“Valquiterre has hated me since I was very young.”
He spoke calmly.
“I didn’t really care how he treated me. I just liked the fact that I wasn’t alone and that I had brothers.”
A cylinder looks like a circle when you look down from above, but it looks like a square when you look at it from the side. Kaian never thought that the result of looking down or looking up at a single fact could be completely different.
“He was the only person who could understand me no matter what I did.”
Hannah blinked in surprise at hearing the secret story of the Temnes family out of the blue.
“Even if I hadn’t told him that prophecy, Valquiterre would have started a war. He always thought that the Rowen Castle should have been his.”
Claudel held his hand as if to comfort him.
“Honestly, if he had told me that, I might have given in instead. But that’s not how Valquiterre wants it.”
Valquiterre thought that Kaian had taken what was his.
So, to retaliate for what was taken away, he had to take it back, not give it away.
A cruel game to take it away could happen at any time.
“It wasn’t your fault, Mom.”
Claudel also comforted her.
“The fruit of Arbor is determined by the sacred tree. If any villager had taken on that role, they would have said the same thing.”
“Everyone only says good things to me.”
Leonie smiled with sad eyes.
“They don’t only say good things, they say the truth.”
Hannah looked at her.
“Mama Leonie. You did everything you could. You tried to take responsibility for everything.”
Kaian said to Leonie.
“Some things you want to take responsibility for, but don’t have the opportunity to. You don’t have to blame yourself for it.”
There was rarely a single cause for something to reach its conclusion.
It was a series of coincidences, and you got caught up in this and that, so who could say that it was because of this person’s fault?
“What else can you do besides trying to be true to your own life from now on?”
Then Evan belatedly stepped in.
“Yes. You heard? How about it? No one is pointing fingers at you and saying it’s your fault.”
Leonie nodded, rubbing her reddened eyes.
“I’m going to try to live like I used to.”
She wanted to become someone who could smile more and feel gratitude and happiness even for small things.
However, the peace of Rowen Castle was short-lived.
“Who gave you permission to sit so close to each other?”
Evan immediately nagged at me and Kaian, who was about to sit next to each other at the breakfast table.
“Oh, Dad. This is because when I got sick with Herzol, Kaian helped me, so we’ve been sitting so close to each other.”
“Herzol is completely cured, so there’s no need to do that. Yes. Get away.”
Kaian looked at Evan with slightly annoyed eyes.
Of course, the only one who noticed was me, who could read Kaian’s emotions just by looking at his eyes, which usually had little change in expression.
Just a few days ago, when Kaian was worried that he couldn't change Madame Cronach's mind, Kaian actually took Evan's side. The Plogne village incident was, in a way, Valquiterre passing a lot of his burden on Kaian.
In the end, Kaian ended up having to deal with the big accident through Queen Sylvia, and for ten years, Evan had been arguing about taking revenge on Temnes.
What would have happened if Madame Cronach hadn't stayed in Rowen by chance?
The territory might have been devastated by the Sol Continent mercenaries before the Rowen army could even advance north. It wasn't easy to govern rough and tough men with the blood of a fighter.
Rowen had plenty of alcohol, meat, and food, so Kaian was always taking care of them through his butler, making sure they were fed and comfortable.
"How dare you approach my daughter so carelessly."
But all he heard was this.
I tried to change the subject, as he seemed a little upset.
“Dad, what are you talking about? I’m already married.”
Evan said bluntly.
“So who gave you permission for that marriage? I didn’t give you permission.”
“...”
It was the father’s right to decide his daughter’s marriage.
Evan was furious that the Duke of Vermont had “snapped” my marriage to Kaian.
“Julien is here. Why are you doing this, Dad?”
“Yes, honey. Stop joking.”
Even Leonie came forward and tried to stop him, but it was no use.
“I have a good idea.”
“What are you thinking?”
“Since it has come to this. Let’s all go back to the Sol Continent together.”
“Huh? The Sol Continent?”
The Sol Continent.
Everyone looked at Evan with bewildered faces.
However, Evan was excited and jumping around as if he had come up with a really good idea.
“Everything on other continents is the same. Isn’t the Sol Continent the land to pioneer?”
