7 – 7. Human Relationships
What are the duties of a father?
What kind of person is a father to his children?
What actions should a mother take?
In the first place, are there any obligations?
Moral rules, legal systems, etc. – aren’t these things established by humans to pursue safety while living together?
There are no obvious answers. These things are done for a reason –
If there is a grand goal or ambition that surpasses those reasons, can one disregard these laws?
If one possesses exceptional abilities and talents that enable them to achieve it,
Can one dare to break established rules and act in their own way?
Based on what I have seen and felt in my life, I would say that it is permissible…
Our family has accumulated a great wealth for generations.
Through this “eye” that has been passed down through the generations, we had an amazing ability to see people’s secrets and true intentions.
It was different from “insight.” It was different from the sharp eye that ordinary people could obtain through effort.
This ‘eye’ began to whisper to me when I became the head of the family. The previous head of the family also taught me about it.
The ancestor of the Melbus family, who had this kind of eye, was wary of it spreading.
Therefore, the expansion of the family was strictly controlled in a highly controlled environment.
And the ambition was truly remarkable –
Competing with siblings, siblings, and placing the strongest sprout among them as the head of the family.
Those who couldn’t become the head of the family quietly disappeared.
Only those who maximized the power of the ‘eye’ continued to carry on the family.
Despite having such an amazing ability, there is only one reason why they couldn’t surpass that power.
It is because of the Melbus family, who wear golden crowns and shout that they own the vast land from the annoying castle, even after hundreds of years, they are still fools.
Those fools who dare to enjoy things that are not in line with their status, boasting that they can shake everything I have been given by the sky. However, the ‘eye’ whispered to our family about how to grow that power.
Yes, with enough money, you could control people’s movements, and if you knew their inner thoughts, you could change their minds.
The ‘eye’ taught me all of that.
When I became the head of the family, the whispers in my heart never ceased.
The first time was when I declared myself the new head in the palace and faced a man with a small stature.
The second time was when I met the third daughter of the knight family at the royal ball.
The third time was when I gave her the great seed of the family.
And finally, when I faced my ‘child’,
With a flash of the eye, I saw everything about that child.
I saw my father’s strength, my mother’s talent,
And I saw that the family had the ‘eye’.
The time has come,
So said the ‘eye’.
*
…Do you believe that love has meaning?
In the first place, how can we define what love is?
Some say it’s the pounding of the heart, innocently.
When his secret was revealed, his heart skipped a beat.
Isn’t it truly amusing, this thing called human?
That with such a simple word, one can prattle on as if it were truth.
In the city, I saw a boy and a girl blushing as they exchanged flowers.
Their families were enemies. Their meeting soon turned hostile.
A young man and a maiden playing innocently, without properly defining this thing called ‘love’.
As time passed, the maiden left with the son of a wealthy merchant.
On the outskirts of town. In the morning, she waved at her husband, and at night, she played with the young man next door.
And in the morning, with a stern expression, she left the house, and at night, she smiled and cuddled with the man by the window.
Where can you find this thing called love? Ah, they say true love exists if you search for it.
But even if it exists, if it is touched from the outside, does the human heart not crumble?
The farmer introduced his wife to me, saying that as long as he has someone to rely on for a lifetime, it’s enough.
When I gave money to the man by the window and told him to seduce him, a fight broke out in less than three months.
…As I said, if money understands a person’s movements, their inner thoughts.
The heart of that farmer was truly weak. No, everyone would be the same.
Anyway, the reason for telling this absurd story was for my daughter.
At the age when she could walk and talk on her own, her swordplay was not ordinary.
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But the woman from that knightly family, who had seen her “eyes,” tried to separate her from me,
and began to criticize the family’s educational methods.
Surely, she had not grown up like this?
Is it not because she had to handle a sword that she has no eloquence and does not show her emotions?
As I voiced that thought, I felt a tremor in her eyes that had shown no movement until now.
And her “eyes” were filled with disgust.
Of course, I could not let her behavior go unnoticed.
Doesn’t money reveal a person’s actions?
Before long, that child became completely mine.
The “eyes” never made a mistake – I believed that.
