DYBAR - Chapter 101 < A Story I Don't Want To Believe >

DYBAR - Chapter 101 < A Story I Don't Want To Believe >

Do Your Best And Regret

The drawing room of the Duke of Madeleine.

The three cups of hot tea swayed above. The steam has completely disappeared.

Neither Jade nor Conrad nor the Duke speak.

It was the Duke who broke the excruciatingly long silence.

"What on earth were you thinking?"

There was an insurmountable dignity in the low voice

But Jade, who was quietly looking at the teacup, did not even turn his head. His side face which was half visible was expressionless.

“Jade Madeleine.”

"..."

"This father is putting up with you a lot right now."

Jade's shoulders were shaking slightly. The Duke tried to suppress his boiling anger and spoke about the current situation.

"If you made it to the parlor as you had hoped, you should not just collect your thoughts now, but be clear about why you did it the whole way. You should have been prepared to explain clearly and suggest a solution."

It was Jade who wanted the Duke to go back to the mansion and who said they had to talk in the parlor.

The reason the Duke accepted Jade's words was because he at least thought that Jade was an adult who would take responsibility for his own actions.

So, the Duke spoke to Jade as if he was hammering a nail in.

".... That is what you must do now as a Madeleine."

Then Jade slowly raised his head.

The moonlight coming from the window illuminated Jade's face.

For a moment, Jade's face as a child was revealed beneath the man's face.

The Duke blinked his eyes.

Jade's face looked like he was about to cry. But, it disappeared in the blink of an eye. It was clear the Duke had seen it wrong.

"I'll ask you again. What on earth were you thinking?"

"To save even a little of the Madeleine family's lost pride."

"What?"

The answer was so worthless that it was a waste of time waiting.

The Duke's eyes, which had maintained his composure, became increasingly harsh.

"Is it Madelaine's pride that you, a member of the imperial faction, pushed the Princess in front of an all-present delegation?"

The calm voice gradually became colder.

The Duke looked at his son who looked like him with his stern eyes.

At least, he believed that he had at least thought about it and pushed the Princess.

But...

"Did you buy time to come into the mansion and this living room just to give that kind of answer?"

Words that revealed disappointment were filled with tightly closed mouths.

The children he had always valued were showing behavior that went against his expectations one after another.

Why, for what reason?

The Duke closed his eyes and tried to clear his dizzy mind. Why on earth did his children start to change?

Funny enough, there was only one person that came to the Duke's mind. That kid.

That kid, whose name even stuck in his throat.

It was when he slowly opened his eyes.

"What I am saying in this parlor is not to ask for any solution or forgiveness."

The emotionless voice continued. Jade had a strange face.

He raised his head as if he had decided to do something, and slowly looked around the inside of the parlor.

"I just wanted to see this parlor again."

"..."

"Father...... Because I really respect and love you."

Those words were not unfamiliar. Even though he was embarrassed, this was what Jade always said every 'Father's Day.

But today, the second son's voice broke out intermittently. There was a strange feeling of anxiety.

Now Jade was not looking at the Duke but at the portrait on the fireplace.

It was the same portrait as it was before the misfortune began, 14 years ago. All of the days when Hazel was alive.

A moment of bitter pain passed over the Duke's always cool eyes.

Those days can never come back. Regret for the missed moment always made him reflexively hate someone.

If it weren't for that girl, that time would have continued until now.

While looking at this portrait, Jade added a soft word.

".....I still wanted to see this incredibly disgusting place again."

At that moment, the Duke blinked.

This place was better than any other place in the mansion. It was a precious place to him. Jade, who could not have known that, dares to insult this place.

“Jade Madeleine!”

"When I was young, I thought it was a privilege to enter this parlor."

"..."

"Because it was a place Olivia couldn't enter."

Olivia. At those four syllables, the Duke tightened his grip on the armrest. As expected, the problem started with that girl.

"So every time I hated that girl, I went to the parlor more. I came here looking for you. You knew, right?"

Jade looked at the door for a moment.

The image of Olivia standing behind the door, like an illusion, was drawn before his eyes. As if to see Olivia, who always looked at this door with envious eyes, Jade always slammed the door loudly and closed it.

As if this door was a line that separated Olivia from her family.

