CHAPTER 5: HERE, NOW, AND YOU (XVII)
Part 113
She turned around and this time Jenny spoke with a serious face.
“The Count has arrived.”
“Huh? Father?”
As she ran out to the front door, her father and brother were running in.
“Father!”
“Demi!”
“Demi!”
The three Etharts reunited, hugging each other in the entrance of the Duke’s residence. She thought he would come later, but she didn’t know what happened to him and the two that came together, but she was so happy to see them that she couldn’t help but cry. When she looked at her father’s rough face, the corners of his eyes were also moist.
“Father, I see you so much…”
“I sent a messenger and they said they couldn’t even get into Midok, so I came quickly. What do you mean? Demian, kidnapping. Kidnapping!”
“Are you okay? What do you mean you fell into the water? Is it true that you fell into the River Lorraine and drifted all the way outside the castle?”
“No, I’m fine…”
“You said you came back yesterday, so it’s okay for you to walk around like this? Huh? Your face has been so damaged all this time.”
Her father’s face was even more disfigured. And she was fine, just calm down.
“Is it true that the man who kidnapped you was a knight named Bigor?”
Oh, that’s right. Brother. She was in big trouble. When Hegel was mentioned, Adrian, who was standing a little away,’s shoulders slumped.
“I even wrote a marriage certificate, believing that it would be safe, so this is such a miserable thing?”
‘No. father. Well, let me tell you my story for a moment…’
“That’s right. The war is over, so what’s going on?”
“No matter what, it’s over now that her father has returned. She’s going back to the Count’s house.”
‘Yes? Wait. Father, son-in-law-to-be, I’m on the verge of crying right now.’
She had to calm down her father and brother, who were spewing out words at a rapid pace, but Adrian’s shoulders continued to slump, and my father was ready to wrap me up and run away from the Duke of Erado’s residence. Ethan and her maids also came out and stamped their feet, and while everyone was in a daze, the sound of pure applause rang out. Jenny, who focused her attention, spoke with a characteristic expression of disdain.
“I have prepared tea in the parlor. Count? Please put the lady down.”
Thanks to Jenny, she was able to walk on her own feet to the living room, and Adrian, who was following her, walked with his shoulders touching the ground. And then her father and brother, who cleared their throats, followed them into the living room. Ethan, Millie, and Louis followed them in with anxious faces and stood next to Jenny, listening to their conversation. Her father and Rutban, who were sitting over their teacups, had softened their tone, but still insisted on taking me to the Count’s residence in a firm tone. She knew that her kidnapping wasn’t Adrian’s fault, but he was clearly showing that he was anxious. She asked him in detail what had happened, and even though she tried to explain the situation along with Adrian’s excuse, to sum it up, it was such an absurd week that even she couldn’t stop her father and Rutban from gaping in shock.
Jenny almost died while being kidnapped from the palace, and the kidnapper was one of my escort knights that Adrian had left behind. After being trapped and trembling, she barely thought she could escape, but she fell into the water, passed out for two days and one night, and then borrowed a friend’s carriage and took a ride. She finally returned to Midock. ‘Yes, Dad, I too am embarrassed to say this.’ After hearing the whole story, her father’s face turned white and he leaned back on the sofa and touched his forehead. Rutvan clenched his fists and asked indignantly where the guy who was going to kill him was now, and Adrian… cried. No, Adrian. Slowly avoiding the intense gaze of her father and Rutvan, Adrian grabbed her sleeve and looked at her. She feels dizzy when she meets those earnest eyes that tell her not to abandon them. In the first place, she had decided to stay for a while because it was dangerous because of the war, but now that her father has returned and the war was over, it was right for her to go back, but how did she tell someone who looks like this that the situation was over and bye bye? After going through all that trouble, they finally met, and she was supposed to be with him all day today!
She held Adrian’s hand, which was holding his sleeve, and looked at my father. She looked at him intently with as sad an expression as possible. Adrian followed her and looked at her father. As the two of them were looking at each other, her father’s stern face fell and he avoided eye contact and said,
“Now, why don’t we hold a proper engagement ceremony, get married, and then come back?”
They didn’t answer and just continued to stare. Lutvan cleared his throat and looked at him with an even more earnest expression as he tried to say something, but he eventually averted his gaze as well. Her father and Lutvan were looking at each other with embarrassed looks on their faces, so she muttered as quietly as she could.
“We only met again yesterday…”
Adrian nodded his head sadly with a face like a flower. Her father looked at them with a sad face, then shook his head and spoke again.
“No, that’s not possible. You should also consider this father’s feelings. Let’s go home with him. Shouldn’t we come and see him often?”
When she came out like this, she was at a loss for words, but she couldn’t insist that she couldn’t go when her father, whom she barely met again after two seasons, came after overcoming the risk of not being able to see him again. He straightened his back and relaxed his hold on Adrian’s hand, but Adrian grabbed it again. When he looked, he had a desperate face and spoke urgently.
“Jenny’s treatment is not over yet.”
At Adrian’s words, the attention of the four of us immediately focused on Jenny. Jenny, who was standing at a distance and watching, slowly lifted his hand and touched his forehead with the back of his hand.
“Uhm…”
And as he stumbled to the side, Millie and Louise fussily helped him up.
“Sister Jenny!”
“How great! Hurry up and get a doctor! Bigor has a dedicated doctor!”
The three people left the living room making a fuss, and their father, who was looking at them blankly, sighed.
“You can stay until Jenny’s treatment is finished. Instead, please stop by often.”
“Yes!”
