Chapter 128
1From now on, I will refer to the female lead as Ria instead of Lia because it fits better with her real name.Allen, who was staring intently, made Ria feel awkward, and she let out an embarrassed laugh.
Then, she suddenly noticed that his gaze was subtly fixed on her hair.
‘Ah… He must be curious about my hair color.’
Well, considering Diana had already mentioned how she looked in her eyes, it wasn’t surprising that he found it odd and fascinating.
However, contrary to Ria’s thoughts, Allen wasn’t staring at her hair because he found it strange or intriguing.
To be precise, his attention was more on the hairpin tucked into her hair than on her hair itself.
Allen carefully slipped the hairpin he had been holding into his pocket.
⟨Brother, can’t you give this to sister? She would look really pretty with it…⟩
The words Diana had whispered to him the night before flashed through his mind.
At that time, Allen had casually taken the hairpin from Diana, saying that he would give it to Ria himself.
But now, seeing a different hairpin already adorning her hair, he found himself unable to speak.
‘Maybe they could have met sooner… But because of me…’2How? Why?
The image of Ria shedding tears in front of the Grand Duke and Duchess yesterday wouldn’t leave his mind.
Shaking his head to rid himself of the faint guilt creeping up, Allen deliberately raised his voice.
“I can use aura now.”
“What?”
“Aura. I can use aura now.”
At the sudden declaration, Ria tilted her head in confusion but soon clapped her hands in amazement.
“Wow! That’s incredible!”
“Right?”
Allen puffed out his chest, acting like her usual carefree younger brother. 3If you don’t remember, she considers him a younger brother because of his usual naive actions as well as her maturity in relation to it.
‘But to already be using aura at his age…’
She often forgot while spending time with him, but it was clear that he was a natural talent destined to become a Swordmaster.
Then, as another thought crossed her mind, Ria asked,
“By the way, where’s Jack?”
The duke had probably gone to the imperial palace by now, but since Jack and Taze were also present at yesterday’s commotion, she had expected them to be here.
Allen scratched his head and replied indifferently,
“He said he’s sick.”
“What?”
“Yeah, he’s not feeling well. Probably a cold.”
Ria’s eyes widened in shock, and her expression darkened.
The heavy snowfall last night had caused the temperature to drop drastically—it was likely the coldest night of the winter.
Considering Jack had been running around looking for her in such weather, it was no wonder he had caught a cold.
She wanted to rush over to see him immediately, but since Taze had already called for a doctor and Jack was likely resting now, she hesitated, not wanting to disrupt his recovery.
Just then…
“Oh, by the way, I sent someone early this morning to deliver this wonderful news to Lucio, but apparently, the teleportation in the capital has been blocked due to last night’s blizzard.”
The duchess sighed, saying that Lucio would probably only hear the news once he returned to the duchy.
“I hope he can make it back before the graduation ceremony…”
At those words, Ria flinched, recalling her encounter with Lucio the night before.
‘So that’s why the snowfall felt unusual…’
She had known that teleportation could be temporarily disabled, but she hadn’t realized it would be today.
Thinking about how Lucio had barely managed to return in time, she felt a strange sense of bewilderment.
With everything that had happened, she hadn’t had time to think deeply about it, but why had he come all the way to the capital alone?
‘…It must be because I’m an important client and asset to Darel.’
Ria understood well how intelligence guilds operated, so it wasn’t difficult to accept this reasoning.
However, when she remembered how Lucio had said he wished for her happiness, something she had never heard from anyone else before, her heart felt strangely ticklish.
Just as she was about to replay his words in her mind…
“Where is she?! Where is she?!”
A loud voice shook the sturdy walls of the Duke Elard’s mansion.
Then, the drawing-room door burst open.
The overwhelming presence of a towering, bear-like figure made Allen hiccup in surprise.
It was Marquis Diapel.
***
“…”
“…”
Despite having just called for me so loudly that the entire mansion seemed to shake, my grandfather was at a loss for words upon seeing me.
Though he didn’t cry, his reddened eyes gave away his emotions.
Ascart, standing beside me, blinked in confusion at the unfamiliar appearance of my grandfather, while my parents, who had accompanied him, looked slightly apologetic.
The silence stretched unbearably long until my mother finally spoke.
“Father…”
At that moment, my grandfather suddenly muttered,
“Now I can die without regrets.”
“Father!”
“Marquis!”
“Grandfather!”
The startled voices followed one after another.
Avoiding my mother’s sharp gaze, my grandfather looked at my father, then Ascart, and finally me.
A choked voice escaped from him.
