Chapter 27

"You don't want to eat alone?"

"Yees. I wanna eat twogether."

Siervian nodded shyly. Fortunately, her father didn't shake off her hold on his sleeve.

Next to her, Ellie was wiping her eyes for some reason.

Looking carefully at the other people's faces, she wanted to say more so that it wouldn't be considered to be a big deal.

"E-Even if it's nwot evewyday, it's okay."

She wanted to rationalize it more.

She was so quiet in her previous life. Maybe that's why she was having a hard time expressing her thoughts now.

It felt like there was a gag over her mouth so that she couldn't say the things she wanted to say properly.

Maybe this was also a problem that's caused by the synchronization issue that the status window told her about.

"..."

Perhaps it was hard to understand her because her father didn't say anything back.

Losing confidence now, she bowed her head little by little.

She had been too greedy.

"T-Then swometimes only, not many times, only swometimes…"

Normally, she would have already asked for forgiveness at this point.

But why did she feel so sad today?

There were lingering feelings, so she made excuses now, asking for not much time.

'I saved a lot of people today, and I got complimented…'

She had bowed her head so low that she couldn't see her father's status window when her father answered.

"There is a misunderstanding."

At the displeased tone, Siervian looked up in surprise.

Frowning, the Emperor looked at his daughter closely.

There seemed to have been a misunderstanding.

"Didn't the chamberlain tell you properly?"

Siervian, who thought that the grand chamberlain had come again to emphasize that there would no longer be breakfasts together with her father, felt as though her blood had turned cold.

And meanwhile, the Emperor didn't know that her daughter was stiff and unable to say anything, so he turned to the chief lady-in-waiting of the Princess' Palace.

"Answer. Why does the Princess think that she won't be having breakfast with me anymore in the future?"

[ Alderuan Erveldote ]

Thoughts: I was planning to come back again after my schedule's cleared.

Huh?

Raising her head, Siervian looked at Ellie.

It wasn't that he didn't want to come anymore?

"I humbly implore Your Majesty, but the grand chamberlain of the Emperor's Palace only briefly informed us that Your Majesty could not attend breakfast."

"Then?"

"…It seems that Her Highness had interpreted this as Your Majesty not coming anymore, instead of only for a while…"

As Ellie was talking, there was a visible enlightenment dawning upon her features.

'Come to think of it, that's around the time the Princess strangely looked despondent!'

Naturally, everyone's attention was drawn towards the princess who was sitting shyly.

"Is that true?"

[ Alderuan Erveldote ]

Thoughts: Hm. I can't believe it blindly. I also wonder if the ladies-in-waiting interfered in the middle.

It was a situation that was easily misunderstood.

Flustered by her father's thoughts, Siervian nodded urgently.

It's not their fault.

"That's not true, Siervy. I was going to come back here as soon as my schedule allowed it."

"Weally…"

Her father's tone, which seemed to be softer, tickled her ears. She misunderstood.

"Yes. If this father is busy in the future again, I might not be able to eat with you."

"Mm, okaay…"

"But after my work is done and I'm not busy anymore, we can eat together again. So from now on, don't skip your meals even if you're eating alone."

She liked how her father almost said that having meals with her was a fixed schedule for him. It was the same as making her hope for it.

She was about to smile a little. But on the other hand, she also wanted to cry for some reason.

With these vague feelings, Siervian tried to peek into her father's thoughts as she asked.

"Big Bwother, too?"

"…Yes."

[ Alderuan Erveldote ]

Thoughts: I wanted to get rid of that punk, but I can't help it if Siervy wants him there.

And Siervian was surprised to see that her father was planning to exclude her brother.

But last time, her brother said that he wanted to eat with their father as well, so she should turn a blind eye to this.

Her hand, which was holding his sleeve, wiggled a little. It felt like there was something tickling her heart because of this light sensation.

Unable to control her emotions, she held onto that feeling again and asked.

"Evewyday?"

[ Alderuan Erveldote ]

Favorability: +100

Favorability: +100

At the cute whine, the Emperor hurriedly covered his mouth.

He was worried that his daughter, who was seriously asking him, might see his wide smile and misunderstand again.

"...?"

And she did, but she thought she was in trouble because of this. Even so, Siervian regained her courage after seeing his favorability in the window.

She wouldn't misunderstand whatever her father would tell her.

Soon, her father lowered his hand again and calmly made eye contact with her.

"Let's make it right. I'll just get rid of everyone who dares interfere with our breakfast.

At his remark, Siervian was startled.

She was satisfied with just having meals together with him normally.

'And more than that, the ones keeping Father busy are the ministers of this empire! You can't get rid of them!'