(222) Side Story; Precious and New (16)
"It is about time I told my father that I was going to marry Cyrus. No, it is already too late."
There was a tremendous amount to prepare for a royal wedding. It took several months just to prepare the dresses to be worn at the wedding, and the party, and decorating the wedding venue took even more time.
She had to select the people to send invitations to and prepare rooms for the distinguished guests to stay in.
“We must have a lot to prepare on our end as well... I really don’t know how to bring this up.”
Ariana closed her eyes while lying face down, leaning on her arm.
How much time has passed since that happened?
Click, the sound of a door opening was heard.
“Ariana?”
The person who entered was Russell. Ariana knew that Russell also often stopped by Shini's room, so she naturally stood up to greet him.
"Father, you're here."
"Right. I didn't know you'd be here. I thought you'd be asleep."
“I know, right. I’m going to be busy early tomorrow, so I should go to bed early. Aren’t you sleeping, Father?”
Russell pulled up a chair and sat next to Ariana.
"I feel a bit restless thinking that Isabelle is getting married tomorrow."
"Is that so?"
“It’s strange. I was worried that men would stealthily avoid Isabelle because she doesn’t enjoy parties and is such a tomboy, but now that I actually think about her getting married... yeah, it’s a bit like that.”
“Uncle Fellowes cries every day, doesn’t he?”
Russell laughed.
“Indeed. The Countess is actually quite spirited. As for Fellowes, that fellow is huge but goes around sniffling, so the knights are uneasy, and you should keep a low profile.”
Ariana smiled a little as she imagined that scene.
The father and daughter looked down at Shini in silence for a moment. Suddenly, Russell spoke.
"You'll get married soon too and leave this castle, won't you?"
Ariana turned her head and stared at her father's profile.
Even the deep navy hair that was so vibrant when she first saw it now bore the marks of time. Though not numerous, streaks of white hair had begun to appear near the temples.
Fine wrinkles have formed around his eyes, which were once completely wrinkle-free. A line of long years has also been imprinted on the corners of his mouth.
Father is getting old, too...
She didn't expect the word 'marriage' to come out of Russell's mouth first. Like Ariana, Russell has also been avoiding mentioning marriage.
Russell turned his head.
His blue eyes, exactly like Ariana's, always shone with a firm and indifferent gaze, but softened only in front of his daughter.
It was strange that she had ever been afraid of this look. It radiated such a tender light. Back then, Ariana was so blind that she couldn't even notice the affection and tenderness directed at her.
Did my father look at me with these eyes when I was born?
"Is it strange that I bring up your marriage first?"
As Ariana nodded, Russell gave a faint smile. The King of the East, as big as a bear and as valiant as a lion, looked different when he smiled.
Ariana also now realized well that the gently spreading smile was directed solely at her.
“I’ve always thought about it. Ever since I held you in my arms when you were born.”
Ariana's eyes widened because it was an unexpected time.
"Since that long ago?"
“Well then. I suppose that’s what being a father of a daughter is like. When I held you in these arms...”
Russell briefly raised his arms as if reminiscing about that moment, mimicking a hug. Ariana stared blankly at her father's thick arms.
“I wondered when I would ever raise her and marry her off... then I thought, ‘No, wait, I can’t just hand this pretty girl over to those shabby young men...’ then I thought, ‘But I can’t leave my daughter as a woman who can’t even get married...’ but then I thought, ‘Is marriage really such a big deal? I can just cherish and love her for the rest of my life...’”
"You must have had a lot of thoughts during that short time."
Russell smiled faintly at the sight of his daughter staring blankly at him. Ariana smiled a little too, finding the low laughter pleasant to hear.
Now, it has become natural for the father and daughter to look at each other and smile. It had been that way for some time, and they didn't try to pinpoint exactly when. Because now, this is their daily life.
“After you left, I looked at Isabelle and imagined you. I thought, ‘This is how you would grow up. By now, you must have grown this much.’ I always had those thoughts. When Isabelle turned sixteen, Fellowes began to worry about a marriage partner for her. I did too.”
Ariana knew what emotions Russell had felt when he found out that she had married Viscount Alfreich. She recalled the feelings she had fully accepted in that space that was neither a dream nor reality.