When she answered loudly, her father and Lutvan, who smiled with their eyebrows drooped, refused Adrian’s invitation to go and eat and got up. Then, with a sad look on his face, he hugged her and returned to the Count’s residence. The storm of welcoming guests subsided, and Adrian and she were spread out in the living room again. She saw Adrian ordering Ethan not to receive any more guests, but he left it at that. Enough for today. She was half lying on the sofa, and Adrian gave me his knees. She laid down on his knees, and the face looking down at her smiled sweetly. He curled the ends of my hair, kissed me, smiled coquettishly, and spoke coyly.
“I believe you won’t leave me behind.”
‘Oh my, it’s dizzying. When did you learn to smile like this?’ This guy kept improving his face writing skills. He said out loud that he would never do that. He felt like shouting three times, but he barely held back. She couldn’t answer easily because she could see her father turning around with a worried face. She knew very well how her father felt when he sent her here, but it still bothered her that he just sent her back. When she didn’t answer, Adrian took her hand and kissed the back of it. His face seemed to be begging for an answer, so she asked with as much of a smile as she could.
“Um… I’ll come back after I get married, so I guess we’ll have to date like before for a while?”
He looked down at me with a face that had been hit, and a desperate voice came out of his mouth.
“Prepare for the wedding right now…”
Adrian woke up in surprise. One jumps up from his lap.
“Huh? Right now, Adrian.”
“Oh, that’s right. I’ll go to Ethan for a moment to propose.”
“No, no.”
She made Adrian, who was trying to get up, sit down. As she looked at the shaking eyes, she was speechless. Well, maybe this situation is good.
“Hey Adrian? My brother is still single. I promised my father that I would marry you after he got married. So not right now.”
Adrian looked at her with a face that seemed as if the world had collapsed. With a face filled with shock and confusion, he washed his face dry for the first time in a while and sighed. Then he raised his head with a determined look on his face, and he looked at me and nodded. She didn’t know what he wanted to know, but she nodded. Then he smiled with a face missing a screw. There was definitely something strange about him, but she did her best to pretend not to notice him, who was acting like Adrian as usual, and finished dinner. He returned to the room and checked with Jenny, who served him tea, to see if her wounds were healing well. And when he asked what Adrian was doing now, he even said that he had brought in Ethan, Georgie, and Cale and that they were having a serious meeting about something. She wanted to mislead people into thinking that that combination was definitely a military-related issue, but she still had the feeling that it wasn’t, so maybe that’s okay.
* * *
Jenny was examined by a doctor in her room. The doctor who changed the bandage said that since he had avoided all vital areas, the wound would just heal like this, but he nagged her to lie down and not move. But Jenny heard nothing because he was trying to figure out what to wear Damian to the banquet tomorrow. After the doctor sighed with a tired look on his face and left, Jenny put on a robe and left the room. Because of the atmosphere, you will not be able to wear a dress that is too flashy. He thought of the dresses he had found in Damien’s dressing room and narrowed down a few candidates as he headed to the sponsorship. The dress was enough, but the hair was still an issue. How pitiful it was that someone who could have been beaten to death has already died. Although the cut in the middle has been trimmed to make it as inconspicuous as possible, for the time being, you will have to wear your hair in a bun for any outside activities. Well, our lady looks amazing with her hair up, but she shook her head and walked up to the sponsorship. She came down to take a look at the herbs to be prepared tomorrow, but there was a large shadow lining up in front of the herb field. Franz, who was looking down at the herb field, turned to the crowd. When he found Jenny, a light flashed in his eyes, but he quickly lowered his eyes. She missed Jenny so, so much, but she couldn’t bear to go see her because she remembered her crying and getting angry, so she was just wandering around the herb field. He spoke to Jenny, who walked towards him without turning his steps, but Jenny did not look at Franz.
“How are your wounds, Sister?”
Franz, who had hesitated as he watched Jenny silently examining her herbs, gathered his courage and spoke again.
“It’s quite cold, but it’s not good to be hit by a cold wind.”
Franz swallowed his sorrow as he looked at Jenny’s side face, which was still turning away. He knows how terribly he cares for Damian, but there is no way he can be easily forgiven for giving Damian into Hegel’s hands. Even though he was thinking this in his head, he couldn’t help but feel a little sad. Franz, who was happy to see his face like this, but felt like he was going to cry, left his greeting and turned to leave.
“Franz.”
Franz turned at the sound of Jenny’s voice and was met with eyes looking straight at him. She didn’t even know how long it’s been since she had seen his face properly. Franz barely answered.
“Yes, sister.”
“I still can’t forgive you. You said your judgment at the time was right, but I still think you shouldn’t have let her go like that.”
“Yes, sister…”
Franz bit his lower lip and lowered his head. He became an escort driver and just watched with his eyes wide open as the young lady was kidnapped. He had nothing to say no matter what insults he received. Jenny, looking at Franz with his head down and his shoulders slumped, clicked his tongue.
“But I don’t want to see you acting like that. I’m upset.”
Jenny also heard that Franz cut Hegel. When she heard that Sir Franz, who was always wandering around, was bringing a dark cloud over the Knights, she was constantly worried about how he felt. Franz’s back, standing in the moonlight, was so lonely that he realized that he was no longer angry. He stretched out his arm to Franz, who was looking at him helplessly.
“Come on.”
Franz hesitantly approached Jenny, who had his arms wide open, but could not bear to hug her and instead rubbed his head on Jenny’s shoulder. The tears he had been holding back burst out as Jenny touched his short hair. After killing Hegel, Franz, who was lost in a rush of emotions that could not be called guilt or relief, buried his face in Jenny’s shoulder and cried for a long time.
—————————————————————
Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released tomorrow.
Want to read more?