“By the way, you pioneered a new route and came all the way here?”
Evan laughed heartily at Leonie’s words.
“Yes. I came by boat while watching the sea monsters circling in the distance.”
“Wasn’t it dangerous?”
“Isn’t it the same for all people to live?”
I kept my mouth shut and looked at Kaian’s expression.
He looked really embarrassed now.
“They’ve all prepared for people to live there. Big cities are growing.”
“That’s because Julien needs a father. How can you say that?”
“Julien is a pure-blooded Vermonter, so we can raise him well.”
Evan showed his endless confidence.
“Well, I haven’t grown up properly while Dad was away, have I?”
I opened my mouth without realizing it.
‘Dad. Were you always this reckless?’
If I remember correctly from when I was little, I remember him as a cool and serious adult, except for the fact that he played some childish pranks on me.
“I’ll excuse myself first.”
“Anyway.”
When Kaian finally left, I said something.
“You’re going too far.”
“What’s too far?”
“But how could you be so rude?”
“Rude? Me?”
Evan jumped up.
“I can’t help but hate Temnes. Just like there are black and white things in the world, and you like one more and dislike the other.”
“Kaian helped us.”
“He helped me out of goodwill, so don’t think of me as indebted to him.”
Evan said seriously.
“I want to turn back the times I couldn’t take care of you.”
He asked Leonie for her consent.
“I want to take you, Claudel, and the baby to the Sol Continent so that you can live comfortably.”
“Father...”
“What do you want me to do when my brother arbitrarily sends you to the family of your enemy? If you suddenly ask me to admit something like that, what will happen to my authority as a father?”
I stood up.
“I can’t follow that. I promised to stay by Kaian’s side. Please don’t bring this up anymore.”
When I ran out of the restaurant, Leonie nagged Evan.
“You should have told me later.”
“Later, when?”
He grumbled.
“Did I say something I shouldn’t have said? How can this be right? It’s not only unfair that he took my daughter away from me, but he didn’t even tell me when she got married.”
“It’s not Kaian and Claudel’s fault. Don’t blame them for something that wasn’t their fault.”
“Huh. What do you want me to do when I don’t like it?”
For a moment, Leonie wondered if she had made the wrong choice. She felt that he had become impatient and rough, but when he comforted her a while ago, she felt that he was the same old mature, and thoughtful person he used to be.
It was very difficult for him to be picking on Kaian like this.
At that moment, Claudel was running towards the castle’s backyard at a brisk pace.
“Kaian!”
As expected, the man who had arrived early with long strides was sitting under the shade of a tree by the lake.
“Claudel.”
When Kaian saw her and reached out his hand, she quickly went over and sat down next to him.
“I’m sorry.”
“What are you sorry for?”
“I don’t know why my father saying that all of a sudden.”
To suggest that he separates a perfectly fine father from his child.
“You must be that sorry,”
Kaian said readily.
“Why wouldn’t he be? He was lonely because his wife and children were taken away by the Duke of Vermont, who was still alive.”
“You. Do you understand why my father is acting like this?”
“It doesn’t feel good, but I understand.”
He let out a short sigh.
“It’s like seeing my old self.”
Kaian muttered self-deprecatingly.
He hated Vermont, and he was so similar to Claudel father when he had been taught since childhood to openly express his hatred for Vermont that he had no choice but to say something else.
Hatred goes round and round.
At some point, you have to decide to cut it off.
Vermont and Temnes had already failed to do so for hundreds of years, causing even the people of the territory to fight each other.
“Was I that ugly?”
“Hmm. No.”
However, even though Claudel had said no, Kaian could not take her words at face value.
“I guess it was ugly.”
“Ha. Haha.”
Kaian pulled her small face close to him and kissed her because he found her awkwardly smiling.
“I’m not letting you go.”
His eyes were vividly red. He said to her with a dangerous light somewhere.
“If you’re curious, try it out.”
On that ambiguous afternoon, whether it was peaceful or just before the storm, a telegram arrived from the castle of Valmonde.
“Did my sister send it?”
Asked Claudel curiously. Kaianne said.
“There is an invitation from the Duchess of Vermont. She says that Valmonde is becoming independent from Oberon.”
