278 – The Gift of Family
Now that the battle against the Grand Duchy of Warsaw is over and the order to return home has been issued, most officers and soldiers take long-term leave and return to their hometowns.
When he returns to his hometown, he brags to his family and friends about how he performed in the war, pays a reward as a reward, and spends quality time with his family.
As the Commander-in-Chief, I must first meet with His Majesty, give him a detailed report on this expedition, and discuss what the empire’s strategy should be after the expedition.
However, this time I was given a special day off before meeting His Majesty.
This is because during the battle in Warsaw, the good news that Louise was pregnant was delivered, and His Majesty’s special consideration came with a message telling him to meet Louise first when he came to the imperial capital.
Thinking that she would now see Louise with her child, her steps became lighter and something warm and proud welled up deep in her heart.
“When she sent the letter, she said she thought it was about 3 months old, so it must have been about 6 months now. “During her pregnancy, I have to be with her as her husband and father.”
“Wasn’t it inevitable? You received the news of her pregnancy during the war. Both the baby and Louise will understand. You can stay with me from now on and take good care of me, master. “You have personally prepared gifts for Master Friedrich and Her Majesty Louise, so I am sure they will be happy.”
Hearing those words, I looked at the leather bag containing the wooden sword to give to Frederick and the blanket to hand to Louise.
“You said Laura and Anya went to pick out gifts for Friedrich and Louise, right?”
“Yes, I think you two will probably be home by the time we get to the mansion.”
“Let’s hurry, Louise will be waiting.”
After saying that, I hurried my steps, but out of consideration for Charlotte, I adjusted it to a reasonable trot.
No matter how precious Louise and her unborn child are, it does not mean that Charlotte next to her is any less precious.
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As I was about to pass through the gate and enter the living room of the mansion, Friedrich, now 6 years old, ran towards me with his arms outstretched.
He looks a lot like me, with bright, sparkling red eyes and black hair.
“Wow, it’s Dad! Dad!”
He has grown so much in the time I haven’t seen him that I thought he was just a baby when I saw him before, but now he looks quite like an older brother.
He hugged me tightly and asked sweetly.
“So, Louise, were you listening to Mom’s words? Did you have any pain? “Are you eating well?”
“Yes! Since my father was far away and working hard for the empire, he said I should eat well here, study hard, and exercise hard. “I’m my father’s son, so I’m good at everything!”
My son, who is good at everything, looked up at me with an expression asking for praise.
It was so pretty… I reached out my hand and stroked its head, and the bright smile on its face as if it owned the world was so cute.
I think this is why fathers make fools of their children because they are such cute and lovely beings.
When I looked behind Friedrich, I saw three people, Anya, Laura, and Louise, sitting on the sofa.
Anya was touching Louise’s protruding belly and looking at it with curious and envious eyes, and Laura was covering her with a blanket, saying that she should not let her stomach get cold.
“Her Highness Louise, when you have her child, you must not tighten her waist even slightly when wearing her dress. Don’t let her lower body get cold. Also, if a pregnant woman gets angry, it’s not good for the unborn baby…”
“I heard Laura is really worried. As soon as she heard that I was pregnant, Her Majesty Michael sent her maid to take care of me. I’m OK.”
“…… I also want to have the captain’s child like your highness…”
In other families, this kind of affectionate sight is very difficult to see because the wife and concubine fight an invisible and fierce battle to receive the love of the head of the family, but in our family, it is a very natural thing.
While watching this heart-warming scene, I slightly lowered Friedrich, who was holding me, and sat him down next to Laura. I handed the gift I had prepared, a wooden sword, to her son, and to Louise the finest blanket for pregnant women.
As soon as Louise received her blanket, she put her newly received blanket over her stomach with her characteristic lovely smile on her face, and Friedrich looked at her to see if she liked the wooden sword. Sparkled.
“How is Louise?”
“Yes, I’ve been fine. Friedrich also takes care of them, often belonging to the Jaeger Counts, or rather, the Marquis family now. As the dutiful wife of the marquis family, she occasionally attended salons and social churches.”
“Thank you for protecting my family while I was away.”
“My mind and body were busy, but my heart felt very lonely because the driver was not by my side. So, as long as you stay in the system, you will stay with us.”
I won’t be able to rest immediately after my vacation like other officers, but if urgent matters are handled, I will get reward vacation time of about a month to a month and a half.
Then, the whole family should go out to a tourist attraction near the islands.
The other day, Laura said she wanted to go to a place called Lake Victor, about a day away by carriage from Reichburg, saying it was so beautiful.
It would be a good idea to stay at a good inn near the lake and rent out a certain area around the lake to enjoy.
Let’s all play in the water together and have an outdoor barbecue, something we’ve never done before in Korea.
After making up my mind, I called Friedrich.
“Would you like to go to the lake with your moms next month? “Go on a boat, eat grilled meat, and have fun.”
