alone can’t completely heal a wounded heart, compensation will be needed too.”

“Compensation?”

“Permission to go outside.”

Adelia seized this opportunity to bring up the Princess’s outings.

If he truly understood that raising the Princess only within the palace was wrong, then naturally permission for outings should have been mentioned first.

“That. Though it’s necessary, I’m still worried……”

But two thoughts coexisted in the Emperor’s mind.

While he wanted to show the Princess the outside world and let her have various experiences, he also wanted to show her only good things in the safe palace.

He couldn’t easily decide to let her out into the unsafe outside world.

“You don’t have to give permission right away, you can make a promise. There’s the Empire’s Founding Festival coming up. Since there will be nationwide festivities then, if you increase the budget allocated for security, deploy more knights, and increase patrols, it will be safe.”

“Yes, increasing the number of knights and stepping up patrols would certainly help reduce crime.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice to go on a family outing dressed normally? What better guard could there be than Your Majesty? Plus with His Highness the Crown Prince and the Prince, and my artifacts too, no one would dare touch her.”

Adelia didn’t just blindly ask for permission for outings.

She had prepared safety measures to reassure the Emperor as much as possible. Though it seemed like she was speaking casually off the top of her head, she was actually making suggestions after confirming their feasibility.

She added the words ‘family outing’ to her perfect plan to pique the Emperor’s interest.

“I’ll change your hair and eye colors to matching ones. No one will approach you recognizing you as royalty. I’ll prepare everything for the festival, so please go out with the Princess without worry.”

That alone wouldn’t be enough to hide their royal aura, but it would be much better for concealing their identity than just throwing on a robe and going out.

Adelia couldn’t help but smile thinking about how happy Ariana would be on her first outing.

“You speak as if you won’t be going.”

“I can’t intrude on a family outing. I’m not family after all.”

Adelia waved her hand as she spoke. Though her face was soft and gentle, her tone was utterly firm.

At that moment, the Emperor felt a wall from Adelia for the first time.

Adelia had always approached him. She had knocked on the door buried in thorny vines that no one else would touch. Even when her hands were scratched, she kept knocking on the door so curiously that the door gradually opened.

And now the door was open enough for her to enter, but Adelia wasn’t coming in and was moving away from the door.

‘She has completely blended into the palace at some point.’

He wished Adelia would open the door and come in. Would there ever be another person who would polish and knock on the door so devotedly like her?

‘It would be nice if she settled in the palace as a daughter-in-law.’

The Emperor readily acknowledged his own feelings.