Chapter 67. Esteban kneels to his daughter2020.09.22.
The nape of my neck was itching. It seemed as if something was dripping down. Dad stretched out his big hand to me.
“I’m sorry Mabel. I’m not crazy right now…”
“Hiccup!”
I was so surprised that the hiccups didn’t stop. Just before Dad’s fingertips touched my cheek, I took a step back. It wasn’t my will.
“Mabel.”
Dad’s face contorted as if he were about to cry. I wanted to tell him it was okay, but my voice didn’t come out so I just shook my head. My body didn’t listen to me. I knew better than anyone else that my dad didn’t intentionally threaten me and that he regretted it and was worried. But why do you think of that person’s face right now? former father.
‘I thought I overcame everything, didn’t I?’
It reminded me of my dad who used to be violent when he was drunk. Even though the father in front of me is different from that father then. I took a slow, deep breath and calmed my shock.
‘I got over it. I’m fine because I overcame it.’
I never thought of being entangled in the past that had already ended. I raised my head and looked straight into my father’s face as he looked down at me. My frightened father, who could not bear to touch me and was terrified, was a different person from my previous father. As I kept repeating that fact in my head, my startled heart calmed down little by little.
“I’m sorry, Mabel. sorry.”
“Gan Coke-!”
When I was about to say I was fine, a cough erupted. It was probably because of the incense smoke that was thick in the bedroom.
“…Oh no.”
Following my gaze, Dad’s eyes widened as he saw the incense. Dad immediately got up, drew all the curtains in the bedroom, and opened all the windows. Breathing became easier when the fresh air came in. Dad quickly came over to me and looked around.
“Your wrist… This thin, fragile wrist.”
My father, in shock, repeated, ‘Wrist to wrist’. I almost passed out when I found the cut on my neck from the blade.
“It is clear that I am crazy. Otherwise, I cannot do such a terrible thing to you.”
“Dog Canchana.”
I shrank and tried to free my wrist from Dad’s grip. My excessive worry was just burdensome, but my dad put on a more despairing face, perhaps misunderstanding my attitude as being frightened.
“I’m sorry, Mabel.”
“yes.”
“Are you very surprised?”
I hesitated for a moment, then honestly nodded.
“…yes.”
I was very surprised. How could I not be surprised when my dad suddenly pointed a knife at me with a cold voice like someone else’s? I looked at my dad, who couldn’t even make eye contact with me, with his head bowed like a criminal. Actually, there are many things I wanted to ask. Why didn’t you come to the meeting for days, why didn’t you come to see me, and why did you call my mother’s name while looking at me. But I didn’t ask.
‘Because there must be circumstances for my father…’
Just like I have a secret I couldn’t tell you either.
“It’s okay, I am.”
First, I reached out and patted the back of my father’s large hand. Then Dad closed his eyes tightly and-. thud! knelt down in front of me
“…”
‘I brought my father down on his knees…’
My father muttered in a melancholy voice to me, who was at a loss for words.
“…I’m sorry, Mabel. Don’t punish this father.”
“Fine.”
“It’s not okay, Mabel. This daddy can do anything if he can be forgiven by you.”
“They say they won’t do cancer…”
“I’ll listen to everything.”
It seemed that he would not stand up without being asked for something. There were times when I could never break my father’s stubbornness, and that was now. After sighing, I looked at my father in criminal mode.
“Are you going to reveal everything?”
“okay. Say anything.”
“Ummm.”
I was deep in thought. What should I ask for so that rumors spread that I made a good wish without hurting my father’s knee in vain? When I fell into trouble, the temperament of a merchant was triggered without my knowledge.
“Two gourms, drag Joe!”
Dad nodded admiringly at my confident cry.
“I don’t want to use one for now.”
“She is also my daughter. Are you arranging the future? what about the other one?”
“No Trespassing Order Fuller Joe.”
“…what orders?”
“A restraining order. Sipper playing with Enrique.”
“that.”
Dad couldn’t answer easily and narrowed his brows as if in trouble. But my father had already promised me that he would listen to ‘whatever’.
“Dad, you are not a liar.”
“…Okay, Mabel.”
That’s how I succeeded in rescinding the ban on boys that I had been training for a long time.
***
The midnight hour when Mabel was asleep. Esteban said as he tilted his glass.
