Chapter 136. You and my daughter2021.05.22.
‘I was tricked.’
Mabel shuddered at the feeling of betrayal.
‘In fact, it was Gustav who collapsed, not Dad!’
Esteban, who revealed the fact, glanced at Mabel. I wanted to keep deceiving how cute he was when he ran to me and cried because he was worried about his father, but I couldn’t overcome my remorse.
“Why are you saying that now…!”
“Mabel. It has long been said that a righteous ruler does not ascribe his responsibility to others.”
“That’s… true!”
“So you have to take responsibility for your actions.”
“That’s right too. still…!”
There was no back talk. As Esteban said, it was Mabel herself who misunderstood and rushed to her own will, grabbed her father, and cried endlessly.
‘Huh. You cried for nothing…’
Embarrassed, Mabel tried to hide her reddened eyes and flushed cheeks, but Esteban was quicker.
“Still, this dad was glad that Mabel cared about him.”
“Because it’s only natural to worry about Dad…”
“Isn’t that fine then? Daddy is fine.”
However, there was one person who wasn’t okay with this happy ending.
‘Gustav is not okay…?’
Mabel let out a sigh. Even if it wasn’t, her complexion looked bad, so she took care of the roots that were said to be good for her body, but she still couldn’t overcome overwork. Thinking that she should secretly cultivate more and take care of it, Mabel wiped her eyes, which were still damp.
“When are you going to release Aidan?”
“…as soon as the sun rises tomorrow, I’ll give you an order.”
Although he still didn’t like it, a promise is a promise, so Esteban nodded meekly. Maybe that’s how good it is, Mabel smiled bashfully, still folding her disgruntled eyes.
“What about Lisandro?”
“That would not be very welcome to Lisandro. He’s the guy you’d love to be on vacation with. … I will also lift the probation order.”
No matter how hard I try, I can’t erase the feeling of being pushed by Aidan. Esteban tried to hide his displeasure and gently rubbed Mabel’s eye area with his thumb.
“Mabel. How about sleeping with this father after a long time today?”
“Then I don’t like it because Dad keeps kissing me on the cheek…”
“Don’t do that.”
“lie.”
Mabel looked at Esteban with eyes full of disbelief. In fact, Esteban didn’t have the confidence not to kiss Mabel, so he cleared his throat and looked away.
“…then how about a night walk?”
“That’s good.”
At Mabel’s arrogant consent, Esteban held his daughter’s small, warm hand.
***
After shedding tears, the night wind felt quite harsh. When I was indoors, I didn’t know it was cold thanks to the temperature control magic, but when I came out, a light breeze brushed my skin coldly. Mabel trembled and held Esteban’s hand tightly. Esteban quietly narrowed his brows.
“Oops. You should have come out wearing Mabel’s clothes.”
“I was in a hurry because my dad said he was sick…”
How surprised he must have come out without even wearing his outerwear properly. Esteban took off his coat and wrapped it around Mabel’s shoulder. However, the length was not long, so it was dragged on the floor. The sleeves were so droopy that no matter how many times I folded them, I couldn’t see my fingers. Mabel grumbled a little.
“Daddy’s clothes are too big.”
“Still wear it. cold.”
“But if you drag on the floor, your clothes will come apart.”
It was an overly simple remark for a person who owned not one handful of treasures, but ten full warehouses, and was even the owner of vast territories including the duchy.
“I have a lot of clothes, so it’s okay, Mabel.”
“It’s a waste of resources, Dad.”
“Where did you learn that kind of language…”
Esteban took Mabel’s hand, who grumbled again, and headed toward the garden. The garden at night was silent because he deliberately bit the escort. Beogjeok jabak jabak jabak. The couple’s footsteps continued for a long time. Although they said they had reconciled, there was a bit of an awkward atmosphere because they had been in a state of cold war a while ago. Mabel slightly fidgeted with Esteban’s hand.
‘Dad’s hands are warm.’
Mabel looked up at Esteban at an angle. As Esteban walked forward, a gentle light hung over his face. The more she did, the more Mabel remembered Esteban’s cool voice that she had heard through the power of fairy tales.
‘He’s an infinitely good father to me, but he could be a bad person to others.’
Mabel opened her mouth in a low voice.
“dad.”
tall. Esteban stopped and looked down at Mabel again.
“I know Dad worries about me.”
The blue eyes that resemble her look straight up.
“To my father, I am still a child, but one day I will grow up too. So can you trust me and watch over me so that I can become a better adult?”
Esteban was speechless for a moment.
“…Mabel.”
“As much as my father loves me, I will do my best to become a great person. I will never disappoint you.”
Perhaps it was something she had been thinking about for a long time, Mabel’s voice was particularly clear.
“Even so, if I do something bad, Dad will punish me harshly.”
It reminded me of Yoon Winter, who was caught doing bad things on purpose to get attention. However, what came back was not a reprimand of interest, but a criticism.
“My father is like that, so my daughter is like that. I heard your mother ran away?”
Even if I became a bad person, I couldn’t get attention. So next time I tried to be a good kid. But no one praised it. So, I wanted to be Mabel in this lifetime.
“I will become a daughter who is not ashamed of my father.”
A daughter who is not ashamed of being neither a good daughter nor a bad daughter. In the first place, Mabel didn’t think of herself as being nice. I wanted to get revenge a thousandfold if someone hurt me, and if it bothered me, I wanted to get rid of it in front of my eyes. I don’t have the confidence to kill and live with that character.
‘That’s why I want to live as I am, rather than being loved for my fake personality.’
Esteban, who had been silently listening to Mabel’s words, let out a dejected laugh.
