Baby Hostage’s So Cute - Chapter 8

King Astor’s mental state was being torn apart during his conversation with Seonghwang.

The Imperial Palace was chaotic when the emperor returned to the Benedict Empire.

The cause of this was a mere four-year-old child.

Some would have accepted it normally, saying, “What kind of joke is that?” But the palace was currently in an unprecedented storm.

The conference room, being the center of the storm.

The aristocrats that were closest to where the emperor sat, were in the most turmoil.

“What do you mean, you adopt a child of our enemy without even thinking about it? You can’t do that!”

“An enemy? She was once our enemy, but now she’s one of my people.”

“Ha, but this is a situation where King Astor needs to have a say in!”

“That’s right. King Astor’s daughter is being forcibly adopted. If this immoral act becomes known to the world, Your Majesty’s face will be ruined.”

And that wasn’t all. It was clear that the prestige of the empire, which would be dominated by an immoral emperor, will also plummet.

Only then did other aristocrats realize the seriousness of the situation.

The conference hall was filled with clamorous voices.

The emperor stared at them and sighed.

“Shall we?”

“?”

The nobles looked up at the papers that were thrown in front of them.

< The family tree of the Astor Kingdom >

The aristocrats, who checked the title and read the contents written below, gasped.

“This…this!”

“The girl who was taken hostage wasn’t the king’s real daughter?”

“Huh? How dare the Astor Kingdom fool us!”

The nobles became angry.

It was a completely reversed reaction from before.

They stared at the family tree with distorted faces and said that if Elaine was not King Astor’s biological daughter, the whole situation would change.

“I agree.”

“I’m in favor, too.”

“Those bastards! How dare they make fun of our great empire? Your Majesty, you mustn’t overlook this matter!”

The noblemen nodded in unison.

“Don’t worry about it.”

But for some reason, the emperor, who should be angry, had a faint smile on his face.

“I have an idea.”

His eyes, which seemed to be looking distant into the future, shone brightly.

***

The adoption process was going quite fast.

Alice and two other maids nervously stamped their feet on the ground.

“The princess must be very hurt. What should I do?”

“Shh! Bailey. Stop acting like this!”

“Oh, stop ordering me around!”

Alice and the two maids worriedly looked at the door.

Elaine’s room’s doors were tightly shut.

Bailey frowned as if she was dying from heartache.

“Oh my. Her face was identical to King Astor’s.”

“Don’t say such things. Since her father was the King’s brother, it’s only natural.”

“But the princess has been thinking of you as her own mother, think how distressed she’s going to feel…”

At Bailey’s words, Alice and Cathy stared at the tightly closed door with gloomy faces.

And inside, Elaine…

‘You’re really going to adopt me?’

Elaine, who was moved onto a fluffy bed, thought about what happened today with a blank expression.

A precious warmth.

His voice made all her deep despair fade away.

Finally, she remembered the eyes of the emperor, which seemed cold but strangely warm at the same time.

‘I don’t understand.’

Elaine shook her head.

Before regression.

Elaine had wanted to be loved more than anyone else, but no one ever looked back at her.

Even when the Third Disaster struck and the Kingdom of Astor collapsed, Elaine, who was thrown aside, was struggling to survive.

There were four things that Elaine had learned.

Right now, Elaine had a purpose, so she gave out information that could be useful to the emperor. And thanks to that, she was able to settle down in the imperial palace and live a stable life.

Yeah, it was a deal.

A deal between Elaine, a girl who wanted to live, and the emperor, a man who wanted to obtain useful information.

But today the emperor’s remarks were to break it all.

The man who was rumored to be the cruelest had hugged Elaine gently.

The emperor declared that he would adopt a useless hostage into the imperial family, although Elaine thought there would be absolutely no provoked goodwill.

At a time when she was about to draw the line, the emperor himself pulled Elaine across the line.

Full of contradictions that could not be understood.

In confusion, Elaine hugged her legs.

And at that moment…

An unexpected accident occurred.

“Your Majesty, she has not yet calmed down…”

Rattle-

Ignoring Alice’s cries, the tightly closed doors opened.

“Did you lock the door?”

Jingle. The sound of keys could be heard from the other side.

As Elaine stared at him blankly, a box was placed on her lap.

She looked at it.

“Why?”

“……”

Elaine made eye contact with the emperor, who stood still.

Soon after, however, Elaine dropped her head and brought up the most disturbing thing she had thought of.

“Benetti…”

“Tell me.”

“Are you sure I am worth living here?”

When Elaine asked that question, the emperor looked at the box on her lap without answering for a moment.

Then he asked a counter-question.

“Isn’t this palace better than being in that cramped kingdom?”

“?”

The emperor frowned when Elaine laughed at the sudden remark.

“Then you don’t like it here?”

She shook her head.

When she did, the emperor’s expression was full of relief.

His face was somewhat triumphant.

“And I look better than King Astor.”

“???”

This time, Elaine blinked at the completely incomprehensible comment.

The emperor looked at the child and said, “So I look forward to your kind cooperation, daughter.”

“!!!”