“You should have stopped Lisandro.”
“As I tell you, I cannot stop His Majesty the Emperor. You know the situation is the same, right?”
“…He is too.”
Esteban laughed bitterly and poured the strong drink into his mouth. I was so drunk that I wanted to put my mind at rest, but no matter how much I drank, I couldn’t get drunk. A body trained in extreme poison could not be so savage. Esteban laughed and buried his face in his hands.
“Since one day, Siana does not appear in my dreams.”
Five years have already passed since Sianna passed away. When I first sent Sianna away, it was so painful that I couldn’t stand it, but somehow I survived. Because there were children to be responsible for. However, living in a world without Siana was very difficult. Shiana, who sometimes appeared in her dreams and smiled, was her only comfort, but even that is gone now.
“…Siana’s voice is getting muffled.”
“…your majesty.”
“How can you be so mean? I miss you to the point of going crazy, but you haven’t shown me even once. Can I meet you in my dreams?”
Ever since he made up his mind to live for Oscar and Mabel, Esteban has spent each day covering up his bitter longing somehow. It was okay for a while because I was happy when I saw my children grow up. Esteban filled an empty glass with wine.
“I hate the night. It’s because I’m caught up in useless thoughts.”
“But it was too much for you to touch hallucinogenic weed.”
“Ah, hallucinogen.”
Seeing Esteban smiling indifferently, Lisandro became furious.
“You know it’s not good for you, right?”
“are you okay. I saw Siana.”
Watching Esteban smile with satisfaction, Lisandro touched his forehead. There was no sign of remorse at all.
“Never touch psychedelic weed again.”
“…well.”
“Even though His Majesty smelled the incense?”
Startle. Esteban stopped moving as he brought the glass to his mouth. It was because he remembered the image of Mabel, who was shaking and coughing lightly. Esteban asked cautiously.
“If Sianna found out, she would scold me.”
“I get scolded. You probably haven’t even seen Sanghwan Johnan for a year.”
Lisandro’s words made sense, so Esteban laughed softly.
“I can imagine how angry you are.”
Today, I thought I could survive a long night with that imagination.
***
Class day with the priest. I asked the God King, who shamelessly pretended to be an educational priest today.
“Why can’t I heal my wounds?”
“I can.”
The god-king slashed the back of his hand with a knife as if showing off, and immediately healed.
“eww.”
With a tired expression on his face, he slowly walked away. it’s stupid
“You mean you can treat everyone but yourself?”
“yes.”
“There is often such a case among priests. We do not yet know the cause.”
The God King’s gaze turned to my neck. After treatment, he was wrapped in bandages. It would have been enough to just stick a piece of gauze, but to wrap the bandages all over the place was overkill no matter how you think about it.
“Who did that?”
“It’s because I happened to be looking for a gun.”
“Situation system?”
“…huh?”
How are you not? Looking at it with startled eyes, the God King shrugged.
“I took it.”
“…”
“Your father’s condition has been in jeopardy lately. Should I be insane?”
“Dad…?”
I just got confused. My dad, whom I met this morning, was just haggard, but he seemed fine as usual, which made me feel even more strange.
‘Maybe the heart hurts more than the body.’
The God King simply healed the wounds I couldn’t heal no matter what I did. After writing it as a divine power class and reading it as chatting, Gustaf came to me.
“A teacher has been appointed to take charge of Your Majesty’s education. I decided to invite you from the academy.”
“Wow. professor?”
“No, I am the dean.”
huh?
“…Hak-chan? Big Bread?”
“Yes.”
“Wealth is burdensome.”
At most, I thought I would bring one of the professors, but suddenly the dean of the academy was too big. However, Gustaf replied as if what was the problem.
“What are you saying, Your Majesty? You are the emperor of an empire like none other. It is only right to bring in the highest authorities in education for quality education.”
Gustav’s words, seemingly logical, made me cry.
“nah. I’d rather… I’d rather learn from Lisandro!”
Oscar also learns swordsmanship and other studies from Lisandro, so you should just sit next to him and listen. It was such a light idea, but Lisandro, who was next to me, started laughing out loud.
“hurray! hurray! I hate to leave!”
After that, he suddenly runs out of the office.
