Chapter 70: A Fathers Heart
Even after the Empress left, Princess Ardein was truly at a loss for words.
She had no idea what to say to her father, her mind was blank.
“Your Majesty, I...”
“Foolish child. You still cannot see the truth before your very eyes. Do you know how much pain you caused me when I heard you had disappeared?”
Still, Ardein, who was about to say something, finally properly looked at the Emperor’s face.
The old man was shedding tears. Not as an emperor, but simply as a father.
Seeing the old man crying like that, Ardein also couldn’t hold back and burst into tears. She bowed her head again and sobbed.
“I was wrong. I was wrong. Father, I’m sorry!”“Look at me, daughter. I’m old and tired. At this age, do you think this old man can bear the pain of losing one more child? Was I such a cruel father, for you punish me so?”
At the Emperor’s words, the Princess couldn’t answer and just lowered her head.
Without leaving a single word about where she was going, she left for Larpentia alone on a single horse. Only later did she realize how that must have looked in her parents’ eyes.
She thought she was being mistreated, but only after arriving in Larpentia did she realize that wasn’t the case. The world treated lepers as the root of evil, and the Emperor was protecting her, who could barely control her own body, against the prejudice of the entire world.