"After leaving you in that hell for over a decade, to think that I, as a father, am afraid at the thought of having to marry you off someday... how truly pathetic."
Arians almost burst into tears at the voice that flowed out like a sigh.
"No."
She conveyed the denial flowing out hesitantly once more clearly.
"That's not true, Dad."
Whenever she called him Dad, an uncontainable joy spread across Russell's face. Because he liked that, Ariana often called Russell Dad.
“It was pitch-black darkness. My hell was so bitterly cold that no matter how many layers of clothes I wore, I felt like I would freeze to death. I thought I would live and die in that cold for the rest of my life, but this place is truly warm.”
Ariana raised her right hand.
Because the hand that held this hand was excessively hot.
The hatred that had been frozen cold and honed to a sharp edge like a blade melted away. If she had not met them, and if she had had to take revenge alone, even if she had finished the revenge, she would not have been able to hold the same feelings she has now.
Ariana must have stabbed and stabbed her enemies again with the blade of frozen hatred until she shattered and scattered. Beside them as they bled to death, she too must have been broken into pieces beyond repair and vanished.
“How happy I am...”
There was a time when she resented it.
Just as her hope for her father to come take her was great, so too was the hatred she felt when that hope was shattered.
But now that too has disappeared.
Meeting her family made me realize that hatred and resentment produce nothing. The unsparing affection melted her frozen heart and filled it with good things.
Russell grasped the hand Ariana had raised. Her father's hand was large and firm, offering a comfort different from when he held Cyrus's hand.
"Sorry..."
Words of repentance flowed out without her even realizing it.
"I'm sorry, Father."
Although it had not happened in Russell's current timeline, what had been done to him in Ariana's past remained like a knot in her heart. Knowing how he felt after losing everything, and understanding how deeply he longed for his daughter far away, Ariana was overwhelmed with guilt.
Russell was a little flustered by the sudden apology, but he asked gently.
“What is my daughter so sorry about?”
“Just... everything.”
It was actually Russell who felt sorry. Every time he saw Ariana, Russell felt apologetic about everything his daughter had to go through, but instead of saying that, he stroked her head and spoke.
"After losing you, there is something I have always dreamed of. There are things I always wanted to do when you came back to me."
Ariana looked up at her father with wet eyes.
“Fellowes once told me that you shouldn’t raise children by spoiling them. Since they go around causing all sorts of trouble, he said that if he has another child, he will raise them strictly.”
“...”
“So I thought to myself. If it were me, I would raise you with excessive pampering. I would cherish you when you return, give you everything you want, and let you do everything you desire. And if you go around causing every kind of trouble imaginable, I would clean it up one by one, telling you, ‘It’s okay, it’s okay. As long as you’re safe, that’s all that matters.’ That is how I want to live.”
The tears that had welled up suddenly fell.
Unaware that tears were flowing, Ariana listened intently to the sweet words flowing from her father's lips.
"But my daughter causes me not a single worry and takes such good care of herself that there is nothing for me to do."
“You have always... done for me. I am always receiving more than I deserve.”
"What a sweet girl."
Father probably doesn't know that just those words make her feel like she's gained everything in the world.
To Ariana, who had always been called a useless and wretched child, that brief compliment—' You're so kind'—was not taken lightly.
She gathered up jer overflowing emotions and put them away. A dazzling, multicolored light was streaming in through the window beyond the bed where Shini was lying.
The birthday gift Cyrus brought was still emitting a dazzling light in the garden even now, five months later.
“If you’re going to coddle me, could you get rid of that hideous statue?”
Russell answered Ariana's words with feigned sternness.
“I can’t do that, no matter how much you ask.”
Ariana and Russell looked at each other and smiled a little.
Ariana read the deep affection in her father's eyes. The intense and firm affection filled his pupils to the brim, as if determined not to waver no matter what happened.
And so, Ariana made up her mind.
She came to believe that no matter where she was, what she became, or what she did, her relationship with her father would never change. Something that would never change, even if they were far apart.
There was absolutely no reason to be afraid. There was nothing to regret either.
