At Imperial Palace, during the afternoon~
"H-How are you feeling now?"
Emperor Valerian asked with a hesitation and awkward tone as he sat opposite of his son, who was the same as him.
This is the first time in Cathain's whole life that he is facing his father like this.
Most of the time they would meet face to face during meetings or sit beside on banquet halls.
But never once in his life that he has sit opposite of his father just casually, that too in the garden.
The whole atmosphere between them was awkward and Cathain just silently nod his head in answer, before he parted his thin lips to speak.
"I-I am fine."
Then the atmosphere turned more awkward as there is nothing they could say, or didn't know what to say.
The emperor took a sip of his tea and Cathain narrowed his red eyes to steal a glance at his father.
His eyes looked tired even if he was pretending to hide it well.
He was already getting weak as the effect of the poison.
'I just can't sit and watch him taking poison…'
'I have to do something about it.'
Cathain was lost in thought but then his attention was drawn to his father who coughed a little.
"Are you alright, Father?!"
Cathain asked with panic as he was thinking about the poison in the emperor's body.
Thus he became sensitive all of a sudden as panic flashed through his face.
Emperor Valerian was taken aback for a moment, as his son never showed such concern for him.
His tired red eyes was widened with surprise and a faint blush appeared on Cathian's face as he just realized what he has done!
It was so embarrassing!
Even the emperor's face had turned red because of the sudden change of behavior in the crown prince's personality.
'He is acting like how he used to do as a child,'
"So… what's going on between you and the crown princess?"
"Don't forget that she is only twelve now."
Cathain chocked on the tea as his father asked this question out of nowhere and a smirk appeared on the emperor's face.
'Does he takes me as a pedophile beast?!'
He stared at his father with an embarrass face as his red eyes widened with disbelief.
"W-What do you mean… Your Majesty?!"
The slight smile on the emperor's face froze as the crown prince addressed him formally again and he let out a sigh with a bitter smile.
"Duke Dalton is going to take steps soon… and one he succeeds, he will break of the engagement between you two for sure."
Cathain froze as he heard his father's word.
Take steps?
But he stayed low in their past life, even in the second timeline, he did everything cautiously.
Then why did the duke changed his mind all of a sudden?
'Is it an impact of me traveling back in this destroyed timeline again?'
"The only reason as to why the duke agreed with my arrangements was to keep her safe. No one will dare to touch the crown princess of the empire easily and she was a mature lady despite her young age."
The emperor says and a smile appears on his face.
'Yeah, she was too mature for her age… thus I never realized the person I envied was four years younger than me.'
'And I kept venting my anger on her, where it was my fault that I couldn't express myself.'
Cathain kept fidgeting with the handle of the tea cup as he continued to listen to the emperor's words.
But the slight smile he had on his face as Eleanora was mentioned didn't go unnoticed by the emperor.
"The mystery of how the duchess was assassinated isn't even solved; all the traces the duke has found till now reached a dead end."
"Even if we have suspicions, we can't do anything without any solid evidence."
"The easiest way to destroy this imperial family is to get rid of the Dalton Duchy… So remember that even if the whole world betrays us, The Dalton's can't betray us."
The emperor spoke normally but there was a hint of warning for the crown prince.
To stay alert of the people around him and do not trust anyone easily.
And treat the crown princess more well at the same time.
Cathain becomes lost in deep thoughts as he hears it and his face turns a little gloomy.
The Dalton's can't betray them because of the deadly blood oath, which is like a curse to them.
If this same sentences was heard by his past self, he would definitely think that the emperor didn't trusted him enough as a capable heir or the duke of Dalton is too arrogant to think that he can't protect Eleanora.
He might even think that the emperor trust the duke of Dalton and favors the crown princess over him.
But it was all true.
He wasn't capable enough to protect this empire and his empress.
He even watched his unborn children to die one by one, but did nothing.
He is indeed a failure.
"Thank you for the reminder, Your Majesty… I will keep that in my mind."
Cathain replied politely in a low tone as he recalled the past, how he had let this empire turn into dust and the emperor felt sadder again.
But even after a few moments had passed, the emperor's expression remains unchanged and Cathain furrows his brows after noticing this.
"Is something wrong, Your Majesty?"
Cathain asked as he noticed the changes on the emperor's face, only to make his expression turn gloomier.
"…Why don't you call me like you did before?"
The emperor says and the Crown Prince looks at him with a dumb founded look.
What did he have called the emperor earlier?
"F-Father?'
Cathain murmured hesitantly and a satisfied look appeared on the emperor's face, along with an extremely embarrassed expression.
"Yeah…continue to call me like that…"
"…"
"O-Okay, F-Father…"
Both father and son blushed hard as they averted their gaze.
This was really awkward and embarrassing!
But right then, Marquise Hill and a few imperial knights on indigo outfits comes running to them; making the crown prince senses that something was wrong.
"YOUR MAJESTY!"
"YOUR HIGHNESS…"
Marquise Hill and the others knights huffed as they stopped before them; Making the crown prince stand up abruptly.
"WHAT HAPPENED, MARQUISE HILL?!"
The Crown Prince anxiously asked Marquise Hill's violet eyes moves towards him.
"The Crown Princess…"
"WHAT ABOUT HER?"
The Crown Prince grabbed Marquise Hill's shoulders as he anxiously asked with horrors on his red eyes.
"Calm down, Crown Prince; let them catch their breath first!"
The emperor spoke as he was again stunt by his son's behavior.
From when did his son suddenly started to show so many emotions on his face?
Especially towards the crown princess?
But Cathain remained unmoved by the emperor's words as his desperate dark red eyes stayed glued on Marquise Hill and the knights for an answer.
"The crown princess... S-She… She was attacked!"