Chapter 79
Mehen thought to himself.
“Have you ever had a crush on anyone, Mehen?”
“…?”
“Oh, love.”
He wonders what’s wrong with his sweet little girl.
He resisted the urge to call in the parenting squad and hold an emergency meeting, and Mehen smiled wryly.
“Living on paper.”
“Ah.”
“Unfortunately, I’m not even in a relationship yet.”
“Ah.”
“I am not even married, and I already have a kid.”
Arellin blinked. It was so cute to see her big eyes looking at him in surprise. With sad eyes, Arellin wondered.
“Should I hit you?”
So that’s what he was thinking about.
He is going to love this.
“It’s okay. I slapped myself.”
“Wow.”
Arellin punched him in the face. Mehen’s smile deepened.
“Why do you suddenly want to know about that?”
“Mmm.”
Her pretty brows narrowed as she struggled to answer. Pressing her brows together, Mehen tried to formulate a thought.
‘I wonder who Arel has fallen in love with.’
He reviewed Arellin’s behavior. Nothing really stood out.
Except for the way she’d been overly flirtatious with Crown Prince Pession at the last tea party, which was probably because she’d been agitated by her father’s unexpected appearance.
‘Is it me then?’
If I like someone, will they leave me?
“You don’t have one, do you?”
Mehen’s heart ached as he watched Arellin roll her eyes in anxiety.
He tried not to, but he must have made her nervous again.
Hugging his cute daughter tightly, Mehen patted Arellin on the back.
“…?”
Arellin looked puzzled, but she clung to Mehen’s arms as if she liked it.
She would not do this to anyone else, but only to Mehen. As if giving and receiving affection wasn’t enough.
He wondered where this lack of affection came from, if it was karma for all the times he had treated her wrong.
“His arrival won’t change anything, because the Nursery will still be watching over Arel, and so will I.”
Arellin rubbed her cheek.
“I just need Mehen.”
“The Nurturing Corps is disappointed.”
“I know.”
The sincerity in her sparkling eyes made Mehen feel a tiny bit proud.
The Nursery had always been the one to stick around, and he’d thought he’d have to work harder to keep Arellin’s affections, but it seemed he was safe for now.
Mehen smiled inwardly.
“Mum, I like it.”
“I like it too.”
“I love you, Mum.”
Sometimes he wondered if he deserved this kind of pure, upright affection.
It made Mehen sick to his stomach to be reminded that he was such an inadequate and inadequate protector.
His own affection paled in comparison to Arellin’s.
Still, he would try.
Mehen, who was born with little, always had to prove himself through hard work.
“The Nursery is worried about you. You are not eating well, you are not sleeping well, and you are not exercising.”
“Oh, that’s right.”
“Is it because of Valar?”
Who?
The questioning rose-stone eyes quickly realized the answer.
“Oh, Dad.”
“Do you want me to bury him?”
Arellin paused at the sincerity of the question.
Mehen’s smiling face was dangerous.
“… No, it’s okay.”
“If you ever want to bury it, just let me know.”
Mehen said gently, stroking the small head. Rolling her eyes, Arellin thought.
Wasn’t it actually Mehen who wanted to bury the Archduke of Halbern?
“Be sure to let me know if Valar is bothering you.”
Arellin smiled awkwardly.
‘He doesn’t seem interested in me.’
Maybe we’ll just keep going like this, like we’re strangers?
That’s what she was thinking.
Then she bumped into him.
With him!
***
The Archduke of Halbern spent most of his time in his hall, locked out of sight.
Apparently, it was a portrait room in an inner annexe, which Mehen often cursed and ran towards.
It is inaccessible to all but the immediate family or the house’s authorized representative.
The secret chamber, with its portraits of successive Halberns, piqued her curiosity, but she had long since given up on the idea of risking a meeting with her ‘father’.
And then.
‘I bump into him.’
In the corridor.
In the shortest amount of time she’s ever been alone without a nursery corps!
What a bad luck!
“…”
“…”
The Archduke of Halbern, who she had expected to ignore or avoid, had found her and was standing still, staring at her.
‘Burdensome.’