“Where are you going without Lisandro Hoi…?”
“Maybe I’m going to show off to the neighborhood.”
“Get away, Sipper.”
“So do i.”
Because of Lisandro’s sudden foolishness, the idea of having him as a teacher disappeared. In the end, my teacher was appointed dean of the academy.
***
Franz Alonica, the dean of the only academy in the empire, was a genius who was known as a gifted child from a young age. He learned to read before he even took his toes and solved all kinds of math problems that remained unsolved without a teacher. People praised Franz’s greatness. Franz, who became the youngest professor at the academy, also became the youngest to become dean.
“I thought there could be no greater honor than this, but no.”
After receiving the official letter from the imperial family, Franz’s mouth hung in his ears. There was a higher place than the dean of the academy. What a teacher of the emperor! Even if it wasn’t so, the dean’s position was being threatened by a promising new professor, so the proposal from the imperial family was like a pumpkin that came rolling in from a vine. In addition, recently, I have been depressed because I have not been able to achieve such results. It was quite painful for the public to say that it was not as good as the past.
“This is an opportunity.”
Franz immediately handed over the dean’s position and entered the imperial palace. The conditions to become the emperor’s teacher were very generous. He was paid many times more than his salary as dean and was provided with food, clothing and shelter.
‘This body is a guest of the imperial palace, a guest!’
Franz made preparations to teach the emperor in his own way. The fact that the emperor was young and he was a baby was already known to all the people of the empire, so there was nothing to prepare. It was a great opportunity to make money doing nothing. aka sucking honey.
“How much of a genius is a genius?”
It is said that Hwang Sang-je is crazy enough to bestow all sorts of things on the baby emperor, so it must be rumors that he washed the pods. So on the day of class. Franz took the textbook and went into the Emperor’s drawing room. When the servant opened the door, he saw a small child sitting quietly on the sofa under the sparkling sunlight.
‘You’re cuter than rumors…’
Rumors that the emperor’s cuteness is the best in the world seem to be true. Franz came to his senses and stood in front of Mabel.
“Meet Your Majesty the Emperor. My name is Franz Alonica, who served as the academy’s dean.”
“hi.”
Mabel said hello. Franz narrowed his brows in silence.
‘As expected, it would be good to put a baseline pressure on the grass.’
Franz, who believed that education would be difficult if he looked easy, sternly insisted.
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I know that Your Majesty is the emperor of the supreme Ermano Empire, but I am standing here as Your Majesty’s teacher. So please follow the example of Master.”
Mabel blinked and looked up at Franz. To be honest, I was a bit taken aback by the criticism I heard for the first time in my life. There was a possibility that he was spoiled by the overprotectiveness of the people around him, so Franz’s words had some truth. Anyway, being polite to the teacher is important, so Mabel nodded.
“…Araseyo Hak-chan.”
“Call me Master.”
“Your master.”
Something was strange, but Mabel struggled to agree.
‘Because a teacher’s grace is like the sky…’
Franz sat down and took out a textbook. However, there was not a single letter in the textbook he opened. It was just a picture book. Mabel raised her hand and asked a question.
“Master. Do you want to learn something else?”
I already know how to read, but I need a learning process, so I asked for a teacher, otherwise it was useless. Franz frowned in displeasure.
‘I heard that he grew up, but that’s really what he looks like.’
Well, since she was born as the daughter of an empress and was so loved that she pushed out her brother, the heir, to take the place of emperor, there was no reason for her to be spoiled. Franz resolutely cut.
“I will decide the course of education, Your Majesty.”
“But picture books are sour.”
“Picture books are perfect for His Majesty’s level.”
Mabel hardened her expression at Franz’s assertive words.
‘Look at this guy?’
At first, I thought it was just like that and passed it over, but it gradually crossed the line. It was evident that he thought of himself as an immature child rather than an emperor. Mabel summoned the last of her patience and said,
“Picture books are a blood business.”
“Haa…. If you don’t like picture books, what on earth do you want to learn?”
Looking straight into Franz’s eyes as if he were looking at a stubborn child, Mabel smiled brightly.
“About the ills of Bordeaux-Zuy claimed by Algor Chekhov?”
“…yes?”
Franz looked bewildered. It was not a theory that would come out of the mouth of a five-year-old at all.
