At my words, he couldn’t answer; Ferdel did have outstanding abilities, even excelling over my dad.

  Right, the only reason why Ferdel was never killed or threatened was because of his skills and efficiency.

  Even if I didn’t know the entire story, I knew that Ferdel was a good person.

  A heavy silence swept us for a moment. Something let me know that it wasn’t a normal silence, a heavy one. I didn’t know what happened.

  “Have you heard why I fired him?”


  The question I had been waiting to hear the answer to, but I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to learn it.

  What happened?

  “No. Why?”


  “It’s fine if you don’t know.”


  Responding to my question, Caitel went silent.

  I was a little silent. I thought he would tell me.

  Was it their secret? Couldn’t they tell me too? Ugh, I felt alienated.

  Since they were nasty, I deliberately broke down the bread with a vulgar expression to show my displeasure. It seemed like he noticed what I was feeling.

  ‘What will you do, dad?’


  ‘You won’t be able to win over your cute daughter with such an attitude!’ As I smiled widely, my dad stared at me but said nothing.

  ‘Huh?’


  “You need to eat slowly, dad!”


  “.……”


  He really seemed like he wanted to hit me on the back of my head.

  It was amusing, though.

  I was really lost in thought, but I couldn’t do anything. There surely was no answer. Uhm.

  I had fun teasing my dad, even though I knew that it wasn’t right. Still, I couldn’t wait to do it because it was the only fun I had.

  How could I give that up!?

  Above all, my dad was such a cutie; he scared others to death but stayed silent when I said something. No one would think that he was the Caitel they knew, nor would I share it.

  “Ah, but dad, there was something I wanted to ask.”


  “What?”


  “When you came to rescue me from that mansion, how did you manage to bring the sixth prince’s mother?”


  I could have asked Ferdel, but I felt like Caitel was the one who had to be asked.

  “How did you know that you could force my release if you use her?”


  I constantly wondered.

  Unlike me, who was eager to get the answer, Caitel’s answer was simple.

  “Ferdel suggested it.”


  Huh?

  “When I became the Emperor and the sixth prince ran away, Ferdel told me that she was the only woman who could bring the sixth prince back to us after his escape. Thus, we kept her alive. Hidden.”


  “Huh? Hidden?”


  “Right. Ferdel kept her hidden because I would have killed her right away. He would surely come for his mother. There was no way a mama’s boy could live with the absence of his mother.”


  Mama’s boy. I struggled to understand where Caitel was going with it.

  “The war in the south is also his plan, that insidious bastard.”


  “Bastard?”


  “Siorn, motherfucker.”


  ‘But dad, your choice of words is rather crude if taken out of context in front of your daughter.’


  It wasn’t like he wasn’t supposed to speak like that, but dad must know that education at home was essential.

  However, in front of Caitel, it was best if I chose to stay silent.

  I didn’t need to spend my time arguing with him.

  “I decided to let him go and ensure his capture at a later time, but before I could do that, Ferdel stopped me. Now, my daughter is not just sympathizing with Ferdel but also cooperating with him.”


  Haha, as I thought. Fardel really had a handful to handle.

  I tried to overlook the situation with an awkward laugh, but Caitel wasn’t buying it. Even I wouldn’t if I was in his place. I realized that I shouldn’t learn what went down between them.

  “Dad, I hate it when you fight.”


  Placing the tray aside, I grabbed my father’s hand.

  “Why?”


  “Other people hate you.”


  It had been a long time since I held my dad’s hand.

  I couldn’t remember when I held his hand the first time, but I knew that I wanted to hold onto his hand for a longer time.

  “I want other people to like you as much as I do.”


  That was the real thought I began to generate since I was young; no, it was something I wished after liking Caitel. A genuine wish for Caitel’s sake.

  “Is it too childlike?”


  “You are a child.”


  A smile appeared on my dad’s face.

  Right, still young. Eighteen. I thought as much; I was young. I would only reach adulthood after another year.

  I decided to forget how old I was when I restarted my life. I decided to no longer care about the life I lived before. I felt foolish to hold onto something which ended for a long time. It was enough proof that I wasn’t living faithfully to the current one. Well, currently, Ariadna really was 18.

  When I concluded everything, my surroundings cleared.

  Everything I had to do or could do and the possibilities around me gleamed like countless dazzling stars.

  I was glad to be born again, really glad.

  Feeling my dad’s warm hands made me refuse to let him go.

  “I will come back safe.”


  Caitel smiled at my greeting.

  “It feels like I am sending you off to marriage.”


  “Ah, I’m not yet at the age to marry.”


  ‘Right, I’ll do that when I’m twenty-five.’


  In fact, I wanted to do that after thirty, but maybe having a child at that later age would be tough, so I pulled it back to twenty-five. Well, if I could meet a very fateful partner, I wouldn’t mind doing that at twenty!

  Caitel raised his hand and stroked my head.

  Very gently, gentle enough to know that he cared for me.

  Oh, that was so good.

  “I feel like it was just yesterday when you were a kid.”


  “Not at all. Yesterday makes no sense. It was over fourteen years ago, dad.”


  “Has so much time passed?”


  It really had been long.

  As I nodded, Caitel sighed.

  “I don’t really remember what your age was then, but when I see you, I always realize it.”


  That it had been seventeen years since we met? That time passed? That’s new. He must have been through a lot of new things.

  “How many more years can we be together?”


  “Until death!”


  What was my dad even asking!

  “Isn’t that natural?”


  Caitel clicked his tongue at my question.

  “Stupid answers.”


  “W-what was with that reaction!”


  Wasn’t he being too mean even after I said that I would stay with him till my death? Caitel smiled and patted my head again with his usual low voice.

  “Don’t grow up too fast.”


  I already grew up……

  When 18, one was already a grown-up. Still, for my dad, I was a child.

  “I don’t want to send you.”


  Where was he even sending me?

  At that moment, I realized. It seemed like dad didn’t want me to go to the talks.

  I sighed. My dad was looking at me with eyes that were looking for a different future. I had no intention of leaving my dad alone.

  “I need to go. Be patient cause I will be back in a week. I will miss you a lot, dad.”


  “Okay.”


  Oh, how could I even leave such a man alone? When parents get older, they begin to act like kids. I didn’t think he was that old, but my dad was already acting like a kid.

  How old did a man have to get to turn back into a child?

  Strange thing. Even then, I didn’t want to leave his arms, a new problem for me.

  “Look now. If someone sees us, they’d think that we’d stay here forever. The father and daughter are unusual ones. Is it not?”


  “It is fine. If they point their fingers at us, I will cut it all off.”


  I was trying to say something touching, but he decided to ruin it.

  Ahh……

  I wanted to smile, but I could only sigh. Ugh, I didn’t know where to start.

  Fortunately, I felt better than before. I liked it.

  “Dad, you can’t walk around.”


  “.……”


  “I would get apprehensive, understand?”


  Instead of answering, Caitel just looked away.

  “Give me rice.”


  My turn.

  I was fortunate that he didn’t retaliate to my request, so I took comfort in it.

  However, I couldn’t hide my anxious expression while feeding him.

  It was a problem.

  “Wah, what am I supposed to do with such a dad?”