Chapter 28. Eat This Too

 ‘The gardener was the emperor? More importantly, new child?’

 Clea was very perplexed.

 She couldn’t have imagined that the person she’d been interacting with all this time was actually the emperor of the Empire.

 She had thought there was something odd about his shabby appearance.

 But she never considered that his true identity might be the emperor.

 Moreover, that emperor was now calling her ‘new child.’

 “Your Majesty, this is a family matter.”

 “Did I ask you?”

 “T-that’s not it, but…”

 Meanwhile, Odin found the current situation very amusing.

 Though his expression remained icy cold, he couldn’t completely hide his curiosity.

 Odin wondered how Clea would react when she learned his identity.

 In fact, her reaction exceeded his expectations.

 Though she appeared calm as if not shaken at all, a closer look revealed her bewilderment.

 “New child, tell me.”

 Edmund was the most displeased person here.

 Even without Odin’s appearance, he could have helped Clea sufficiently.

 But Odin suddenly appeared and stuck his spoon in a finished meal. Edmund was dumbfounded at having his opportunity stolen.

 “Who is troubling you?”

 Thinking he couldn’t openly express dissatisfaction toward the emperor, Edmund withdrew his gaze.

 Clea briefly assessed the situation.

 Odin appearing in person was something she hadn’t anticipated either.

 ‘And he’s calling me new child.’

 Everyone present knew what the term ‘new child’ meant.¹it means she’s the new child of the family/new member of the family

 That’s why Grit and Steve found this situation even harder to understand.

 According to rumors, they had only had a secret meeting.

 So it was perhaps natural they didn’t think the emperor would know about it.

 No one expected him to go beyond knowing to acknowledging their relationship.

 Clea looked at Odin.

 Odin was still looking at her with a relaxed demeanor.

 What she read from him was confidence that he could grant her anything.

 After a moment’s consideration, Clea opened her mouth.

 “I want to sever my relationship with these people.”

 “She says so, Duke Odoi. What do you think?”

 “Your Majesty, Clea is my child.”

 “If you had raised your child with love, this wouldn’t have happened.”

 Odin had no intention of taking Grit’s side.

 From the start, he had taken a liking to Clea, and he had also noticed how she had been treated in her family.

 Moreover, since the Odoi ducal family belonged to the noble faction, it was even more convenient to help her now that she had left the family.

 Odin’s gaze moved from Clea to Grit, and then to Edmund.

 Edmund’s gaze was cold as usual.

 Some might question whether that was an appropriate way to look at one’s father, calling it disloyal.

 ‘It would be nice if the daughter-in-law and father-in-law got along well. Surely he’s not jealous over something like this.’

 He had already figured out what Edmund was thinking and laughed inwardly.

 “Your Majesty, the Odoi family neglected me and forced me into an engagement with someone I don’t love, using me as a tool for the family. Please help me escape from the family and live my own life in freedom.”

 Clea made her request to Odin with the most respectful attitude she had shown so far.

 To help her break free from the Odoi family.

 Hearing her desperate wish, Grit and Steve anxiously watched Odin’s reaction.

 Odin and Edmund smiled upon hearing her words.

 “Duke, even if you have the right to expel an unwanted family member, you don’t have the right to hold back someone who voluntarily wants to leave the family.”

 “Your Majesty!”

 “Even if you try to stop it, I declare directly. As of today, Clea has no relationship with the Odoi family, and furthermore, I declare her engagement broken.”

 Steve showed a look of disbelief upon hearing Odin’s declaration.

 Grit tried to make one last desperate attempt upon hearing the emperor’s words granting Clea freedom.

 “Clea is engaged to Lloyd Persi, the child of the Grand Duke.”

 “Haha, interesting.”

 But even that desperate attempt was futile before Odin.

 “Then we shall visit the Persi grand ducal family and the imperial palace. I wonder what would happen if both families came to me with complaints.”

 Grit wasn’t completely oblivious.

 He wasn’t so dense that he couldn’t understand what the emperor was implying.

 “If you have nothing more to say, why don’t you withdraw now? I also want to talk with these children.”

 “……I will withdraw now.”

 In the end, Grit had to lower his tail.

 It was clear that if he pushed his pride any further, he would suffer even greater humiliation.

 Even as he turned to leave, he didn’t take his eyes off Clea until the end.

