What else should I talk about today, Lucy?

  I believe you have already caught up to almost everything. I really don’t know what I should tell you next.

  There are many more things I want to tell you. Yet, I found that you may already learn about many of them.

  If you want to know about any specific event or topic, please let me know. I will tell you, Lucy.

  Then, since you planned to meet Iris, should I tell you about that one time?

  It was long after that day.

  It was right before the annual prayer, my second annual prayer since I recovered.

  I was inside my room, cross-checking the document for the final time.

  Yes, the annual prayer will be in the next few days.

  That year, it was better than the previous year. I learnt the ropes from Aria, and many more saintess candidates also came to assist me. So, the workloads on Aria were significantly reduced.

  Yet, someone suddenly increased her workload.

  Those fools from the imperial family.

  They did not even contact me through Divine Bird beforehand.

  Instead, they announced it directly to the main church.

  It was around noon that Paul came to me.

  At that time, I did not look up to see him, as my eyes kept scanning the documents.

  I could not see his face at that time; however, with a troubled voice, he said to me, “This year, the emperor will personally attend the annual prayer.”

  Hearing that unexpected news, my hand halted. I even doubt my ears. Have I grown too old for my hearing to have gone that badly? Then, I looked up at Paul. When I saw his eyes, I instantly realized that was the truth.

  It was then that the documents in my hands fell to the floor and scattered around the room.

  With confusion dominating my mind, I asked Paul. “What is that old man thinking?”

  Then, I slowly stood up. “What made him take this drastic action?” I added. I could hear my voice about to turn into a scream.

  It was truly out of the blue. It was unacceptable under the current situation.

  At that time, many questions came and went through my mind. What was on his mind when he decided to do that? What did he want to achieve?

  Seeing my reaction like that, Paul did not immediately reply to me.

  He silently collected the scattered documents and neatly arranged them. After he finished, he gently placed it on the table. Then, with frustration, he said to me as he helped me sit down. “………. It is related to milady and that garbage.”

  It appeared that the rumor of your brother’s oath that day circulated a bit too much. It caused that old fool to feel impatient.

  Even after that incident with his son, he still had not given up on that idea. Well, he has been plotting it since that coup incident.

  Lucy, were you aware of the time when he invited Aria to the party in the palace? I was not there myself, so I was not sure about the details. Paul was personally presented there. Your teacher was also there. So, you should ask them for more information. Although I was not sure about the details, it caused quite a ripple across the empire.

  At that party, as a leading dance, instead of with his wife or his daughter, he personally requested her for a dance.

  He asked her, you know? He asked her for a leading dance. It was a breach of the protocol.

  At the end of the dance, he even asked her to be his daughter.

  I heard that just to set the stage, he even used his own daughter, the first princess, as a sacrificial lamb.

  He let her alone in the crowd of hungry wolves.

  Because of the coup incident and the ‘banishment’ of the first prince to the sanctuary, everyone was actively trying to win the first princess over.

  They were dreaming of becoming the emperor themselves.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Knowing Aria’s nature, he left the first princess without any protection.

  Not a single guard was with her.

  Seeing the first princess get put into the crowd of those predators, Aria personally intervened.

  At the end, she asked Paul to stay with the first princess throughout the party.

  That action also left Aria vulnerable.

  However, her status as Duke Ellon’s daughter and my caretaker, well, everyone was certain that she would be the next saintess, which made others cautious in approaching her.

  That was the assurance she had at that time.

  Yet, some fools still tried their luck.

  It was when the emperor revealed his tail.

  As his thanks for Aria’s help, he offered to escort her.

  Although Aria refused it, in the end, he asked her for a dance in public.

  That announcement sealed Aria’s action.

  She could not outright reject him, as it would lead to another conflict.

  While Aria was wavering, he even told her in secret that he had something he wished to discuss with her.

  That was when Aria agreed to his request.

  Those sly imperial family.

  At the end of their dance, he outright asked her to be his daughter.

  That was where he put the final nail in the coffin.

  His action caused an absolute uproar.

  Everyone anticipated Aria’s answer.

  They really put Aria in a tight spot.

  Considering how much trouble Aria went through to help them and how many problems they brought to her, they still had the nerve to propose a marriage to her.

  They were really shameless.

  So, Lucy, you need to be careful when dealing with them. Never show your soft spot for them. You must always be merciless with them.

  Paul told me that at that time, he was about to punch the emperor in the face.

  Then, it was Marquise Larose and Mr. Roy who stopped him.

