Chapter 14
Up until just a moment ago, he had been sizing me up, but now he looked as though he had been struck by some deep shock.
Honestly, I didn’t see what was so shocking about it.
Well, people’s temperaments are as varied as the forms of family.
Anyway, the plan worked. Thank goodness.
Operation “Shake Bertholdt’s Mental State for Information Extraction”: resounding success!
I took a big bite of my tart and grinned to myself.
Maybe it was the sugar, but my head felt sharper than usual, whirring along at a brisk pace.
But settling for this much? That wouldn’t be like Mom and Dad’s daughter.
Should I try digging a little deeper?
“Then, were you and my dad really close, Mister?”
I swallowed the bite completely and asked again.
Bertholdt, who had been frowning, snapped out of his daze with a soft exclamation.
“Ah, of course. Naturally.”
“How close?”
“When Harzen was here, I was always his pillar of support. He trusted and depended on me in all things.”
With a faint smile tugging at his lips, he spoke as though recalling fond memories.
“You could say Harzen’s childhood was built upon me.”
…And that’s supposed to be something to brag about?
I pursed my lips as his expression glowed with self-satisfaction.
As expected of the hidden villain. Not in his right mind.
“Back then.”
Just then, the Emperor, who had been silently listening, spoke.
“Is he… doing well?”
“You mean Dad?”
I stretched out the words, staring up at the Emperor.
His face was still stern, still frightening—but if you looked closely, wasn’t there a trace of genuine concern for his son there?
“Of course!”
I answered brightly, as if to ease his worries.
“Dad always says this is the happiest he’s ever been!”
That wasn’t even a lie.
It was what Dad always told me at bedtime.
“Is that so.”
The Emperor let out a sigh that melted into the faintest of smiles.
[Progress Reset Notice]
Due to shifts in the core characters’ emotions and goals, the estimated reset time has been drastically revised.
Estimated Time: 10 minutes
And at that very moment—
Ding!
That dread-inducing chime pierced my ears.
The moment I checked the scroll, I glared daggers at Bertholdt.
Oh, come on!
Ten minutes? Not ten hours—ten minutes?
Why?
Well, there was only one answer.
Dad never invented teleportation, so it wasn’t as if they had warped here instantly.
No, it could only mean one thing.
The emotions of a key character have changed!
A key character!
Bertholdt’s emotions!
Shifted so much that the timer collapsed to ten minutes!
I kept staring at him, my mind racing.
This must have happened because of my conversation with the Emperor.
But what part of it rattled him so much?
The Emperor asked if Harzen was well.
I said Dad was the happiest he’s ever been.
And then—the reset.
Putting that together with everything I knew about Bertholdt’s personality…
The answer was obvious.
He hated that Dad was happy.
I still didn’t understand why someone who resented him so much would have been so “good” to him in the past…
No. Don’t waste time trying to understand a villain’s heart.
Not now.
“Um, but…”
I jumped in quickly, abandoning the “shake Bertholdt” strategy. Damage control first!
“Sometimes I do wonder if Dad’s lying about that.”
I cast him a furtive glance as I began babbling.
“He doesn’t really get along with the other dads, so he’s always at home reading books.”
“…”
“Our house is far from the village, so just going to the market takes ages. And, um…”
I trailed off, rolling my eyes around.
No, no, no! This won’t cut it, Cecilia.
Get a grip!
No trivial detail would sway Bertholdt.
Think. Use the sugar rush. Find the best possible card to play!
“Ah.”
The idea struck me like lightning.
“I don’t think I’ve ever really seen Dad give a genuine smile.”
It was true—among all my dads, Harzen smiled the most.
He even smiled when greeting knights from the Imperial Order, the very people he should despise.
But I knew the truth.
Most of those smiles were masks.
The product of long years spent behind a façade.
Of course, his words—that this was the happiest time of his life—weren’t lies.
He gave up the Imperial name to build this life. How could he not be happier?
But still, in all my memories, Dad’s smiles always looked painted on.
“Wait—so he’s not happy at all?”
The words burst from me in genuine shock.
At the same moment, Bertholdt’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
[Progress Reset Notice]
Due to shifts in the core characters’ emotions and goals, the estimated reset time has been drastically revised.
Estimated Time: 164 hours, 38 minutes
Ding!
The scroll flickered back to its previous state.
Phew. Back to the original arrival time.
Guess my shock hadn’t looked fake—enough to sway him.
Naturally. It wasn’t fake.
“To think he left the palace only to remain unable to find happiness…”
Bertholdt shook his head slowly, voice colored with feigned pity.
“Truly, is that not a tragic thing? Don’t you agree?”
But I caught it—the faintest glimmer in his eyes.
So faint you’d miss it if you weren’t watching every twitch of his expression.
A flicker of delight.
My face hardened.
Poor Dad.
To think he endured all those years in this palace with only this man to lean on…
It was too cruel.
I wanted so badly to snap back at him—
No. Hold it in.
If I provoked him again and the timer dropped to ten seconds, what then?
I forced myself to breathe deeply.
Think of Mom. Think of Dad, somewhere else in the palace right now.
“What a pitiful fool.”
The Emperor’s gruff voice cut in, laced with disapproval.
Judging from his tone, the words weren’t for Bertholdt but for Dad.
Yet…
Was that concern?
Unlike Bertholdt, the Emperor’s blue eyes held no trace of joy.
I knew those eyes well.
They were the same as when Dad looked at me after I’d gotten myself in trouble and cried.
“Grandfather.”
I stared up at him.
“You’re not close with Dad, are you?”
“…”
“Why aren’t you close?”
Take that—the merciless weapon of a child’s innocent question.
“I’m really close with all my dads, you know.”
I popped a cookie into my mouth with a triumphant snap, leaving that parting shot behind.
Bertholdt was calmed. Time to move on to the next target.
After all, I’d stayed here precisely to uncover why the Emperor and Dad had fallen out.
“…You’re rather bold, aren’t you.”
The Emperor muttered in astonishment.
A little while ago, I would’ve been too scared to ask. But not now.
Turns out he’s not so scary after all.
Honestly, angry Mom is way scarier.
I widened my eyes with deliberate innocence, waiting for his reply.
It was a long time before he finally spoke again.
“I don’t really know. I can’t say where or how it all went wrong.”
“…”
“Too much time has passed to go back and lay blame.”
The moment he finished, I answered without hesitation.
“That’s cowardly.”
