Chapter 197. Do you like Aidan? 2021.12.21.
Stop by the inn, take Renesmee, and use the power of Yelium to return to Ermano. Dad, who was in a meeting about the news of my return, threw away everything and came out to meet me.
“Come on, Mabel. A day seemed like a hundred years. Didn’t you want to see this father?”
“Looks like you’ve been doing well, father.”
“Father… don’t call this father so cold.”
“…”
“Don’t call me that.”
Dad pleaded with a sad face, but I didn’t listen. my < dad? Confiscated! > because the operation was still in progress.
‘I can’t stand still trying to get Aidan married.’
Since he returned to Ermano again, his father’s attitude would determine his title.
“I have something to report, so see you at the office in an hour, father.”
“Mabel. Why the hell is that?”
I let out a deep sigh as I saw my father looking at me as if he was unfair. I glanced at Aidan with a disapproving face. At that gaze, Dad’s complexion suddenly darkened.
“hmm.”
He seemed to understand the meaning of my gaze.
***
I looked around at the people gathered in the office. Casey, Franz Oscar, and Aidan, who met after a long time, were the sheep and the father.
“There was a raid in Abelardo. Veron created an alter ego with magic and-.”
A response came before I could even finish my words.
“what?”
“are you okay? Aren’t you hurt?!”
Dad immediately cupped my cheek and started looking around. Oscar also raised and lowered my arm, frantically looking for possible scars. I coughed quite a bit.
“Not to me, but to Aidan.”
“Whew…”
“Me again.”
The two of them let me go without any regrets. It was always my share of being embarrassed by my actions. I let out a deep sigh and slowly told him what had happened in Abelardo. The incident between the voice of God and the number of traitors heard in the middle of the announcement ceremony. And even Veron’s raid.
“Since Veron has taken action, a war may break out.”
Hearing all the stories, Dad thought the same as I did.
“I have to order the entire army to be on high alert.”
“I guess so.”
Dad’s expression was also dark. There is no war without bloodshed. If an all-out war with Devlin unfolds, our military’s sacrifices will be considerable. They must be someone’s family and hope.
***
Even in the midst of that, my daily life went by normally. Caught at the hands of my nanny, I was gripped with guilt.
“It’s not the time to be like this…!”
“It is when you are doing this.”
The nanny smiled brightly and brushed my hair.
“You’re going to the Gardenia Mansion in the capital for the first time, right?”
“Yes. That’s right…”
Today was the birthday banquet of the Marquis of Gardenia, my maternal grandfather. Even though I was invited every time, I had never been there because the timing was bad, but this year I was able to go.
‘I don’t know when a war will break out right now, but I’m attending a party.’
It is not possible to avoid being afraid, so I had no choice but to be faithful to the present. In the end, I left everything to my nanny.
“My grandfather said it before, but he said there are a lot of portraits of my mother in the mansion.”
“The Marquis’s love for his daughter was so intense that no one in the empire didn’t know about it.”
“How much was it?”
“Is His Majesty going through this every day?”
“Ah…”
I understood right away. If it’s my father’s intoxication and obsession, I’ve been experiencing it in real time.
“Mom is still lucky that Dad is a marquis…”
Because he wouldn’t have given me the country…. Suddenly I felt sad. . . . After preparing the banquet, I headed for the waiting carriage. I haven’t decided on a specific partner for this banquet. Instead, Enrique and Aidan attended as my escorts.
“Be careful, Mabel. If the old man is talking nonsense, be sure to tell this dad.”
Dad still saw me off with a disapproving face. I replied with a bright smile.
“I’ll be back, Father!”
The cold war with his father, who called him
“a savage guy…”, was currently in progress.
‘Because the marriage proposal to Aidan is still the same.’
Dad didn’t seem to want to back down on that back-and-forth. I climbed into the carriage leaving behind my father’s bitter smile. Across from me sat Aidan and Enrique side by side. I admired their appearance as if my eyesight would rise naturally.
‘The banquet is going to go wild again today.’
My expectations were exactly right. As soon as I and the two escorts entered the Gardenia Mansion, people’s eyes couldn’t stay away from the two men. When I entered, my grandfather, who had been talking to someone, cut off the conversation and came running in a month.
“your majesty. It’s heartbreaking to see you come to see this grandfather. Heh heh heh.”
“I’ve invited Jim every time, but I’m sorry for being late, Grandpa.”
“you’re welcome. There are many delicious food and drinks, so please enjoy it to your heart’s content.”
Befitting the Marquis of Gardenia, the leader of the aristocratic faction and the center of power, numerous carriages entered the garden of the Marquis without end. On the other hand, after eating the prepared food to my heart’s content, my grandfather hinted at it.
“If you go up the central stairs, the furthest room on the left is Siana’s room, Your Majesty. Would you like to take a look?”
“Is this your mother’s room?”
“yes. Across the room is a room full of portraits of Sianna. Please stop by.”
mother’s room. And the mother figure from childhood.
“Then I will go.”
After saying goodbye to my grandfather, I headed for the central staircase. Then, as if it were natural, the two escorts followed.
“I will go alone from here.”
“But Your Majesty.”
He put his hand on the shoulder of Enrique, who was about to rebut.
“I can protect at least one part of my body. So it’s okay.”
The two of them made equally unwilling faces and eventually withdrew. Alone, I climbed the central staircase. The first place I entered was a room with a portrait of my mother. Portraits that he called the best painters in the empire and drew them every year or every now and then filled the walls.
“He really looks like me.”
