After receiving comfort in her parents' arms for a moment, Aila wiped away her tears and opened her mouth again.
“But... the information I had was too limited. I thought I would be able to deal with it if I knew what he was up to.”
So when Byron confessed that he had been gathering information using the techniques of infiltration he had taught her, Ophelia was shocked and rebuked her.
"You left your dorm every night and wandered around? That's too dangerous! What if you got caught?"
Clearly, she was being scolded by her mother, but strangely, Aila felt incredibly happy. It was a far cry from the feeling she had when scolded by Byron, whom she believed to be her biological father.
Perhaps... Ophelia's scolding was filled with affectionate concern for her. So she thought.
“...And then I met His Highness the Crown Prince.”
Roderick opened his mouth in a more forgiving voice than Ophelia's. There was a certain admiration in his eyes as he looked at his daughter.
He also agreed that it was a very risky move.
But in the end, thanks to that, she saved Winfred from an assassination threat and was able to contact them.
So how could it not be wonderful?
"Yes. That's when I discovered Byron's true identity. Winfred told me."
“Hmm, hmm.”
Even though he already knew that Aila and Winfred were close enough to call each other by their first names, Roderick coughed, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.
It was not because it was against etiquette to not call the Crown Prince by his honorific title.
It was just because he felt a bit sad that his daughter, whom he had gotten back after 10 years, was already getting along with another man.
And Aila, who was completely oblivious to Roderick's petty jealousy, briefly explained what happened next.
Roderick and Ophelia couldn't hide their surprise at the story of Cloud saving her from being discovered.
“He saved you?”
“Yes. He said he already suspected I knew the secret.”
After finishing her explanation of what had happened at Scott and Debbie's cabin, Aila let out a long sigh.
“After that, as you both know, I spent time in the Herzig estate.”
"I see..."
“And... I have organized the information I have gathered so far.”
Aila briskly rubbed her fingers together to summon the magic box Winfred had given her.
Then, a box glittering with purple jewels appeared in the air.
“Oh, that box...”
Ophelia recognized the box she had given to Winfred and expressed her joy.
She already knew that the box was with Aila, but seeing it in person made her feel the strange connection again.
What a coincidence that the box she made ended up in her daughter's hands through Winfred.
“Ah, this... Winfred gave it to me.”
As Aila opened the jewelry box with a strangely excited expression, Roderick felt a renewed sense of discomfort and unbuttoned his shirt. Even though summer was almost over and there was no reason for it to be hot, the air in the room felt somehow stifling.
“I know. Actually, I gave it to His Highness the Crown Prince as a birthday present a few years ago.”
Ophelia was so absorbed in looking at her daughter with such happy eyes that she didn't notice her husband's discomfort.
And Aila's eyes widened as she learned something she had not known before.
“Oh, I see! I didn’t know that.”
She knew her mother was from the Republic of Tamora, the land of wizards. So she wondered if she had a connection to the world's most powerful wizard.
It seemed as if she had no idea that the creator was Ophelia.
“But, I think the summoning spell was a whistle. How did it change?”
At Ophelia's question, the girl's face immediately turned bright red. Unlike Roderick, who had flushed red and blue with unchecked anger, her cheeks were a beautiful pink, born of embarrassment and shame.
“...I, I can’t whistle.”
She's tried practicing a few times alone since she got this box from Winfred, but every time she does, all she gets is a deflating sound.
“Oh my god, really?”
She felt like hiding in a hole, but her mother laughed, as if finding the situation amusing. Aila had to bury her heated face in the jewelry box.
“Oh, don’t laugh, Mother.”
Even Winfred laughed at Aila, who couldn't whistle, and said she was cute, and even her mother did the same.
When Aila felt a sense of betrayal, Ophelia comforted her with a gentle voice.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to tease you. I just laughed because you sound just like your father. And he can't whistle either."
“Are you sure?”
Aila lifted her face from her deep bow and looked at Roderick. Her eyes seemed to ask if her mother's words were true.
“...Yeah. I guess it’s because you take after me that you can’t whistle.”
Roderick whistled to comfort his daughter, though every time Aila tried to whistle, all he could make was a whoosh, whoosh sound that sounded remarkably similar to the sound he made.
And at that sight, Aila felt strangely comforted.
She wasn't the only one who couldn't whistle. Her father couldn't whistle either!
Her oral structure seems to resemble her mother's, but strangely, his inability to whistle resembles his father's.
'Oh, come to your senses. Now is not the time for this.'
Aila was about to take the note out of the box, but realized that the conversation had somehow gone off on a tangent, so she hurriedly opened the box.
“So, this is... the information I’ve organized so far.”
She took out her notes and showed them to her parents. She'd said she'd organized them in her own way, but the papers were all different sizes, so they didn't feel neatly organized.
It happened because she stole a little bit of paper from somewhere every day and wrote it down without leaving a trace.
Some of it was written on the back of a piece of paper where Capella had written down her weekly menu and grocery list, and some was written on a sales slip she had stolen from an inn.
But Roderick and Ophelia didn't seem to care about such confusing papers at all.
