─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Crap. This trashman looks furious. Showing up to the imperial gardens was a bad mistake. Am I finally going to die?
The emperor suddenly stopped, keeping his distance between us by 2 meters. He glared at me with his emerald, pale eyes.
I nervously smiled at him. I can feel my body tremble in Ezra's arms. Out of reaction, my mouth opened.
"Hi, Papa!" I said with a twitchy smile.
The emperor's reaction grew in pure shock, the color of his face suddenly grew pasty white. His upper lip twitched.
I could not tell if what I said made him upset or happy. I quickly glanced at Ezra. Ezra's mouth was wide open in disbelief. Wow, it is dead quiet.
Xavier studied the ground for a quick second before he looked at Ezra.
I felt uncomfortable as I can see the emperor observe every inch of me with his eyes. He suddenly turned around and left without a word.
I looked at Ezra again. His confused look gave me the impression that something would have gone wrong. Instead, it took him by surprise. Once the trashman was out of sight, he sighed loudly and shook his head.
We began to walk towards the tower again.
"That was way too close of a call. I do not think it is safe to do that again for a while. We are finally here, princess. Tomorrow, after my training, I will go to the market for supplies. Other than books, I will bring you many desserts." He said as he gave me to Marina. He patted me on the head.
"Change the princess into her regular attire. Also, keep the dress. It may come in handy." Ezra commanded as he left.
After my bath, Marina read the usual bedtime story. Instead of paying attention to the bedtime story, I replayed today's situation with the trashman who just left without saying anything after calling him "Papa."
UGH, WHY DID I EVEN CALL HIM THAT?! THAT WAS TOO RANDOM! I SHOULD HAVE CALLED HIM TRASHMAN OR BASTARD! But after replaying the same situation over and over again, he did not seem mad about it.
Hansol grew worried for Xavier, who has not returned ever since he left to chase Ezra and the princess.
"What do I do, Ezra? Should I go find him? Should I leave him? Sometimes, he is hard to read. Tell me… what happened again? This time in detail." Hansol questioned Ezra at the imperial office.
"Well, as you know- I was with the princess, caring for her before I saw his majesty come towards the princess so aggressively. It caught me by surprise, and my only concern was to take off with the princess once you commanded me to do so. The last thing on my mind was to focus on my invisibility, and it wore off. My only priority was to keep the princess safe and out of harm's way."
"Keep going. I don't care that Xavier saw you. That is not important."
"Well, I was running as fast as I could. That man is incredibly fast, you know. He caught up with me with little effort. He commanded me to stop, so I did as he threatened me by using the Gidivonian gods upon me. I could tell the princess was frightened but kept her composure well. I felt the poor angel tremble in my arms like a cold fawn. To my surprise, she smiled at him… and… and said, "hi papa." I could not believe the words that came out of the princess's mouth. Perhaps my ears heard wrong, Hansol. How did the princess learn who her father is, let alone teach her those words?"
Hansol placed his index finger by his mouth and focused his vision on the ground as a sign of thought. He paced back and forth for a brief minute.
"And then? Continue. Tell me his majesty's exact reaction. His movement, his posture, every little detail counts." Hansol said as he leaned his body on the desk, crossing his arms.
"Right… his majesty's face looked as if he saw a ghost. Even the color of his pink lips went pale. The natural light pink of his cheeks left his face. His eyes grew a pale green. His right eye twitched... Or maybe it was the left?"
"EZRA! FOCUS!"
"LEFT! IT WAS LEFT!"
"Continue… This time focus more."
"Ugh… okay. Xavier's reaction was pure shock. But it was not an angry shock. No, far from it. It was, how do I say- just surprised? Xavier is hard to read. So I cannot tell you about his exact reaction. However, being at war with him and witnessing his adoration for the former empress, his shock is different from the two. Either way, I can tell he was in deep thought. He looked at the ground. To be specific, his right. He looked at me with a harsh glare. Then he gave a neutral observation at the princess. I can tell he was looking at her hairstyle, her dress, her expression, even the shoes she wore. He then, just turned around and left. Just like that. He did not say a word."
"Left eye twitch…. Right side...fixed look on the ground… hmm.."
Ezra raised his eyebrow in confusion.
"Don't tell me… those little signs matter…"
"They do actually. Of all my annoying and dreadful years of knowing that man, I know his exact moves, facial/body expressions, and reactions mean. Trust me, it is important to know all of these signs."
"Do you plan on telling me then?"
Hansol stood tall from leaning on the desk and rubbed his temples.
"Left eye twitch 'means he is surprised. If it was his right eye, that means he is angry. When he focuses on the right side, looking on the ground, for example, he is recollecting his thoughts. If it were his left, he is making a decision. That is why he left. When he recollects his thoughts, he likes to be alone. In that case, he is either at the harem, drunk out of his mind, or at the lake."
"Wow… that is scary how you know this. So what should we do?"
"You search for him at the harem, and I will search at the lake. I will keep you updated, so keep your mind clear of thoughts." He commanded as he walked out of the door.