" I thought Mother was wrong when she said Olivia was my sister."

For a moment, the Duke stared blankly at Jade. But Jade's face couldn't be seen properly, only Hazel's voice clearly in his ears.

"...She's Conrad and Jade's sister, and Ethella's older sister. And she deserves to be treated as my own children."

"....I never thought of her as being like you."

His voice was suppressed as if he had been strangled, and the words were the same as the answers he had given to Hazel in the past.

At that, Jade jumped to his feet. Then he let out a light laugh.

"I suppose so. So my father, my brother, and me."

Jade's face contorted as if he was going to cry.

"I didn't feel the strangeness of this parlor."

Hazel's voice faintly echoed Jade's lonely voice. The Duke bowed his head involuntarily.

Then, there was the sound of the door shut, and silence fell over the parlor.

***

On a night when the moon was unusually high, the sound of horses galloping faded away. At the same time, a knock was heard. When he told him to come in, the Duke thought it would be Conrad.

"Duke. A man came from the Imperial Palace. It is said that His Majesty ordered you to enter the palace as soon as possible. And this is a letter from the Marquis de Libeorn."

But it was the butler who came in. As the bewildered-faced butler handed out the letter, he saw a servant from the palace through the open door.

It was a no-brainer. The Emperor would demand renewed loyalty, and the Imperial Nobles, headed by him, would ask Jade for a solution to the situation.

Instead of answering or answering letters, the Duke stared at the portrait in the room.

The butler was alert to the unusual appearance of the Duke. The Duke usually rose as soon as the Emperor ordered him to do so...

The butler shook his head at the thought that came into his mind.

“... Conrad and Jade."

But when the quiet question came, the butler couldn't hide his surprise.

The servant of the Emperor's palace who urged him to enter the palace came, but he told a different story. It was the first time this had ever happened.

His eyes, darker than usual, stared at the butler. The butler replied, stammering involuntarily.

"So, the Little Duke has gone to his office, and the Second Master has just left."

The Duke pursed his lips for a moment. He seemed to hear the word 'Ethella' through his shallow breathing, but he didn't ask.

Feeling uncomfortable that did not go away, the butler presumptuously announced the location of the Princess for the first time.

“...... Miss Ethella is in the bedroom."

The Duke looked at the butler for a moment. The butler bowed his head involuntarily. Fearing what might fall, the butler held out the letter back on the tray.

"I, Duke. The letter..."

"... Leave it there and go out for a while."

“... Yes."

The butler left the parlor as quietly as he could. The palace servant stomped his feet, and his eyes widened.

"What's wrong with the Duke? Under normal circumstances, he's already departed."

Then the servant went back. As if realizing his duty, he let out a roar. He asked the butler to ask again, but the butler pretended not to hear and just stared at the closed door.

Just like he pretended not to hear a quiet sigh when he left the parlor a moment ago.

The parlor was silenced.

The Duke, Giovanni, swallowed his silence for a moment.

In the silence, Giovanni's stomach seemed to be encroaching on the darkness of emptiness.

He doesn't feel so empty. He's got it all now. He protected his family, he defended his family's honor.

Giovanni smiled bitterly, then groaned.

Perhaps it was the tangles in his head, or perhaps the fever that had risen to the point of making his blood freeze, but in an instant, a terrible headache overwhelmed him. The back of his head pulled irregularly.

Giovanni lifted the teacup from the table with trembling hands.

The tea tasted fishy. He was hoping that if he drank the tea, the headache would go away. The search inside the teacup he looked into the color of pale grass.

"..."

Giovanni let out a low gasp. When he saw the green-colored tea, he remembered the green eyes that were as transparent as this search. Useless thoughts kept flowing in.

From Lord Huxley's embarrassed face when he couldn't get a tea to get rid of his headaches, to Ethella's appearance that she used to often bring tea with her. And the scenery of the time when this tea first started coming up to me.

"Can I come in? I got a good tea for my father's cardiovascular system. I'll leave the tea behind."

The faint anticipation in her voice faded away. Giovanni gritted his teeth.

She didn't get into this room. Except once, when he was warned by the Empress.

It's only natural that the one who brought misfortune and the one who got a good tea can't pay the same price.

Having made an irreparable mistake.

