I frowned at Max, who hadn't said a single word to my father before this but was now earnestly agreeing with him. 'Now is not the time!' I thought in irritation, then turned to Derrick for help with this chaotic situation. However, Derrick kept his head down for some reason while wearing a stiff expression. A sigh escaped from my mouth. 'Am I the only one being reasonable here?'

With a sense of duty in mind, I calmed myself, but then agonized over what to do next. 'No matter how much the two of them are willing to make up, this is wrong.' Disobeying the emperor's orders constituted disloyalty. Even if my father was known as the hero of the empire, he was going to be thought of as a disgrace if he defied the emperor's orders.

'And I don't want to be on bad terms with the royal family.' My original future was one where the emperor became furious at me for envying the crown princess, and the crown prince caused me to kill myself. Along with that, my father had also turned a blind eye to me.

To be honest, I hated trying to read other people's thoughts since it was a tiring thing to do. But if I wanted to live, I had to avoid getting on others' bad side and look after myself. With this decision in mind, I began: "But Father, you shouldn't disobey the emperor's orders. If it turns out to be urgent—"

Despite my perfectly normal rebuttal, my father shook his head. "It's fine. There are plenty of other skilled people to replace me if I don't go."

It was an unbelievable statement, but in a way, it made sense.

"Master is right, so let's go have tea."

I frowned slightly at Max who was suddenly calling my father his master. 'It looks like they've already made up… Do we still have to drink tea?'

* * *

'I can't believe he has the nerve to not show up yet…' The emperor rested his fingers on the throne, then clenched his fists. Soon, the grand chamberlain entered the room.

"Have you heard from Duke Floyen?" the emperor asked him.

"He says he will enter the palace tomorrow since it's late in the day," the grand chamberlain replied.

Upon hearing his answer, the emperor questioned the grand chamberlain angrily. "What? Did those words really come out of his mouth?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

Although Regis had made excuses many times before, this was the first time he had blatantly refused his orders. The emperor stared at the ring on his finger and scrunched his face up in annoyance. 'I see that you're rebelling now… What on earth are you planning to do, Regis?'

* * *

I brewed some of the tea I had prepared for the tea tasting party and fished out the leaves. Based on the scent that lingered on the tip of my nose, I thought my attempt was successful. 'I hope it suits their taste,' I thought with anticipation.

My father elegantly lifted the teacup to his lips then put it back down. "The tea tastes good," he said. At his praise, I glanced at Max.

"It smells pretty good," he nodded in agreement.

'For a man who once complained about tea being tasteless to approve of it…' I had roughly guessed my way through the brewing process of this tea, but I was glad it turned out well. 'This should get me through the tea tasting party,' I thought with a smile when I met my father's eyes.

'Why is he looking at me like that?' I was thinking of avoiding his gaze since it was making me uncomfortable, but he slightly lowered his eyes before me and spoke softly.

"It's great," he said.

His unexpected compliment made me flustered rather than happy, since I barely had any memories of my father praising me. 'He said great? Towards me?' My heart wavered. I felt that if I put my guard down even a little bit, I was going to return to my past self who begged him for affection. I suppressed the expectations that rose inside me and repeated to myself spitefully. 'Don't expect anything, Jubelian.'

He's the one who had told his young daughter who missed him and came to see him on a cold winter day not to visit again. He was the one who had not attended his daughter's once-in-a-lifetime debutante ball using training as his excuse. There was no way that he was praising me from the bottom of his heart. It was impossible to think that he might have changed. The moment I realized this reality, all of my senses became numb.

"Thank you," I replied mechanically.

My father then glanced at Max and opened his mouth. "I want you to go upstairs first, I have something to discuss with my disciple."

I was confused when he had praised me all of a sudden, but in the end, it seemed that it was bait so he could spend time alone with his disciple. 'Alright, it's good enough that he decided to make up with his disciple.' My heart strangely ached, but I covered up my feelings and forced a smile.

"Of course. Take your time."

* * *

When the door closed and the sound of Jubelian's steps gradually faded away, Max and Regis openly revealed their murderous spirits they had hidden away until now.

"What nonsense are you planning?" Regis demanded.

Max frowned and scoffed. "Nonsense?"

Looking down at his despicable disciple, Regis opened his mouth. "Why do you keep lingering around my daughter?"