Not wanting to offend my father, I quickly apologized. I made to move my hand but was prevented by my father who grabbed my wrist.
“Stay still.”
All of a sudden, my field of vision shook. I let out a gasp when I found myself in my father’s arms, in the famous princess carry that was too embarrassing to even say out loud.
“Um, F-Father?”
I was embarrassed to be in this position in front of so many eyes that I ended up stuttering, which was unlike me. Instead of answering, he began walking somewhere while carrying me in his arms. “We’re going back to the carriage.”
Hearing that we were going back, I looked up at him in surprise.
Cold, icy blue eyes and a strained face. It seems he was annoyed that I disrupted his plans.
“Father, I’m really okay.”
I tried to appease him but was ignored.
“Be quiet.”
Stuck being held in the embarrassing princess carry, I felt ashamed.
‘Why is today like this?’
First, the incident at the armor shop earlier and now this. Was it because of stress? For some reason, my head kept throbbing in pain.
When I was finally seated in the carriage, my father proceeded to take off my shoes, but I couldn’t find the opportunity to say anything.
‘Ah, it hurts.’
I felt a stinging sensation on the back of my heel, leaving no doubt that it was scraped.
‘I’ll have to put some medicine on it when I get home.’
While I was enduring the pain, I heard a hard voice speak up.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
It seems my father was in a really bad mood because I disrupted his schedule.
‘That’s why I said I was fine when you insisted we go back’
The stress was piling up quite heavily, but I tried hard not to show my discomfort.
“It’s not a big deal, we can resume our shopping.”
I answered calmly, pretending nothing was wrong. This way he wouldn’t think of me as useless.
‘This should be fine, right?’
Contrary to my expectations, I heard a cold voice dripping with ice.
“We’re going home.”
“Huh? But…”
“Stop saying nonsense and stay still.”
Closing my mouth at his words which stopped me from saying anything further, I let out a sigh. Despite doing my best to be nice and obedient all day, my father’s expression wasn’t good.
‘Ah…it’s so hard to please my him.’
It might’ve been because of the piled up stress, but my forehead felt hot and my head was still throbbing.
‘Why have I been feeling like this since earlier?’
I could sense that my body felt a bit weirder than usual.
“Juvellian.”
At the sound of my name, I looked up at my father, who sighed before opening his mouth again.
“Soon I’ll find a nice……color……your thoughts…..”
That’s strange. My father’s voice kept breaking off and, for some reason, my head felt numb and I couldn’t think properly.
‘Well, whatever. It should be fine if I just say yes to everything.’
Afraid that I would offend him if said no, I merely nodded my head at his words. My head felt strangely heavy. Feeling more of my strength leave me, I could no longer keep my head propped up.
I heard my father’s voice, “What’s wrong?”
Fortunately, I was able to hear that clearly.
‘Nothing’s wrong, so you don’t have to worry about me.’
But before I could voice my thoughts, I saw his eyes widen in surprise.
“Juvellian?”
The sound of my father calling out my name was the last thing I remembered before everything went black.
* * *
A carriage with the crest of a white lily and sword, symbolizing the House of Floyen, could be seen in the distance.
The butler, who was waiting for their arrival, had a smile on his face.
‘He seemed excited to be going out on a date with his daughter, I wonder if it went well?’
Recalling the image of his master earlier in the morning, interrogating the maids on what his daughter liked, the butler failed in trying to suppress his smile.
Soon, the carriage arrived at the mansion and the butler lowered his head to greet his master.
“Your Grace, you’ve retur—”
The smile quickly disappeared from the butler’s face, his eyes widening in shock.
“M-Milady!”
Juvellian, who looked sickly pale, was being held in the duke’s arms like a lifeless doll.
“W-What on earth….”
Flustered, the butler was at a loss for words but a harsh voice made him gather his senses.
“Derrick.”
Though his face was hardened like solid ice, there was a sense of panic in the duke’s eyes.
“Call for Allen immediately.”
* * *
When I was a child, there were a few times I had gotten sick. Perhaps it was because it was never severe, but my father had never shown up during those times.
My father’s indifference towards me when I was ill used to make me quite sad, but I guess I was not as emotional as I was when I was younger.