When Elaine’s mouth hung open, the emperor left the room with a smirk.

It’s like a typhoon that had come earlier and rushed away in an instant.

Elaine, who was left alone, tried to calm down her pounding heart and looked at the box the emperor had left to her.

More or less, the paper on the box.

< Elaine Benedict >

‘…This is my new name.’

Feeling the tears filling up in her eyes, Elaine slowly repeated her name.

‘But what is this?’

It was not heavy, but it wasn’t light either.

Soon after Elaine opened the lid, she burst into tears.

< A gift for the daughter of the emperor >

Elaine could tell that he was nervous as he wrote the letter. The ink was smudged. Underneath the card there were colorful, sweet macarons lined up.

A weak sound escaped her lips.

Whoosh!

Like a blocked water dam had burst, Elaine’s sobs became louder and louder.

The others, who had their ears pressed against the door, rushed into the room to find a small child crying.

“Princess! Why are you crying?”

“Did Your Majesty say anything offensive?”

Alice quickly examined Elaine’s body as Bailey stood close, at loss for words.

When Alice wiped Elaine’s tears away with a handkerchief handed to her by Cathy, Elaine said in a trembling voice.

“It’s just… my chest feels too tight…”

Ah!

The child, who had stopped to say those words, began to cry again.

Then they saw the surrounding scenery.

The three women, who found delicious macarons and a short letter in the box, looked both sad and relieved.

“Princess…”

“How nice of him…”

When Alice hugged Elaine tightly, Bailey and Cathy also joined in.

It was a moment where they could feel each other’s warmth.

The child and the three women shed tears of joy for a while.

***

Recently, there has been a change in the imperial palace.

A few days after Elaine officially became the princess.

It was strange that the things that were sure to become messy and chaotic had been neatly organized. Even the nobles, who were hard to tackle down, were quiet.

However, the changes that took place in the palace were so unusual that all the other events had been set aside.

And at the center of the change…

The emperor continuously turned his head toward the little figure that followed him.

“Hic!”

“What are you doing here?”

“‘Oh, uhm…”

Elaine did not fully understand what the Emperor was thinking.

However, the emperor’s fondness for Elaine was evident from the gifts he sent and the entry of her being into the Benedict family.

Thanks to this, the anxiety that had been growing in the corner of Elaine’s heart disappeared because she was not going to ever go through mistrust.

‘But it’s still awkward.’

Suddenly, she had a father.

Although her trust in the emperor had soared recently, it meant another thing for him to become her parent.

And the terrible atmosphere that used to spew out of nowhere…

Elaine, who was caught by the emperor, went to give him something.

“This?”

“Elaine made it!”

“Hmm. You made it yourself?”

The emperor held what Elaine had handed and turned around, carefully putting it on his head.

Upon seeing this, not only the servants, who were usually busy but also the bureaucrats who were driven quickly by time stopped walking to take a look.

“You made it well with your little hands. It’s quite sturdy.”

“Hehe!”

Elaine’s jaw dropped when she saw the emperor wearing the flower crown she spent all night making.

She didn’t know the emperor would actually wear it.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing. Benetti is pretty!”

“You…do you like me that much?”

“Yes! Benetti is great!”

The emperor’s mouth trembled as Elaine shouted with sincerity.

It looks like she felt better from yesterday.

The emperor lifted Elaine up and hugged her.

“Huh?”

“You think high places are scary, but you were fine when you were hugged last time…”

He meant when Alice hugged her?

This time was scary because it was too sudden for her.

As her body stiffened intentionally, the emperor’s face hardened.

He changed his posture for a while and then looked at Elaine’s face.

“Isn’t this how she hugged you?”

‘No, it’s not that. I was surprised because it was so sudden!’

The people’s thoughts could be seen on their faces as they watched the two of them.

‘It’s obvious that the child got stunned because she was surprised!’

However, no one approached the emperor to give him their mind.

If they lost their life for a reason as simple as this, wouldn’t that be a shame?

“Be…Benetti… I’m gonna throw up.”

“Hm? I’m sorry. Did I shake you too much?”

The emperor stopped moving and stared at Elaine.

Elaine blinked her eyes in succeeding to stabilize her inside that were coming up her throat.

‘Why are you staring at me like that all of a sudden?’

Elaine looked around, avoiding his eyes, in anxiety.

The emperor, who was seriously agonizing over something, said to her,

“But how long are you going to call me Benetti?”

“Huh?”

Elaine shut her mouth tightly.

‘What are you saying?’

Elaine wiggled her fingers as if she was sorry.

However, the words that followed were astonishing not only to Elaine but also to the subjects who were listening and concentrating on the conversation between the two.

“Call me father.”

“Huh? What?”

Elaine tilted her head in case she had heard it wrong.

The emperor repeated again.

“Say, papa.”

“…Oh?”

“That’s weird. I’m pretty sure you called that Astor blood, father.”

“Daddy!”

Elaine, who flinched at the emperor’s harsh look, quickly replied.

It was then that the Emperor raised the corners of his mouth.

“Yes, call me that from now on.”