Cornered Rat (6)
The carriage entered the mansion. Nadia looked out the window and asked worriedly.
"Miss, what happened today? Should I tell the Marquis?"
"That's right."
"Then I should tell him what happened in Eldern."
"..."
I didn't tell my family what happened to me in Oslo.
That was understandable because when I returned home I had to attend a summit and face Oslo.
But if I tell the truth, won't my family be worried about me throughout the summit?
It's something that's already in the past, and you'll find out about it eventually, so I didn't want to make you anxious by mentioning It in advance.
So I hid it...
The quick-witted Kjer would have guessed something.
Because when I got to the capital, he saw me being chased by bounty hunters.
Of course, he would have investigated what happened to me.
Yet he didn't ask anything.
He just silently protected me, asking Chevio to guard me whenever I entered the palace.
"If I tell Master, he'll be really angry, right?"
"A little. But I'm sure he'll understand in the end."
The carriage stopped at the mansion while Nadia tried to reassure me. I swallowed a sigh without realizing it.
"Let's get down."
"Yes, Miss."
Kjer was waiting for me in front of the carriage.
"Let's go in."
As he spoke, I immediately asked him, holding my hand.
"You knew, right?"
"What."
"What happened to me from the Third Prince in Eldern."
"More or less."
That's what I thought.
A bitter smile came out at the bland answer.
"Thank you. For pretending not to know."
"..."
"I wanted to tell my father today."
"You're going to get in trouble."
My father would probably be furious.
If my father had hidden the incident that almost cost him his life, I wouldn't have been able to control my anger either.
I don't know why I didn't think of this before.
"If I did something wrong, I'll get in trouble, you know. I'm prepared for it."
"You're all grown up."
"Then. I'm not a kid."
Kner chuckled and hugged me, burying my face in his wide, strong arms.
"Uoungest."
"Huh?"
"We are on your side."
Something hot surged up inside me. I barely managed to answer.
"...I know."
I took Kjer's hand and entered the mansion.
As I got closer to the office, my heart started beating faster. I took a deep breath and let go of Kjer's hand.
"I'll go in alone."
I waited for Kjer's footsteps to fade away before knocking on the office door.
"Father, it's me."
"Millenia? Come in."
The heavy door opened with a slightly surprised sound.
My father, who was talking to the butler, looked at me. A faint smile appeared on his lips, then quickly disappeared.
"Welcome. Has the hunting competition gone well?"
"Yes, the little Duke won first place."
"What about your brother?"
"Second place by a very narrow margin."
“Tsk.”
My father clicked his tongue and led me to the sofa. The butler served us tea and stepped aside.
Even though I was drinking tea, my mouth was dry. I had no idea what to say.
My father asked me bluntly as I hesitated.
"Do you have anything to say to your father?"
"That is..."
"Please speak comfortably."
My hands shook slightly as I put down the teacup. I swallowed dry saliva and opened my mouth.
"There is something I haven't told you, Father."
"Ues?"
"First, I'll tell you what happened when I went to Eldern."
I told him in detail about the crimes Oslo had committed against me and what had happened at the hunting competition today.
The voice that had been shaking unsteadily gradually became calmer as I spoke.
Now the only thing I have to hide from my father is that I have regained my sight. Thinking that way, I feel much better.
"I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner"
Now you're going to yell at me.
The moment I closed my eyes tightly with that thought, my father quietly grabbed my hand.
"You're telling me now."
"Oh, you knew? How..."
"Before you arrived home, I received a letter from Duke Eldern."
“Ah...”
"Of course, Duke Eldern did not point out the mastermind behind it. But if you think about it a little, the answer comes out."
"Then why If you knew, why didn't you tell me anything?"
My father lowered his gaze and stared at the table for a long time.
"At first, I was angry. Not at you, but at myself."
"Tomy father?"
"If I had been a proper father, would you have tried to shoulder all this on your own? Would you have told me and asked for my help? It made me reflect on myself."
I just hid it so as not to worry my father, I didn't know he would think that way.
I grabbed my father's finger urgently.
"Why do you think that? It's all my fault. It's just that I was too short-sighted."
My father smiled softly. Then he patted the back of my hand as if telling me to calm down.
"But after thinking about it carefully, I think there must be a reason you're hiding it. That's why I waited, thinking you'd tell me when the time was right."
"What are you going to do if I never tell you..."
"Then I must have waited until the end."
"How can that be?"
"Didn't you ask me to watch over you?"
"I know you are very disappointed in me. You want to give up on me..."
"..."
"I won't make excuses. Just watch over me."
This is what I said when he encountered my father in the garden immediately after returning from death.
"Ah..."
My father covered my face as I sighed blankly.
"Thank you for telling me."
"Oh, no... I'm sorry for telling you so late..."
My throat was so tight that I couldn't speak. As soon as I bit my lip, tears fell.
"Why are you sorry? You must have hidden it because you were afraid that your father would worry. Your father respects your decision."
My father wiped away my tears.
He was so careful with his fingers wiping the area under my eyes, for fear that I might get sick.
"Stop it. You'll get a headache."
I was finally able to stop crying after soaking the front of my father's shirt with my tears.
"Please help me, father."
"Help?"
"Yes. I need my father's strength."
My father opened his eyes wide with a look of surprise.
It made sense. It was the first time I had ever asked my father for help.
No, it was my first time asking someone for help when I could have solved it myself.
My father's face brightened for a moment. The corners of his lips, which had been pursed shut, rose slightly in a satisfied smile.
"Hmm, okay, what can I do for you?"
"I'm worried about keeping the Third Prince in the royal family. After 30 years, he'll only be a little over 50 years old. He might plot a rebellion or harm me, who made him like that."
My father's eyes became dim.
"I can't leave it like this."
"So I was thinking, what if we send him to a territory far away from the capital, so you can never come back? Is that possible?"
Unlike me, who was anxious that it might be difficult, my father was indifferent.
"Politics is a battle of justifications. If you have a justification, nothing is impossible."
"Then..."
"Father will take care of it. It has been a while since I have asked for a private meeting with His Majesty."
"Haa... Thank you, Father."
Why did I try to solve something so easily on my own, even sacrificing my own safety?
Rahon has said it several times.
"You're trying to shoulder everything by yourself. Not anymore."
If you lack strength, you will ask for help from those around you, and if you feel like you are in danger, you will hide behind someone.
Because I knew that there were people who would be sad if even a small scratch appeared on my fingertips.
Revenge was merely a necessary process to change the future, and the most important thing to me was the happiness of my loved ones.
'You shouldn't confuse that.'
But the next day.
My father did not have private meetings with the Emperor.
That's because all the newspapers simultaneously broke the scoop from the morning.
[Oslo Royal Antiete 3rd Prince! Appointed as Lord of Tragos?!]
I folded the newspaper my father had been reading and threw it on the table.
"I guess I can cancel the audience."
Tragos.
This place, which has been abandoned for a long time without a lord and is called the Land of Ghosts, was the territory where Oslo exiled Kalit in my past life.
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