He didnât keep Ria close to him just because sheâs his daughter. Itâs not like he rejected the child just because heâs not his son either.
âHeâs your son. No matter what people say, Iâm raising him to be your son.â
Why was she so persistent with such a miserable lie? Did she think she would be killed if she admitted the truth?
However, she would still die even if she didnât admit the truth. It didnât matter for Caitel even if the child was his son or not. That was Caitelâs life, and he had lived to this day with that belief.
âDeceiving a royalty is a heavy crime.â
âHow could I deceive you?â
Still, she was shaking like a delicate flower.
What a joke. The woman just kept her mouth shut upon hearing the Emperorâs ridicule.
âIf I had a daughter⦠then, would you acknowledge her like youâre doing to your daughter now?â
She looked as if she was sad about not receiving his love. He used to know that face. That was the expression on all of the women who wanted him. His mother always looked at his father with that face.
âIf that happenedâ¦â
âThis is sick and tired.â
â⦠you wouldâve died.â
Even if this woman died, that theoretical daughter would never be treated like his daughter. Ria was the only exception.
âAnyway, if the boy is definitely not my child, why is she so adamant about that idea? Something doesnât feel right.â
âMaybe thatâs why I warned her even though I normally wouldnât care about such a thing.â
âI felt uneasy. I felt like I was waiting for a fuse to light on a bomb that had yet to explode. I donât know what it is yet, but I knew it was putting me on edge.â
He didnât want to care about that mother and son, and he didnât want his daughter to care about them too. He even asked her not to interact with them, which was so unlike him⦠and when he saw the two facing each other with his own eyes, he realized why he felt uneasy.
âI had always protected my daughter inside the palace. She didnât know what real hostility is like. She doesnât know hostility masked beneath kindnessâ¦â
âI was the one who let her grow up without learning that. I didnât want her to know.â
âI didnât want to show her a world like that.â
ââDo you have something to tell me?'â
âI felt devastated all of a sudden.â
âDoes she even know whatâs in my mind right now? â