He spoke calmly.
“I didn’t really care how he treated me. I just liked the fact that I wasn’t alone and that I had brothers.”
A cylinder looks like a circle when you look down from above, but it looks like a square when you look at it from the side. Kaian never thought that the result of looking down or looking up at a single fact could be completely different.
“He was the only person who could understand me no matter what I did.”
Hannah blinked in surprise at hearing the secret story of the Temnes family out of the blue.
“Even if I hadn’t told him that prophecy, Valquiterre would have started a war. He always thought that the Rowen Castle should have been his.”
Claudel held his hand as if to comfort him.
“Honestly, if he had told me that, I might have given in instead. But that’s not how Valquiterre wants it.”
Valquiterre thought that Kaian had taken what was his.
So, to retaliate for what was taken away, he had to take it back, not give it away.
A cruel game to take it away could happen at any time.
“It wasn’t your fault, Mom.”
Claudel also comforted her.
“The fruit of Arbor is determined by the sacred tree. If any villager had taken on that role, they would have said the same thing.”
“Everyone only says good things to me.”
Leonie smiled with sad eyes.
“They don’t only say good things, they say the truth.”
Hannah looked at her.
“Mama Leonie. You did everything you could. You tried to take responsibility for everything.”
Kaian said to Leonie.
“Some things you want to take responsibility for, but don’t have the opportunity to. You don’t have to blame yourself for it.”
There was rarely a single cause for something to reach its conclusion.
It was a series of coincidences, and you got caught up in this and that, so who could say that it was because of this person’s fault?
“What else can you do besides trying to be true to your own life from now on?”
Then Evan belatedly stepped in.
“Yes. You heard? How about it? No one is pointing fingers at you and saying it’s your fault.”
Leonie nodded, rubbing her reddened eyes.
“I’m going to try to live like I used to.”
She wanted to become someone who could smile more and feel gratitude and happiness even for small things.
***
However, the peace of Rowen Castle was short-lived.
“Who gave you permission to sit so close to each other?”
Evan immediately nagged at me and Kaian, who was about to sit next to each other at the breakfast table.
“Oh, Dad. This is because when I got sick with Herzol, Kaian helped me, so we’ve been sitting so close to each other.”
“Herzol is completely cured, so there’s no need to do that. Yes. Get away.”
Kaian looked at Evan with slightly annoyed eyes.
Of course, the only one who noticed was me, who could read Kaian’s emotions just by looking at his eyes, which usually had little change in expression.
Just a few days ago, when Kaian was worried that he couldn't change Madame Cronach's mind, Kaian actually took Evan's side. The Plogne village incident was, in a way, Valquiterre passing a lot of his burden on Kaian.
In the end, Kaian ended up having to deal with the big accident through Queen Sylvia, and for ten years, Evan had been arguing about taking revenge on Temnes.
What would have happened if Madame Cronach hadn't stayed in Rowen by chance?
The territory might have been devastated by the Sol Continent mercenaries before the Rowen army could even advance north. It wasn't easy to govern rough and tough men with the blood of a fighter.
Rowen had plenty of alcohol, meat, and food, so Kaian was always taking care of them through his butler, making sure they were fed and comfortable.
"How dare you approach my daughter so carelessly."
But all he heard was this.
I tried to change the subject, as he seemed a little upset.
“Dad, what are you talking about? I’m already married.”
Evan said bluntly.
“So who gave you permission for that marriage? I didn’t give you permission.”
“...”
It was the father’s right to decide his daughter’s marriage.
Evan was furious that the Duke of Vermont had “snapped” my marriage to Kaian.
“Julien is here. Why are you doing this, Dad?”
“Yes, honey. Stop joking.”
Even Leonie came forward and tried to stop him, but it was no use.
“I have a good idea.”
“What are you thinking?”
“Since it has come to this. Let’s all go back to the Sol Continent together.”
“Huh? The Sol Continent?”
The Sol Continent.
Everyone looked at Evan with bewildered faces.
However, Evan was excited and jumping around as if he had come up with a really good idea.
“Everything on other continents is the same. Isn’t the Sol Continent the land to pioneer?”
