Chapter 60

It was my father who went out in the morning saying he had work to do.

“Dad, didn’t you say you’ll be late?” Erita said, leaning my head on the doorway.

‘Father said he’d be back at night when he went out with Aaron.’

“It’s because work finished earlier than I expected…”

My father, who answered smoothly, put the back of his hand and touched my cheek. I frowned at the slightly cold temperature of his hand.

“Oh, I guess I stood outside for long.”

He smiled bashfully and rubbed my cheek a couple of times. It wasn’t cold, but there was some chill in it.

As I moved my arms, the bouquet in my arms rustled.

Naturally, my father’s gaze also turned to the flower.

“Did Seian give you that bouquet?”

“Oh, this? He gave it to me in the carriage earlier in the morning, isn’t it pretty? I’m going to decorate this in my room later.”

I wink and waved the bouquet of flowers.

They say that if I put the flowers in clean water, it would live for about a week, so it was suitable for decoration in my room.

“I heard there’s something he’s working hard on to give you. He must have picked the flowers well.”

“Did the Marquis say that?”

“Yes, I heard he’s growing flowers instead of gifts. He’s very sincere, too”

There was a faint smile on my father’s lips as he said that.

As I walked towards my room with my father, I laughed out loud for nothing.

It was because I remembered Seian, who was handing out a bouquet of flowers shyly.

“Even when I think about it again, I think Seian is kind in many ways.”

Of course, my father and Aaron are kind, but Seian has basically a more delicate personality.

‘Although they are my family, it’s hard to say that they are delicate.’

Suddenly, on such a day, I remembered Fern complaining that my father was too indifferent, and I laughed for a moment.

But come to think of it, Aaron’s still not here who went out with my father.

I called out to my father who was walking next to me.

“Father.”

“Yes.”

“Brother hasn’t returned home yet, Are you coming with me?”

My father nodded at my words.

“I think Aaron will be late because he has some work to do.”

“I see…”

I nodded my head in response and thought about the past for a moment.

Come to think of it, I felt like Aaron was away more often these days.

‘…When I ask him if he’s busy these days, he just smiles.’

Breakfast and lunch are different every time, but we usually have dinner together.

However, these days, I often can’t meet Aaron even at dinner. We used to see each other everyday.

Of course, I know that Aaron was busy, but it was quite disappointing not to see my brother who had been away for two years.

“Hey, it seems that Aaron is busy and also sad.”

Perhaps such disappointment was evident on my face, my father comforted me with a soft voice.

“Don’t worry too much, He’ll be free again in a little while.”

My father said so and patted my hand gently on his arm.

“It’s not necessarily…”

For some reason, I shook my head saying no to the feeling of being a grouchy child, but my father did not believe that at all.

“Oh, come to think of it, I got a piece of jewelry from Lily a few days ago. I want to send a reward, but she’d like the artifact I made, right?”

Lily sent me some jewelry she made herself. So I chose to change the topic.

Fortunately, my father laughed for a moment and then agreed to my intentions.

“Lily is the only daughter of Count Lemian.”

“That’s right. I was given a pair of gorgeous earrings and a bracelet.”

After talking for a while, We arrived in front of my room.

“Let’s have dinner together later, father instead of Aaron.”

“Ahaha. That’s nice”

After greeting at the door, my father quickly turned around. I entered the room only after watching my father’s hardback disappear.

“Lady! How have you been?”

“Yeah. Is there a vase more suitable for these flowers?”

“Oh, it’s a pretty flower. I’ll look for it after you change!”

“Yes, thank you.”

First, I put the flowers on the table and changed clothes with Mary’s help.

When I changed into a simple indoor dress, I felt drowsy in an instant.

“Today, you’ll have to soak in water with a bath salt…”

The touch of the hair that gently sticks to my body has the power to make my whole body feel like a slime.

Mary opened her mouth with a small smile as I limped on the sofa and said so.

