Chapter 150

Chapter 150 – Background (1)

Translator: Atlas / Editor: Regan

Allamand was a man of high lineage who valued lineage above all else. As a father, he had been very conservative.

All this time, he had underestimated Annette. He had thought her a hothouse flower, a perfect, beautiful doll that he had shaped. And now all the sudden his little doll was speaking as if she had seen his future in a crystal ball. It was shocking.

Annette smiled bitterly.

It was time to show her father who she really was.

“His Majesty manufactured the charges against me so I couldn’t become Crown Princess, didn’t he?” she asked. “He was afraid the Crown Prince would be ruled by our family, since he is not strong himself. It would be hard for him to ignore his father-in-law’s advice, wouldn’t it?”

Allamand said nothing. He must have suspected it already. After all, he was the one who had discovered their coachman Ivan’s true identity.

The surprise in her father’s eyes was more satisfying than she had expected. She had come a long way since her regression.

But then, Annette had always longed for her father’s approval, just like any other child. She had wanted him to see her as something more than a pretty doll. But there was more at stake now than just his recognition. This was a threat to the survival of their family. Annette sighed.

“How long have you known?” she asked carefully. “That it was His Majesty who framed me.”

“…Since the beginning. But there was no proof.”

His purple eyes darkened. Exhausted from his recent near-assassination, he was subdued, without the energy for either sarcasm or rudeness. It was much easier to have this conversation than she had expected.

“If you knew, why didn’t you stop my marriage?”

“The situation wasn’t favorable,” he said briefly, weary, and brushed a disordered lock of platinum hair back from his forehead. It softened her heart, a little. She had known none of this in her last life, which had been mired in misfortune. But all that time, Allamand had been fighting against the royal family. And so had Arjen, her brother.

She had been a hothouse flower, in her last life.

But that just meant she had to do better this time.

“What do you mean, the situation wasn’t favorable?” She asked stubbornly. “Please tell me the truth, father. It’s my problem too. I have the right to know, as a member of this family..”

Allemand eyed her silently, as if he were weighing her qualifications.

“I’m a Bavaria too, aren’t I?” She asked seriously. “I want to do everything I can to support my family. Of course, I am not as experienced as my father, but my help is better than nothing, isn’t it?”

“…”

“So tell me. Explain to me how we can overcome this problem. You were the one that made me a Bavaria.”

Annette was fully capable of glossing over all the things he had done to hurt her. She was a noblewoman to her core, and that meant all else failed in comparison to the preservation of her family. It was the foundation and authority for everything she was, the ground beneath her feet.

This was no time to relive past regrets. From the moment she was born, her family was the most important institution in her life. There would still be time to discuss other things once that had been protected.

Silently, Allamand stared into her eyes, brave eyes that were just the same as the woman who had been his wife. Looking into those striking eyes made him feel old. He was suddenly…tired.

But shouldn’t he handle this alone?

Maybe it was a moment’s weakness, after he had so nearly died, but he was tired of fighting. And he could not leave Annette ignorant. What would have happened to the Bavaria family if he had died today? His successor had gone to a distant empire, and his only daughter knew nothing of the world. King Selgratis would have seized the opportunity to grind the Bavarias to dust.

For the first time, he softened. Though he was not quite so decrepit that he was willing to take help from his children.

“That ridiculous accusation did not only harm you,” he said slowly, holding his head high. “Because of that trap, my position was also reduced, and Marquis Keers took the opportunity to seize more power than he has ever had before. It made me his target.”

“I thought so. His Majesty probably wanted to create a new power among the nobility to check our family for him. That way the king would always be able to benefit from any conflict between the two.”

“It is precisely what Selgratis intended. I hoped to make you Crown Princess to avoid such misfortune, but that crafty old man finally succeeded.”