A Secretly Capable Child Is Seeking For Her Dad - Chapter 256
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A Powerful Child Searches for Dad Episode 256
“What do you think Ardiana has been doing lately?”
Lavania asked, pausing mid-spoon.
The Emperor answered.
“Well. She still seems busy with Association work.”
“Association work, you mean….”
“It seemed like she was calling mercenaries to the Princess’s Palace.”
Lavania flinched.
She leaned her upper body forward toward the table.
“Why would she bring mercenaries to the sacred Imperial Palace… What’s the reason? She’s not plotting something strange, is she?”
“That won’t happen.”
The Emperor who spoke let out a small sigh.
“I’ve already sent people to keep watch.”
Only then did Pides stare at the Emperor.
The Emperor also slowly put down his utensils.
He looked at Pides and continued speaking.
“…I know that you’re feeling impatient. How could you not, after what happened at the Memorial Service.”
The knuckles of Pides’ hand gripping his napkin turned white.
When the Memorial Service was mentioned, memories of that day came flooding back.
‘Not empty favoritism. Not just verbal promises to pass the throne to you. What exactly has been officially bestowed upon brother?’
Those arrogant eyes filled with confidence.
‘By what right does a prince born of a concubine who hasn’t even received investiture discuss succession order? Legitimacy isn’t earned with words.’
Even the unmistakable contempt she had shown him.
After that incident, Pides couldn’t sleep for quite some time.
It felt like all those past years when he had believed without doubt that he would become Emperor were crumbling.
Ardiana no longer seemed powerless.
Rather, she seemed to be plotting something, using the past as nourishment.
It wasn’t only Pides who was shocked.
‘Crazy thing… completely crazy!’
The day she was driven out from the Memorial Service.
‘I’m just His Majesty’s concubine? Not an Empress, and certainly not her mother? I… have I been living in vanity all this time?! Aaah, aaaah-!’
Lavania locked herself in her room and cried all day.
It was the Emperor, who returned earlier than scheduled, who comforted her.
‘Even a cornered mouse will bite a cat. She must have been under severe pressure before the expedition.’
‘No, Father! Her eyes were different than usual! Something, something definitely…!’
‘You’re being noisy, Pides!’
‘….’
‘If you had just done your assigned duties properly, today’s situation wouldn’t have occurred. Do you know how many years I invested for your legitimacy? Yet you still haven’t earned the trust of a single court official!’
‘That’s-!’
‘Shut up! Don’t make a fuss. Does the sky fall just because you turn the ground upside down?’
The Emperor’s eyes looking at Pides were utterly cold.
‘I’m begging you, please don’t do anything. Nothing at all!’
‘….’
‘Ah, enough. Confine yourself for the time being. I’ll handle the Princess myself.”
Those were hellish days.
Locked away in the Prince Palace, he had to struggle with constantly rising impatience and fear.
Lavania came every day and said.
‘His Majesty must have his reasons, Pides. This time he might finally invest you as Crown Prince.’
‘Mother….’
‘Besides, Ardiana is scheduled to leave soon, isn’t she? Whatever she’s plotting, the moment she goes to the Central Continent, we buy time. It would be even better if she just died there.’
Right.
Ardiana was someone who would leave anyway.
Earning the trust of court officials?
He thought that was something he could do slowly after Ardiana disappeared.
However.
‘Your Majesty! What do you mean? Ardiana has decided to remain?’
‘That’s what happened. It hasn’t been officially announced yet, so don’t let on that you know.’
Just a few days before the expedition, Ardiana suddenly changed her mind.
And the Emperor approved Ardiana’s choice.
Inevitably, Pides could only become consumed with one thought.
‘It’s over.’
Everything is over.
The Emperor, disappointed in him, must have changed course.
Compared to making Pides, born of a commoner, into Emperor, how easy would it be to make Ardiana, a legitimate daughter from birth, into Emperor?
The Emperor could avoid unnecessary disputes with court officials.
He wouldn’t need to fear that the Empire’s citizens would look down on imperial authority.
