Chapter 18

Act 4. This is the Level Between Our Eyes

“What? I slept for two weeks?” I was shocked by Luciana’s words. ‘Is resurrection magic so strong that I fell unconscious for two weeks? Priscilla was down for only three days.’ Either I had no talent as a saintess or I was too young.

“Is your body okay?” Luciana asked.

“No, my hip hurts. Wait, my shoulder too. Ah! And my arm!”

“Your whole body seems to be in pain.”

“Yep! Hehe.”

Luciana sighed and shook her head.

“Now that I think about it, Luci, I have something to ask.”

“Yes, please tell me.”

It was something I had realized while coming back. The knights guarding my room had changed. “Is it rotation time?”

“Excuse me? I don’t think so.”

‘So why are they different? No way…’ I raised my head a little. Miltiades was smiling, but the air around him wasn’t normal. The atmosphere around him was usually overbearing, but it was difficult to even meet his eyes. ‘Is he upset?’

“Now, open up. Ah.”

“Ah!” I tried to read Daddy’s mind while eating the medicine Luciana fed me. He was sitting in a chair a bit away from the bed, holding his chin with his hand without saying anything.

“Stay still.” Luciana left the room with the medicine I finished. She closed the door, leaving Miltiades and me alone.

“…”

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Miltiades unflinchingly looked at me. He felt dangerous even while he was smiling. ‘This is why no one could approach him.’ A normal child would be terrified, but I overcame it with love!

“Daddy,” I called out to him in a soft voice, but there was no response.

‘Why is he so upset?’ I didn’t know the reason. He should’ve just told me. This was why I was nervous when he and Kais had the stare down. ‘Thankfully nothing happened.’ We avoided the death flag. If something had happened back then, our futures would have been dark. I glanced at him again. He shouldn’t be that upset; after all, he did carry me to my room…

“Daddy?” ‘How can I lift his mood?’ “Daddy!” I tried grinning, but it didn’t work at all. Actually, the smile on his face grew wider.

‘Ah, what should I do?’ I couldn’t let this continue! Therefore, I got off the bed and carefully moved next to him. I moved my fingers as I thought about what to do. I tiptoed and raised my head to look at him closer. “Sir Daddy?” I blinked a few times, and Miltiades’s frozen expression finally disappeared.

“Hehe.” I grinned at this change in his expression, and Miltiades sighed in resignation. Then, I put out my hands, and he picked me up.

“I like you most in the world!” As I said that, I felt the hand patting me freeze. He was so awkward. I put my hands around his neck and read his body language.

His hand that accepted me instead of pushing me away, him loosening his arm to prevent me from getting hurt, his posture that changed in case I fell, his tilted head that focused on hearing my words, and his beautiful eyes that kept looking at me no matter what I did, all these things were enough for me to know that he adored me. He was probably upset because I did things of my own accord.

‘When I’m in his arms, I feel like he’ll protect me from anything.’ I sat still in his arms with my ear against his chest. I wanted to feel his warmth and hear his heartbeat.

Ba-dump! Ba-dump! I closed my eyes in happiness, knowing my favorite character was alive.

“Amelia.”

“…!” I unconsciously opened my eyes. When I looked up and stared at Miltiades, he smirked. ‘He… He just…’ “You said my name for the first time!”

He nodded at my outburst. “That’s right, Amelia.”

I couldn’t believe it. ‘Is this actually happening? Is it a dream?’ I rubbed my eyes, but I still didn’t know if it was real. It was something I could’ve never expected. ‘He said my name!’ I thought it would take one hundred years! That was why I covered my mouth in shock, and Miltiades absurdly laughed at me. It wasn’t a dream!

“Daddy!” I was elated. How could I explain the emotions I felt? I felt like I had the whole world in my hands.”Daddy!” I hugged him and rubbed my cheek against him, but that wasn’t enough to express my happiness. I was so happy I wanted to break the walls!

“Do you like it that much?”

“Of course!” I nodded, and my dad lightly sneered at himself. His smile made it seem like he was thinking about how he should have called me by my name earlier. His regret was so prominent that I pulled him into my arms while choking up. My dad was an idiot, but I was fine with it.

