A Secretly Capable Child Is Seeking For Her Dad - Chapter 361

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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 361

Side Story 1. The Weight of Being a Head of Family

White snow poured endlessly from the darkening sky.

“So that they may not lose their way even in places without light, Absolute Being of the Underworld, let their names take root in this barren land…”

Low and solemn prayer echoed throughout the Memorial Hall.

Ardiana stood in front of the altar, quietly closing her eyes.

This ritual, which had somehow become familiar, was something that had begun under her initiative.

To commemorate those who had fallen in the long tragedy, and to pray for their souls’ peace.

Perhaps because there were too many victims.

The ceremony usually lasted from early morning until afternoon.

However, today’s ceremony had gone on unusually long.

Sure enough, Cadia whispered beside her.

“Your Majesty. Are you alright?”

Ardiana nodded lightly without even opening her eyes.

Cadia’s voice rose slightly.

“Alright, my foot…! You didn’t get a wink of sleep yesterday. That’s why I said you absolutely must rest today, no matter what.”

“Cadia. The priest is praying.”

“If you keep going like this, you’ll develop illnesses you never had before, you know? Praying for the dead is important, but first the living must live…”

The ongoing prayer stopped.

The priest turned toward Cadia with a frowning face and cleared his throat.

Cadia closed her mouth sheepishly.

When the priest began praying again, Ardiana leaned toward Cadia.

“But Cadia. I’m really fine.”

“Still…”

“Of course there are times when it’s overwhelming. It’s true that times like these are hectic. But still. If I don’t handle state affairs, what else would I do?”

Ardiana smiled languidly.

“This busy present is better than those days when I was trapped in the palace with nothing to do. Now I have Tesetan by my side too…”

But her voice soon faded.

Tie.

When her lost daughter came to mind, her tongue stiffened as it always did.

“Anyway.”

Ardiana forcibly swallowed down the surging emotions.

“I’m fine, so don’t worry about it.”

“Your Majesty…”

Cadia’s eyebrows drooped.

The memorial service continued for quite a while longer before ending.

“Your Majesty, thank you for attending.”

The approaching priest bowed before Ardiana.

“You’re the one who’s worked hard. Please also take care of the memorial service for the national cemetery that will be completed soon.”

“How could I refuse!”

Turning around, Ardiana removed the black veil that reached down to the floor.

Then she asked Cadia.

“What’s the next schedule?”

Cadia rummaged through the documents she had tucked in her chest.

“In two hours, you need to review the petitions sent by the provincial nobles.”

“What’s next?”

“The knights who went out to monitor the borders because of monsters are scheduled to return…”

“Ah, I know about that. Is it about the medals?”

Cadia nodded.

Ardiana handed her the veil she was holding.

“Please bring me something else to wear instead of this. I’ll go to the office by myself.”

“What? But…”

Ardiana raised one hand as if to say stop.

“There are over fifty guards stationed along the path to the office, Cadia.”

Cadia hesitated and then closed her mouth.

“Times have changed. Maybe in the past, but now who would dare try to harm me inside this palace?”

“That’s true.”

“Right.”

“The Duke is so…”

“Tesetan keeps the Imperial Palace security so thoroughly.”

In fact, it was rare for the Duke to personally manage Imperial Palace security.

That was also why the loyalists had strongly opposed it at first.

However, Tesetan completely ignored their dissuasion and declared firmly.

‘The Imperial Palace should be the safest place in the Empire. In that sense, the current security system needs to be reinforced. More strictly, more impenetrably.’

‘Pardon…?’

‘Since I’ve entered the palace, I can no longer leave His Majesty the Emperor and the Princess in such an environment.’

‘Your Grace, what do you mean by that…’

‘The new security system will need a new commander, right? So I’ll take that commander position.’

He said he would step forward and take responsibility for all security within the palace.

Of course, the opposition was intense.

‘Your Grace! How can the esteemed Duke take on work that should be handled by loyalists…?’

‘That’s right! Please trust us just once instead!’

The problem was that Tesetan wasn’t the type to listen to their opinions.

