I was confused and worried if we would meet on the way; it couldn’t be?

  “Eeh, no way.”


  Assisi sighed, seeing us all nervous.

  It just pulled on the robe around me.

  The news that my father had entered the Northern continent didn’t seem to be some baseless rumor. It wasn’t enough that Uprichit’s borders were closed, but our anxiety amplified when he realized that the identity checks were being conducted very thoroughly. Even Valer was nervous.

  Because of the strict security, I couldn’t even dream of going onto the floating ship because we had to be careful of where we moved.

  Would he really catch us?

  I was ready to head back, but I was scared of looking into my father’s face. How could I even look into his eyes after running away from him? I wasn’t that shameless yet. It sucks; everything sucks.

  “But the Northern continent is huge. He can’t find us.”


  “R-right?”


  Seeing the two of us get anxious, Havel just turned his head away as if he wasn’t interested in joining our conversation. When I saw that indifferent expression, I lowered my head.

  For some reason, the wagons stood in their original place, and it was the same with the other wagons too.

  There was no traffic problem or clutter, so why did the wagons stop?

  “Which royal family is passing by?”


  “Why would a royal family come here? Don’t be ridiculous.”


  As I tried to cut down Valer’s bullshit, I lifted the curtain in the wagon and looked out. I really wanted to know what was causing the delay……

  Once I looked outside, I hit Valer, who was next to me.

  “Get down!”


  “What?”


  “Get down. Let’s get down quickly!”


  I urged Assisi to open the door and get down; everyone seemed shocked at my sudden nervous act. I was in such a hurry that I couldn’t even explain it to them adequately.

  “What the hell is wrong?”


  “Dad!”


  “Huh?”


  Before I could even explain what was happening, a huge sound resonated. That was the sound of the horn when a royal family entered a place; we all halted our movements.

  We were ruined.

  When Valer heard it, he understood why I was urging them to get down.

  We quickly returned to the wagon, but we moved so fast earlier that we were already far from our wagon when we stopped our tracks. There was such a massive crowd around us that we couldn’t move even if we wanted to.

  Ah, we were ruined.

  “Is our daughter here?”


  I felt glad to hear a blurry but familiar voice from a distance. For a second, I thought it would be good to see my dad amid the situation; I had one hell of a courageous heart then.

  Everyone bowed and waited for my dad to pass. It was natural because we had no intention of causing any problems.

  I, too, bowed my head and thought that my dad would just pass by quietly. Please, please!

  “Your Majesty?”


  The passing by horses was getting closer and closer to us.

  There were so many people on the street, but there was no noise around. Everyone seemed to know who was passing the road. The tension spread among us. I endured the urge to raise my head and look around. I was staring at the ground, but I could feel a familiar gaze fall on me from a distance.

  “So.”


  The familiar voice made my knees go weak.

  I lifted my head with no hope left in me. Caitel pulled his black horse and called me out in front of all the people.

  Ha, haha, hahaha!

  As I laughed awkwardly, Caitel asked with his cold gaze.

  “How did it feel running away from my eyes, my daughter?”


  Though his words seemed snarky, I could see that he was hurt.

  Not seriously hurt, though. Caitel was only offended to the point where he was angry. If he were outraged, he would have grabbed me right away and taken me somewhere else without even speaking to me.

  Before I saw his face, I was scared as hell, but once I saw my dad, an unknown feeling rushed through me.

  My dad, I was looking at him after a long time.

  My dad.

  “It was fun.”


  Yes, it was fun enough that I wanted to try it out again.

  I must have gone crazy.

  Dad looked down with a slightly relaxed expression at my answer. I smiled.

  “Are you here to pick me up?”


  Dad didn’t answer. He seemed a little upset.

  I reached out to my dad’s hand.

  “Dad-”


  I was really a happy person. My dad had come that far just to pick me up. I was satisfied. Although the continent shuddered before him, he was only doing it for his daughter.

  Dad sighed while looking down at me.

  Seeing Caitel, who didn’t want to talk to me, was very fun, mostly since his expression was so funny. Although he did evil things against other countries, he had to be upset; he was still a father, after all. I was sorry after what I put him through, but it was true that I had a lot of fun!

  “Let’s go back home.”


  “Yes!”


  As I nodded with an answer, the knights escorting my dad approached us. Also, I saw a familiar face riding on a horse.

  Oh?

  “But why is Ferdel here?”


  He saw me, yet he didn’t say hello. Ferdel was only staring at my dad. Caitel didn’t seem to care, but Ferdel seemed different. It was as if the grim reaper was looking at my dad.

  “Why are you looking like that?”


  Caitel didn’t answer. I only heard Ferdel’s voice full of anger.

  “Because I have to deal with what this madman does, I am forced to follow him. I didn’t even want to come here! Never!”


  “Huh?”


  Seeing that reaction, I assumed that my dad didn’t do something crazy. At Ferdel’s gaze, Caitel brazenly lifted his head, wordlessly asking what he did wrong.

  “Caitel, you crazy bastard!”


  “I know.”


  “That wasn’t a praise, you crazed fool! You crazy bastard!”


  It would be hard to pour out such rants without Ferdel turning insane. It was shocking for Ferdel to openly curse my dad in a place where so many people surrounded us. It wasn’t the first time, but it felt familiar; it felt like home.

  It was amazing that my dad brought the prime minister who should be taking care of Agrigient.

  “What on earth happened?”


  At my curious question, Ferdel responded as if he was waiting for someone to ask.

  “Ancief and Langres in the southern side are on their feet waiting for war. Won’t they attack the Imperial Palace openly? No one goes over to another country and says, ‘give me my daughter’! ah, really, it’s a miracle that we’re still alive.”


  “.…… Oh god!”


  “Trying to invade Pretzia right after we approved their independence and to block the border as soon as we entered Uprichit. Ugh, I had never seen a man as crazy as you, ugh.”


  ‘Cheer up, my teacher.’


  Even with Ferdel swearing at him from the back, dad’s expression hadn’t changed. Assisi bowed.

  “Don’t say anything weird and get into the carriage.”


  When he said that, a small carriage came from behind him.

  I laughed at it.

  “Can’t I ride a horse?”


  “No.”


  “Why?”


  With a serious expression, my dad answered.

  “Because you won’t be given a chance to run away again.”


  I almost laughed but nodded my head.

  Ah, cute.

  “Fine. I’ll go in quietly.”


  At first, I thought he would be scary, mad, and missing a few screws in his brain, but seeing dad up close made me realize how cute he was.

  Ha, maybe that was why people lived long to see a lot of stuff?

  Heading to the carriage, I looked back. The other members of the group had their heads down, but I saw Havel.

  I thanked him with a glance.

  As I entered the carriage, I felt exhausted. It was as if all the tiredness that accumulated during our trip started getting to me. Even if I didn’t want to go, I still headed back home, so I decided to get some sleep.

  Leaning on the soft chair of the carriage, I fell asleep.

  Ah, it was so tough.