“I’m okay with whatever you call me, but calling me by my name is nice!” ‘That’s because this name…’ “You gave it to me!” I would have been happy even if he had named me Stone instead of Amelia. Because he was the one who had named me.

Miltiades’s expression crumbled. He stared at me as if he didn’t know what to feel, then covered his face. “Ha!” His low sigh was mixed with complicated emotions. The arm hugging me grew stronger, and I also hugged him tightly.

‘I’m so happy.’ No matter what I did, he stayed still. I didn’t know if he would do the same in the future. I was selfishly deceiving him by saying it was for his sake, but I hoped he knew.

It was the happiness, love, and peace he had never felt before.

‘I want you to be happy.’ These feelings were real, and I hoped that he would forgive me once he found out the truth. I was going to make him happy because I was happy to meet him. I didn’t care about becoming a villain as long as I could make Miltiades happy.

His hesitant hand pulled me closer. I smiled when I felt the willingness in his hand to never let me go. “Daddy, I’m curious about something.”

“What is it?”

“The guards in front of my room changed.”

Miltiades’s body grew rigid.

“Did you change them?” I asked him with an earnest expression while blinking, but he looked away.

I kept staring at him, and he eventually broke his silence. “…I gave them a vacation.”

“I see!” I nodded and saw him become relieved. “Hehe. I’ll have to greet them once they’re back!” ‘Is it just me or did his arm flinch?’

After a day, the guards were back. I didn’t know what they had gone through, but all of them bowed to me whenever they saw me. It was burdensome.

* * *

My body quickly recovered after the Holy Vios Empire’s healers replenished my divine power. However, something was weird. ‘Why is an elder here?’

“Hoho. The Holy Father and the other elders are happy for your miracle.”

“…”

“It hasn’t been long since you’ve been in the world, yet you’ve already saved so many people. This is definitely the work of God.” Elder Maxen kept complimenting me.

“How expected from the saintess.” Luciana agreed from the side.

“Of course.”

This body was quite great. If I were a normal child, then I would’ve been happy. I couldn’t be excited in front of the elder. ‘They just needed to send a healer, so why did an elder come?’ It was obvious that he wasn’t here just because he was free. There was no way one of the twelve elders had so much time on his hands.

‘I can tell you’re trying to find a way to use me.’ There was no way I would fail to spot his dark desires hidden underneath his smile.

How did the Temple treat Priscilla? As a free potion, a divinity express. They told Priscilla that she needed to pay them back for raising her. On top of that, they overworked her to the point where she had cut into her own life to heal even those who weren’t in serious pain.

‘Priscilla was the one used for propaganda, and she was always attacked whenever something went wrong!’ I knew I was going to be used, so I stuck myself next to Luciana and pretended to be sick.

“I’m tired.” This was the best thing I could do in this situation. “I’m exhausted. I’m tired, Luci.”

Luciana became upset as I started whining, and she looked at Elder Marxen. The elder laughed a bit but belatedly realized what was going on as we stared at him. “Hoho, this old man couldn’t read the room. Please rest well, Saintess.”

“Okay. Bye.” ‘Get lost.’

“Luciana, take care of the saintess.” Elder Marxen uselessly nagged at Luciana and regretfully looked at me. “I hope you get well soon.”

I nodded to show him that I had heard him, and he finally left.

“Why is that elder grandpa here?” I asked Luciana as soon as he was gone.

“I heard His Majesty asked for a healer from the Holy Empire because you weren’t waking up.”

“What? Dad asked for help?” The unexpected answer I got shocked me. “Dad asked… for me?” ‘Really?!’

I blinked a few times before breaking out in laughter. I couldn’t lower my cheekbones no matter how hard I tried. I didn’t even need the moon tonight. My cheeks were up high anyway! I kept laughing.

Luciana looked at me as if I had gone crazy. “Saintess, why are you suddenly laughing?”

“Dad… loves me…!” That was the only reason. “Ah, why is everything he does so cute? Really, I can’t deal with how cute he is. Well, there’s nothing I can do. I’ll have to live with him forever. Ah, he can’t do anything without me!”

As I shook my head, I heard Luciana sigh at my absurdity. I think she whispered ‘I feel bad for His Majesty..’