“…I don’t understand.”

Early in the morning, Benjamin, kneeling with his eyes covered, whispered to Mitchell, who was also kneeling beside him, looking at Urgen, soaking his head.

“Why am I doing this now?”

“Well, you had an amazing night with the lady.”

Mitchell replied while poking his nose and wiping it on his clothes. Benjamin was even more confused by this situation.

“I didn’t do anything.”

“You slept.”

“I mean, just slept.”

“Yeah?”

It felt like his brain had shut down. Not only his face but also the question marks floating above his forehead made it seem so. When Mitchell was about to say something to Benjamin, Urgen called Elysian, who was sitting on the sofa.

“Ely.”

“Yes, yes.”

Elysian, who had the same dazed expression as Benjamin, opened her eyes wide and looked at Urgen. Urgen, who had a face that seemed to have a lot to say, exchanged glances with his daughter for a long time before opening his mouth.

“What did Dad say?”

Unable to follow this situation at all, Elysian blinked with a bewildered expression. Seeing Elysian like that, Urgen even felt sorry.

Although she was over forty, Elysian looked so young and handsome that, standing next to her, she seemed like a younger brother with a slight age difference. Daisy, who was always quick-witted, unknowingly muttered and quickly covered her mouth. Fortunately, the only person who heard that was Anderson.

Elysian, who didn’t know what Urgen had said, muttered, “Um…” with a bewildered expression. She had no room to think about anything other than the fact that she had kneeled in front of the Crown Prince.

Unable to speak for a while, when Urgen approached and sat down, grabbing his daughter’s shoulders tightly, Mitchell whispered to Benjamin.

“He’s a minister….”

Daisy, who had her jaw dropped at that sound, quickly covered her mouth. Fortunately, the only person who heard that was Anderson.

Urgen sadly distorted his face and said to Elysian.

“Although I… I made you go through terrible things several times because of my shortcomings, Yurie.”

It was about Hiskleif.

“But now Dad is here. I mean, this Dad who you got back after risking your life is by your side.”

“Dad….”

“So, you can take your time.”

“…?”

“It’s okay to grow slowly.”

Urgen tightly embraced Elysian. Although she had already grown up a long time ago, in Urgen’s arms, she still felt as small as when she was born. But now Elysian was no longer that small.

The time that Urgen lost was an extremely desperate and painful time, but looking back, there was no other time when he hurriedly made Elysian grow. So now, Elysian didn’t feel like a father as big as a mountain, but felt like Urgen.

“Father.”
Yurie hugged Urgen tightly and then slowly released the embrace. Afterward, she gently pushed Urgen, who clung to her like a child.

“I understand well what Dad is worried about. I hope you’ll give me some time to calm my heart and make a choice.”

“Yuri…”

“But, Dad, I’m not as sentimental and dull as you might think.”

Yurie chuckled, shrugging her shoulders.

“I got hurt. It’s strange not to get hurt when you scratch yourself like that. But, Dad, did you hear what I said to the Crown Prince yesterday?”

Yurie lightly closed and opened her eyes. Reaching out, she stroked her father’s shoulders, where muscles were starting to regain strength, and affectionately said:

“That’s all, Dad.”

“…”

“Even in the same century, if I were seaweed, I would have been torn apart. But because I had Dad, I became a firmly rooted tree. It may have bent a little. It didn’t split into two with a loud sound or anything.”

Yurie smiled faintly. In fact, she should have told this story first. If she had, maybe things wouldn’t have escalated to this point, and Benjamin wouldn’t be kneeling and looking up at her like this.

Yurie took a deep breath and confessed:

“The one who filled in that fine gap is Crown Prince Jian. So, I can be well like this.”

“Yuri, you…”

“See, Dad, Crown Prince Jian was my savior. When I fell into the Lake of Holy Waters.”

“…”

“While I was foolishly misunderstanding and loving someone else, he only cared about me. I mentioned it once before, right? When you were missing, the pen pal who comforted me. That person was also Crown Prince Jian.”

Urgen, gripping Yurie’s forearm, quickly turned his head to look at Benjamin.

Having fully understood the situation, Benjamin, with a reassuring and supportive expression, was staring at Yurie. From the beginning to now and until the end, as if he was determined to only look at Yurie.

Yurie chuckled softly, looking at Urgen’s side profile.

“To him, like this… to such a systematic person… falling in love with me must have been inevitable.”

This time, Yurie glanced at Urgen.

“…What?”

Urgen blinked his eyes quickly. So far, he had been excessively angry and worried about Yurie for one reason.

“That’s why… …Isn’t it just a strategic relationship?”