“….Wa…ke….up…”
Hearing the sound of muffled murmuring in my ear, I tried to open my eyes. Though my vision was quite blurry, I could make out a distorted face of a man. My body felt like it was floating on clouds, I couldn’t tell if this was a dream or reality.
“Juvel!”
That’s strange. There’s no way you would call me by that name nor look at me with a face that looked as if you were about to cry.
“Please, no, if I lose you too I’ll—”
They say dreams were the manifestations of your unconsciousness, reflecting your deepest desires.
“Please wake up.”
Really, what a cruel dream.
With that thought, I sank back into darkness.
* * *
When I finally came to my senses, I saw that I was on my bed.
“Milady, are you all right?”
The first thing I saw was the face of the family doctor, Allen. Only then did I remember that I had collapsed earlier.
“Allen, how long have I been out for?”
“You’ve been asleep for four days.”
I looked around the room with a bit of hope. I saw the maids looking at me with worried eyes.
“Milady, are you really okay?”
Marilyn, Julia, Sella.
As expected, my father was nowhere to be seen.
‘Well, it’s not like I was expecting him in the first place.’
When my father never showed up to my debutante ball, I knew what he thought of me. To him, my existence was nothing more than an annoying byproduct.
Allen perked up when he heard the sound of the door opening.
“You’ve come, sir?”
Thinking it was probably Derrick, I turned my head, only to widen my eyes in shock. The one who came in through the door was my father, not Derrick.
‘How come?’
While I was staring at him in astonishment, he placed a slight hand on top of my head.
“I see you’re awake.”
Unlike the low voice I just heard, the hand on top of my head felt quite warm.
‘Am I dreaming?’
I still couldn’t believe the strange feeling, I didn’t even realize I had been staring at him. The hand on my head fell.
“Get some rest.”
Staring blankly at the retreating figure that left the room, I let out a small laugh.
‘Don’t get ahead of yourself, Juvellian.’
I recalled the image of my father that I had burned deep inside of me ever since I was young, as well as the way he had abandoned me in the original novel. It wouldn’t look good to his subordinates to give off the image of a heartless father, turning a blind eye to his sick daughter. That was probably why he came to see me just now.
Deciding not to have any ridiculous expectations, I buried any lingering hope.
* * *
<It’s because you’ve been overworking yourself. Please take it easy.>
After Allen advised me to stay still and fully rest for at least a day, I decided to read a book on my bed.
‘I’m so bored.’
I would’ve enjoyed it if it was a general novel, but the book I was reading was about business and personnel management.
‘This is what I get for skipping out on studying’
One would wonder why a Duke’s only daughter would bother with studying, but it was because reality wasn’t as great as it seemed.
The chances of my father handing down his title to an incompetent person like me were nonexistent, he may even bring in a new wife and give birth to a new heir. In that case, I would either get married and become independent from him, or live on my own with some inherited property.
Actually, I had no thoughts of getting married.
‘The moment I get married, the risks I have to deal with will be much higher’
In this conservative Empire, there were many restrictions on the activities of married women.
Women must be diligent in maintaining the reputation of the family, as well as her own reputation as the lady of the house. In addition, if the husband was incompetent, she may have to restrict her spending when considering her husband and children.
‘That goes against my plans of being able to live my life, spending and playing as much as I want till the day I die.’
That left only one option.
‘If I become independent after receiving some of the inheritance, I have to be able to protect that money.’
Of course, if I’m lucky, I might receive a lot of money and maybe even a lower title–but the problem laid in what came after.
Regrettably, the only things I learned after reincarnating as Juvellian were basic knowledge and etiquette one must know as a noble. In other words, it will be difficult for me to survive on my own. Usually, in these circumstances, one could reach independence by increasing his wealth but I knew my place.
‘Not just anyone can run a business.’
Although I carried knowledge of the modern world, there weren’t many things I knew how to make. Besides, it’s not like I was good at speaking or doing business, nor did I have any good connections. I would most likely find myself in debt and go bankrupt.
‘The answer is to receive and maintain the proper amount of money from my father, I just haven’t figured out how to do it yet.’
I let out a sigh when I came to an unsatisfying conclusion. Then, I heard a knock on my door.