 ‘Now that I know where you are, I will never give up. Never.’

 Despite Odin’s clear declaration, he hadn’t given up yet.

 To him, Clea was still his child and a member of the Odoi family.

 Unless Odin gathered all the nobles and made a declaration, he had no intention of giving up.

 Meanwhile, Clea simply ignored his gaze, aware of it.

 She was just happy.

 ‘Finally, the persistent connection between you and me has ended.’

 She had completely broken free from the Odoi family.

 She no longer needed to be entangled with them, and she could also completely sever her relationship with Lloyd.

 With a joyful heart, she looked at Edmund and reached out to his face.

 “Now there’s no obstacle between you and me.”

 “That’s right.”

 As her cold hands touched his warm cheeks, Edmund’s head gradually lowered.

 When their foreheads touched, his warmth transferred to her. Clea’s lips curled up.

 “Thank you. For being by my side.”

 She was grateful.

 Some might say why he only appeared now when her heart was full of wounds.

 But rather than such feelings, Clea felt grateful toward the person who was helping her for the first time.

 “I told you. You will always be by my side.”

 Clea smiled at those words and fell into Edmund’s embrace.

 Edmund held Clea in his arms and thought.

 ‘She’s cold.’

 He felt a great discomfort at her very cold body temperature, but nevertheless, he silently embraced her without saying anything.

 ‘What a lovely couple.’

 Meanwhile, Odin, watching from the side, smiled in a way unlike himself.

 He felt reassured seeing his son, who seemed to have no emotions at all, become so caring in front of another woman.

 ‘The lineage won’t be broken.’

Oberon, who vaguely guessed Odin’s thoughts, was examining the current situation with a complicated expression.

 * * *

 “I greet Your Majesty.”

 “Why not call me casually like before?”

 “Before, I didn’t know who you were so I could, but now how could I possibly do that?”

 “Is that so? That’s disappointing.”

 After Grit and Steve left, Odin remained.

 Clea felt somewhat uncomfortable after learning Odin’s identity.

 She felt slightly awkward about the conversations they had when she didn’t know he was the emperor.

 But Odin wanted to talk more with Clea precisely because they had had those conversations.

 “Your Majesty, Clea seems uncomfortable, so perhaps we should postpone this for another time.”

 Edmund wished Odin would quickly disappear from the Crown Prince’s palace.

 Although he had stepped in to help Clea, it felt like he had stolen Edmund’s opportunity.

 Odin felt amused for the first time in a long while as he received Edmund’s sharp, dissatisfied gaze.

 “I wonder if it’s just my feeling that if I withdraw now, I might never meet my new child again.”

 “I’m fine, Your Highness.”

 “See? My new child says she’s fine too.”

 Edmund bit his lip at the situation not going as he wished.

 For Clea, while Edmund was important, she also wanted to make a good impression on Odin.

 She was grateful for his help, and moreover, she thought she needed to stay on his good side to remain by Edmund’s side longer.

 But her worry seemed unnecessary, as Odin continued to call her ‘new child.’

 She wondered why.

 She wondered why he kept calling her that even after the Odoi family members had left.

 “Your Majesty, may I ask why you continue to call me ‘new child’ even though they’ve gone?”

 She thought ‘new child’ was a term Odin had used to help her.

 She thought he had said it to make Grit and Steve believe the rumors more.

 Who would dare doubt when the emperor himself acknowledged it?

 In that sense, Clea had accepted it calmly without being flustered.

 “Well, if you’re going to marry my son, wouldn’t that make you my daughter-in-law?”

 But hearing Odin’s following words, she was left speechless.

 Edmund’s expression hardened, and Oberon’s jaw dropped.

 Odin was the only one who maintained his composure without being flustered.

 He smiled as he personally placed appetizing desserts like macarons on Clea’s plate and said,

 “You’re too thin. Why don’t you try eating some of this too?”

 “Y-Your Majesty.”

 “What is it, new child?”

 Clea swallowed as Odin answered with a bright smile.

 At this moment, the Odoi people completely vanished from her mind.

 She looked at Odin while trying her best to hide her bewilderment.

 She wanted to ask if he was joking, but his expression didn’t look like he was joking at all.

 So Clea turned her head to look at Edmund.

 She wanted to ask him what was going on, but…

 ‘Ah.’

 Seeing his reddened ears, she lost her words.