Episode 10

This is translated by Bane with Editing by Morin (currently unedited version)

“It’s great like this, Stiana.”

I also gave him a boost to his words.

Sitting down on his knee felt like a prickly cushion as I watched the meat brown.

The emperor held me with one arm and sliced the meat thinly with the other.

He blew on the cut pieces with a ‘Ho-ho’ and brought it to my mouth.

I ate like a baby bird that was being fed by its parents.

The princes looked at me with envy.

They glanced at us sneakingly as if they weren’t looking this way.

They were usually cool as if they didn’t care about not receiving their father’s love, but they would still be envious of what they didn’t have.

I chewed at the meat for a long time on purpose.

While my mouth was full the emperor held what he had cut off and gave it to the princes once in a while.

The princes were thrilled by the action that had never happened in the meantime before.

The emperor often looked to see if everything in my mouth had disappeared.

But I chewed my food for even longer intentionally, and the princes were able to eat much more.

The princes were both still young and not loved even by their own mothers.

The emperor seemed to think that the princes should grow up strong, but showing them a bit of love wouldn’t harm them.

“Stiana, what are you doing chewing for so long?”

The emperor said, “You kept munching on the meat so that the princes could eat it five times over.”

Now I felt like I had to swallow it, so I gulped it down, and the emperor cut another slice of meat as if he had been waiting for me to finish my piece.

Then, at the same time, small arms popped out from here and there.

The princes seemed to be waiting to feed me themselves.

“Dad, Stiana wants to eat what her brother gives her.”

Karhill’s words had the emperor give him a look to stop playing around.

“I’m telling you, Dad, Stiana. You want to eat what my brother gives you, right?”

Adelgio looked at me and asked, and I nodded my head.

It was quite embarrassing at times like this.

I just want them to end the tug-of-war on their own, but they keep dragging me back into the trouble.

Adelgio looked triumphant and held out a piece of meat, but it was too big to fit in my mouth.

“Stupid.”

Karhill shook his head and held out a smaller cut of meat.

But now it was too hot.

“Cool it down first, Karhill! Are you going to burn Stiana’s tongue?!”

The emperor shouted out like a bolt of lightning.

There was no kindness from him when the princes made mistakes, as if the only time he could be gentle was only to treat me.

Karhill became sullen trying to feed me meat.

Eventually, I blew on the meat myself going ‘ho-ho’ and ate what Karhill gave me.

“Drink what Karhill oppa gives you!”

“Right? If it’s a little hot, you can cool it down in your mouth and eat it.”

Karhill said, pouting his lips as if he was sorry for the emperor.

“Stiana, eat a lot and grow up like your brothers so we can do swordsmanship and play together.”

Adelgio, who patted my head, spoke.

I felt good and my stomach was full, so I ended up falling asleep on the emperor’s lap.

I was sleeping comfortably for a long time when I heard a whisper.

“Find out who’s missing.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“But didn’t you notice anything before Stiana had started crying?”

“This, I’m sorry. Your Majesty.”

It seemed to be the leader of the Knights who was speaking to the emperor.

I listened in on their conversation with my eyes closed.

“Stiana knew. She must have sensed something. That’s why she cried. This child seems to have the ability to sense danger.”

“Her highness the princess had called out for your Majesty.”

“Yes, it’s not just because she cried. Stiana cried on purpose in order to bring us together. And she also knew he had disappeared.”

“…”

The Knights Commander seemed unable to speak because he knew how much the emperor loved me, but he still didn’t seem to believe it.

“Your face looks like you find it unbelievable.”

“Your Majesty, how could I look so? I believe it. Your Majesty, her Highness is the blessing of the Eastion Empire.”

“I’m not asking you to say such lip service. From now on, look carefully at the princess, and if her expression is strange, be more vigilant around her. She senses danger in advance.”

“Yes, Your Majesty, I will bear this in mind.”

The emperor held me higher and put his face on my cheek.

“This child, she must be protected. By any and all means necessary.”

His voice got wet.

People in the world may not have had the chance to know him properly.

The outward appearance was centered on his achievements.

He didn’t want to know or listen to his agony.

It was the same for me.

When I opened my eyes, the emperor noticed me.

“Hey, Stiana, is there anything you want to say to me?”

“Stiana believes that daddy will protect Stiana.”

