173 – A Teacher’s Duty -1-
Hannah clenched her fists as she looked at Rowen.
She couldn’t understand why her father was at the academy, especially at this late hour.
His face was not welcoming.
Every time she saw his face, she was reminded of the nightmare of the blue spear she had seen that day. He was someone she wanted to avoid.
And Hannah bowed her head unnaturally and greeted her father, whose gentle voice she had not heard in a while.
“Father… no, sir.”
Rowen stood still, looking at Hannah. His daughter, who was still holding a sword, had rebelled against him, and the nightmare of the vision he had seen came to mind, so he just stood still and looked at Hannah.
Hannah asked Rowen.
She had to ask what she was curious about and leave.
If she returned to the dormitory without knowing anything, it would be no different than having slept all day, so Hannah clenched her fists and opened her mouth towards Rowen.
“Why are you here?”
Hannah thought that he had come in person because the letter was not enough. After the friction between Ricardo and her father at the mansion last time, the letters asking her to put down her sword had stopped, but her father was not one to give up easily.
Knowing her father’s stubbornness, Hannah waited for Rowen’s answer with a trembling heart.
“…Aren’t you going to greet me?”
Hannah hardened her expression and replied to Rowen’s bitter murmur.
“Yes.”
“How sharp.”
“Not as much as what Father did.”
“…”
Rowen nodded at Hannah’s cold reply.
It was an undeniable fact, and he had no regrets about treating her harshly. Rowen thought that there was nothing as meaningless as regretting something that had already passed.
The only thing that bothered him was the thought that there might be someone who had influenced his daughter’s sudden change in attitude.
Rowen thought of one man at Hannah’s stern reply.
A man with red hair.
He thought of the man who had a strength that did not match his age with an unpleasant feeling.
-Father, do you want to be buried in a sunny place?
An impudent fellow whose intentions were unknown. At the same time, he must have been the strong guy with unfathomable depth who had changed Hannah.
Rowen smiled bitterly at his daughter’s cold reply and said, trying to lighten the dark atmosphere.
He didn’t want to get angry today.
It was the first time he had seen his daughter in a long time.
He had things he wanted to talk about.
And his worries about making his daughter put down her sword had not disappeared.
Hannah is a talented child.
He didn’t want to admit that he was wrong, but the results Hannah showed clearly proved that he was wrong.
But Rowen still couldn’t shake off the fear of the vision he had seen that day. He didn’t want to experience losing someone.
His wife was injured.
His wife was badly injured because of his arrogance and vanity. Even now, because of the aftereffects of that day, his heart ached whenever he saw his wife struggling, but he couldn’t imagine how much it would hurt if he lost his daughter.
She was harsh, but he loved her.
Having been taught only how to run for the sake of the family’s revival and not knowing how to give warm love, he had only passed on the education he had received in his childhood.
Even that was far less than the hardship he had experienced.
He had accepted the academy’s invitation to have another conversation with Hannah. Of course, he had other goals, but his main purpose was to talk to his daughter.
Rowan suppressed his complicated feelings and spoke to Hannah.
“I received an invitation from the academy to be a temporary teacher. To teach the budding new students.”
“…I haven’t even taught myself yet, but you want me to teach others?”
Hannah bit her lip.
She was scared because her father, an intruder, had come to her shelter.
There was a brief silence, and Mikhail, reading the awkward atmosphere, bowed his head to Rowan.
“I’ll go inside first. Teacher.”
As soon as Mikhail finished speaking, Hannah’s expression began to distort.
She couldn’t understand what she had just heard. After all the severe persecution and torment he had inflicted on her, not once raising a sword against her, he called himself a teacher.
With trembling eyes, Hannah looked at Rowan and Mikhail alternately and said.
“Did you just say teacher…?”
Hannah’s tightly clenched fist was turning blue. Mikhail’s eyes couldn’t avoid her gaze as she glared at him with her fists clenched as if she would rush at him at any moment.
Rowan replied to Hannah’s words indifferently.
“Something happened while you were gone.”
“Are you trying to make excuses now?”
“Yes.”
As if he had done what he had to do, Rowan opened his mouth bluntly and Hannah listened with her fists clenched.
“Malik said he wouldn’t take the position of Lord.”
“…What?”
“He said he had a dream. An absurd dream.”
Rowan recalled the face of his eldest son who had visited his office a while ago.
-I will give up the position of Lord.
-…What did you say?
-Don’t you have a daughter who can take my place? She wants it too… And when it comes to being the Lord, all it takes is to swing a sword well.
-I don’t understand. Do you think I’ll go along with your stubbornness?