Of course, Mom’s atmosphere was much softer than mine. Looking at her appearance from when she was just born until she became empress, I could see how much her grandfather loved her mother. After leaving the portrait room, I entered my mother’s bedroom across the street. It was a lovely space, like a room where someone still lives. There were a lot of things that were stained with hand stains here and there. Like the dried flower petals on the desk, or the books on the bookshelf that are randomly placed. It was cleaned every day, so there was not a speck of dust. My grandfather, who preserved it as it is, felt great. I couldn’t touch anything, so I was just looking at it with my eyes when I saw a book with nothing written on the spine. I inadvertently opened the front page and hurriedly closed the book. It was a diary.
‘You can’t look! …can’t you just look at it for a bit?’
My conscience pricked my conscience to peek at my mother’s diary, which is a personal record itself, but I couldn’t overcome my curiosity.
“okay. Let’s see for a bit.”
Eventually I unfolded the middle part. [Lady Donovan is really cool.]
“…?”
[I got information that Lady Donovan likes wine. I guess I’ll have to steal my father’s favorite wine sooner or later.
‘I heard she was famous for being the Lady of Cherry Blossoms and the Lady of Black Roses.’
Her mother’s affection for Duke Donovan overflowed in her diary. [I ran into a man while sneaking out of the house. When we first met, he grabbed my hand, so I shook it off and ran away. How can you be so rude! …Umm, but I think he was handsome…]
“This is…?”
It was as expected. The man who was rude on our first meeting was my dad! [Evan said he was a knight serving the Emperor. We walked along the Pokosi River together. I don’t think I’m a bad person.]
‘No mom. I’m being deceived…’
The content behind it was very exciting. It was all about the father who deceived himself as a knight of the emperor and unilaterally seduced the mother. It was to the extent that I could understand how active her mother was when she succumbed to the temptation. I read a lot, but I couldn’t bear to read more after my mom and dad’s first kiss and closed the book.
“Kids don’t see things like this.”
As I was about to put it back where it was, I suddenly unfolded the back part. [Mabel.]
“…!”
I was startled at the sight of my name right away. [Our lovely child. Mom only wants you to be born.]
“….”
[Is it a lovely child with silver hair that resembles her father or a child with light pink hair that resembles her mother? Actually, it doesn’t matter. Because I love you just because you are Mabel. I miss you, baby.] At that moment, my eyes grew hot and I closed the diary. I couldn’t bear to realize that all these words were directed at me.
‘I can’t believe I had a mother who loved me this much.’
The memory of my father in my previous life, who was a drunkard, was covered by my current father, but the memory of my mother would come back to me from time to time and bother me. Because the back of my mother who left me who begged me not to throw it away was so deeply embedded that I never forgot it.
‘If my mother had been alive, would I have forgotten the past?’
Probably. Because I feel like tears will come out of my mother’s handwriting saying I love you. In an instant, the strength in her hands gave out and the diary fell to the floor. I didn’t mean to, but the contents of the page that was unfolded caught my eyes. [The man came again today. The red-eyed assassin.]
“The red-eyed assassin?”
I turned the next page, but that was the end of the diary.
***
When I came out of my mother’s bedroom, Enrique was guarding the front of the bedroom. It seemed that he came up because he was worried.
“…Are you all right?”
Apparently, my eyes were still red. I smiled brightly and nodded my head.
“are you okay. Let’s go down now!”
The banquet was in full swing. The sound of the drunken grandfather laughing could be heard from afar. He seemed very excited.
“Prince Javier! Long time no see!”
Enrique, who was walking with me, was caught by a nobleman on the way.
“I’ll be back for a while, Your Majesty.”
“It’s okay, so let’s talk slowly.”
After sending Enrique, I was caught by my drunken grandfather again.
“your majesty! Hee hee, my heart is full that you are coming to see this old woman.”
“You said that before.”
“Heh heh heh. My heart is full to come to see this grandfather.”
“Haha…”
Apparently, the grandfather’s drinking habit seemed to be repeating what he had said. I looked around as I listened to the words that my heart was full. The one that stood out by far was the tall Aidan.
‘Aidan. It’s really popular.’
The ladies gathered around the expressionless Aidan as usual. Aidan remained silent despite the subtle question asking for a dance request.
‘It’s also Aidan.’
Somehow I felt better. Then, suddenly, I wondered why I was in a good mood. It’s just that Aidan didn’t ask for a dance. As I was eagerly people-watching, I felt their eyes on me and turned my head. Renesmee was near the terrace.
“grandfather. I’ll be back for a while.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. This halbi is heartbreaking! Heh heh heh.”
I left my grandfather who was still repeating the same thing and headed to Renesmee.
“I didn’t hear you were coming, Renesmee.”
“I got an invitation too. Are you… are you offended?”
“No way.”
As she shook her head, Renesmee’s stiff expression relaxed slightly. Renesmee, who had been gazing at the banquet under the twinkling chandelier light, moved toward the terrace.
“It’s noisy with music in here, so how about going to the terrace?”
As Renesmee said, the music of the orchestra was loud. When I entered the terrace and drew the curtains, it became quiet in an instant.
“The Marquis of Gardenia really seems to love Her Majesty.”
“yes. Because I am the only granddaughter of my grandfather.”
The conversation stopped for a moment. Renesmee, who was staring at the curtains, called me.
“your majesty.”
“huh?”
“Your Majesty, do you know? You’ve been watching Count Aserad all along.”
“I?”
Of course, I saw Aidan, but I didn’t look at him all the time… Looking at me puzzled, Renesmee asked a question.
“Does His Majesty like Count Aserad by any chance?”
“Do you like Aidan?”
It was a question without worrying about it. Of course, the moment I was about to reply that I liked it, Renesmee spoke faster.
“I’m talking about affection between a man and a woman.”
Love between a man and a woman? …Aidan?
“The burden is…”