“You cleaned it up nicely. It’s quite neat.”
Roderick frowned as he flipped through each page. So many people were joining Byron's rebellion.
It was completely unexpected that even foreign nobles were lining up for Byron.
As he read the note with a serious expression, Ophelia noticed something else.
“Your handwriting is very pretty. When did you practice it separately?”
The handwriting was bound to show experience, and the handwriting in the note seemed skilled and experienced, even for a girl around Aila's age.
There were also traces of long hours of practice.
“Oh, that’s...”
Aila looked embarrassed, unsure of how to respond. Her handwriting had been corrected during her previous life, when she learned basic etiquette at the Duke's house.
Until then, she had learned how to read and write, but she had never had a chance to write, so it was a shameful development that she couldn't show off.
"Really... people I never imagined were helping Byron. I must meet His Majesty the Emperor as soon as day breaks and deal with these people."
But, as Roderick, who was reading the documents, brought up this topic, Aila had no chance to answer her mother's question because she was busy trying to stop him.
“Oh, no! Father!”
At his daughter's desperate attempt to stop him, Roderick asked in a puzzled voice.
“What do you mean, ‘no’?”
"Not yet... No. Byron, if you want to catch him all at once, you can't cut off his helpers. If you do, he'll hide even deeper. You might miss your chance to catch him forever."
So she had to set a trap. She had to make them believe everything was going well.
Although his daughter's words made sense, Roderick looked dubious.
“Then you’d have to keep acting as a double agent.”
"Yes, that's exactly it! I kept pretending I didn't know anything, pretending to follow his orders..."
Aila nodded. She planned to tell her parents everything about her plan.
But her plan met with Roderick's opposition before it could even be brought to light.
“That is absolutely not allowed.”
"Yeah, I think so too. Now that you're home, there's no need to worry about him anymore. Let the adults catch the traitor."
Moreover, even Ophelia agreed with his opinion.
Aila looked at her parents with an embarrassed expression. She knew they were worried about her, but she couldn't help but feel embarrassed.
She desperately wanted revenge on Byron with her own hands. When she returned to the past and had another chance, she vowed to return all the despair she had endured to him.
But it was something she couldn't just let go of.
And above all...
If Aila showed any sign of not listening to Byron, he would... immediately activate the curse he had placed on her body and kill her.
It was an ironic situation where they were doing something out of concern for her, but it actually ended up threatening her life.
"I, Mother, Father... I can do it. I knew he was my enemy, but I've been lying to him for over a year. I really want to get revenge for ruining my life with my own hands."
“Aila...”
“I don’t like... just sitting there waiting for him to get caught.”
“But... the information I had was too limited. I thought I would be able to deal with it if I knew what he was up to.”
So when Byron confessed that he had been gathering information using the techniques of infiltration he had taught her, Ophelia was shocked and rebuked her.
"You left your dorm every night and wandered around? That's too dangerous! What if you got caught?"
Clearly, she was being scolded by her mother, but strangely, Aila felt incredibly happy. It was a far cry from the feeling she had when scolded by Byron, whom she believed to be her biological father.
Perhaps... Ophelia's scolding was filled with affectionate concern for her. So she thought.
“...And then I met His Highness the Crown Prince.”
Roderick opened his mouth in a more forgiving voice than Ophelia's. There was a certain admiration in his eyes as he looked at his daughter.
He also agreed that it was a very risky move.
But in the end, thanks to that, she saved Winfred from an assassination threat and was able to contact them.
So how could it not be wonderful?
"Yes. That's when I discovered Byron's true identity. Winfred told me."
“Hmm, hmm.”
Even though he already knew that Aila and Winfred were close enough to call each other by their first names, Roderick coughed, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.
It was not because it was against etiquette to not call the Crown Prince by his honorific title.
It was just because he felt a bit sad that his daughter, whom he had gotten back after 10 years, was already getting along with another man.
And Aila, who was completely oblivious to Roderick's petty jealousy, briefly explained what happened next.
Roderick and Ophelia couldn't hide their surprise at the story of Cloud saving her from being discovered.
“He saved you?”
“Yes. He said he already suspected I knew the secret.”
After finishing her explanation of what had happened at Scott and Debbie's cabin, Aila let out a long sigh.
“After that, as you both know, I spent time in the Herzig estate.”
"I see..."
“And... I have organized the information I have gathered so far.”
Aila briskly rubbed her fingers together to summon the magic box Winfred had given her.
Then, a box glittering with purple jewels appeared in the air.
“Oh, that box...”
Ophelia recognized the box she had given to Winfred and expressed her joy.
She already knew that the box was with Aila, but seeing it in person made her feel the strange connection again.
What a coincidence that the box she made ended up in her daughter's hands through Winfred.
“Ah, this... Winfred gave it to me.”
As Aila opened the jewelry box with a strangely excited expression, Roderick felt a renewed sense of discomfort and unbuttoned his shirt. Even though summer was almost over and there was no reason for it to be hot, the air in the room felt somehow stifling.
“I know. Actually, I gave it to His Highness the Crown Prince as a birthday present a few years ago.”
