107 – Father’s Sorrow
The next day, even though the coming-of-age ceremony was over, the anger was noisy.
Yesterday, the heirs of each family, who had completed their own official schedule, were finally able to shake off their heavy shoulders.
Among them, there were not a few who came with expectations to tour Hespania rather than the coming-of-age ceremony.
Since it was also the land ruled by the owner of the grand duchy, each person had their own imagination about this place, which is also called the heart of the north.
And this hustle and bustle continued in the garden landscape, which was always on the quiet side.
Ariel and Edgar visit the garden, which they don’t often come to without much thought.
In fact, if I had known there were a lot of people, I wouldn’t have even taken a step at all, but I didn’t expect that those left after the coming-of-age ceremony would come to the garden.
“Good morning, Princess. Yesterday was a really fun day.”
“I wanted to thank you again for inviting me to such a wonderful event, and I am here to see you.”
Thanks to that, people gathered wherever Ariel stepped would greet her like this when they met her face.
On the way, some brave people asked about the shocking sight of yesterday, but Ariel reiterated her relationship with Edgar without showing any discomfort.
What she committed yesterday was her mistake, and there was no fault of those who were curious about it.
As if it had been reconstructed from yesterday, she was greeting people she met in the morning, but for some reason the smile never left her lips.
What was she doing that would normally have made her feel uncomfortable seeing the crowd of people in the morning?
“hehehe.”
“Does it feel good somehow?”
Edgar, who had been watching her closely, also gave up his luck when his curiosity arose.
Then Ariel made a look on her face, asking how she knew.
“Well, does it look like that?”
“You just hummed.”
If he wasn’t even aware that he was humming, it must mean that he was in a really good mood.
In response, Edgar urged her to tell her true feelings in a calm tone, saying, “Don’t enjoy it alone, let’s share good things.”
“It makes me happy when everyone I meet tells me that we get along well.”
“What’s the matter with the princess who doesn’t get along well with candy coating?”
“That, that’s what I don’t like when strange men say they’re pretty… ! This is a different case.”
“Well, that’s right. I was a bit happy too.”
As she said, Edgar, when everyone he met in the garden concurred and congratulated the two, feeling that they were finally recognized by everyone, and felt much lighter.
Don’t you often express yourself as a public figure?
Although Edgar acknowledged her parents as well, just being recognized by those who had nothing to do with him somehow conveyed a different sense of joy.
On the other hand, Ariel seemed to have accepted today’s scenery a little differently from Edgar.
Blocking his path with her arms crossed and her nose raised, she stretched out her hand and pointed at him.
It was her unique posture when she had something to say confidently.
“Did I tell you? You’re not married to other women now. Now the fact that we are lovers has spread all over the world. Okay?”
“I have no intention of going. Why, if you want me to send it to you?”
Edgar responded smirkingly to Ariel’s bluff, not thinking about going over it.
At this, she snorted and raised her voice.
Are you saying that there is no choice?
“Hey, is it too late now? Just have a different mindset.”
“What? Are you going to slap your lips in front of everyone else?”
“Chi, I told you not to remind me of that memory… … !”
I tried to forget it somehow, but why are you making me think of it again?
Ariel tried to counterattack by tapping his forearm as hard as she could.
Edgar belatedly waved both hands quickly and handed over the apple, but the horns were already strong.
In the end, the two of them, who greeted the morning with a tumult as usual today, were able to return to the castle after a while.
Of course, that time meant when Ariel’s anger subsided.
* * * * * * *
Today, Yulken’s day started very well.
Of course, Ariel requested that the two of them talk alone.
As a father, spending time with his daughter, who doesn’t hurt even if he puts it in his eyes, was always welcome, so Yulken willingly agreed to it, putting his official duties behind.
After lunch, he heard a soft knock in his office where he was taking a break for a while.
There were very few people who could visit the office during this time, so Yulken recommended that they come in with an expression that he would know who was coming.
Elfelt, who was supposed to be by his side today, was away for a while, so he asked the attendant for tea in advance.
Yulken’s attendant, who was busy losing his job to Elfelt on other occasions, was happy and quickly finished his preparations.
“Welcome, Ariel.”
“You must have been busy, but I’m sorry I asked to see you, Father.”
Although the castle was noisy and close to the atmosphere of a party, apart from that, Yulken had to constantly carry out family duties.
That’s why Ariel was worried that his schedule might be disturbed because of her, but Yulken just shook his head with a generous smile.
“If my daughter asks to see you, you have to throw away what you are doing and meet. But what happened?”
“I have a question for you. But today I can’t see Elfelt?”