“Yes, you just have to do that in the future. Just let me know like this time. So that no one else will notice. You did a great job today. Do exactly that again next time. My lovely Stiana.”

He hugged me tightly and said that.

He seemed to think I was crying on purpose without saying anything else.

I didn’t mean it, but later on as I thought back on it, it was a really good job just as he said.

It would’ve been hard to believe if I had pointed to the assassin, and if he wasn’t alone, I could’ve been in an even more dangerous situation.

The emperor’s words that just needed to be told like this were reliable.

I caressed his face.

He looked down at me in surprise.

The sight of me crouching alone with wounds reminded me of myself trying to wrap up all of my bandages alone.

I couldn’t imagine how many wounds he had.

The emperor smiled at me with a moving look on his face.

“Daddy, Stiana loves daddy lots and lots.”

“Yes, Stiana. I love my Stiana a lot, too.”

He kissed my cheek with a smile.

I could feel his heart beating fast as my hand touched him.

His heart was pounding hard with anxiety, as if he thought something bad might have happened to me.

When I smiled broadly at him, the emperor looked at me with a surprised face.

He must’ve been thinking that I’ve never laughed like that except for making a few pretentious smiles out of necessity.

Happiness seemed to have been suddenly engraved on all sides of him.

It was probably the first time I was truly happy to be born as his daughter, and I wanted to comfort him.

***

After that day, the emperor carried me around frequently.

He tried to carry me around as often as possible except for when there was a dangerous battle.

The princes were proud to accompany the emperor, not just me.

Until now, he had not brought them around because they were young and not yet ready, but now he seemed to have changed his mind.

It seemed that if he continued to put off teaching us, thinking that we were still young, we might soon come face to face with a dangerous moment without having learned anything that could very well save our lives.

When I had been in danger on the hunting grounds it seemed to have changed his thoughts entirely on the matter.

I thought I could save my life just by knowing how to use the people around me, and I tried to make sure I could think in consideration of various situations that could happen.

He left us in a far-away watchtower where our safety was guaranteed and gave us an explanation as we stayed by.

It was a living lesson that could not be seen in a book.

“There’s a reason to kill the enemy commander.”

He pointed his finger to one side.

The children, who were barely over ten years old, were at the front of the front line.

“If you’re a general who commands those children to be blades, you’d better cut your throat quickly. For our side, and for the enemy.” (TLN: I’m not exactly sure of this as I think the emperor is talking to the commander about ordering children to battle and if that happens to yeet himself… maybe as idk who’s being referenced the kids or the one commanding in this sentence)

Having said that, the emperor ran out like the wind.

His swordsmanship was truly phenomenal.

On the other hand, however, it was actually regrettable.

As time went by, the clutter of excessive motions were becoming more noticeable.

He was going to get tired much faster.

He breathed heavily while making a lethal attack.

Most people couldn’t avoid the attack even if they assumed that he was going to attack in a set pattern, but the emperor was not invincible if they met someone who had reached a noble position.

There’s no need to worry about that right now because he has an escort unit and other subordinates beside him, but one day his wrong moves could come back to haunt him.

Looking at the Emperor’s sword, I remembered my last duel.

The regret grew even more as I recalled that last fight in the wilderness, the swordsmanship of the day.

‘Was he really just a bandit boss?’

No matter how many times I thought about it, it didn’t seem like the truth.

Even the weapons they used weren’t ones that bandits often used.

I also thought that the swordsmanship skills of each person I met with in the mountains were far from ordinary.

‘Come to think of it, the swordsmanship was also unique. I thought it caused my mana to blow away in the air, but I don’t think that’s it. I’ve never seen such unique swordsmanship.’

At that time, I was not in the mood to think about such things, but when I saw the emperor’s swordsmanship, it strangely reminded me of the scene again.

I looked up into the air and drew the sword that had already disappeared.

It was seen once again.

He was waving his long hair in front of me and wielding a sword.

That sword.

I slowly moved my hands, recalling it.

It was still a small body and poor muscle strength, but I tried.

“Stiana, dance later. You’re rooting for our father now, aren’t you?”

Karhill said.

He thought I was dancing because I was bored.

From then on, I stopped moving with my body and just remembered it inside my head.

Each and every movement, I remembered it vividly.