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“This, this doesn’t mean you’re bad
”
“Your face has turned red, Princess.”
Ethan laughed as he looked at Dorothea’s face, which had turned red to her ears.
‘Made Ethan a good person’ was something he’d never imagined, so he was a little surprised, but honestly, he was happy.
Even if it wasn’t good content, It was nice to know that he had a place in Dorothea’s thoughts.
‘You were thinking of me.’
‘I thought you would blame me for not stopping your execution. Or I thought you completely forgot about me and didn’t care.’
“I’ll make sure to make your bucket list come true. Made Ethan a good person.”
Ethan smiled, kissing Dorothea’s cheek.
Then Dorothea’s face grew even hotter.
“I didn’t mean it that way
!”
“That’s why I’m asking, do you know what good is, Princess?”
Ethan asked a serious question in a rather light tone.
There are specific details for each one. So what do they have in common?
Dorothea’s ‘will of good’, where she can see many trees but not see the forest.
Dorothea fully understood why Ethan was asking such a question.
She also used to ask Clara questions because she didn’t know exactly what it meant to be a good person.
And it was still difficult to define what ‘good’ was even after living a good life for ten years.
Even after reading countless ethics and religious books.
“I don’t know, but I want people to live a better life. At least after the return.”
Ethan smiled as Dorothea spoke cautiously.
“Do you know that Princess, you’ve said something like this before.”
“Did I?”
Dorothea raised her eyes and asked, Ethan nodded.
“Before the return, too.”
“Oh, I?”
Dorothea opened her eyes wide in disbelief and shook her head.
‘It couldn’t be. I used to be a tyrant. I was so engrossed in luxury and pleasure that I couldn’t take care of the country properly, and it was the evil itself that ruined everything.’
“When you were a princess, you said it quite often.”
before ascending to the throne. She used to say, with her eyes shining, that she wanted to make the people of Ubera live a better life.
Although she couldn’t deal with the spirit of light, she was proud to be a member of the Imperial family and said that she would make a prosperous nation.
She will make sure that no one in Ubera dies of hunger.
She will make sure that no one dies without treatment because they have no money.
She will take away the excessive privileges of the nobility and return the benefits to the people.
She will make all people equal.
A dream that is too big for that time. A fantasy dream without reality.
Ethan loved her big dream that everyone said was impossible, and her eyes twinkled every time she spoke of it.
So he wanted her to become emperor, and he made her rise to the throne.
But it didn’t take long for her to give up on everything, discouraged by a wall she couldn’t hit and break until she bleeds.
At the time, she was too radical to pursue her unrealized dreams, so she broke easily.
In the end, she sunk into a deep sense of disappointment, and intense self-hatred.
After giving up on everything like that, she was hopelessly ruined.
The most miserable end for someone who dreamed a dream she shouldn’t have.
“Did I
.”
Dorothea smiled sadly when she heard about her past.
‘I can’t even remember myself, but how does Ethan remember all those old things?’
“It was ridiculous to say that I would not let anyone die of hunger in the land of Ubera.”
It’s never an impossible story.
She’d pressured and coerced the nobles to make it happen, and of course, it hadn’t worked.
Dorothea laughed at the stupidity of her old self.
“I can’t believe I thought Raymond was stupid by that standard.”
Raymond is much more realistic than Dorothea and knows how aristocratic society works.
He was much smarter, but to Dorothea, who knew nothing, he looked pathetic and stupid.
Then Ethan took Dorothea’s hand and said,
“I don’t think it was a vain dream, Princess. I think that such a world will come one day. It may not be the time yet.”
“Even if Ubera were to fall and a new nation to be established, that would be impossible, Ethan. It’s a utopia.”
TL: Utopia is a picture of an ideal, beautiful, and prosperous future. Everything is more advanced, modern, harmonious, orderly, and smooth
Dorothea had already lived one life and realized it.
Humans pretend to be reasonable and rational, but in the end, they are busy chasing what is in front of them rather than looking far away.
They pretend to be the lord of all things and in the end, they are selfish, greedy, impulsive, and emotional.
Dorothea had already felt disillusioned with herself and with those who were blinded by their interests.
‘Wouldn’t it be impossible for an imperfect human to create a utopia? Isn’t it just a vain dream?’
Then Ethan made deep eye contact with her and smiled.
“We just need to take one step closer to a utopia. by being a good person.”
Ethan’s golden eyes looking at her were dazzling like stars in the night sky.
‘Can we really create such a country?’
But Dorothea shook her head as if to dismiss the thought.