"You were wrong, Gio...."

A horse that hurt like a splinter stabbed Giovanni's lungs. Hazel's voice suddenly reminded him of the portrait and he reflexively looked at the portrait again.

Misfortune has befallen his family, but his family has stood firm so far. They trusted each other and kept smiling.

When did that close support collapse?

Whether in the Imperial Palace or in the Duke's Palace, she is always looking at him from a distance.

Giovanni's mind always reminded him of a girl who was ten steps away from them.

And the green eyes that smiled just as hard.

***

What?"

The princess reclined on the bed and looked in disbelief at the Marquis de Libeorn.

"Can you tell me again, Bianca? Where did the other girls go?"

It was the day after she passed out. There was not even a shadow of the young women and ladies who were supposed to be standing guard outside the bedroom in the flood just in time to wake up. There were only a few gifts on the wall that filled the room.

In front of the Princess, only three young women, including the Marquis of Libeorn, sat and exchanged confused glances.

Nervously, the Princess squeezed the futon.

“.... They went to prepare for a tea party for Princess Madeeleine's delegation."

"What!"

The voice was shrill, and the Princess cleared her throat. He spoke softly as if imitating the man who had fallen.

"I fell, and my dear friends did not come to me, but to Princess Madeleine. What do you mean by this? It's also a tea party for the delegation. That's what ...!"

Her voice trembled with uncontrollable rage. Among the ladies who were looking at each other, the Marquis of Libeorn said.

"This is a decree from His Majesty."

"His Majesty, huh?"

That's what she means. The Princess looked at the Marquis Libeorn with shaky eyes in disbelief. The Marquis Liberon, who had been watching a moment ago, said rather calmly.

"Yes, His Majesty has ordered Princess Ethella Madelaine to preside over a tea party after luncheon with the delegation."

The Princess's face turned white. The Princess hurriedly pulled back the quilt. In contrast to her trembling fingertips, her lips curved smoothly as she spoke.

"I don't know what it is with Your Majesty. Bianca, I've got it. It seems that I have fallen and she entrusted such a heavy responsibility...."

"I think it's because of the rumors. Your Highness."

"Rumors?"

"Young Lady!"

The white-skinned Princess looked behind the Marquis of Libéorn. At the same time, as if reprimanded, the Marquis of Libeorn glared at the Count of Shamin, who spoke behind her.

Whoops.

It was then that Count Shamin realized her mistake. She got goosebumps. Apparently, when she entered, Baroness Rujas told her to watch her mouth.

However, even though she had come to the Princess's bedroom instead of the Princess of Madeleine, she only had a conversation with the Marquis of Libéorn, as usual. What she said in order to draw attention to the moment she was awake was about the rumor.

It was a belated regret. The Princess asked.

"What's that rumor?"

"Well, it's not a big deal, Your Highness."

In a hurry, the Marquis de Libeorn tried to dissuade her, but the Princess's eyes were already fixed on Count Shamin.

She didn't expect that fierce and earnest gaze to be so sweet.

The Marquis de Libeorn is a fool. To be so ignored and yet to try to wrap herself around the Princess. At the same time, Count Shamin's nose went up to the sky.

Though she was satisfied that the noble Princess had listened so pathetically to what she had to say, Count Shamin blurted out her words, pretending to be embarrassed.

"Oh, Your Highness. Didn't you know? Rumors have spread all over the palace."

"Young Lady!"

"So, what's the rumor?"

The Princess smiles gracefully, and the Marquis Libeorn angrily tries to shut Count Shamin's mouth, and herself. It was she, the Count, who had the upper hand in this position.

The Princess's mouth moved haphazardly, unable to think about what was going on.

"It is rumored that Her Highness the Empress was embarrassed before foreign envoys because of the Second Lord of Madeleine. It spread throughout the city."

"Lady!"

Behind the light words, a call of fire fell. Now, as if she had returned to her bedroom, the Princess's nanny, Lady Rujas, was scowling at Count Shamin.

Whoops. A cold sweat broke down her spine. She doesn't know what weight her words will weigh back in her excitement of being stared at.

But the Princess's head, already pale, was slowly descending.

"So, everyone .......Princess Madeleine," the Princess muttered, trying to fill the void where her
pride had been torn apart.

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