172 – Histania, Which I Despise
From Noble mtl dot com
Histania Hannah hated her father.
Lots of wealth and honor.
The title of Count.
He was known as the ‘Empire’s Sword,’ but to Hannah, her father was someone she hated more than anyone else, and he was a nightmare.
Other people said they were envious of her for having such a capable father, but Hannah hated those words. He was someone who had been cold to his children and had let her die because she was untalented.
There was a time when she had been proud of her father.
It was when she had set her life’s goal to be like her father.
She had been proud of her father’s sword and the history of her family.
A founding father.
A prosecutor who fought to the end in the war.
A family that produced the strongest prosecutors.
Even just hearing it made her heart race. The symbol that represented Histania, the sword engraved with the family crest, used to make Hanna proud of her father, and she was fond of this family.
Even with her father’s neglect.
Even when she was scorned and despised.
Even when she didn’t hear the words “Happy Birthday,” she ran, believing that someday, light would come to her.
Of course, those expectations were shattered.
Sitting huddled on her dorm bed, Hanna had time to reminisce about the old days for the first time in a long time.
It had only been about a year since the old days, but for Hanna, it was a time of great change and a memory of being able to explode the emotions she had suppressed for so long that she could say it was “long.”
I remember it was raining.
It was my worst birthday a year ago.
At a time when rain was pouring as if there was a hole in the sky, Hanna had made a difficult request to her father.
-Father… It’s my birthday today.
On the day she asked her father, who always took care of her older brother, for swordsmanship instruction, her father coldly ignored her.
-Aren’t you tired of it? Always doing that.
Her father, who told her to put the sword away.
It was difficult to ask for practice.
Her father, not knowing how much she had worried before she could say it out loud, told her to put the sword away that day, as he always had.
That damn sword.
Sword..
Sword…
Hearing that she had no talent.
Her father’s expression, as if he knew everything, and his arrogant tone of voice had shattered the wall of expectation that he had built up for so long.
It was something she often heard, but maybe because it was her birthday, her heart ached more.
I thought my father would do that, but I had just heard from the wicked woman’s butler that I had talent, so my father’s cold voice hurt my heart even more.
So that day, she ran away.
It was so hard that it was the first time in my life that I had run away from home. Unlike a short outing, she left the family, feeling the grim reality that “there is no place for me in this family,” and wandered the streets like a lost child.
If someone hadn’t caught me then, I would have found the tragedy that the blue window showed me with my own feet.
Definitely.
That day, Hanna went to the wicked woman’s house as if she were grasping at straws.
Because I missed the man’s flattery that only spoke pleasant words. I knew that the words “You have talent” and the confident lies were all false, but Hanna went to his house.
-What…? Come in for now.
The bitter scent of the tea leaves, which gave me the most tasteless tea I had ever tasted, made Hanna cry.
-No, is it okay for a father to do that?
Complaining to someone she had just met.
-What did I do wrong…!?
I was comforted by someone I had just met.
I didn’t know until then. The fact that this man’s lie was the truth.
I just thought he was comforting me because he was short of money, and I thought he was just making up a plausible lie. Honestly, it was ridiculous for me to say that I could beat Mikhail.
Nevertheless, the man called out to me as I left.
– It’s raining hard outside. Don’t you have a place to go?
– No, at home…
– Liar.
I tried to make a lie come true.
– I’ve been sleeping in our mansion for a while.
– My mansion!
– Well… I’ve been living in the young lady’s mansion.
I gradually blended into the appearance of a man doing his best to look stupid. I became fascinated by his warmth, his warm lie, and began to believe his lie.
And the day when the feeling peaked.
– Didn’t I say I had talent?
-…sob
– Don’t cry. It’s late, but happy birthday.
Hannah felt the feeling of liking someone for the first time.
The fact that her feelings for Mikhail were not affection but admiration, and that her pounding heart was pounding without moving like a person frozen in a picture, was pounding.
Hannah could not forget the warmth she felt that day. It still seemed like the warmth that was carefully holding her was still there.
What Hannah let go of the most.
Neither her father’s surprised expression.
It wasn’t even the smoke from Ororo that she had longed for.
It was a warm embrace that someone believed in her.
It was the most precious light in Hannah’s life.
And.
– Daddy!
The respect for her father, which remained a little bit in the reality where the nightmare was reproduced, collapsed.
– Please save me.
I came to have a conviction that I couldn’t hate my father, and a reason why I couldn’t like him any more.
A cold wind was blowing outside the window.
Hannah brushed her hair behind her ear as the spring breeze of the night, which gently stroked her hair, disappeared.
What should I do now?
I don’t know what to do.
There was nothing clear, but there was something I wanted to do.
“I want to see you.”
I wanted to see him.
A man with red hair.
I wanted to play a prank on the hand that always smiled gently and stroked my hair. Because that moment can make my mind comfortable and melt away my worries.
