RPEUC 10

The Emperor couldn’t take his eyes off Kanna.

Is she really going to go this far? Has she lost her mind?

Even as he thought it, his gaze hurriedly swept over her from head to toe.

Fortunately—or rather, surprisingly—Kanna didn’t seem injured anywhere. She was completely fine.

The Emperor finally managed to steady his breathing.

“You… are you… staging a protest against me?”

“A protest?”

Kanna tilted her head slightly, repeating his words.

But soon, as if it didn’t matter, she casually slipped her hand into her pocket and smiled faintly.

“The person who had something to say just left without letting me respond.”

“……”

“So it’d be annoying to come all the way back to meet again, right?”

“……”

“Why are you sitting down, though?”

The Emperor opened his mouth slightly.

Does she really not know? He was so stunned that he barely registered Kanna’s informal tone.

“I don’t put in effort anymore for people who dislike me. If you don’t like my attitude or tone, then just don’t call me again.”

“……”

“So just live as if I don’t exist. I’ll live as if you don’t exist too.”

“……”

“Are you worried I might become the heir? At the very least, you know what kind of person Kanis Leventi is. You also know what it means that I’ve never been known to the public until now.”

Supported by attendants, the Emperor barely managed to stand.

On the other hand, there was no one beside Kanna.

The small child stood alone, declaring as if stating something obvious.

“When Kanis Leventi returns, I’ll disappear again.”

That sentence clung stubbornly to his mind and refused to leave.

That Evening

Michael, who had hurried back to the palace, silently stared at the reception room.

Jehiel had collapsed asleep on the sofa, clinging tightly to Kanna.

Kanna was barely holding her head up, dozing like a sick bird.

“I thought I shouldn’t touch her in case Lady Kanna woke up…”

At the servant’s words, Michael strode toward the sofa.

He peeled off Jehiel’s arms that were clinging like octopus tentacles, then slipped his hands under Kanna’s armpits and lifted her up.

Like pulling out a radish, Kanna was extracted from Jehiel’s grip and caught in Michael’s arms.

He gestured slightly.

A servant quickly opened the bedroom door and lifted part of the blanket—but Kanna woke up.

“…What?”

“Go back to sleep.”

“What is this?”

Ignoring her, Michael placed Kanna on the bed, but she immediately sat up.

“Is Jehiel gone?”

In the blink of an eye, Kanna seemed fully awake.

Michael frowned slightly, clearly displeased, but said nothing and answered calmly.

“No. He’s outside.”

“Send him home properly.”

At Michael’s signal, the servants went out to wake Jehiel and closed the door. The room became quiet.

Michael sat on the edge of the bed with his back turned and glanced at Kanna.

“Seems like you were bothered a lot by Jehiel this evening.”

“Yeah. It was total chaos.”

“Do you know why?”

Kanna cut him off cautiously, wary.

“I’ve already said it over a hundred times today, but I swore I’m going to start using the stairs from now on.”

“Good.”

Michael gave a flat reply, loosened his tie, and undid a few buttons.

Kanna blinked.

He looked more subdued than usual.

“Now that you’re awake, you should see a physician.”

“I already got examined earlier.”

“You never know. Something might show up late.”

“No, I’m fine—”

“I am not fine.”

Without listening further, Michael gestured to a servant.

“Call the physician.”

In the end, Kanna had to endure another round of relentless questioning from physicians who poked at her fingers asking, “Does this hurt?”, lifting and lowering her arms asking, “Any discomfort?”

Even so, Michael wasn’t satisfied and stood behind them with crossed arms, urging them to check her eyes, her breathing, everything.

The physicians, flustered, even checked her hair before finally convincing him that Kanna had no issues at all.

After the examination ended, the physicians left, followed by the servants.

Michael sat down beside Kanna, who was sprawled on the bed.

“Are you very tired?”

Kanna didn’t even have the energy to argue; she only shifted her eyes toward him.

“Do you even have to ask?”

“Even if you’re fine, your body must’ve been shocked.”

Michael reached out to touch her forehead but hesitated.

The moment their eyes met, he casually withdrew his hand.

“Did you take a nap today?”

“…No.”

Michael exhaled in concern.

Even after playing with her during the day, she hadn’t taken a nap—or even slept properly at night.

Ever since she found out a servant would come to check on her in the early morning, she had been staying awake, startling them each time.

No one had ever seen Kanna sleeping peacefully.

Today especially, after what happened, she needed rest.

Kanna stared at Michael, who was clearly thinking about how to make her sleep.

“What are you so worried about? People already believe whatever they want. It doesn’t matter.”

“Believe what?”

“That you’re my biological father.”

“……”

Michael fell silent. It was as if he had never even considered such a thing.

“If it’s not that… then why are you going this far?”

“Why do you think?”

Michael’s face looked more worn than before.

Now that she noticed, it felt even more obvious—like he had been overworking himself all along, ever since they first met at the inn.

Michael, half-shadowed by the lamp, changed the subject as if he had already expected no answer.

“So, what was it you wanted to say earlier?”

“Earlier?”

Kanna asked absentmindedly, then remembered why she had come.

“I mean… about our promise.”

“The promise that I would fulfill your requests while you help me?”

“Y-yeah, that one.”

“Say whatever you want.”

Something immediately came to Kanna’s mind.

“The imperial library.”

“Do you need books?”

“No. I need access to the restricted section.”

She expected him to refuse immediately.

She even had a rebuttal ready—but Michael simply nodded without hesitation.

“Fine.”

“…Fine?”

“Yes.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

Kanna could feel his gaze still fixed on her, even as she spoke.

Michael’s attention wasn’t fully in the conversation.

He was simply checking if she was really alright.

“You’re not looking at me.”

Michael smiled faintly and slowly reached out.

Kanna didn’t avoid him. She blinked as his hand came to rest on her head.

“I am looking at you, Kanna.”

“……”

“It just reminded me of the past.”

The past?

“Then you should sleep now.”

He checked the dark window and lit the lamp. Suddenly, bedtime had been decided for her.

“How can you tell someone to sleep for ten hours?”

“Then is sleeping less than four hours normal?”

Instead of leaving, Michael sat on a single sofa beside the bed, placing a stack of documents on the table and flipping through them.

“…You said you were leaving.”

“Sleep.”

“Too noisy.”

“Small noise helps induce sleep.”

“I can’t sleep with someone in the room.”

Michael looked up.

“Just think of me as a breathing rock.”

“A rock, my foot.”

“Well, I suppose I’m a rather handsome rock.”

“You’re really not leaving?”

“Kanna, I’m working. Please don’t disturb me.”

Kanna turned over with an annoyed scoff.

As she pulled the blanket up with effort, Michael suddenly leaned over and pulled it up for her before returning to his seat.

Noticing her gaze, he explained without looking away from the documents.

“The sound of you moving the blanket was distracting.”

Seriously… this guy.

Kanna swallowed the words she couldn’t say out loud and tried to sleep.

Tomorrow, she had to find clues in the imperial library’s forbidden section.

Then she would finally deal with Michael’s ridiculous stubbornness—

No, that wasn’t it. She needed to leave this suffocating palace soon.

And return to the peaceful, quiet Magic Tower.

The forbidden section of the imperial library held the legacy of the first Emperor, Felix Cloven.

He had studied rumors about mages from across the continent and published many books.

There might be records there—about cases like Kanis.