“Think about it. It’s great to spend a lot of money to create a guild, but ordinary people don’t know how great it is. It’s too big to feel real.”
“…….”
“But if you visit a high-end boutique with the Lady, things will be different. Don’t you think you’ll make a big fuss there? Sorry, I think it will be a mess if you spend money like water.”
Berman continued to persuade him, even acting.
“’You’re so cold to me, is it all a rumor?’ ‘How much do you love the Lady to go shopping with her?’ ‘Isn’t the rumor that you’re willing to spend a lot of money on the guild true?’ Wouldn’t they gossip like that? I think I would too.”
Duke Luteous knew that too.
He knew that seeing it once is more effective than hearing it a thousand times.
However, he didn’t like it when he thought about the attitude Astel had shown when he said he had made a reservation at a restaurant for breakfast.
“Do you think she’ll be happy if I ask her to go to a boutique? I think she’ll think I’m crazy.”
“Of course you are. But what can you do? That’s your karma, Duke. You should have done better in the past.”
Duke Luteous’s expression became very slightly sullen. It was a change of expression that only his closest aides could see.
“But don’t give up. There is a way to be forgiven.”
“……I don’t think I can be forgiven, but I can use it to keep the relationship smooth. Let’s talk about it.”
Anyway, he always says that when he is embarrassed.
After 20 years of maintaining a secret relationship, Duke Luteous’s words were automatically interpreted as they shared each other’s weaknesses.
Berman held back a laugh.
“I heard that the lady told you to eat walnuts. When I heard that, I thought the Lady was very fast. If I were the Lady, I would have prayed for the Duke to go crazy and put water on it.”
“I don’t think it was meant in a good way…….”
“Even though she speaks harshly, she must be worried about your health inside. Did you say anything else?”
“……She said I should eat blueberries because they’re good for the elderly.”
“There you go! What else is that proof that the Lady is starting to open her heart? Believe me, I have three daughters.”
Berman was the father of three daughters. He had a very good relationship with his daughters.
That was why Duke Luteous listened to his advice.
“Go shopping together. You mean you should buy everything she asks for. After a few times, the way she looks at you will change.”
“…….”
“By the way, are you having meals together?”
“I’m doing what you said, but she doesn’t seem to like it very much.”
“Are you saying that it will change in a few days? Don’t expect to get full on the first drink, and keep eating with the Lady in the future. No matter how busy you are, don’t skip it. Eating together is the best way to get close to children.”
“…….”
“Of course, nagging is absolutely forbidden. Especially, Ly Lord, you are a minus the moment you open your mouth.”
“……Me?”
“Yes, so please don’t say anything at least during meals.”
Duke Luteous bit his lip.
Berman felt a little resentful that he hadn’t told him about it until now.
******* ********
Alex sighed as he looked at the setting sun.
Astel’s question kept coming to mind, making his head spin.
“Do you know what happened between His Majesty and the Duke?”
In the days when he knew nothing. Alex hated Astel when he was young.
Because his mother died when she was born, and his father was ruined.
Of course, Duke Luteous was a cold and dry person from birth.
He had such little emotional fluctuations that it seemed like he could feel emotions at all, and he rarely showed affection.
However, the hand that stroked his hair briefly, the gaze that looked down quietly, the act of tying his shoelaces quietly.
Warmth was felt in all of that.
Duke Luteous loved his son. Alex never doubted that fact.
But after his mother died, everything changed.
The warmth had disappeared from Duke Luteous’ green eyes.
Without a trace.
Then Alex realized. The fact that the only person his father loved was his mother.
The affection he felt was nothing more than the Duke’s effort not to disappoint the person he loved.
Alex was devastated by the fact he never wanted to know.
And he blamed it all on Astel.
“You murderer who killed my mother! You should have died instead of my mother.”
“Please die.”
In his young mind, he believed that if Astel disappeared, everything would go back to normal.
He hated Astel so much for taking away his beautiful and warm mother and his gruff but kind father.
So he said a lot of mean things.
He knew he would regret it if he turned back, but he couldn’t help but get angry when he saw Astel’s innocent face.
‘I’m going through so much because of you. Why don’t you care? It’s all your fault, why should I suffer?’
Looking back now, it was an immature act.
Alex was that young. He didn’t want to think that the reason his father became cold was because of him.
He needed to be sure that he was not hated because he was not a swordsman, and that he was not a son who lived up to his father’s expectations.
He needed to be sure that he was not hated because he was not a swordsman, and that he was not a son who lived up to his father’s expectations.
That’s why I think I hated Astel even more.
However, Alex could not even hate freely.
This is because when he was 6 years old, Duke Luteous told him the secret of his mother’s death.
The one who killed his mother was an unexpected person he never thought of.
Not Astel.
“I plan to get revenge on him. Then the family will disappear. You, the heir to the family, will not be safe either.”
“However, I plan to save Astel somehow. No matter what means I have to use…….”
“Alex, live as you please for the remaining time. You can curse and resent me. That’s all your father can do for you.”
If you assassinate the royal family, you will not only be wiped out, but Alex, the heir to the family, will not be safe either.
Alex wished Duke Luteous would lie to him.
Let’s get revenge together. You’ll be fine anyway.
If he had persuaded me like that, I would have pretended not to know.
Even though he knew it wasn’t true…….
But Duke Luteous was cold to the end.
He simply calmly announced his death to his son and advised him to live as he pleased.
He didn’t offer a single word of warm comfort as a father.
Would it have been different if he had said that Astel would die too?
Alex was confused.
The fact that Astel was innocent meant that the world he had built up was collapsing.
He was about to go crazy at the fact that he had been taking his anger out on the wrong person and saying mean things.
What was even more confusing was that he still hated Astel.
He hated Astel.
He was terribly envious and hateful of Astel who was chosen by his father.
He couldn’t understand why Astel was alive and he had to die.
Above all…….
‘If I had been the Swordmaster, would my father have tried to save only Astel?’
The thought made his breath catch in his throat. It felt like the reason he had to die was because he was incompetent.
Alex couldn’t take it anymore and chose to enter the Knight Academy.
And on the night before he left the mansion to enter the academy, he went to the annex.
“I really hate you.”
Those words were also directed at himself.
Because he hated himself as much as he hated Astel.
He was disgusted by his own weakness that he could not help but hate a child who had done nothing wrong.
After that, he lived like a real loser.
It was a life with no future anyway. He was only interested in swordsmanship and studied hard, but the rest of his classes were a mess.
It seemed that he had contacted Duke Luteous several times from the academy, but that was all.
Duke Luteous did not impose any sanctions, and Alex lived as he pleased.
But as the saying goes, time really heals.
Alex, who seemed like he would never grow up, also grew older.
He began to accept his future calmly, and his hatred for Astel gradually faded.
Come to think of it, Astel was his only sibling.
Yeah, you live too. That’s what he started to think.
But he still couldn’t be kind to her.
He told himself not to do it, but when he saw Astel, he couldn’t help but speak harshly.
It was because he was somehow ashamed to change his attitude.
And then that day came.
The day when an unknown sentence suddenly appeared before his eyes.
[System: Channel connection in 00:00:30 remaining]
It was the beginning of change.
I still find it lacking. Alex, his reasoning for hating Astel is pretty sound. He was a kid and didn’t know better, he only knew that his world changed when Astel was born and then finding out that he will die because his father is planning treason. All the blame lies on the Duke.