A cold sweat ran down her spine at being the object of his observation.
It’s an aside, but one she had since their first meeting…
‘That’s not the way a father looks at his daughter.’
She may have lived with a mum and a dad, but that didn’t mean he didn’t love her. He loved her mum a million times more than her.
She is not sorry, because she loves her mum a million times more than she loves her dad, but she is still a little scared of him when he looks at her like that.
‘Should I run away?’
She held on because she didn’t want to look like she was avoiding him, but the way he looked at her like he was going to dissect her made her weak. Actually, it doesn’t matter if she runs away.
As if sensing her conflicted thoughts, the Archduke of Halbern moved in the distance.
She flinched.
The Archduke of Halbern walks over and stops right in front of her, and he stays down on one knee and looks her in the eye.
“My daughter, why do you keep avoiding me?”
She blinked in frustration.
She hadn’t been avoiding him!
“What, you don’t want to look bad because some stranger is calling daddy?”
Why does he say that?
She got even more frustrated.
“I didn’t say that!”
“No, but your eyes say it.”
The Archduke of Halbern chuckled. She couldn’t tell if it was provocation or sarcasm, but she was impressed.
‘Wow, that face is a masterpiece no matter what.’
She was mesmerized and quickly came to her senses.
‘Oh, I almost fell in love with your face.’
Was she actually an idiot?
No, it’s human nature to be mesmerized by beauty! It’s not her fault!
“You have an interesting expression.”
“…”
Archduke Halbern chuckled under her stinging glare.
“At least you can hold a conversation, my daughter.”
“Oh, right.”
Who’s to say? She felt ridiculous, sounding like a bossy dad to his overbearing daughter.
No, is this my fault?
“This is the fourth time we’ve seen you today.”
“I know.”
“Is that my fault?”
“Maybe?”
“…”
She looked at him like he was rubbish, and Archduke Halbern held out his hand.
“What if I get lost in a place like this?”
“This is inside the mansion.”
“The main building is big.”
“Are you worried about me?”
She asked incredulously, and her biological dad affirmed.
“Yeah.”
Despite his words, his transparent purple eyes remained calm, giving no indication of his sincerity.
What the heck, this guy is so weird.
Mehen wasn’t swearing for nothing.
It’s exhausting to talk to an inconsistent human being.
“Why are you worried about me?”
“Because you’re my dad?”
“You don’t like me.”
“I don’t hate it.”
These are her reactions, as she is more sensitive to malice and hostility than most. Every time the Archduke of Halbern looked at her, she could see a faint, but palpable, repulsion.
She reached out and touched the corner of her eye. Her long lashes fluttered.
“No?”
She recoiled at the mere touch.
Speechless, the Archduke of Halbern lowered his eyes. Beneath his long lashes, his violet eyes were unusually black.
Looking at those eyes, the color of which deepened like ink whenever he looked at her, she couldn’t help but think that he liked her after all.
“…”
“…”
Sudden silence. And static.
A mindless snowball fight had begun.
She doesn’t know what he’s thinking, those purple eyes peer into hers, and now there’s no avoiding it, so she clench her fists and face him.
She wondered if she cried unnecessarily, or if she regretted it, as she was overwhelmed by the complexity of emotions she couldn’t name.
How long should she continue this snowball fight, when she is mired in doubt.
A white, slender hand brushes against her forehead.
“No.”
Then a large hand gently squeezed his hand against her cheek.
A pale smile and a weak laugh. And violet eyes that became even more transparent.
The slight smile was so bewitching, it made her feel like her fat heart was about to break.
“If I didn’t like you, I would have ignored you. I’m the kind of person who never does what I don’t like.”
So why do you look at me that way?
“You’re not avoiding me because you’re afraid of me?”
“No.”
As the horse does so, the body is already withdrawing its foot. It’s an instinctive reaction, and she can’t help it.
What can you do about something, even if it’s uncomfortable.
“Call me Dad.”
That’s when his mischievous eyes met hers.
Thank you so much arwendolyn
for the Ko-fi💗
I got busy for a few months and just now caught up. I love this story! Thank you for the translation 💕💕💕
Thank you so much for the Ko-fi💗