Regis assumed that his daughter would only go out to take a brief break and then come back shortly. But as he guarded the door to the terrace, he began to feel nervous as Juvellian was taking longer than he thought.
‘Surely nothing bad could have happened to her, right?’
He could still feel her presence, and he intentionally chose not to look out to the terrace to respect his daughter’s privacy. But since Juvelllian hadn’t returned for quite some time now, Regis couldn’t help but let his mind wander to grim scenarios.
‘Or perhaps the Emperor had made a move…’
Of course, the emperor had ‘that’ so it was unlikely that he would have done anything hasty, but the possibility of the emperor playing tricks on him was high since he must have grown furious at Regis’s previous provocation.
For that reason, Regis summoned his willpower and looked out to survey the terrace.
Soon, his eyes widened in shock.
‘She’s with someone. And….a man at that.’
Regis glared at the door.
He watched his daughter’s every action — it looked like she was currently conversing with someone she was familiar with. If he were to open the door right now and interrupt, it would be an act of breaking trust.
Not wanting to disappoint his daughter any more, Regis had no choice but to act cautiously.
‘Yes, it would be better to just check who he is and then have a background check done on him.’
As Regis displayed the patience of a father, suddenly, the distance between the unknown man and his daughter started to grow smaller and smaller.
‘How dare…’
Regis unconsciously clenched his fists. As Juvellian faced the man and held his hands, it looked as if they were about to dance.
‘Who dares to…with my daughter…’
After the incident with Mikhail, Regis made an effort to prevent any unworthy scoundrel from trying to come after his daughter. Yet, the fact that someone was able to approach and lure his daughter under his own nose made Regis seethe in anger.
At that moment, he saw his daughter stumble and automatically flinched.
Fortunately, the man she was with quickly caught her, supporting her waist so that she didn’t fall.
Although Regis sighed in relief, he also felt a bit strange.
The day his daughter had collapsed not too long ago, he had wished for it to only be a nightmare. But the moment he saw his daughter not waking up from that terrible dream, he recognized the feeling engraved in his heart. It was fear.
When she left his sight, he felt uneasy–afraid that she might collapse again.
However, thanks to the quick actions of the unidentified man with her now, his daughter was still safe.
‘At least he has quick senses.’
He didn’t want to admit it, but ultimately, Regis had no choice but to acknowledge the fact that even if he wasn’t there, there was now someone else who could protect his daughter.
Though his fists were still tense, Regis sought to quell his impatience.
‘Well, yes, I suppose the investigation into whose family he belongs to can be done lat–’
At that moment, Regis’s eyes blazed with anger.
‘That damned bastard!’
There was a reason why his anger flared to the point where he recalled curses he normally didn’t use.
‘You dare lay a hand on my daughter’s body?!’
As if holding his daughter in his arms wasn’t enough, the scoundrel even raised the hem of his daughter’s dress. Regis’s patience–which had been undeterred even in the face of the emperor’s provocations–snapped.
Regis pushed the door open roughly.
He looked at the scene before him — the scoundrel had his head down, touching his daughter’s ankle, while his daughter stroked his head.
‘I don’t know who he is, but I’m not going to let this go.’
As soon as the scoundrel lifted his head, Regis’s face hardened into ice.
The identity of the scoundrel was none other than his foolish apprentice–someone who Regis thought should never be his daughter’s companion, even if the sky split into two.
‘Maximillian.’
His good looks and skills aside, not only was Max the emperor’s son, but he was also extremely arrogant and cruel. Regis could conclude that his apprentice’s crooked human nature was below average. Of course he wouldn’t have caught his eye.
Regis’s gaze became filled with murderous intent.
‘That brat…you dare touch my daughter?!’
<I won’t say thank you. Because you’re the one who said you would accept me as your apprentice.>
Even when he gave an insolent remark, Regis had never become angry with his pupil. He hadn’t chosen to help him with the aim of receiving something in return, moreover the training wasn’t light enough to get angry at a child who was still immature.
However, now Regis wanted to do nothing more than remove his ungrateful apprentice, who seemed to not know how to repay kindness, from his daughter’s side at once. And he wanted to beat him down until he came to his senses so that he would never come near his daughter ever again.
It was an odd feeling; it felt like his head had caught on fire.
“Father?”
But the moment Regis saw his daughter staring at him with her big, doe-like eyes, he couldn’t bring himself to do so. He loosened his tense fists and slowly let out a sigh.
‘That’s right, there’s no way I can win against you.’
But even if that was the case, Regis could never acknowledge a relationship between his daughter and his apprentice. It was because he knew his daughter would only suffer if they ended up together.
‘I’ll never accept her being with that brat. It’s too dangerous.’
Regis decided to separate the two so that they would never see each other again.
* * *
When I saw my father suddenly appear out on the terrace, I grew a little nervous. I was worried that he might blame me for not showing my face in the ballroom.
But contrary to my expectations, the only thing my father did was extend his hand out to me.
“I’ll ask for the details later. Let’s leave for now.”
I thought he would at least scold me, so if I had to be honest, his reaction was both fascinating and strange.
“Yes.”
I approached my father and tried to hold his hand, but I couldn’t do so because my father’s apprentice refused to let go of my hand.
“You hurt your foot.”
It was somewhat embarrassing to hear him say that as I was still capable of walking.
“I’m alrigh–”
But at that moment, my father pushed Max’s hand away while smiling courteously.
“It’s none of your business, so don’t worry about it.”
I tried to remain indifferent, but I found that I couldn’t. It sounded like my father was telling Max not to show concern for someone as insignificant as me.