No matter where she stands, this person who watches over her with overflowing love will always be her father.
"I want to be with Cyrus."
Ariana was inwardly surprised because her voice was sweeter than she had imagined.
“I’ve thought about it a lot, and I think I could spend the rest of my life smiling with him. No, I really will. Definitely.”
"Yea."
Russell gripped Ariana's hand tightly.
"That's probably it, for sure."
The father's voice, as he braced himself to marry off his daughter, was heavy yet gentle.
"I'll come often."
"It's okay if I go often."
"My father is a King, you know."
“As for the throne, I’ll just hand it over to Geor.”
"Just because you want to see your daughter's face?"
"The throne isn't pretty enough to be compared to my daughter."
The affectionate conversation between the father and daughter reached the ears of the woman who was fast asleep. A smile rose on her lips, but it was so faint that the father and daughter could not see it.
The next day, Isabelle's wedding took place in the spacious garden of the White family's estate. Wearing a beautiful wedding dress, Isabelle bravely walked over holding the hand of the sobbing Fellow and took Isaac's hand.
Fellowes handed Isabelle's hand to Isaac and said.
“It will be very difficult. But please... do not... send my daughter back.”
"Dad!"
The guests burst into laughter at the sound of Isabelle shouting.
Both Isabelle and Isaac laughed, but Fellowes, still sniffling, hugged Isabelle tightly. The large hand that had wielded a sword on the battlefield patted his daughter's back with unparalleled tenderness.
"Be happy. You must be happy, my daughter."
"It’s not like I’m going to my death, so why all the fuss?"
Isabelle's eyes were also red as she grumbled.
As Ariana took in the entire scene, she spoke to Cyrus, who was standing beside her.
“Lord of the North, do you remember what you said to me long ago?”
"I remember everything."
“Then do you remember saying that if I could control my smile at will, I might be able to rule the world?”
"I remember that, too."
Ariana turned her head and met Cyrus's eyes.
"How is my smile right now?"
Cyrus narrowed his eyes as if blinded. After staring at Ariana's smiling face for a while, he lifted her hand and kissed the back of it.
"The world rightfully belongs to you."
"It is about time I told my father that I was going to marry Cyrus. No, it is already too late."
There was a tremendous amount to prepare for a royal wedding. It took several months just to prepare the dresses to be worn at the wedding, and the party, and decorating the wedding venue took even more time.
She had to select the people to send invitations to and prepare rooms for the distinguished guests to stay in.
“We must have a lot to prepare on our end as well... I really don’t know how to bring this up.”
Ariana closed her eyes while lying face down, leaning on her arm.
How much time has passed since that happened?
Click, the sound of a door opening was heard.
“Ariana?”
The person who entered was Russell. Ariana knew that Russell also often stopped by Shini's room, so she naturally stood up to greet him.
"Father, you're here."
"Right. I didn't know you'd be here. I thought you'd be asleep."
“I know, right. I’m going to be busy early tomorrow, so I should go to bed early. Aren’t you sleeping, Father?”
Russell pulled up a chair and sat next to Ariana.
"I feel a bit restless thinking that Isabelle is getting married tomorrow."
"Is that so?"
“It’s strange. I was worried that men would stealthily avoid Isabelle because she doesn’t enjoy parties and is such a tomboy, but now that I actually think about her getting married... yeah, it’s a bit like that.”
“Uncle Fellowes cries every day, doesn’t he?”
Russell laughed.
“Indeed. The Countess is actually quite spirited. As for Fellowes, that fellow is huge but goes around sniffling, so the knights are uneasy, and you should keep a low profile.”
Ariana smiled a little as she imagined that scene.
The father and daughter looked down at Shini in silence for a moment. Suddenly, Russell spoke.
"You'll get married soon too and leave this castle, won't you?"
Ariana turned her head and stared at her father's profile.
Even the deep navy hair that was so vibrant when she first saw it now bore the marks of time. Though not numerous, streaks of white hair had begun to appear near the temples.
Fine wrinkles have formed around his eyes, which were once completely wrinkle-free. A line of long years has also been imprinted on the corners of his mouth.
Father is getting old, too...