Ophelia was so absorbed in looking at her daughter with such happy eyes that she didn't notice her husband's discomfort.
And Aila's eyes widened as she learned something she had not known before.
“Oh, I see! I didn’t know that.”
She knew her mother was from the Republic of Tamora, the land of wizards. So she wondered if she had a connection to the world's most powerful wizard.
It seemed as if she had no idea that the creator was Ophelia.
“But, I think the summoning spell was a whistle. How did it change?”
At Ophelia's question, the girl's face immediately turned bright red. Unlike Roderick, who had flushed red and blue with unchecked anger, her cheeks were a beautiful pink, born of embarrassment and shame.
“...I, I can’t whistle.”
She's tried practicing a few times alone since she got this box from Winfred, but every time she does, all she gets is a deflating sound.
“Oh my god, really?”
She felt like hiding in a hole, but her mother laughed, as if finding the situation amusing. Aila had to bury her heated face in the jewelry box.
“Oh, don’t laugh, Mother.”
Even Winfred laughed at Aila, who couldn't whistle, and said she was cute, and even her mother did the same.
When Aila felt a sense of betrayal, Ophelia comforted her with a gentle voice.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to tease you. I just laughed because you sound just like your father. And he can't whistle either."
“Are you sure?”
Aila lifted her face from her deep bow and looked at Roderick. Her eyes seemed to ask if her mother's words were true.
“...Yeah. I guess it’s because you take after me that you can’t whistle.”
Roderick whistled to comfort his daughter, though every time Aila tried to whistle, all he could make was a whoosh, whoosh sound that sounded remarkably similar to the sound he made.
And at that sight, Aila felt strangely comforted.
She wasn't the only one who couldn't whistle. Her father couldn't whistle either!
Her oral structure seems to resemble her mother's, but strangely, his inability to whistle resembles his father's.
'Oh, come to your senses. Now is not the time for this.'
Aila was about to take the note out of the box, but realized that the conversation had somehow gone off on a tangent, so she hurriedly opened the box.
“So, this is... the information I’ve organized so far.”
She took out her notes and showed them to her parents. She'd said she'd organized them in her own way, but the papers were all different sizes, so they didn't feel neatly organized.
It happened because she stole a little bit of paper from somewhere every day and wrote it down without leaving a trace.
Some of it was written on the back of a piece of paper where Capella had written down her weekly menu and grocery list, and some was written on a sales slip she had stolen from an inn.
But Roderick and Ophelia didn't seem to care about such confusing papers at all.
“You cleaned it up nicely. It’s quite neat.”
Roderick frowned as he flipped through each page. So many people were joining Byron's rebellion.
It was completely unexpected that even foreign nobles were lining up for Byron.
As he read the note with a serious expression, Ophelia noticed something else.
“Your handwriting is very pretty. When did you practice it separately?”
The handwriting was bound to show experience, and the handwriting in the note seemed skilled and experienced, even for a girl around Aila's age.
There were also traces of long hours of practice.
“Oh, that’s...”
Aila looked embarrassed, unsure of how to respond. Her handwriting had been corrected during her previous life, when she learned basic etiquette at the Duke's house.
Until then, she had learned how to read and write, but she had never had a chance to write, so it was a shameful development that she couldn't show off.
"Really... people I never imagined were helping Byron. I must meet His Majesty the Emperor as soon as day breaks and deal with these people."
But, as Roderick, who was reading the documents, brought up this topic, Aila had no chance to answer her mother's question because she was busy trying to stop him.
“Oh, no! Father!”
At his daughter's desperate attempt to stop him, Roderick asked in a puzzled voice.
“What do you mean, ‘no’?”
"Not yet... No. Byron, if you want to catch him all at once, you can't cut off his helpers. If you do, he'll hide even deeper. You might miss your chance to catch him forever."
So she had to set a trap. She had to make them believe everything was going well.
Although his daughter's words made sense, Roderick looked dubious.
“Then you’d have to keep acting as a double agent.”
"Yes, that's exactly it! I kept pretending I didn't know anything, pretending to follow his orders..."
Aila nodded. She planned to tell her parents everything about her plan.
But her plan met with Roderick's opposition before it could even be brought to light.
“That is absolutely not allowed.”
"Yeah, I think so too. Now that you're home, there's no need to worry about him anymore. Let the adults catch the traitor."
Moreover, even Ophelia agreed with his opinion.
Aila looked at her parents with an embarrassed expression. She knew they were worried about her, but she couldn't help but feel embarrassed.
She desperately wanted revenge on Byron with her own hands. When she returned to the past and had another chance, she vowed to return all the despair she had endured to him.
But it was something she couldn't just let go of.
And above all...
If Aila showed any sign of not listening to Byron, he would... immediately activate the curse he had placed on her body and kill her.
It was an ironic situation where they were doing something out of concern for her, but it actually ended up threatening her life.
"I, Mother, Father... I can do it. I knew he was my enemy, but I've been lying to him for over a year. I really want to get revenge for ruining my life with my own hands."
“Aila...”
“I don’t like... just sitting there waiting for him to get caught.”
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