In the meantime, I guessed that there was some secret that she could not tell anybody because she got pregnant with me only eight years after she gave birth to Diana. As I heard from her exclusive maid secretly, my mother seemed to have been severely stressed out because she could not have another baby after delivering a tomboy like Diana.

Anyway, my mother almost gave up having another baby and eventually visited her estate to solve the problem of her successor. Strangely, she got good news when she took her mind off of her worries. Right after she returned from the estate, she allegedly got pregnant with me and Elina.

In fact, I could not help but be amazed at the fact that my father, the emperor, allowed her to live apart from him for a month. Besides, he could not have allowed her to visit the estate for that reason. When I asked her maid later, my father didn’t know why she decided to visit the estate, so he just granted her request to simply tour the estate.

Anyway, I could understand why my mother’s exclusive maid blushed so much while telling me about what happened on the day she returned. In fact, everybody in the empire was aware that the emperor couple loved each other deeply, but what he did to her on the day she returned from the estate was the most unthinkable and unspeakable thing that I could think of.

Aside from his affectionate and sweet talk, which gave me goose flesh, I was just amazed that his sexual drive was so strong that he made love to her in her bedroom for three days and nights…I’m ashamed to write more about this… Anyway, do I have to thank him because I and my sister, Elina, were born thanks to his passionate love?

-From Adrian’s Diary>

***

“How do you want to deal with this case, Your Majesty?”

Looking out the window slightly to check time, Rublis frowned at his aide as he kept asking for his review. He thought his aide was slow-witted, but today he was rather impatient, so he got more annoyed by his dumb question.

But he could not answer just because he felt bad, so he quickly skimmed over the document his aide handed and said, “… I don’t know why this is an issue. Apparently, something similar happened last year. Who is in charge? ”

“Earl Wrestling, Your Majesty.”

“Send him a summons immediately. If he can’t find a solution by this time tomorrow, he is going to be held accountable. What else?”

Only when he asked in an annoyed tone, his aide shook his head hurriedly as if he got his boss’s message clearly. As someone who served the ruler of the empire, he was so slow in acting tactfully.

‘I would have fired him a long time ago if he had not been competent enough.’

After staring at the aide who was trying to check his expression, Rublis rose from the seat abruptly. He could not understand how the aide got his current position when he did not even have a quick judgement.

But what mattered to Rublis now was not whether he was quick-witted or not. Looking out the window and checking time once again, he stepped out of the Central Palace quickly. He was getting impatient because he would arrive at the place much later than the appointed time.

After walking for a long time past the arched door made of rattan, he saw the royal knights standing at the end of the trail. He also noticed the silver flower tree in the middle of the small garden behind it.

“We’re honored to see you, the Sun of the empire…”

“Shush! You can skip the standard greetings.”

After quickly ordering them trying to show due manners, he stood at the entrance of the garden for a moment and silently looked at the large and small shadows gathered in the shade of the silver flowering tree.

The woman smiling at him, with her silver hair turned up, the little girl with silver hair who resembled her mother exactly, a boy with blue hair listening to the silver-haired woman and his sister, and a silver-haired little girl looking at her brother and sisters.

When he saw the four who captivated him, his irritation and fatigue that tormented him all morning disappeared in an instant. He felt so happy about just looking at their lovely posture that he walked toward them cautiously, holding his breath unconsciously.

“… You know what? I’m so frustrated.”

“But I think you made a mistake, sis.”

When he was getting close to them, he heard their clear and high-pitched voices.

Rublis smiled, watching the two children talking with a serious expression. Diana was pleading to her younger brother, eight years younger than her, for innocence, and Adrian was listening to her with an expression that looked much more mature. He thought both of them were so cute..

“No, that’s not true! It’s because you haven’t seen the situation! By the way, don’t you think you think you should take side with me? How can you support Gradis?”

“Well, no matter how much I think about it, I think you are wrong, sis. When it comes to judging who is right or wrong, how should I take side with anybody?”

“Dang it, are you kidding me?”

“Hey, sis and brother, don’t fight.”

As if she was scared about their rising voices, the little girl holding the hem of her mother’s skirt, spoke in a tearful voice. When they saw her bursting into tears, the two stopped talking immediately and shook their heads.

“Don’t cry, Elina. We didn’t fight. Did you see us fighting?”

“Yeah, that’s right. So, don’t cry. Mom said if you cried, you were a bad girl, right?”

When I stopped walking and listened to their conversation quietly, I came to see Dia who was trying to comfort her younger sister with an embarrassed expression. Letting out a sigh of relief, Dia poked her in the ribs and said, “Elina, Daddy, the emperor is here. Go and say hi!”

“Uh, really? Wow, Daddy, Your Majesty!”

The little girl jumped off the chair cheerfully as if nothing happened. Rublis smiled at her, lifting her jumping into his arms.

“Why are you so late, Daddy, Your Majesty?”

“I’m sorry. I tried to come quickly, but I had to take care of some other stuff. Did you wait for me a lot? ”

“Yes, I’ve been waiting a lot. Mom told us that we should not eat the cake until you came.”

Obviously they were more focused on the cake than on him.

When he walked into the shade of the tree, holding Elina in his arms, Aristia greeted him with a smile.

“Come on in, Rube. It looks like you were quite busy.”

“Well, not necessarily. My aide, Lanckle, kept holding me without any sense. I found it hard to hold back my anger.”

“Don’t be upset. He is working hard for the emperor anyway, right? And he is very diligent.”

After calming him down with a soothing voice, she said, looking around her children, “Diana, Adrian, say hi to your father.”

“Welcome, Daddy, Your Majesty!”

“Hi Daddy.”

Diana was smiling charmingly at him, Adrian just bowed to him and Elina buried her face in his arms. He and Tia had three children, but their character was different from each other.

Among them, only Adrian seemed to resemble him, so he looked cold. But Rublis felt he was still so cute. When he was stroking his son’s hair like now, Adrian frowned his eyebrows but liked it. Sometimes, Adrian acted like an adult, but Rublis still regarded his actions as cute.

Of course, other people didn’t necessarily think so.

After stroking Adrian’s hair once again, Rublis sat in an empty seat, holding Elina in his arm. As he had Elina sit on his lap comfortably, she said, picking up a small fork immediately, “Your Majesty, can I have a cake now?”

“You have to say to Daddy, ‘Please try it first, Your Majesty.’ Say it, Elina.”

“Yes, Mom. Please have a cake, Your Majesty. ”

“Sure, baby. Enjoy the cake a lot.”

When she pretended to lift the fork after nodding, Adrian quickly grabbed a cake plate as if he was waiting for this moment.

Rublis watched him in satisfaction for a moment and looked aside, turning down the fork off.

“By the way, Tia.”

“Yes, please go ahead, Rube.”

“As for what you told me last night, I think I’ve figured out what to do. Would you want to go with me?

“Ah yes. Sounds good.”

“Good. Then let’s go after tea time. ”

“Sure.”

Her warm, glowing golden eyes smiled at him. He winked at her gentle smile.