She didn't expect the word 'marriage' to come out of Russell's mouth first. Like Ariana, Russell has also been avoiding mentioning marriage.
Russell turned his head.
His blue eyes, exactly like Ariana's, always shone with a firm and indifferent gaze, but softened only in front of his daughter.
It was strange that she had ever been afraid of this look. It radiated such a tender light. Back then, Ariana was so blind that she couldn't even notice the affection and tenderness directed at her.
Did my father look at me with these eyes when I was born?
"Is it strange that I bring up your marriage first?"
As Ariana nodded, Russell gave a faint smile. The King of the East, as big as a bear and as valiant as a lion, looked different when he smiled.
Ariana also now realized well that the gently spreading smile was directed solely at her.
“I’ve always thought about it. Ever since I held you in my arms when you were born.”
Ariana's eyes widened because it was an unexpected time.
"Since that long ago?"
“Well then. I suppose that’s what being a father of a daughter is like. When I held you in these arms...”
Russell briefly raised his arms as if reminiscing about that moment, mimicking a hug. Ariana stared blankly at her father's thick arms.
“I wondered when I would ever raise her and marry her off... then I thought, ‘No, wait, I can’t just hand this pretty girl over to those shabby young men...’ then I thought, ‘But I can’t leave my daughter as a woman who can’t even get married...’ but then I thought, ‘Is marriage really such a big deal? I can just cherish and love her for the rest of my life...’”
"You must have had a lot of thoughts during that short time."
Russell smiled faintly at the sight of his daughter staring blankly at him. Ariana smiled a little too, finding the low laughter pleasant to hear.
Now, it has become natural for the father and daughter to look at each other and smile. It had been that way for some time, and they didn't try to pinpoint exactly when. Because now, this is their daily life.
“After you left, I looked at Isabelle and imagined you. I thought, ‘This is how you would grow up. By now, you must have grown this much.’ I always had those thoughts. When Isabelle turned sixteen, Fellowes began to worry about a marriage partner for her. I did too.”
Ariana knew what emotions Russell had felt when he found out that she had married Viscount Alfreich. She recalled the feelings she had fully accepted in that space that was neither a dream nor reality.
"After leaving you in that hell for over a decade, to think that I, as a father, am afraid at the thought of having to marry you off someday... how truly pathetic."
Arians almost burst into tears at the voice that flowed out like a sigh.
"No."
She conveyed the denial flowing out hesitantly once more clearly.
"That's not true, Dad."
Whenever she called him Dad, an uncontainable joy spread across Russell's face. Because he liked that, Ariana often called Russell Dad.
“It was pitch-black darkness. My hell was so bitterly cold that no matter how many layers of clothes I wore, I felt like I would freeze to death. I thought I would live and die in that cold for the rest of my life, but this place is truly warm.”
Ariana raised her right hand.
Because the hand that held this hand was excessively hot.
The hatred that had been frozen cold and honed to a sharp edge like a blade melted away. If she had not met them, and if she had had to take revenge alone, even if she had finished the revenge, she would not have been able to hold the same feelings she has now.
Ariana must have stabbed and stabbed her enemies again with the blade of frozen hatred until she shattered and scattered. Beside them as they bled to death, she too must have been broken into pieces beyond repair and vanished.
“How happy I am...”
There was a time when she resented it.
Just as her hope for her father to come take her was great, so too was the hatred she felt when that hope was shattered.
But now that too has disappeared.
Meeting her family made me realize that hatred and resentment produce nothing. The unsparing affection melted her frozen heart and filled it with good things.
Russell grasped the hand Ariana had raised. Her father's hand was large and firm, offering a comfort different from when he held Cyrus's hand.
"Sorry..."
Words of repentance flowed out without her even realizing it.
"I'm sorry, Father."
Although it had not happened in Russell's current timeline, what had been done to him in Ariana's past remained like a knot in her heart. Knowing how he felt after losing everything, and understanding how deeply he longed for his daughter far away, Ariana was overwhelmed with guilt.
Russell was a little flustered by the sudden apology, but he asked gently.
“What is my daughter so sorry about?”
“Just... everything.”