“…Hearing you calling me ‘grandfather’ is still the sweetest sound.”
Beside me, Ascart flinched as if startled by the unexpected words.
But I had no time to focus on anything else.
“Ria, won’t you call me grandfather once more?”
Though he seemed healthier than I remembered, the deep lines on his face spoke of long years and hardships.
In my past life, I had called him ‘grandfather’ countless times, but never had I felt this nervous saying it.
After opening and closing my mouth several times, I finally forced myself to speak calmly.
“If you promise never to say you’re ready to die again, I’ll call you that.”
“I promise.”
“…Grandfather.”
The moment he responded without hesitation, I couldn’t help but smile. Then, without thinking, I rushed into his strong embrace.
“I always wished you were my grandfather. I’m so happy.”
For the first time, I let out a bit of the longing I had kept hidden for so long.
My grandfather lifted me onto his lap, gently patting my shoulder and back.
“I’m truly happy that you are my granddaughter.”
Startled by his words, I looked up at him.
I never expected such an honest confession from someone as reserved as my grandfather.
Sure enough, his ears and neck were turning bright red as he looked away and muttered,
“Hmph! After making me feel all emotional, you think you can win me over with just one act of affection? Do you think that’ll be enough for me to forgive you?”
“Then what should I do to be forgiven?”
I asked, grinning.
His eyes widened in surprise.
Now, even his eyes were tinged red. After a moment, he cleared his throat and asked,
“Do you really like this old man that much?”
“Yes! I do!”
The moment I answered, his jaw dropped open.
Though he quickly shut his mouth again, he couldn’t hide the smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
Just then…
“Grandfather! Allow me to reintroduce her. This is my younger sister.”
Ascart spoke out of nowhere.
At first, it sounded like he was simply repeating his introduction from earlier, just as he had done with Allen.
But the fact that he had called him ‘grandfather’ instead of ‘Marquis’ showed that my grandfather’s words had affected him deeply.
“Isn’t that right, Ria?”
Turning to me, Ascart looked expectant, like a large puppy waiting for praise.
I could almost imagine an invisible tail wagging behind him, and suppressing a chuckle, I gave him the answer he wanted.
“Yes, Oppa.”
At that, Grandfather also grumbled at Ascart.
“Hmph, she may be your sister, but she is also my granddaughter. Right?”
“Yes, Grandfather.”
As I eagerly answered both of them, I suddenly hesitated at the small voices coming from the side.
“Our daughter…”
“She’s our daughter, though…”
I had expected my parents to be watching us warmly, but instead, they looked utterly dejected.
“Leaving Father aside, even Ascart is being called Oppa…She must still be mad at us.”
“But why me too…?”
“Wait, dear! What are you saying? Aren’t husband and wife of one heart and one body?”
Things escalated to the point where my usually loving parents seemed on the verge of an argument, so I finally shut my eyes tightly and shouted.
“Dad, Mom! Please stop!”
Hearing my words, my parents turned to look at me and froze in place.
They even held their breath, completely unable to move, and seeing them like that made my nose sting with emotion.
I don’t remember much after that.
I was overwhelmed by dad and mom hugging me tightly, begging me to call them again, and then grandfather and Ascart joining in.
Then, a voice suddenly snapped me out of it.
“**** it! That Emperor ***** just had to get in my way in the day my granddaughter was found! If not for him, I would have heard this joyous news yesterday!”4No swearing, grandpa!
So that’s why dad and mom had gone to the palace early in the morning.
Apparently, grandfather had stayed at the palace after being held back by the Emperor, drinking and playing chess late into the night.
Because of that, he had only heard the news this morning and was now fuming.
Hearing such dangerous words made me flinch and glance at him nervously, but grandfather just waved it off as if it were nothing.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. If I can’t even complain about the Emperor in my own home, then what kind of home is it?”
“…But this is the Duke Elard’s mansion.”
“…Huh?”
Because grandfather had stormed into the Duke’s mansion so suddenly, the Duchess had taken Allen and Diana away to give us space for a proper family reunion.
Hearing my words, grandfather looked around in confusion, as if realizing his mistake for the first time.
I let out an awkward laugh and stood up.
“Then, why don’t you all head back to the Marquis’ residence first? I’ll go see lad— I mean, Diana for a bit before coming.”
Until just the other day, Diana had clung to me all the time.
We hadn’t even had a proper conversation earlier, so I was still worried about her.
‘Besides, there’s something I need to say properly…’
“Adriana.”
At that moment, my father called my name with a serious expression.
“There is someone here in the Elard Duke’s mansion whom you need to meet first.”