-It’s an answer I came to after much thought. I’ve learned a lot from watching Hannah.
He spoke, thinking of Malik’s face, which had a refreshing expression, as if he had found a shortcut among the many crossroads.
“Why don’t you two ever listen to me? Is what your father says funny?”
Hannah’s shoulders flinched at Rowan’s irritated words.
Again. His father’s stubbornness to suppress others when things didn’t go his way.
Most people were terrified and cowered at their father’s stubbornness. She used to be like that too.
She thought she had overcome it. But Hannah was still afraid of Rowan.
Seeing Hannah keeping her mouth shut, Rowan started talking about what had happened.
“Malik said he would prove himself like you did. I haven’t acknowledged him yet.”
“I don’t want your acknowledgment anyway. You wouldn’t give it to me.”
“…”
“What I’m curious about is what you said to my brother…”
Hanna asked Rowen, clenching her fists.
“Since I heard a little about Oppa’s dream. I know that Oppa’s dream of engraving the name of the brand you created on ‘everything on the street’ is absurd, but I know it’s sincere,” Hanna said in a trembling voice.
“Did you tell him to quit like me?”
“…Histania Hannah.”
Rowen’s warning, even with the family name.
Even with her father’s warning that he would not tolerate any more insolence, Hanna pushed her words forward.
No matter how scary her father was, there were dreams that should not be trampled on.
Even though her dream had been crushed in her father’s hands, she didn’t want the same to happen to her brother.
Because he was the first person to apologize to her and the blood relative who filled the empty space of her family.
Knowing how sad and miserable it was not to be supported in what you wanted to do, Hanna clenched her trembling fists and overcame her fear.
“Are you trying to kill Oppa this time!”
Rowen replied to Hanna without a hint of disarray.
“Histania Hannah…!”
Oops, that thought crossed Rowen’s mind, but Rowen nodded his head slightly and continued speaking.
Malik is not weak.
“I told you to stop. I told you that the world is not as easy as you think, just because you saw a miracle made by a few.
Hanna noticed at once that the arrow of her father’s miracle was pointed at her.
Even the butler ignored the fact that her father was talking nonsense without considering her efforts.
Rowen’s voice continued unabated through the gap in her hand, which was getting cold.
“Your brother left home just like you. He didn’t know how precious the treatment he received from the family was… That’s why I raised a disciple. If I raise a new disciple, it will be a warning to your brother…”
Hanna spoke to Rowen in a cold voice.
“…The miracle has already happened.”
“Surviving in a damn family is a miracle.”
“How long are you going to do that, Father!? Aren’t you satisfied with just me? How much more do I have to pierce my heart for you to be satisfied!”
There was only silence in response to the coldly echoing resentment. He just showed his displeasure by touching his sword. Rowen said nothing and revealed his stubbornness.
“In time, you will understand what I am saying.”
“No. I can’t understand you, Father.”
Rowen, passing by Hanna, said in a cold voice.
“I still don’t recognize your sword.”
Hanna replied in an irritated voice.
“Please stop it!”
What was lacking that he still didn’t recognize her? She had proven it with her skills. What else was lacking?
Hanna couldn’t find a reason.
So.
Hanna clenched her fists and spoke.
Hanna uttered words that she might regret, bursting with anger.
“Let’s do it once. Let’s have a duel with the disciple my father raised.”
“…That’s arrogant.”
“You’re too self-conscious.”
Rowen put his hand in his pocket and listened to Hanna’s suggestion. Maybe because he thought it was an opportunity to perfectly fold his daughter’s sword.
Rowen looked at Hannah with arrogant eyes and spoke with the certainty of victory.
“If I lose, I will return to my family. I will put down my sword and obey my father.”
“In exchange.”
Hannah clenched her fists as she looked at Rowen staring at her. She hated her father who tried to tie her down for so long, and she thought that this was the only way to escape from this shackle.
That was why Hannah told Rowen.
“If I win, I want you to never appear before me again, father. I want you to disappear without interfering with my wedding, my life, and my brother’s dream.”
Rowen nodded.
“I will.”
He was sure of his victory.
Because he believed he would win.
In the moment when the cold atmosphere flowed and the silence weighed down the moon heavily.
From Noble mtl dot com
“May I join in?”
A jarring voice reached Rowen’s ears.
A man who had been listening since who knows when, walked towards the training ground with a heavy smile on his face.
The man looked at Rowen and said.
“Instead of a disciple versus disciple, a master versus master…”
His red hair smiled at Rowen.
“That sounds good, doesn’t it?”
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