Why so?

I exchanged glances with Poppy for a moment, not knowing why, and subtly glanced towards the Princess.

I was worried that the Princess might have been awakened by Poppy’s quacking noises earlier.

‘Relief.’

Contrary to my concerns, the Princess was sound asleep, snoring lightly as she traveled in the world of dreams. I turned my head back to look at Poppy.

Even if he was a guardian doll to assist the Princess, it wasn’t right to let him disturb her nap. I was about to tell him to be quiet.

“Quack, quack!”

But instead of running towards me when our eyes met, Poppy jumped off Ronowe’s lap and went in another direction. Where he stopped waddling was next to the basket filled with snacks, placed beside the sleeping Princess.

Poppy repeatedly extended one of his short arms towards the snack basket, hopping in place and glancing at me with twinkling eyes.

‘Did he still want more snacks?’

I then realized that Poppy had deliberately made the loud noise to get my attention.

However, knowing Ronowe and Beris had already fed him quite a lot, I was worried he might overeat.

I took a sneak peek at Poppy’s belly, but due to his short limbs and round body, I couldn’t tell if he was bloated.

“No, Poppy, I can’t give you that.”

Moreover, it was against the rules to touch the Princess’s belongings. I added a few more words to the disappointed Poppy.

“I’ll ask the Princess when she wakes up, so wait.”

I understood that the Princess’s basket, which she nearly emptied for the sake of the wager, might be tempting. But taking something that belonged to someone else was wrong, and I explained that to Poppy as simply as I could.

“Quack, quack, quack-quack!”

But Poppy, frustrated that he couldn’t get what he wanted, continued to quack louder, despite my warnings.

Concerned that Ronowe, Beris, and the Princess would wake up, I frantically looked around and found some snacks in my basket that the Princess had shared earlier.

“Would you like to eat these instead, the ones the Princess shared earlier?”

“Quack!”

Phew, he must have been really hungry. I felt relieved that Poppy finally quieted down.

It was only after he hopped back onto Ronowe’s lap and made a snuggling sound before falling asleep that I felt truly at ease, and closed my eyes for a moment.

Returning to the land of Randel after decades felt nostalgic.

The only time I had visited this place in my previous life was to wage wars and sift through ancient texts in search of answers from the gods.

In short, I had no particularly good memories of this place and worried that the excess of snacks I had consumed might cause discomfort.

Creak.

As the carriage halted, I cursed the sunny weather under my breath, not wanting to get off.

Somehow, I felt as if I was exposing my weaknesses before the gods, and it didn’t sit well with me.

“Wow~”

Ronowe and Beris, who had just woken up, were glued to the window, awestruck by the grand scale and the solemn atmosphere of the Ariel Temple.

“It’s an honor to have you come all this way.”

Dragging myself out of the carriage last, I saw Jeph talking to someone who had approached him.

“I am Diomer Ar Men, the High Priest of Ariel Temple.”

I quickened my steps to join Jeph, feeling somewhat shocked when a young man, adorned in the most magnificent and beautiful ceremonial robes, introduced himself as the High Priest.

“I should be the one thanking you for receiving us personally, High Priest.”

For now, I answered instinctively and continued to carefully observe the new High Priest.
Platinum blonde hair, golden eyes, and a gentle demeanor; he was starkly different from the old chancellor I remembered.

‘Why is the chancellor doing menial greetings? Normally, that’s a job for a lower-ranking priest.’

There were more than a few suspicious aspects.

However, the most surprising thing was that someone as young as Jeff was chosen as the leader in the conservative temple I thought I knew.

“Dio, have you been well?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. All thanks to your care.”

Furthermore, the sight of us warmly shaking hands, chuckling and laughing, was bizarre given that we had always been at odds when I was emperor.

‘What’s going on? Are they friends now?’

What on earth had happened in the meantime?

‘Has the era changed? Was there a deal between the temple and the empire?’

I couldn’t make sense of it.

The one certain thing was that the relationship between the empire and the temple wasn’t as bad as before.

‘I’m surprised this change has occurred just because the chancellor changed.’

It seemed that the relations improved as Jeff took power and cleaned up some of the messes I had made.

“Please come in. There’s something I’d like to show you.”

I had subtly worried that I might receive a cold or guarded reception, but it was all in vain.

Embarrassed at my own over-sensitivity, I hurriedly followed Jeff and the chancellor into the temple.