Chapter 43
When I opened my eyes again, it was already dark.
"Wow......."
I’ve slept too long, I’m trying to get up, and my body is frowned upon.
As soon as a small sound came out of my mouth, someone ran in full swing.
"Tia, are you okay?"
It was the voice of a worried father.
"Dad?"
"Yes, Tia. It’s Dad."
My father’s familiar touch stroked my hair.
"Why am I still here?"
I was just hit by the ball and fell down.
I also bleed some nosebleeds, but that’s all.
In fact, there was a time when I awake.
But the bed is very comfortable.
At that time, there were no twins already, and because it was quiet, it was good to relax, so I had to sleep more and get up later.
And this time when I open my eyes.
I didn’t know I would be lying here until dark like this.
"My Tia seemed to be sleeping well, so I was waiting for you to get up."
"Don’t do that and wake up me instead, dad."
Still, it’s a little embarrassing that I slept without hesitation while making my busy father wait.
My father shook his head and laughed at me.
"This is not a big deal, but I wish you had a good rest."
I also make my father worry.
It wasn’t a big deal, but it must have been a lot of surprises because I fell down.
I laughed as I tried to relieve my father’s worries.
But my father’s eyes even sadder.
"I heard a story from Shananet sister. Belsach hit you with a wooden sword"
Eh? wooden sword?
I got a nosebleed because I was hit by the ball in the face?
It turned out that Belsach picked up Astalliu’s wooden sword at the end.
"But you told the twins not to hit Belsach..."
My father’s warm hand swept my forehead once again.
"Why are you so good, my daughter......"
"That’s it, I mean."
"It would be better if you took care of your greed a little more."
A little more?
I tried to figure this out by blinking my eyes.
So, people seem to have misunderstood the situation before I fell.
The reason I fell wasn’t that Belsach wielding a wooden sword, but because I was struck by a ball thrown by him.
Belsach couldn’t even swing the wooden sword.
And the meaning of the word ’don’t hit Belsach’, which I was about to fall, wasn’t such a kind word.
It meant ’because my nosebleeds, I’m not going to let him standstill, so prepare yourself’.
Everyone seems to have misunderstood.2
My father was looking at me with eyes that seemed to see the best angel in the world.1
Perhaps that’s the same with other people who have heard this story.
People like the twins, Shananet, and grandfathers.
The excuses made by Belsach or Astalliu would not have been accepted.
Maybe it has already spread out loud in the Lombardy mansion.
How do I do this?
I looked up at my father, raising my head, which had been lowered for a while, and thinking.
"I’m fine, Dad."
What do I do, let the misunderstanding spread?
I said with a more angelic smile at my father.
My father laughed as he stroked my cheeks with a softer hand.
"Don’t worry too much, Tia. Belsach will not be able to harass you in the future."
Seemed good, but I didn’t expect this condition to last long.
Just as expected.
It was Belsach, who I thought had improved his position because he became Astana’s friend this time, as well as the last family banquet.
And as soon as that happens, he just stepped on my back as if to relieve the resentment.
It was obvious even if I didn’t see it, such an idiot’s mind.
However, no matter how ridiculous I look at Belsach, there is no way to help the obvious difference in physique.
I’m still young, and I’m smaller than my peers.
Belsach, who is older than me, will increasingly gain that physical advantage, and I am compelled to worry about my future, which will continue to be thorny.
Even I thought about what to do to prepare for Belsach’s attack.
But my grandfather came out like this and solved my worries instead!
In fact, if he breaks the order of restraining access, he will be stopped, and Belsach will never linger next to me anymore.
And in the future, he won’t be able to make up his mind to hit me easily.
I know that he is scared of grandfather.
"Dad, I’m fine now. Can’t we go home?"
At my words, my father stood up and held me lightly.
"Once it looks like there’s no big mark, the doctor said you had to stay in the room for a few days because he didn’t know if there are other injuries."
People thought I was beaten with a wooden sword by Belsach, so I can’t do anything about it.
I nodded quietly.
As I pass through the darkened corridor in the arms of my father, a group of employees who are returning after finishing their daily routine recognize and greet us.
Certainly, wearing a uniform gave them some unity and looked much better.