‘This involves the safety of His Majesty the Emperor and the Princess. When finding the right person for such work, why are you considering social status? Shouldn’t we consider competence first?’

‘Well, that’s true, but…’

‘Don’t argue back. There’s no one more suitable for this job than me.’

In the end, the loyalists couldn’t even protest a few times before closing their mouths.

In fact, the answer had been decided from the beginning.

Knights born into wealthy families who had only received formal training.

Those inexperienced knights couldn’t compare to Tesetan from the start.

They only moved efficiently under predetermined routes and orders, but were slow to respond to unexpected situations.

Conversely, the mercenaries Ardiana had brought in weren’t perfect either.

They were strong, but weren’t familiar with the order and system that the Imperial Palace space required.

But what about Tesetan?

He was both a mercenary who had made a name across the continent and someone from a noble family.

Understanding military systems and command structures, palace discipline and power was basic for him.

‘He knows well what’s important in the Imperial Palace, where cracks are likely to form, and which gaps among them are most fatal.’

After that, everything went as expected.

When Tesetan stepped to the front lines, changes began rapidly.

First, the large and small disturbances that often occurred within the Imperial Palace disappeared.

The lax entry and exit routes were reorganized, and the standards for vigilance became much stricter.

The attempted intrusions that used to be reported periodically also came to a complete stop.

Tesetan was delighted, saying he had found a pastime in his boring domestic life.

The opposition from the loyalists also gradually subsided.

Because they too had realized.

That the Imperial Palace guarded by Tesetan was safer than anywhere else.

“Go on.”

At Ardiana’s urging voice, Cadia reluctantly turned around.

Ardiana began walking down the corridor alone.

Shadows repeatedly stretched long and disappeared between the pillars lining the edges.

When a brief moment of rest arose, Tie naturally came to mind.

Was the child doing well?

It had already been two days since she last saw her.

Was she eating well, laughing well, and sleeping well as Tesetan said?

“Sigh.”

A sigh escaped her.

Her words about the Imperial Palace work being busy and difficult had been sincere.

However, among all of it, the most difficult thing for her was always one thing.

Astie.

Watching that child push her away.

So she couldn’t readily approach, yet couldn’t distance herself either, orbiting around the child like a satellite.

It was when she had almost reached her office.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty!”

An urgent voice burst out from behind her.

“Cadia?”

“I think you need to go see right now!”

Cadia, who had come running breathlessly, was stamping her feet urgently.

In her hands, she still held the black veil that Ardiana had sent her.

“Princess seems to be ill! She has a fever, and Sabert is urgently looking for a physician…!”

“A fever?”

Ardiana’s brow furrowed.

She quickly turned around.

Then she began running recklessly toward the Princess’s Palace, cutting across the path she had come.

She didn’t know what had happened, but if it was urgent enough that Tesetan hadn’t come to inform her, it must be a critical situation.

Soon, the huge garden and fountain prepared in the center of the Imperial Palace appeared before her eyes.

Snow had piled up to knee height on the brown, dried grass.

Though the servants had cleared the paths surrounding the garden, taking that route would mean going far around the garden.

Eventually, Ardiana stepped boldly into the knee-deep snow.

“Your Majesty!”

“Oh my! Your Majesty…!”

The servants who had been shoveling snow came running with wide eyes.

Ardiana didn’t stop walking.

Cold snow pushed into her shoes and under her clothes, but she didn’t even have time to care.

‘Where does it hurt? How much does it hurt?’

Her senses sharpened with worry that made her vision blur.

But just as she was gasping for breath and throwing open the door to the Princess’s Palace.

“Beep, beeep…!”

Someone standing proudly in the Palace Courtyard stopped her in her tracks.

It was Tie.

Tie standing there with a white curtain draped around her body, doing something.

The child muttered seriously.

“I’m sorry…”

Then she shook her head back and forth.

“Aila has passed away. The cause of death was fatal overeating!”

At those words, a servant who had been lying strangely on the floor dropped her head with a thud.

Then, making eye contact with Ardiana standing at the entrance, she quickly got up again.

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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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