“…you really embarrass this daddy.”
Clever, upright and kind Mabel. How did such a lovely child become my daughter? I can only describe it as a miracle. I always knew it in my head. That someday, the moment will come when Mabel will free herself from her father’s arms and spread her wings freely. But I never thought that moment would come so soon.
‘There’s nothing more foolish than catching a child trying to go out into the world.’
Although he still wants to lock himself in his arms, hope for safety, and protect him from everything in the world, Esteban has decided to give up his desire.
“Then, Mabel, promise Dad this one thing.”
“What?”
“Always remember this daddy is behind you.”
A large hand stroked Mabel’s hair gently.
“So always make the choice for you. No regrets.”
“…huh!”
Mabel nodded and smiled broadly. With that smile, Esteban realized that Mabel was already preparing to run out into the world. It wasn’t Mabel who wasn’t ready, it was herself.
‘Siana. You and my daughter are growing so well.’
Esteban smiled softly as he remembered his eternal lover. It is the duty of parents to believe in and watch over their children no matter what they decide. It was a moment when Esteban grew up as a father as well as Mabel grew up one step at a time.
***
The morning of Aidan’s release from prison. I got up early in the morning and prepared to greet Aidan. As soon as the preparations were finished, he quickly ran out of the main building.
“Go with your Majesty!”
Perhaps because I was too fast, Larimar hurriedly followed. The destination was the entrance to the dungeon. I waited for Aidan to come out with a throbbing heart. And after a while, the entrance seemed to be in a commotion, and the face he had been waiting for appeared.
“Aidan!”
I ran over and grabbed Aidan’s hand. And immediately checked Aidan’s condition.
‘The face is more haggard than usual, but there are no injuries, and Aidan’s energy is calm, but he has recovered a lot.’
Aidan’s energy, which had been at the bottom while imprisoned, was half full. I quickly put the divine barrier on Aidan. If more time had passed, it would have been a dangerous situation that could have runaway again.
“phew. I saved this land today too.”
Congratulating himself, he let go of Aidan’s hand and took a step back. When I saw her healthy appearance, my heart was relieved. Aidan, who was staring at me like that, opened his mouth.
“Are you okay?”
“huh? what?”
“I heard you fell.”
“It’s okay, Aidan. I can’t stand that much!”
Fearing that Aidan would blame himself for it, I vigorously clenched my fists and emphasized my health. Then, to quickly change the topic, I rummaged through the picnic basket I had brought.
“…?”
Aidan looked at me curiously, and I held out a bottle to Aidan, ignoring it.
“It’s a gift from prison, Aidan.”
“yes?”
“You have to eat when you get out!”
What I handed over was pudding. Actually, I wanted to give it tofu, but there is no tofu in this world, so I found something that was as similar as possible, and it was a pudding with a soft texture. It’s a flaw that it’s sweet, but it’s okay. Aidan likes sweets too.
“…thank you.”
Watching Aidan holding the pudding bottle made me feel proud.
‘I had a sense myself.’
***
Aidan says he’s fine, but he probably wasn’t comfortable while in prison. So I said it was okay to rest today, but Aidan returned to the escort job.
“You said you were paralyzed, are you okay?”
“I only got hit once when I lost my mind. And it’s not addicting at that amount.”
Aidan’s expression when he said he was poisoned was the same as usual, which made me feel even worse.
“Being not addicted doesn’t mean you’re okay.”
Even if you really don’t suffer at all, the fact that you put poison in order to subdue yourself doesn’t go away. You should feel humiliated for judging yourself as an uncontrollable opponent and injecting poison without consent, but why are you okay? It could be heartless, or it could be that they are used to being treated that way. Whatever the reason, I wanted Aidan to treat me with more respect, but Aidan always had no interest in my well-being.
‘As expected, things that happened in the past made Aidan give up on himself.’
Seeing Aidan’s safe face made me feel relieved, but at the same time, the lonely feeling I felt assimilated came to mind. I felt stuffy as if my chest was blocked. I tried to ignore it in case Aidan would feel unpleasant, but I couldn’t.
“I want to ask you something, Aidan.”
“Please Xiamen.”
“I actually saw your memories when I contacted you, who was out of control.”
Aidan’s expression did not change. Even when I peeked at my memories, there was no sign of displeasure or embarrassment. I continued talking.
“I saw several memories.”
I described the memories I had seen. The first scene in an empty space, the second scene locked in a water tank, and the voice of a stranger. … And the last scene where a young Veron and a middle-aged man who resembles him thrust a knife into the heart.
“That’s what I’m curious about. How could you be in the same room as young Veron?”
Judging from his appearance, Aidan’s age was assumed to be around Oscar’s age. So, is it about 14 years old? There may be an error of one or two years. Veron said that he was the same age as his father, so if he said he was young, he had to go back 20 years. There is an age error here. With Aidan’s senses he had experienced, he looked down at young Veron. If so, the assumption that Aidan was a child at the time is not correct. Aidan, who was staring at me, finally opened his mouth.
“I do not remember that.”
At that, I was greatly relieved.
“…yes? It must be a false memory, right?”
But Aidan shook his head.
“no. It is clearly in the past.”
“How is that possible…?”
It felt like my brain was overloaded. Aidan, who was staring at me with calm eyes, opened his mouth.
“Would you like to hear why?”
As I nodded, Aidan asked again.
“It will be different from what Your Majesty thinks of me. Is that okay?”
“Why are you so worried?”
Aidan looked at me in confusion and took something out of his pocket.
“…!”
In an instant, Aidan lowered his forearm with the dagger he pulled out.