At that time, a maid, with an impressive round face with big eyes, approached us carefully and asked.
"Well, Miss Florentia. Are you okay?"
I didn’t know how to talk to her, so I couldn’t answer right away and blinked.
"I heard you fell down......"
Another person came up and said anxiously.
They weren’t the only ones looking at my condition.
Others who were going back with us also stopped and listened to our conversation.
Originally, I was the one who talks without hesitation with the employees, but I wasn’t so popular enough to get everyone’s worries.
"Young master Belsach is also terrible. Such a small and young miss Florentia..."2
"You asked the twin young masters not to hit master Belsach, even though you were in distress enough to get fainted?"
"Different from the young master Belsach, you must have been more worried because you feared that the twin young masters would be scolded."
"Oh no, such a nice girl."
There was a whispering sound of several employees from behind.
The rumors about me were so glorified that it seemed to be spinning.
To live up to their expectations, I responded with an angelic smile, just like I showed my father a little while ago.
"I’m alright! Thanks for everyone’s concern!"
A child’s pure smile certainly works.
At a glance, everyone’s facial expressions were relaxed and their affinity toward me increased.
My father thanked them with a glance and began to take the steps that had stopped again.
Soon after, I got home and I asked my dad what came to mind.
"Father, I heard that guests are coming to the mansion soon. When is it?"
"Ah, you mean the Lombardy Scholarship. I heard it’s three days later. The mansion will be noisy after a long time."
Three days later.
That was enough time to say that I had a few days off.
So hopefully, I might be able to attend in time at the entrance for the banquet.
However, I am worried that my grandfather will be too busy for a while because of that.
’Now I have to move slowly too.’
I felt a little nervous, but the Lombardy Scholarship came first.
I thoroughly read myself.
* * *
"Empress, this great tea party. Thank you very much."
Beautifully dressed Seral greeted while bending her knees slightly in front of her cousin Rabini.1
"Your son, Belsach, has become my son’s friend. I should at least care, Seral?"
Rabini also rarely smiled and said.
"Originally, Belsach came with his parents, spent time with Astana, and had dinner together."
However, the Empress, who received Seral’s letter a few days ago, changed all plans.
The very next morning, among the high-ranking nobles who had townhouses in Pavalo District, letters were sent to those who had children of the same age as Belsach and Astana.
It was an invitation to invite children of aristocrats and their guardians to afternoon tea parties and dinners.
The title was ’Good tea leaves have come in, so let’s enjoy it together’, but in the end, everyone gathered on the day when Belsach first officially entered the palace.
When the nobles banquet was held, the faces of the other children filled with envy when they saw Belsach, who had played with them, hanging around right next to 1st Prince.
Seral was very satisfied with it.
Larane, who is shy, does not play alone today and having a good time in the center of girls her age.
Then Seral sees something and asks permission from the empress to leave for a while.
"Honey."
Seral headed next to Viese, who was sitting at a table alone and drinking tea.
"Are you still worried?"
"What am I worried about?"
However, Viese’s complexion was still the same.
"Do you remember what I said?"
Seral smiled and sat next to him, placing her hand in white gloves on Viese’s hand.
"No matter how strong your father looks right now, time can’t be stopped. After a few years, you will be able to do everything you want."
"I know, but he’s the one who can take everything from us before that."
Viese recalled her father’s eyes, who were shining blue with anger, and drank the tea anxiously.
Originally, he tried to remain in the mansion and attend the Lombardy banquet, but Seral blocked it.
And as planned, he came to the imperial palace, but he’s in a cold sweat, he feared as if he had done something bad.
"But are you want to follow Gallahan. To be a little more independent?."
"I see...... ."
"What do you mean by that? Your father is implicitly hoping for you to appear a little more like the eldest son. How long have you tried to go against father’s will?"
Viese nodded with a gloomy face.
"Maybe your father will like it. Maybe he wants you to stand up, even if you are scared, you have to do it."
"Is it..."
Viese was immediately persuaded by his wife’s words.
The memory that he sat down on his knees and tried to pray was gradually fading.
And in that gap, every Seral’s words trickled into it.
"Because that’s obvious? Obviously, at some point, you will be recognized in his heart."