‘I was wondering why he wasn’t getting angry, is it because his apprentice is here?’
I was starting to feel my mood sink when suddenly, I found myself in someone’s embrace.
‘Huh?’
Startled, I saw my father with a faint smile on his face as he held me in his arms.
“Because she’s my daughter.”
If it was before, I might have even wavered by such words.
For a time, I had used to be a child who craved for his love. But my present self couldn’t do that anymore.
‘There’s no reason for me to suddenly expect it now.’
In the past, I had used to look at him with eyes full of expectation. I had thought, ‘wouldn’t my father love me if I pleased and flattered him?’
I had tortured myself with such miserable hope.
But now I had no intention of continuing such foolish acts anymore.
‘Because I know the ending of this story.’
As I became momentarily swept away in a feeling of bitterness, my father said something to his apprentice.
“I’ll start coming to you from now on, so don’t come to our house.”
He was someone who normally preferred to stay put, so to hear him say that he would go to find Max himself, it seemed my father really cherished his apprentice.
When I peeked a glance at Max, I saw that he had a slight frown on his face.
‘It doesn’t look like he’s touched?’
I then soon scrunched my own face.
‘Ah, wait, Father. Don’t you think this is all wrong?’
It was because I didn’t think he would go back inside the ballroom while still carrying me in his arms.
“Father.”
As soon as I called out to him, he looked at me with his blue eyes and replied, “You’ve hurt your foot, so you don’t have to exert yourself by staying here any longer.”
‘No, that’s not it! I’m saying to put me down because this is so humiliating!”
I already had enough attention directed towards me, but it seems I was attracting even more attention as I was trying to convince my father to put me down.
‘I just want to disappear quietly.’
But reality didn’t proceed as smoothly as I wanted because now we had the attention of every single guest in the ballroom.
Before we knew it, the Lord of the House, Count Arlo, came up and spoke to my father.
“Your Grace, did something happen to Lady Juvellian…”
“My daughter’s not feeling well, so I’m afraid we’ll have to take our leave.”
I sighed at the remark.
‘Oh, I’m so embarrassed.’
I had originally planned on keeping a low profile and then quietly head home. That was the only way no gossip about me would arise from today’s party.
However, I received a lot of attention when I had presented my gift, and now that I was being held in my father’s arms under the pretext that I wasn’t feeling well, the outcome was quite obvious.
‘By tomorrow….there will probably be a lot of gossip about me going around.’
Well, it wasn’t the first time I would be at the receiving end of hateful remarks, so it’s not as if it wasn’t unexpected.
However, because many people loathed me, I fully expected to suffer from strange rumors once again.
Just the thought gave me a headache.
* * *
When the duke and his daughter left the ballroom, those who usually disapproved of Juvellian began uttering their displeasure.
“What kind of nuisance is that, disturbing someone else’s party?”
“I don’t understand how someone who was fine just moments ago would suddenly become ill like that.”
“You don’t suppose she was deliberately doing that because she wanted attention, do you?”
Then, a cold voice interrupted and savagely tore their conversation apart.
“It seems you all don’t remember that Lady Floyen has been ill.”
When the voice of Rose, the main character of today’s party, rang out, silence fell upon the grand hall.
She had only been glaring at those who were gossiping about Juvellian but she could no longer keep silent.
“As you saw, it seems she hasn’t fully recovered from her illness yet, but she still made an effort to attend my birthday party…I think it’s really amazing.”
Many people began to sympathize with Rose’s words.
“That’s right, she had been sitting down with a pale face for quite a while before getting up to go out to the terrace.”
“Indeed. I saw that too.”
Rose, eyes brimming with tears, spoke again.
“It hasn’t been long since I’ve started to grow closer to Lady Floyen, but while exchanging letters, I’ve sensed that she is a very kindhearted person.”
Several nobles voiced their agreement.
“She’s right. When I received a reply, I wasn’t expecting much, but after realizing that it was Lady Floyen who wrote it herself, I’ve been seeing her in a different light.”
Among them was Count Rowain’s son, Edmund Rowain, who had been unable to partner with her.
“In my case, I sent Lady Floyen a partner request by accident, but she was gracious and forgave my blunder. The image of her at that moment was so angelic…”
Ignoring his words which seemed to carry only self-interest, Rose continued,
“As the main character of today’s party, I’m very thankful towards Lady Floyen. Therefore…”
When Rose became too overcome with emotion to speak, Count Arlo held his daughter’s shoulders and addressed the crowd.
“My distinguished guests. We’re all of the same status politically, so shouldn’t we all unite? Not to mention, if the Duke was to find out we were gossiping about his daughter today…I’m sure everyone here will regret it.”
Those who had been gossiping about Juvellian swallowed in nervousness.
No matter how many times people would curse even the emperor behind his back, the atmosphere just before made them all sweat. [1]
Moreover, the sight of the duke leaving with his daughter in his embrace certainly differed from the rumor that claimed he was indifferent towards her.
When silence fell upon the ballroom, Count Arlo let out a friendly smile.
“It seems the mood has grown a little somber. Perhaps it’s because the music stopped. Maestro, please start the music again.”
T/N:
[1] So I changed it slightly from the raws, but if you’re still confused, here’s my take on the sentence: The nobles are comfortable enough to talk shit about the emperor behind his back, but thinking about what Regis would do to them if he caught them doing the same thing to his daughter has them cowering in fear. Plays well with the next line in that the scene of Regis leaving with Juvel in his arms also shows them he cherishes his daughter very much, crushing the rumors.