“Why don’t you work out with Fern? If the master hears it, he will like it.”

My expression, which had been so relaxed at those words, was frowned upon in an instant.

Once a week, Fern’s physical training, directed by my father himself, was very vicious.

As long as I could feel my legs trembling, just watching from the side, it says everything.

“Mary, wizards prefer magic to physical training. And you say that when you see Fern dying once a week?”

Mary laughed and shook her head as if she couldn’t stop me when I chatted negative words.

“But wouldn’t it be better to do it a little bit? It’s hard to practice magic and make artifacts, but you like them so much.”

“That’s different from that. I’d rather practice magic a hundred more times.”

Mary, who recommended more physical training, gave up after seeing me constantly shouting, “I don’t like it.”

‘I mean, no matter how good my father is, I never want to do that kind of physical training.’

✿

A glass greenhouse in the Imperial Palace.

There was a woman with colorful red hair and a young man with blond hair that shone as brilliantly as the midday sun.

There was a quiet silence between the two sitting opposite each other with the tea table in the middle.

They were the Empress and the First Prince.

“Thesis.” The Empress’ red lips opened.

“Yes, mother.”

Thesis’ expression in replying to her seemed to be tense.

However, despite the son’s attitude, the Empress did not say anything for a while as she touched the teacup with her slender fingers.

A strange light flashed in her eyes.

“I think His Majesty will be presenting about the next crown prince at this debut dance.”

“But according to the history of the Empire, on the anniversary of the foundation of the country…”

“Prince.”

The Empress was gentle and calm, but she cut Thesis’ words resolutely.

Her strange, cold gaze turned to Thesis.

“…I’m sorry. I’m a little flustered.”

In such his mother’s gaze, Thesis was immediately rebuked for his impatience.

Its appearance was not seen through the harmonious hats as it was known to the public.

The Empress’ attitude toward her son was somewhat cold and unstable, and Thesis showed a docile attitude towards his mother.

It was a distinctly different appearance from the usual self-confident first prince.

“Thesis, my dear son. The Emperor will not give you the throne easily.”

The Empress, who had been stern until a while ago, quickly became respectful to her son with a glimmering eyes.

Then he had a horrifyingly bizarre expression, as if he had been stricken by something.

“Yes, I know.”

However, as if he were familiar with the appearance of the Empress, Thesis replied in a subdued voice without any agitation.

“But in the end, you will become the crown prince. I, your mother, will make it for you. So don’t worry about the second prince. Did you get it?”

Then the Queen’s focus, which was heading for Thesis, began to drift away from him.

“…Mother.”

“Oh, Thesis. My one and only son. Don’t worry about anything. The son of Asila will never take your place.”

Thesis called out to the Empress in a low voice, but she didn’t even give her a single glance to Thesis, as she spoke alone into her void.

Thesis, who looked at the scene with a painful face, eventually got up quietly.

Because he knew he couldn’t hear anything from his mother in this state and she couldn’t see anything.

What could only be called madness, which started at some point, corroded his mother as time went on.

“Mother, I’ll go back first.”

The Empress did not stop muttering into the air until Thesis eventually turned his back and left the glasshouse.

In her eyes, there was a peculiar black light that Thesis had never seen.

Click—

After closing the door to the garden, Thesis asked the knights and the maids of the Empress Palace who were guarding it.

“My mother said she’lll stay a little longer, so make sure no one else enters.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then work hard today.”

Thesis, who left a greeting with a smile that seemed to have been drawn, turned around and moved away from the garden.

“…Callian.”

He took the name of his half-brother who had just returned.

Another child of his father who has been compared to him since childhood.

‘No matter what happens, I can’t hand over the Crown Prince seat to you… Never.’

Whether the reason was a feeling of inferiority that I had brought from a long time ago, or for my mother, who was risking her life for the throne.

I couldn’t be deprived of the throne alone for any reason.

The half-moon marks of his well-cut fingernails clearly remained in the palm of Thesis.