  Well, as you knew, in the end, Aria rejected it. She used her father as a shield. That was one of the few instances in which his name came with benefit.

  She firmly announced.

  “I am honored, but I am my father’s daughter.”

  That single sentence underlined many meanings.

  It could mean ‘It is my father to decide’ or ‘we are not on that good term’.

  Whatever it meant, the fact that she rejected him remained proof of the rift between the imperial faction and the clergy faction.

  That move was also viewed favorably by the clergy faction.

  Cardinal Peter even praised Aria in public.

  Perhaps I got sidetracked too long.

  Back to the topic at hand.

  At that time… As you know… after that year's incident… After that… that surprise party. That year, he even tried to summon your brother. It caused some tension between the emperor’s faction and the clergy’s faction.

  I still could not forgive them for the trouble they caused at that time.

  Yet, they still wanted to cause more trouble.

  Then, they even wanted to come here directly.

  Did they even know the word ‘shamelessness’?

  And you knew? They announced it right before our meeting with Iris.

  Because of that, many more eyes would be directed at us.

  They would speculate on many things.

  Well, our meeting was Iris’s request and also my wish.

  Aria has been actively preparing it in secret for me.

  We even hid it from Paul.

  Yet, because of that news, I decided to tell Paul the truth.

  I did not want to ignore his advice, as I did last time.

  I hesitantly told him. “This year……. Iris, too, will attend it.”

  Hearing me say that, he halted his hand, preparing the cake for me.

  To my confession, he also showed his skepticism. “Your daughter?”

  “Yes.” Seeing him like that, I weakly replied with my head lowered.

  “…”

  At first, he did not reply. He also did not continue to set up the table.

  I could sense his gaze on the back of my head.

  Then, after a few breaths, he let out a sigh. And he started to prepare the table again.

  Seeing his action as if accepting it as a lost cause, I tried to defend myself.

  I urgently lifted my face and said as I tried to explain myself. “She is different from him, and we cannot prevent it. Aria will try to meet her. Aria looked up to Iris a lot.”

  Although I tried my best to convince him, he just lightly responded to it as if it did not matter.

  Then he gently said. “I hope it went well this time.”

  As he said that, he put a piece of the cake on my fork and pushed it out to my mouth. At that time, I could only receive it because I didn't want to ruin his mood further.

  As I bit into it, he immediately withdrew his hand. Because of that, I had to bite hard on that fork. I almost dropped the fork in my mouth.

  My teeth hurt because of it. Your grandpa was too much of a teaser.

  As I took that fork and held it in my hand. I viciously chew on that cake. After I finished that bit, I told him about the schedule for our meeting with Aria. “And she is coming tomorrow.”

  After I informed him of that, he looked at me, blinking, before putting his hand on his temper and messaging it.

  I understood that he underwent a lot of stress at that time.

  So, I cautiously told him, hoping that he would understand me.

  “It is a private meeting. Aria just informed me this morning.”

  I was not trying to sell your mother at that time, Lucy. That was the truth. At first, it was scheduled for after the annual prayer. However, something went wrong then. It was the request from Iris. So, it was immediately rescheduled to right before the annual prayer.

  Yet, at the end, Paul, as always, accepted my unreasonableness.

  He gently said. “I see. I saw milady busily preparing the garden with Lucy.”

  Seeing him like that, I sighed in relief.

  That was when I could start to enjoy the cake with him.

  As we discussed, you want your ‘brother’ to meet Iris too. So, I needed to tell him about it. Then I lightly asked about the whereabouts of your ‘brother’. “What is Andres doing?”

  Then, with a troubled face, he said. “He was called by archbishop Henry and Mr. Tuk this morning.”

  “Those men never tire of it.” I exhaustively replied to him.

  I also fad up with them. After that day, they always summoned Andres whenever the opportunity arose.

  Their reasons? He was not suitable.

  Yet, they kept polishing him.

  Paul was also irritated by them. It felt like his pride was hurt. After all, your ‘brother’ was his student. And those two rudely stole his student in front of him.

  Even your teacher joined in.

  Yet Paul also reached an understanding with them. After all, the area that they taught him was what Paul knowingly lacked.

  That was why he could not complain much. Everything was for Aria.

  Well, on this part, you should understand better than I did. After all, you also joined your ‘brother’ in their training.

  That was why, at that time, Paul could only sourly reply. “It is his fault.”

  Oh, because of that incident, Paul also requested to be present during our meeting.

  That was why he sat at the table with us at that time.