Above all, unlike Pides, Ardiana had proven her worth several times over.
Establishing and leading the Mercenary Association until now,
Building friendship with the Commander King, known as the strongest among mercenaries,
And finally making him loyal to the Imperial Court—it was all her doing.
‘Damn Ardiana… damn Father!’
Where all those thoughts gathered, there was despair reeking of rot.
‘It’s over, Mother. Everything is over….’
In the darkened Prince Palace, Pides muttered drunkenly.
The ceiling swayed, and broken glass littered the floor.
‘If Ardiana becomes Emperor, I’ll die. She won’t forgive me. She’ll never forgive me…!’
But at that moment.
Lavania, who had been sitting on Pides’ bed anxiously biting her nails, spoke.
‘No… No. That’s not right.’
Perhaps it was because he had been drunk, but his memories of that day were hazy.
Everything felt distant like a dream.
Even so, there were words he remembered.
‘We just don’t give him time, Pides.’
‘….’
‘If we don’t give His Majesty time to change his mind. If we make it so he doesn’t even have the chance.’
Slowly.
His consciousness returned from contemplation to reality.
Before Pides’ eyes, he saw the Emperor still continuing to speak.
“The shadow I placed on Ardiana reported as much. Both Ardiana’s decision to remain, and her summoning other mercenary groups to the Princess’s Palace.”
“….”
“Because she judged that Agavert would not return alive.”
The Emperor leaned back against his chair as if bored.
“While there are no aspects I find appealing, she is indeed clever. She figured out early that it was an impossible mission and withdrew by herself.”
“….”
“The fact that she’s already searching for a new mercenary group to replace Agavert’s position is also quite insightful.”
“Was that reliable information?”
Then Lavania asked.
The Emperor glanced up at her.
“It’s information that came through Lord Balthasar, so it’s trustworthy.”
Lavania closed her mouth.
Balthasar Grail.
He was the Imperial Palace’s treasurer and one of the Emperor’s most favored loyalists.
He was also one of the few currently supporting Pides.
The Emperor slowly rose to his feet.
“In any case. Given the situation, don’t worry about Ardiana. Above all, that child will be dealt with soon.”
Pides hesitated.
“At the earliest, three days. At the latest, within four days, I plan to announce the successor before the loyalists.”
This time Lavania’s eyes widened greatly.
The Emperor looking at her let out a chuckle.
“I’m not unaware of how much you’ve struggled alone all this time. Even after telling you a hundred, a thousand times, you still can’t feel at ease. Well, I suppose that’s a mother’s heart.”
The Emperor took steps toward Lavania.
“You’ve worked hard. Didn’t I promise you when I took you in? That the next Emperor would be your child.”
The Emperor’s gaze reached Pides.
“Though there are still many lacking aspects, he can gradually learn those as well.”
The Emperor smiled.
“Prepare in advance. In a few days at the Crown Prince investiture ceremony, you’ll need to read the declaration…”
However, he was unable to finish his words.
As if sensing something strange, the Emperor’s expression suddenly stiffened.
His bulging eyes slowly turned toward the lower right.
Then his chin began to tremble,
Thud-
In the blink of an eye, he disappeared from view.
Pides froze in place.
From Lavania’s mouth, realizing her mistake, came barely audible whispers.
“This can’t be, this can’t be…”
She rushed to the Emperor who had collapsed on the floor.
As if someone had stopped time, the Emperor was frozen at an odd angle.
“Is he, dead?”
Pides, having regained his senses, asked in a trembling voice.
Lavania, who turned to look at him with a start, shook her head.
“No, no. I…”
Pides felt he could guess what Lavania was thinking.
The Emperor had not abandoned him.
Rather, he had been planning to keep Ardiana under his surveillance and finally pass the throne to Pides this time.
Pides’ face gradually contorted.
“…Now.”
He stared at Lavania with contemptuous eyes.
“What have you done?”
Lavania trembled as she turned to look at Pides.
“Just what have you done right now!”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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