This child grew up splendidly. As the sword of the family.
As my sword, she became the one who would elevate our family even higher, without any ambition but devotion to peace.
The whispers grew louder.
Even my whispers began to move those around the king.
Everything went smoothly –
until the moment my one choice ruined everything.
From the moment my sword appeared as a person, witnessed by my own eyes.
I realized that it was a mistake to let him into the family.
Tears were streaming down my face.
He had the same face as my mother.
He had the same expression as my mother when she looked at him.
I wondered how that could be possible, but I dismissed the thought.
I had to fix everything that went wrong with the plan with my own hands.
I had to.
Because my daughter stood in front of me and asked about her father.
No, there’s nothing wrong with that.
It’s a problem because Geomi asked why she was being swung around.
*
There was no interruption during our mealtime.
Even when Lord Lambre barged in and interrogated me with a threatening manner – if I had such thoughts, she held my hand.
Her smile was comforting and kind.
It naturally came to me, even without being taught.
Of course, the people around us were amazed by such things,
The housekeeper and the head maid, who seemed to have worked for a long time, monitored them and looked uneasy.
But anyway – she sat across from me and enjoyed our mealtime leisurely.
After glancing at the plate in front of her, she soon started to move her hands busily.
With graceful movements, she cut various ingredients with a knife and fork, and when I saw her put them in her mouth, it felt like watching a scene from a movie.
Regardless, the quiet mealtime was not the issue.
After finishing her meal, she silently observed me as I ate.
Perhaps afraid of making a mistake, her eating speed slowed down,
and occasionally, when our eyes met, I would cough nervously at the smile she sent my way.
“…It’s embarrassing to be stared at so intently.”
After barely managing to utter those words, I could finally escape her blatant gaze –
But it seemed as if she wouldn’t let me out of her sight until she got up from her seat, as she ordered tea and continued to sneak glances at me.
In the end, I succeeded in finishing the food, but personal time was still out of reach.
She took my hand and immediately led me to the parlor.
This time, he wasn’t there. The servants, too, bowed their heads and went about their tasks,
and there was no uneasy feeling like that day.
With a hint of clouds, a blue sky could be seen outside the window. She quietly brewed tea herself and placed a cup next to me.
She, too, glanced at the sky after briefly looking at me.
She quietly left it there, at the edge of her vision.
Her busy eyes seemed to be silently counting the passing clouds, capturing a bigger picture.
“Instead of counting the number of clouds, how about capturing a bigger picture?”
“A bigger picture?”
Suddenly, she held a cup slightly larger than my hand with both hands and tilted her head inquisitively.
“By looking at just one cloud, you can’t see anything bigger. Only by capturing everything in your eyes can a single picture be completed.”
“Everything… It’s still difficult for me.”
She narrowed her eyes for a moment and then asked me a question.
“So, what kind of person is this ‘father’?”
As soon as she heard the word ‘father’, the hand that was about to bring me to the car stopped.
The hand, with nowhere to go, neatly rested on the table.
“This ‘father’… at least for me, it’s not something I can say.”
Should I think of Frederick Gale or my own father as the subject?
Perhaps Frederick Gale would be the correct answer.
But the difference between the two didn’t feel so significant.
One was explicit, and the other was unreadable, but at least I could sense that both had sincere intentions.
“Should I say that they live their lives hoping for their child’s future to be full of brightness?”
“A bright future?”
“I fervently wish for it. Not just by saying it, giving good clothes and food… sometimes scolding and taking them to various places to ask difficult questions.
But I know that deep down, they all have the same desire for me to be happy.
I hope I won’t be unhappy. I hope for a life filled with laughter… Should I say that?”
“…”
What did she feel about this story?
Her face looked like it held many things.
It wasn’t expressionless. It wasn’t devoid of any emotion.
However, lost in thought, there was a faint tremor in the mouth that seemed to want to say something.
“…Is the story a little different from what you had in mind?”
“A little, I thought so. Because you’re a bright person.”
“Is that so?”
“Do I look like… someone?”
That question held many things within it.
This MTL is quite difficult to read