“Don’t get your hopes up, Ethan. I never intend to go into politics.”
‘Living as a quiet princess and accepting other people’s choices, I have fulfilled my role and duty.’
Ethan nodded as Dorothea glared at Ethan with a determined, stern look.
“But still, those ideas are too precious.”
“Even if it disappears, there is no damage to the world.”
“If the princess doesn’t want to be revealed, you can present it to the world in another way.”
“how?”
“It’s my niche.”
TL: Niche is a job, position, or place that is very suitable for someone.
Ethan smiled mischievously.
* * *
The music lesson, which was the main purpose, started a long time later since they talked about state affairs.
“So
you mean you can’t read sheet music?”
“I can read it, I’ve studied it. But I’m not fast enough to practice
”
Dorothea was almost black when it came to reading sheet music.
She could only read musical scales by counting the five lines one by one by one. She could only recognize the basic notes and didn’t know much about musical symbols.
“Do you know the major and minor scales?”
“I heard it. Major and minor.”
“Yes. And?”
“I only know that far.”
Ethan burst into laughter at Dorothea’s shallow knowledge.
‘Oh, I shouldn’t laugh, the major and the major are just different words.’
Ethan wiped the moist eye area with his finger, and Dorothea put on a sullen expression.
“I’m not making fun of you, I’m laughing because you’re so cute.”
He hadn’t expected Dorothea to have such a clumsy side.
Every time he found a new dorothea, he would feel like putting a new gem in his treasured jewelry box.
But the problem is that he has to start music lessons from the very basics rather than he thinks.
‘It’s been a long time since I was a beginner, so I couldn’t properly predict Dorothea’s level.’
“Then it would be better to start with the piano rather than the violin.”
“why?”
“Because it’s easier to get the right notes. Do you have a piano?”
“yes. Fortunately, there is a separate piano room.”
The old Converta Palace was too small to have a piano room, but here, there was a piano that had been used by Empress Alice long ago, when she was still alive.
Until recently, the room hadn’t been entered since the palace was moved, except once when she went in to look around.
However, after asking Ethan for music lessons, Dorothea went to the room excitedly and checked the piano in advance.
Fortunately, the piano, which had been neglected for nearly 20 years, didn’t look bad on the outside thanks to the basic maintenance of the royal servants.
A grand piano that has aged gracefully without the lid warping or rotting anywhere.
However, when Dorothea pressed the keys, it sounded strange to her even though she didn’t know much about music, and some keys were not pressed at all or made no sound.
“I called the tuner in a hurry this morning, but I don’t know what happened.”
TL: Tuner is a person who tunes musical instruments, especially pianos.
Clara said she would take care of it, but there have been no reports of the condition of the piano yet.
‘Maybe it’s broken so it can’t be used at all.’
“Then shall we go check it out together?”
Dorothea nodded at Ethan’s question.
“I will guide you.”
Dorothea grabbed his hand and took a half step forward.
Ethan saw Dorothea’s hand leading him.
She pretended to be fine, but she was quite nervous. He was conscious of her grip on his hand.
Ethan couldn’t help but smile, so he clasped Dorothea’s hand.
The two didn’t say anything, but at the same time, they felt the same concern.
‘This is so good, is it possible to have a secret love affair?’
* * *
There was only a black grand piano and a sofa in the cleanly maintained room.
The piano was placed majestically in the center of the room as if it owns the room.
As if you had to politely ask its permission before entering the room.
Ethan looked at the grand piano, a black figure that caught his eye as soon as he entered the room.
From the outside, it looked well-maintained, with no signs of humidity or sun damage, so there shouldn’t be any problems inside.
However, the tuner, who had come early in the morning, was still struggling with the big piano after quite a while.
“Princess.”
Clara found the two first, and the tuner, who was touching the piano, hurriedly turned around and bowed his head in surprise.
“I was wondering how the piano was.”
Dorothea was worried about the condition of the piano that had been held by the tuner for so long.
Just as the treatment of a patient in critical condition takes a long time, she thought the piano would be like that.
However, the tuner smiled broadly as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“Don’t worry. I just need to put the finishing touches on it and I’II be done.”
“Really? Does it sound good?”
Dorothea asked, half surprised and half delighted.
It was obviously a piano that had never sounded right before.
“It’s just that it’s not tuned and out of tune, but the piano is in very good condition.”
The tuner said that he cleaned the inside of the keyboard thoroughly and said that she could use it as much as she wanted.
“If it’s okay, can I take a closer look?”