Are you saying you tried to rush to the Imperial Palace, but failed to do so?

It was indeed very late, but it put her in a real predicament.

Especially since she hadn’t kept her word to Tidwell to be home by dusk.

Ravia felt a shiver run up her spine, but luckily the situation was not that dire.

“I have alerted the Imperial Palace that I found the distributor of the Dark Flower.”

But Ravia looked perplexed by his answer.

If Heint indeed did that, then calling her and letting her stay in the villa was even more absurd.

“Then, why did you bring me here….?”

At Ravia’s response, Heint’s expression was bitter.

There were two reasons.

“In order to solve the matter without leaking in the best way possible, I must report to His Majesty and inform him of Tidwell’s expulsion at the same time, so there is a limit to what I can convey by letter.”

No matter how much Tidwell fooled Heint, Tidwell was still a legitimate Leontine as it stood.

If Tidwell was punished, it was clear that it’d be hard for Leontine to avoid sanction by association.

Therefore, after waking up from hypnosis and learning the whole truth, he understood why the Emperor had picked him among many subordinates to do this.

It was the Emperor’s last chance and mercy to him.

The Emperor might have been unaware that Tidwell gained entry into the family by tricking Heint, but he must have known Tidwell was a Dark Flower distributor. That presumption was confirmed by the fact that the data and study findings were so detailed that it was unnecessary to leave the investigation to Heint.

With that much data, it should have been easy to identify the criminal.

Were there no other choices among the royal family’s internals or the Emperor’s direct subordinates?

But Heint was the Emperor’s loyal subject.

Furthermore, Leontine was one of the big weights needed to balance the dynamic amidst the ongoing conflict between the nobles and the Blues.

The Emperor must have judged that he shouldn’t punish Tidwell hastily, and threw all the clues and left it to Heint to decide.

This is the kind of person your adopted son is.

Heint, will you embrace him or will you cut him off?

Perhaps the Emperor thought that Heint would be in a tight spot when the whole truth was out.

It was known among the high-ranking families that Heint had had a hard time deciding on his successor.

But the Emperor wouldn’t have guessed that Heint was under the effect of a drug and had inserted a stranger into the family registry.

It made it more difficult for Heint to convey the entire story in a single letter.

Because Heint intended not only to accuse Tidwell of being a Dark Flower dealer, but also to expel him from the family and charge him with contempt for the aristocracy.

“I informed His Majesty, but it is difficult to request an audience at this late hour unless there is a wartime emergency.”

So a few hours’ delay was granted, and Heint concluded that it was right to evacuate Ravia at that moment.

In other words, the old villa was solely prepared for Ravia, not Heint.

“As you say, there are many potential risks in many ways, and leaving you at home is certainly a sensible decision given the situation, but it wasn’t the most suitable choice for me.”

“I don’t quite understand what you’re saying.”

Ravia narrowed her forehead.

She couldn’t understand what Heint said no matter how much she racked her brain.

Wasn’t it common for the most suitable choice to be found through sound reasoning?

Nothing in his explanation justified his reasons for bringing her here and allowing her to stay.

Ravia’s confusion showed on her face.

And the man in front of her, Heint, was actually in pain due the fact that he could fully understand his daughter’s mind.

Leontine’s principle was driven by pride.

Their principle was nothing grand in and of itself. It was simply a matter of staying on the right path.

But there was something different about their method.

They were taught to be confident in their own path over what was right or ethical.

Leontine’s principle was based on their egotistical belief and pride that whatever path they took was right.

Therefore, education in Leontine’s principles begins with defining what is ‘right.’

To be certain that every option they took was correct, they had to first figure out where their definition stood.

There were milestones that pointed to each path at key moments of life, and it may be quite subjective depending on the situation.

Thus, the Leontines found a milestone that could flexibly fit all situations over a long period of time. It was rationality.

All rational decisions come from a process of measuring their experience and knowledge.

As a result, those who had learnt and experienced a lot had a great milestone.

The only people who made poor decisions were those who lacked experience or education, or were blinded by emotion.

Therefore, a Leontine had to learn and experience a lot in order to establish their belief.

They were educated to make decisions that weren’t influenced by emotion.

They must seek growth so that their judgment would never miss.

Their pride starts with him.

Ravia had the most in-depth understanding of Leontine’s way of pursuing rationality.

So he recognized why she couldn’t understand his words.

And that fact was painful to him.

Reason wasn’t everything. Any experience and knowledge could be wrong. Any belief could be wrong.

When the pride of people who were faithful to rationality breaks down, any form of reason cannot console them in the end.

As a result, the sinner now stood before Ravia.

The sinner said.

“I…I was afraid to lose you, Ravia. This is the best choice for me.”

“Are you telling me you made an emotional choice?”

“That’s right. I don’t regret it, either.”

Heint was calm, but Ravia immediately frowned.

“There’s clearly a rational way, but are you saying this is the best choice for you right now?”

A dry laugh came out. She’d rather watch a comedy show than this.

Do you think I stood tall in front of Tidwell because I didn’t know how to run away or couldn’t control my emotions?

If I had listened to my emotions at the time, I would have fallen for what Tidwell referred to as love. Then Rette’s story would have put me in terror of death, and I would have ultimately fallen into despair.

Rationality had kept her going so far.

However, the man who taught her all that was trying to mess things up with unreasonable judgment.

There was nothing she could understand from start to finish.

It would make more sense if her father said all that while under the influence of Dark Flower.

Heint had clearly given an account of the memories he had lost the moment he said Tidwell was after her.

When they were watching Aida at the Velocio Theatre, Tidwell was putting Dark Flower in his tea. And Heint even hinted that Tidwell encouraged him to drop his doubts about Ravia’s legitimacy.

Heint, of course, didn’t repeat exactly what Tidwell said.

But it was enough to demonstrate that Heint was no longer addicted to Dark Flower.

And yet you said you’re sorry? You’re afraid to lose me?