Just as the thread follows where the needle goes, Elfelt was always next to Yulken.
Of course, he is often away when he has to perform official duties, but according to Ariel’s memory, he must have been in the castle until yesterday.
If so, it must mean that she was away during the coming-of-age ceremony, but I thought that time period was really strange for Ariel.
Unless you’re extremely busy, you probably don’t need to.
“I left for a short time in Whitewood at dawn. The air over there is about to become ghastly again.”
“Yes? Whitewood… … .”
Whitewood is one of the front lines in contact with the immigrants in the northern region.
The fact that the atmosphere in such a place would become ghastly was news that even Ariel couldn’t overlook, so her eyes narrowed.
“Don’t worry. No matter what happens, you can just deal with it, and if it’s a small thing, you can just ignore it.”
However, Yulken shook his head, recommending not to worry about this.
Even though he was a child who would soon inherit the family headship, he didn’t want to tell his daughter a dark story in broad daylight like this, and he wasn’t at the level of worrying too much yet.
“Let’s have a leisurely cup of tea and chat. We haven’t even heard what our daughter has been looking for this father yet.”
Dismissing such a heavy subject, Yulken, who smiled like a benevolent father, naturally switched the subject.
When he offered a refreshment on the table to get Ariel off her luck, she messed around with a cookie and got straight to the point without an introduction.
“Actually, I was wondering if your father asked Ed if he had no intention of having a lady-in-waiting.”
“Well? I must have already asked for your opinion.”
When the subject he thought would come back at least after the coming-of-age ceremony came out of the mouth of Ariel, not Edgar, Yulken put on a slightly surprised expression.
Then, he nodded his head to his daughter, who asked the truth, and revealed that he had handed over the offer.
It is also not to be forgotten that a child whom Sheppy used to teach gradually began to play his part, and that this was an allusion.
“… … .”
“Why?”
Then, Ariel’s expression suddenly turned sullen.
She puts down the half of the cookie that was messing around and looks at her father with a sullen look.
As Yulken questioned, Ariel’s tightly closed mouth opened before long.
“I hate you, father.”
“… … !?”
Then he succeeded in dilating Yulken’s pupils with only two sentences and began to complain.
“Why are you a lady-in-waiting? You know how much I hate having a woman next to him… … !”
“Yeah, but I thought it was necessary anyway… … .”
“Then you can be a servant! No matter what you say, you are a child taught by Amman Shefi, after all you are a woman!”
From Ariel’s point of view, the identity of the other person is not known.
Slaves, commoners, nobles, acquaintances or strangers, whether introduced by someone, in the end, being a woman is what matters.
“Hmm. mi, i’m sorry I knew you valued your friend, but I didn’t know it to this extent. It’s my mistake.”
Yulken broke into a cold sweat at her fierce resistance and obediently apologized.
Whether he is the ruler of the north or the owner of the grand duke’s family, in the end he is nothing more than a weak, unarmed father to his daughter.
In the first place, the winner of this dialogue was decided from the beginning.
“If you do that again next time, will you really get angry? Thanks to that, I even said something bad to Ed yesterday… … !”
“That, yes. I will apologize to that friend instead. It must have been a lot of hard work thanks to you.”
Although he wasn’t there, Yulken was able to recall the situation at the time through Ariel’s words.
Bonama and Ariel must have reprimanded him out of jealousy when they heard that he had a handmaid.
However, after all, Yulken was the cause, and because of that, Edgar was beaten between them.
“So who is the lady-in-waiting? I want to see it for myself at least once.”
“You sound like you have a choice.”
“Then it should be with me. How can I allow a woman who doesn’t sound like that to hang out next to my man?”
“… … .”
Yulken, who could already see the hardships of the child who would become a lady-in-waiting, swallowed back his words and picked up the teacup that was on the table.
Then, he told his daughter that he would arrange a time during the week to meet him, and inside he prayed for his future son-in-law.
‘You must have suffered a lot too.’
On the other hand, he was very fortunate to have met a wife of a relatively mild character.
I just swallowed it in my mouth, wondering if I would hear the shocking words from my daughter again after I said it.
After the maid-in-waiting seemed to have been sorted out to some extent, Yulken decided to directly ask his daughter about the news he had heard from people around him during the day.
“Come to think of it, Ariel, I heard that you kissed that friend at the wedding yesterday… … .”
“… I really hate you, Father.”
“… … .”
Without imagining that it was the process of hearing the words I never wanted to hear again.
In the end, that day, Yulken took a break from his official duties and drank alone in broad daylight.
Realizing anew that it is such a sad thing to hear her daughter say that she hates her face to face.