It was actually Russell who felt sorry. Every time he saw Ariana, Russell felt apologetic about everything his daughter had to go through, but instead of saying that, he stroked her head and spoke.
"After losing you, there is something I have always dreamed of. There are things I always wanted to do when you came back to me."
Ariana looked up at her father with wet eyes.
“Fellowes once told me that you shouldn’t raise children by spoiling them. Since they go around causing all sorts of trouble, he said that if he has another child, he will raise them strictly.”
“...”
“So I thought to myself. If it were me, I would raise you with excessive pampering. I would cherish you when you return, give you everything you want, and let you do everything you desire. And if you go around causing every kind of trouble imaginable, I would clean it up one by one, telling you, ‘It’s okay, it’s okay. As long as you’re safe, that’s all that matters.’ That is how I want to live.”
The tears that had welled up suddenly fell.
Unaware that tears were flowing, Ariana listened intently to the sweet words flowing from her father's lips.
"But my daughter causes me not a single worry and takes such good care of herself that there is nothing for me to do."
“You have always... done for me. I am always receiving more than I deserve.”
"What a sweet girl."
Father probably doesn't know that just those words make her feel like she's gained everything in the world.
To Ariana, who had always been called a useless and wretched child, that brief compliment—' You're so kind'—was not taken lightly.
She gathered up jer overflowing emotions and put them away. A dazzling, multicolored light was streaming in through the window beyond the bed where Shini was lying.
The birthday gift Cyrus brought was still emitting a dazzling light in the garden even now, five months later.
“If you’re going to coddle me, could you get rid of that hideous statue?”
Russell answered Ariana's words with feigned sternness.
“I can’t do that, no matter how much you ask.”
Ariana and Russell looked at each other and smiled a little.
Ariana read the deep affection in her father's eyes. The intense and firm affection filled his pupils to the brim, as if determined not to waver no matter what happened.
And so, Ariana made up her mind.
She came to believe that no matter where she was, what she became, or what she did, her relationship with her father would never change. Something that would never change, even if they were far apart.
There was absolutely no reason to be afraid. There was nothing to regret either.
No matter where she stands, this person who watches over her with overflowing love will always be her father.
"I want to be with Cyrus."
Ariana was inwardly surprised because her voice was sweeter than she had imagined.
“I’ve thought about it a lot, and I think I could spend the rest of my life smiling with him. No, I really will. Definitely.”
"Yea."
Russell gripped Ariana's hand tightly.
"That's probably it, for sure."
The father's voice, as he braced himself to marry off his daughter, was heavy yet gentle.
"I'll come often."
"It's okay if I go often."
"My father is a King, you know."
“As for the throne, I’ll just hand it over to Geor.”
"Just because you want to see your daughter's face?"
"The throne isn't pretty enough to be compared to my daughter."
The affectionate conversation between the father and daughter reached the ears of the woman who was fast asleep. A smile rose on her lips, but it was so faint that the father and daughter could not see it.
The next day, Isabelle's wedding took place in the spacious garden of the White family's estate. Wearing a beautiful wedding dress, Isabelle bravely walked over holding the hand of the sobbing Fellow and took Isaac's hand.
Fellowes handed Isabelle's hand to Isaac and said.
“It will be very difficult. But please... do not... send my daughter back.”
"Dad!"
The guests burst into laughter at the sound of Isabelle shouting.
Both Isabelle and Isaac laughed, but Fellowes, still sniffling, hugged Isabelle tightly. The large hand that had wielded a sword on the battlefield patted his daughter's back with unparalleled tenderness.
"Be happy. You must be happy, my daughter."
"It’s not like I’m going to my death, so why all the fuss?"
Isabelle's eyes were also red as she grumbled.
As Ariana took in the entire scene, she spoke to Cyrus, who was standing beside her.
“Lord of the North, do you remember what you said to me long ago?”
"I remember everything."
“Then do you remember saying that if I could control my smile at will, I might be able to rule the world?”
"I remember that, too."
Ariana turned her head and met Cyrus's eyes.
"How is my smile right now?"
Cyrus narrowed his eyes as if blinded. After staring at Ariana's smiling face for a while, he lifted her hand and kissed the back of it.
"The world rightfully belongs to you."
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