I guess I have to work harder for that.
Hannah smiled a little and looked at the sword leaning on the desk. Hannah, who was looking at the sword that Ricardo had given her, not the sword her father had given her, smiled foolishly and rested her chin on the desk and stared blankly.
“I like it. I really do.”
I keep smiling.
Like an idiot.
Hannah couldn’t stop laughing because she liked the fact that she had received a sword that was too much for her to write with, and that Ricardo had given her this sword.
She got up, thinking it might be the most meaningful gift she ever received.
“Let’s go.”
Because it was something she had to prepare to stand next to him and become someone who was worthy of it.
Hannah didn’t want to meet Ricardo in a pathetic state. She also hated meeting Ricardo as a fool who cried and hoped for a miracle every time.
Sometimes, she wanted to be his strength and give back what she received. Hannah clenched her teeth and got up to find the training hall late at night, where no one was around, with her sword for training.
She started running against the cold wind.
With a refreshing smile.
Hannah ran vigorously towards the training hall.
Dreaming of a brighter future.
“Whew… whew…”
Hannah ran towards the training hall to swing a sword she truly loves, not one that she forced herself to practice.
She found someone in the training hall from afar.
There were two people.
‘I don’t think anyone would come to the training hall at this hour, are they new students…?’ Hannah thought, but she nodded at the sight of a man with fluttering silver hair.
“Senior Mikhail.”
Mikhail was swinging his sword today too.
But who is that person next to him?
Hannah looked at the man whose face was hidden in the darkness and wondered.
Broad shoulders.
Judging from the sword hanging at his waist, he seemed like a student who came to practice, but his face was hidden in the darkness.
He must be an acquaintance of Mikhail’s, judging from the fact that he was exchanging swordsmanship with Mikhail….
‘What does it matter?’
It would be strange to care who was there while training.
Hannah walked slowly towards the training hall where Mikhail and the man of unknown identity were.
“Hello. You’re here today too….”
The moment she tried to greet Mikhail casually. Her body froze stiff as the man’s face slowly emerged from the darkness.
“Long time no see.”
A man spoke to her in a gentle voice. Hannah clenched her fists and raised her head at the sight of the man wearing a sword with the imperial symbol engraved on its hilt.
“My daughter.”
She gritted her teeth at the sight of the person she hated the most.
“Father… no, Your Majesty.”
*
Styling the hair of a lady who’s lost her mind today too.
“Hwaa…”
The lady had her mouth wide open from the warm wind coming out of the styling tool, a hair dryer.
I, who was styling the lady’s hair with dazzling techniques, spoke to the lady who was smiling refreshingly.
“You shouldn’t eat the wind, my lady.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you doing that when you know?”
The lady spoke with a meaningful expression.
“It’s fun.”
“Oh…”
“Ricardo should try it too. It feels good.”
I gave the lady a thumbs-up at her suggestion and said,
“As expected of you, you’re smart. I’ll try it later.”
I smiled, shaking the water droplets off my hair. The lady is indeed fun to be with.
‘Whirrr’ As the lady enjoyed the wind from the blow dryer, she looked at the brightly shining sun with a question mark above her head.
“Ricardo.”
“Yes.”
“Where are we going today?”
“Didn’t I tell you yesterday?”
The question mark above the lady’s head grew by one, filled with deep curiosity. I burst into laughter at the lady’s meaningful expression, as if asking when I had told her. I let out a sigh and opened my mouth.
“Didn’t I say we’re going to the capital?”
“The capital?”
“Yes. The Lord said he wants to see your face.”
“Father?”
I nodded at the lady’s clever insolence and said,
“Yes, Lord Darbavar.”
“Oh… How bothersome.”
The lady, who hated bothersome things the most in the world, came up with a groundbreaking solution to this problem.
“Tell Father to come here.”
From Noble mtl dot com
“That would be a good idea, but the Lord is busy.”
“I’m busy too…”
The lady looked regretfully at the pile of part-time work stacked like a mountain on the desk. I let out an ambiguous laugh and said to the lady as the works looked like they would rather cost her money than earn her some.
“The Lord said he’ll give you pocket money.”
“Pocket money?”
“Yes.”
“Oh… Will Ricardo get some too?”
“Not me.”
“Hmm…”
I smiled faintly at the sullen lady and added a piece of news.
“Oh, right. I’ll be going to earn some money too.”
“Don’t work. I’ll feed you with my pocket money.”
“Please pay me my overdue salary.”
“Ugh…! But what are you going to do?”
I said with a sly smile,
“I didn’t get paid for the last job I did.”
“Did Ricardo get scammed?”
“Yes.”
I thought of the academy in the capital with a smile.
“I went ahead because it was urgent, but I still haven’t been able to contact him.”
Hannah episodes are always welcome