"Hey, they can’t beat me, the eldest son."2
Another ease of work filled Viese’s heart.
Seral laughed and grabbed her husband’s hand and made him stand up.
"The Empress is waiting for you. Belsach is getting used to 1st Prince, so you can just do what you were doing."
"Yes, as usual."
Viese regained his normal appearance and smiled then approached the Empress, where people were gathered.
On each large table were teacups and teaware exclusively made for the imperial family by craftsmen, and on one side, musicians were creating beautiful music.
In the space where the children were playing, there was a thick, flawless green lawn.
Each and every element that fills this space was a terribly splendid and gorgeous tea party.
* * *
Bella, the maid, who was watching the scene from behind the pillars of the Empress Palace, quickly stepped into the kitchen.
Bella, who had already entered the forest with food in her basket, arrived in front of the shabby villa and stopped for a while.
Then he took out a small glass bottle from his chest and poured it into the stew in the basket.
"Because that kid eats all the stew, and leaves the hardened bread."
He was truly a full-fledged prince.
Because there are no commoner children, they leave the bread that they can’t eat just because it has become hard after a few days.
Bella, who had just forgotten about the gorgeous tea party, complained.
Bella, who opened the door screaming in rust, walked in familiarly to the second prince’s bedroom.
Beep.
There wasn’t even a knock before opening the bedroom door.
She glanced at the back who crouching on a large bed in the distance, laid down the food on the table unintentionally, and left.
2nd Prince slowly got up from her seat only after the sound of her footsteps and the sound of the closing of the door of the palace.
Perez lifted the basket with an indifferent face and pulled out a stew bowl with a spoon embedded in it.
"She put it a lot."
He doesn’t know if the maids who bring the food know it, the poison they use is very small, but it has a peculiar aroma and bitter taste.
Of course, the average person may not notice, but Perez was different.
Perez, who had an exceptionally sensitive sense, could discern taste.
The reason why he searched through herbal books for the first time was that the taste of the food changed subtly one day. But, knowing that it was poisonous, Perez continued to stew.
"She says I shouldn’t be caught."
So eat food and get an antidote.
Even though he hadn’t eaten a few teaspoons, he ignored his aching stomach and headed back to bed.
Then he took out a round glass bottle from under the pillow and lifted it up.
Perez’s red eyes, drinking medicine as if familiar with it, gazing at the bright, almost bare, golden liquid.
A small voice seemed to prick Perez in the back of a quiet room.
’Is she already forgotten about you?’
But Perez shook his little head.
Thanks to it, his pitch-black hair fluttered in the air.
"No. She can’t."
Perez cherished the round glass bottle in his arms as if it were his own life.
"She wouldn’t do that."
Perez closed his eyes tightly and thought of Florentia.
The brown hair fluttering gently in the wind, and the green eyes like spring leaves.
’The tears you shed for me.’
Perez hugged the round vial more preciously.3
* * *
"Wow, look there are a lot of people."
He said the mansion was going to be noisy, and it really was.
"Is there is unusually a large number of people every year?"
Or maybe I was short and the crowd seemed bigger.
"Tia! I brought the cake here!"
"Let’s drink tea!"
Grandpa gave us a special opportunity to attend this banquet.
Maybe it has something to do with Belsach’s visit to the Imperial Palace today.
Whatever the reason, it was a good thing for me.
Astalliu could not have come to the place without Belsach, and Larane also entered the palace with Belsach.1
The other cousins were too young to move alone.
In the end, it was only me and the twins who attended the Lombardy Scholarship’s banquet.
"Thank you, you two."
It was annoying to have the twins, they stick to me since the last day, but there are quite a few things that are comfortable as they are now.
It was a moment when I tried to eat a bite of the cake with a fork.
A woman passed by right in front of the table where we were sitting.
She in her early thirties.
However, his upright waist and graceful footsteps caught my attention.
"Found you."
I forgot to eat the cake and laughed.
A veteran maid who worked in various directions until the 2nd Prince Perez became the Crown Prince.
And a person who can take care of Perez, who is now alone, and become a strong support force.
Caitlyn Braun, the head lady of the Imperial Palace maid, was seen from a distance.
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