Chapter 141
It was a shame that this was the only convenience the item brought back.
That all Arellin could do was watch over Sione.
Wrapping her arms around her swollen belly, her mother spoke in detail to her not-yet-born self.
“Mommy hates cucumbers, but I don’t know about you. You must have different tastes.”
You don’t like cucumbers.
“The festival I and Valar went to was so beautiful, and I hope my baby will see it someday.”
Yes. I’ll hold your hand and we’ll go see it.
Other small things.
Sione was happy despite the scarcity of her life, running away from Ludwig when she realized she couldn’t hide her pregnancy.
“I hope you’re born soon.”
“I wish you could see me sooner.
“Ah, then we’ll have to part ways.”
She whispered, wishing they could stay together in her belly a little longer.
Sometimes she would look off somewhere and make a wistful face.
“I wonder if he… Will be okay.”
Instead, she thought about her future.
She remembered what her dad had said to her one day.
“You’re the daughter your mom made because she loved you.”
She couldn’t have said it better herself.
She also thought she was the daughter her mom and dad loved.
But really, her mom made her because she loved her.
She didn’t need much explanation.
Those sweet eyes and the gentle voice that was always there to talk to her.
The way she looked forward to meeting Arellin and her body language conveyed all her emotions.
“If only I had been born into a normal family, I could have been with you longer…”
The woman who had suffered a lifetime of being manipulated by things she never wanted, and in the end, she regretted that she could not rescue her from that fate.
“May your fate not be the same as mine.”
She could see why her dad sometimes looked like a boy who hadn’t grown up yet.
To have grown up with such love, and then to lose the giver of that love so senselessly. She can’t help but be stuck in the moment.
“My baby.”
What if she had been born into a normal family and given birth to her, as Sione had said?
She would have had the love of a mother she wanted so badly, and then, then, then…
“I’m sorry, mom.”
She wanted to meet her outstretched hand and tell her not to be sorry.
She knows it’s all in the past, but she wanted to be in that moment.
“I sent it to me because I love you so much, because you’re so important to me, because I want to protect you, because I want you to be happy.”
Her dad was right.
Her mom really did love her, and she was so important to her, that she sent her to protect her.
To entrust her daughter to the only person she love and trusts.
Because that’s the best choice a mom can make.
Valar, Arellin.
For they were all that Sione loved.
***
[Reads the past memories of Sione Sigria Halbern].
[Cooldown until next question: 38 days, 18 hours]
This is the longest cooldown ever, but she has no regrets. This was a memory she had to see at all costs.
“I never realized my mom’s legacy was so close.”
She didn’t even realize it was there.
The corners of her eyes were moist. She must have been crying without realizing it.
“Dad was…”
He was loved so much.
Valar wanted to save Sione, and Sione wanted to protect Valar.
They loved and cherished each other so much, it was a shame that it didn’t work out.
“I have to go back to Dad.”
Now she knew why he used to look at her with such a confused expression.
“Are you stupid?”
She can’t summarize her complicated feelings in one sentence, but why should she carry them around like an idiot?
She could see why her dad had clung to her like a child. Maybe he was feeling the same way she was right now.
‘I’ll tell you sooner rather than later.’
She is too young for that.
No, but!
If she’d known about this earlier, she wouldn’t have misunderstood him!
She was a good reader who hated sweet potatoes!
“I’m going to steam all your sweet potatoes and eat them!”
She doesn’t know whether to feel sorry or sorry for herself.
She stomped out of the Duchess’s chamber with a snarl of anger she didn’t know where to direct.
She wants to see Mehen, and she wants to see her father.
“Regent, let me see him.”
It was really time to leave the Southern Empire.
‘If you don’t let me go this time, I’ll use the escape route I remembered from my mother’s memory!’
***
Archduke Halbern and the Knights of Saren arrived safely in Lemsha, the capital of the Southern Empire, home to Castle Roque.
Entering the capital was surprisingly easy, as some of them were disguised as ordinary travelers and some as the top.
“Wow, it’s a southern country, so the weather is nice.”
“It’s a blessing or something, it’s always spring here.”
“It’s really blessed.”
“Blessed…”
Even in the Empire, Halbern’s northern territories were a blessing beyond measure.
In winter, the north turned into a frozen hellhole.
Exorbitant heating bills, scarce firewood, and a land where you couldn’t survive without a thick coat…
“I suddenly hate those Southerners.”
“You too? Me too.”
“They’ve never had to worry about paying for heat in their lives, damn it.”
Jaren clicked his tongue as he watched the knights at the jousting tournament, wondering if they knew how painful it was when their armor froze.
“I wonder why they’re being so shitty this time around, with all the money they got from selling dragons?”
“What?! Jaren, you asshole.”
“You’re the only one who’s rich!”
Some of the knights were about to give the bamboo spear to the gold digger who didn’t know the life of a commoner, but Jaren’s words of warning that making a fuss would attract attention silenced them.
“Let’s go back and see.”
“I’m not scared.”
Having quieted the grumbling knights, Jaren turned to Valar, who remained silent with an odd expression on his face.
“So, My Lord. When do we do ‘it’?”
That was the kidnapping of Arellin. Glancing at Castle Locke in the distance, Valar nodded and gave a short reply.
“Tonight.”
***
“What?”
Ludwig asked, his eyes narrowing. One of the servants bowed his head, frowning.
“Lady Arellin says she wants to see Duke, and that she’ll jump and jump, if she doesn’t…”
“Ha.”
The mother had a knack for blackmailing her daughter.
“Tell her no, not now, I’ll see her later.”
To make matters worse, the insomnia he’d been suffering since losing Sione had intensified in recent days, making it difficult to function.
Ludwig hoped Arellin wouldn’t try to wear down his patience.
The backhanded remark that she wasn’t his blood was enough to make him want to run to Sione and confront her, but she wasn’t guilty of anything.
He wasn’t low enough to take it out on an innocent child.
And…
‘Same, but different.’
She looked just like Sione, but Arellin was also quick to do things Sione would never do.
‘I can’t imagine Sione being anything like that.’
It was clear that Ludwig didn’t want to frighten Arellin that much. He didn’t want to be intimidating, he wanted to be approachable.
This was the first kind of emotion he’d ever felt in his life.
“Why are you here again?”
“Because…”
Ludwig’s eyes narrowed as the servant he’d driven away reentered.
Then.
“Duke Regent!”
Arellin burst into the throne room.
Arellin had come all this way and they hadn’t even stopped her.
Ludwig frowned.
“Send her back.”
“Not that story again, and if it is, it’s long overdue…”
“I’m not your daughter, and I know it.”
Ludwig’s eyes narrowed at the confident retort.
It had been a while since he’d vowed to kill everyone in the room if the story got out, but what kind of asshole was this?
“I miss my mom.”
“You have another mom?”
“I miss my dad.”
“…”
By dad, he must mean Valar.
A twisted emotion stirred in him.
Ludwig’s eyes twitched as soon as he realized it was envy.
Ha, envy…
“But you can’t. You’re my daughter.”
“I’m not your daughter!”
“As long as your mother is my wife, I have the priority of paternity. If I say you are my daughter, you are my daughter.”
“You have no right to say that!”
“There is no room for compromise, so go away.”
Arellin glared at him, then suddenly patted her chest.
“Ugh.”
Ludwig furrowed his brow at her expression. She didn’t have to look like Sione for this.
“I don’t know where you learned how to do that, but you didn’t think I’d fall for that act…”
Clutching her chest and grunting, Arellin mumbled as if realizing something.
“Oh, I didn’t take my pills.”
“…?”
At that moment, Arellin collapsed.