Friedrich, who had just turned 6, was so excited that he jumped up and down when he heard what I said.
He looked at me with a smile as if he had everything in the world and kept saying “I like it, I like it”.
Seeing him so happy at the mere suggestion of going to play with his dad, I felt sorry for not being able to play with him more, and I thought about taking more vacation days from now on.
Anyway, I’ve been promoted to captain, and I can’t move up until my father-in-law retires, so I don’t have to work excessive overtime just for promotion.
“Are you sure, Dad?”
“Then, let’s go and take a boat ride and do whatever we want, Friedrich. Instead, can you wait a month, no, just 30 nights?”
“Yes! “Can I brag to my friends when I go to school tomorrow?”
“You can brag as much as you want. Friedrich, do you get along well with your friends at school?”
In the Reich Empire, or rather on the Europa continent, all children of noble families attend childhood school, which can be called a preparatory course for elementary school, from the age of five.
As it is an early childhood school, it is a slightly more difficult level of education than kindergarten, so studying is not that difficult.
However, the childhood school that Friedrich attends is a place where you have to be in the top 0.1% In Korea to get into, so all of his friends come from wealthy aristocratic families.
I wondered if my child, Friedrich, who had just risen to prominence in just a few years, might be neglected…
“Yes! I decided to go to Dyke’s house the day after tomorrow. She said there was a nice sword at Dyke’s house, so she and Otto Lang Prinz promised to go see it together. And I took first place in the last exam!”
I’m glad that she’s adjusting to school well without me worrying and that Louise seems to be teaching her studies well.
Like when I was attending the academy, I was worried that there might be someone who used his noble birth as a weapon to harass or ostracize Friedrich.
If you think about it carefully, my title is marquis and my military rank is captain, but there is no crazy person who would try to ostracize Frederick even though he wasn’t the first to do anything unless he was quite crazy.
Anyway, isn’t it a great point of pride to show off a cool sword to boys of this age…?
In my house, there is no treasured sword decorated with gold and jewels that nobles would like, but I do have the sword I used to kill the Khan or the sword I swung on Richen Hill.
Furthermore, according to what I heard from Louise in the past, it was said that children of noble families have social elements in playing with the children around them from their childhood…
“Then next time, bring all the kids to my house. If you let me know two days in advance, Dad will be home that day. And I’ll show you the cool sword Dad has.”
Friedrich’s eyes sparkled at those words, but Anya, Laura, Louise, and Charlotte all sighed at the same time.
“Captain, you are definitely not trying to show me the sword you used to kill Khan or the sword you used on Richen Hill, right?”
“Since they are kids around Friedrich’s age, if you showed them a knife like that, wouldn’t they all like it? Well, it’s not like it wears out.”
Also, nobles are people who are impatient because they cannot boast to each other anyway, so it is not a big problem to show the children who come to my house to show the evidence of my legitimate achievements.
The only thing I have to worry about is that Friedrich might become arrogant under my banner, but that kid…
Perhaps because she received a good education from Louise, she treated commoner children who bumped into her at church in a friendly manner, so she didn’t have to worry about being out of line.
Louise listened to me and sighed.
“No matter how much I try to be nice to my son and his friends, it’s not possible. It’s okay to show it to children, but after that, rumors will spread. He said he saw the knife that Captain Jaeger used to kill Khan. “Then other families will be lining up to show me that sword?”
…… Imperial nobles are people who are jealous of and admire others’ great martial arts skills, so if they hear that I showed the children the sword I used to kill the Khan.
It is true that everyone will come to see the sword used to kill Khan or the sword used on Richen Hill, as if on a pilgrimage.
Then there will be an endless number of heads of noble families that Louise, Laura, and yes, Charlotte will have to treat.
“Then just tell Dad a few days before your friends come to visit, and I’ll make sure Dad stays home on those days.”
“Yes!”
While we were chatting warmly, we heard the maid calling us from the kitchen.
“The meal is ready.”
After a delicious meal, I played with Friedrich until it was a little late at night, and slept with the three of us except Louise.
I guess everyone had a lot of things piled up, so I had to feel a crisis in my back today again.
Luckily, it ended well enough that there was no problem with going to work tomorrow.
**
And the next day, I went straight to the imperial palace to see His Majesty the Emperor.
While heading to the throne room of the imperial palace, I happened to meet His Excellency Kaitel, whose face was half crumpled and had an expression that looked like it could put a person in danger.
I tried to run away using the excuse of an audience, but His Excellency grabbed my shoulder and did not let go.
Fortunately, I was not criticized for sending a request to supply enough food to keep 2 million people from starving.
You brought up a very annoying story.
“Try to stop His Majesty. “When was the last time we won a big victory against the Warsaw guys, and many of the staff members of the Chief of Staff are calling for a new war to your Majesty?”
……. Many thoughts passed through my head, but I can summarize them in one word.
‘f*ck.’