“By the way, you pioneered a new route and came all the way here?”
Evan laughed heartily at Leonie’s words.
“Yes. I came by boat while watching the sea monsters circling in the distance.”
“Wasn’t it dangerous?”
“Isn’t it the same for all people to live?”
I kept my mouth shut and looked at Kaian’s expression.
He looked really embarrassed now.
“They’ve all prepared for people to live there. Big cities are growing.”
“That’s because Julien needs a father. How can you say that?”
“Julien is a pure-blooded Vermonter, so we can raise him well.”
Evan showed his endless confidence.
“Well, I haven’t grown up properly while Dad was away, have I?”
I opened my mouth without realizing it.
‘Dad. Were you always this reckless?’
If I remember correctly from when I was little, I remember him as a cool and serious adult, except for the fact that he played some childish pranks on me.
“I’ll excuse myself first.”
“Anyway.”
When Kaian finally left, I said something.
“You’re going too far.”
“What’s too far?”
“But how could you be so rude?”
“Rude? Me?”
Evan jumped up.
“I can’t help but hate Temnes. Just like there are black and white things in the world, and you like one more and dislike the other.”
“Kaian helped us.”
“He helped me out of goodwill, so don’t think of me as indebted to him.”
Evan said seriously.
“I want to turn back the times I couldn’t take care of you.”
He asked Leonie for her consent.
“I want to take you, Claudel, and the baby to the Sol Continent so that you can live comfortably.”
“Father...”
“What do you want me to do when my brother arbitrarily sends you to the family of your enemy? If you suddenly ask me to admit something like that, what will happen to my authority as a father?”
I stood up.
“I can’t follow that. I promised to stay by Kaian’s side. Please don’t bring this up anymore.”
When I ran out of the restaurant, Leonie nagged Evan.
“You should have told me later.”
“Later, when?”
He grumbled.
“Did I say something I shouldn’t have said? How can this be right? It’s not only unfair that he took my daughter away from me, but he didn’t even tell me when she got married.”
“It’s not Kaian and Claudel’s fault. Don’t blame them for something that wasn’t their fault.”
“Huh. What do you want me to do when I don’t like it?”
For a moment, Leonie wondered if she had made the wrong choice. She felt that he had become impatient and rough, but when he comforted her a while ago, she felt that he was the same old mature, and thoughtful person he used to be.
It was very difficult for him to be picking on Kaian like this.
At that moment, Claudel was running towards the castle’s backyard at a brisk pace.
“Kaian!”
As expected, the man who had arrived early with long strides was sitting under the shade of a tree by the lake.
“Claudel.”
When Kaian saw her and reached out his hand, she quickly went over and sat down next to him.
“I’m sorry.”
“What are you sorry for?”
“I don’t know why my father saying that all of a sudden.”
To suggest that he separates a perfectly fine father from his child.
“You must be that sorry,”
Kaian said readily.
“Why wouldn’t he be? He was lonely because his wife and children were taken away by the Duke of Vermont, who was still alive.”
“You. Do you understand why my father is acting like this?”
“It doesn’t feel good, but I understand.”
He let out a short sigh.
“It’s like seeing my old self.”
Kaian muttered self-deprecatingly.
He hated Vermont, and he was so similar to Claudel father when he had been taught since childhood to openly express his hatred for Vermont that he had no choice but to say something else.
Hatred goes round and round.
At some point, you have to decide to cut it off.
Vermont and Temnes had already failed to do so for hundreds of years, causing even the people of the territory to fight each other.
“Was I that ugly?”
“Hmm. No.”
However, even though Claudel had said no, Kaian could not take her words at face value.
“I guess it was ugly.”
“Ha. Haha.”
Kaian pulled her small face close to him and kissed her because he found her awkwardly smiling.
“I’m not letting you go.”
His eyes were vividly red. He said to her with a dangerous light somewhere.
“If you’re curious, try it out.”
On that ambiguous afternoon, whether it was peaceful or just before the storm, a telegram arrived from the castle of Valmonde.
“Did my sister send it?”
Asked Claudel curiously. Kaianne said.
“There is an invitation from the Duchess of Vermont. She says that Valmonde is becoming independent from Oberon.”
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment