Chapter 38
“No way. He cares for you more than anyone.”
I shifted closer to Rubiana.
Seeing her gloomy expression made me feel sympathetic.
‘I thought I just had to persuade her.’
Thanks to Chris, I came to understand Rubiana. She already intended to reconcile with her father.
‘But she doesn’t know how.’
After expressing her hurt feelings and having her father overhear them, she must be feeling incredibly anxious.
My role is to console Rubiana in this state.
“I actually think you did the right thing, Lady Rubiana.”
“Really?”
Rubiana lifted her head from her knees and looked up at me. I smiled brightly, meeting her gaze.
“Yes. If you don’t speak up, he won’t know. Learning your feelings will make the Regent reflect on his own actions. Perhaps he’s having the same worries?”
I cleared my throat and adopted a deep voice.
“Rubiana must be angry. What if my daughter hates me now?”
“What’s with that voice?”
“Doesn’t it sound quite similar to the Regent’s?”
“Not at all!”
Rubiana giggled at my silly impersonation. A smile had spread across her face.
“Actually, I’m curious about something too.”
“What is it?”
“Why does Lady Rubiana want to grow up so quickly?”
It had been bothering me from the start, and reading “The Iron-Blooded Regen” didn’t resolve my question.
Since it showed the happy ending from the Regent’s perspective, I wondered if it failed to uncover Rubiana’s fundamental issue.
“I…..”
Rubiana hesitated, unable to continue right away.
As her friends said, the Regent gave Rubiana anything she wanted. He obtained the only dress of its kind on the continent, and wouldn’t hesitate to wage wars if needed.
“Dad! It’s my birthday, and I want to eat some delicious desserts! My friends told me about a great place…”
On her birthday last year, when Rubiana said she wanted desserts, the Regent bought the most famous dessert shop in the capital.
“This place is yours now. Eat as much as you want. Tell them to make any dessert you desire.”
But was dessert really what Rubiana truly wanted? When she said she wanted desserts that she could just have the maids buy, she clearly meant she wanted to eat them with her father.
‘Since the Regent was too busy to play, Rubiana has given up expecting it.’
That’s why she now prefers spending time with her friends over her father.
Misunderstandings caused by conflicting paths don’t resolve themselves over time. You have to directly untangle them.
“Father is always spending time with adults.”
After a long hesitation, her response contained something I hadn’t expected.
“With adults?”
“Yeah. Meetings, training, it’s all with adults, right?”
So what she meant was…
“You want to become an adult… so you can spend time with your father?”
Rubiana silently nodded.
The climax of ‘The Regent’ depicts Rubiana using black magic to rapidly become an adult, endangering the world.
The story ends on a happy note of the Regent saving the world and reconciling with his daughter.
‘So that narrative started from here.’
In “The Iron-Blooded Regent,” Rubiana’s mischief was seen as mere childish antics. The cause was attributed to her being ‘young’ or ‘going through puberty’.
But that was wrong.
‘Rubiana was just lonely.’
Can a child’s heart be easily filled with expensive gifts and sweet words?
It’s through spending time together, making memories, occasionally fighting and reconciling, that true bonds are formed.
“The Regent thought Lady Rubiana was so sensible that she didn’t need his help or anything.”
“But I need my dad…”
“Exactly. So you need to let the oblivious Regent know that. If he still doesn’t understand after you tell him, then you give him a firm kick in the butt.”
I gave up persuading Rubiana and spoke frankly.
“Kick in the butt?”
“Yes. A firm kick.”
Rubiana giggled at the mention of kicking someone’s butt.
This wasn’t an issue I should have intruded upon in the first place. This long-standing conflict is something the father and daughter need to work through together.
‘Saying “I love you Dad” seems to have gone overboard… Oh well.’
I glanced at Rubiana, dozing off with her head bobbing. The child who had felt like a character from a story actually existed right beside me.
‘It would be nice if there was one more happy father-daughter pair in this world.’
Around when I had that thought, Rubiana fell onto my shoulder, fast asleep.
“Chris’ plan worked, huh.”
“Technically, it was my brother’s plan.”
“Brother?”
“Yeah, he coaxed me out with fire when I was locked in my room after fighting with Father.”
Chris muttered as he extinguished the dying fire with his foot.
“Seems you received a lot of family love growing up.”
“Yeah.”
A clean affirmation.
He didn’t give me that advice for no reason, after all.
“But why are you so twisted now?”
“Thit damned world made me this way.”
Chris nonchalantly shrugged and slung the sleeping Rubiana over his shoulder like a sack of rice.
“I’ll carry her to her bed.”
“Carry her?”
“After that, it’s the Boss’s turn to watch over her. With this fire, critters may have been drawn in. I’ll do a patrol just in case.”
The man I had thought was simply rough had many unexpected sides to him.
As I watched his back, I became a bit curious about what kind of person Chris really was.
🫧
“Mmm…”
When I opened my eyes, the world had become slightly brighter.
In other words, the first floor that hadn’t been cleaned up yesterday was now neatly organized.
Even the second floor!
As I marveled at this, Chris gave me a cold glare.
“Hey, the second floor is a mess, but you were able to sleep? The kid must have cursed you out so much.”
“I was taking care of something important instead.”
“What?”
“I prepared a pillow for our little guest to lay her head on, and one for her to hug while sleeping.”
“You gotta be kidding me.”
Chris burst into laughter and set down bowls of corn soup and boiled eggs in front of Rubiana and me.
The soup with its plump corn kernels was just to my taste.
However, the refined Rubiana made a sour face at the humble meal, seeming shocked by it.
“The meal of the commoners is indeed poor…”
Well, as a wealthy young lady, she probably had lavish breakfasts from morning.
But if she came to this run-down cocktail bar, she had to follow the rules here.
“Still, look forward to the dessert cocktails.”
I put in some effort for the unsatisfied noble girl.
I filled a tulip-shaped wine glass with ice and poured in grape juice.
Then I added lemon juice, causing the dark color to instantly brighten into a vivid purple hue—exquisitely beautiful.
“Here, this cocktail is called the ‘Supper Sipper’.”
Entranced by the mystical color, Rubiana’s eyes sparkled as she lifted the glass.
“It gives a refreshing zest when you shoot it!”
Rubiana’s face lit up after drinking the Supper Sipper.
In a word, this cocktail tastes like Wel*nes. The zesty carbonation was enough to captivate a child.
‘With the little lady here, I should take the day off from business.’
I intended to work hard for the customer, but oh well.
It was so sad that a smile naturally formed on my lips.
I took my usual afternoon nap on the counter. I drew pictures with Rubiana too, but Chris mostly took care of her.
As the evening deepened, the door opened, and the Regent entered—surprisingly, with a red ribbon wrapped around his body.
“Hello…?”
Seems he still can’t let go of the ‘birthday gift’ concept, hmm.
“My daughter.”
With his torso bound by the ribbon, the Regent walked awkwardly and knelt before Rubiana.
“Dad, what’s with that ribbon?”
“It’s a present. Want to untie it?”
After a moment’s hesitation, Rubiana undid the ribbon. Freed, the Regent pulled her into an embrace.
“After going home yesterday, I reflected a lot. I’m sorry for not understanding our Ruby’s heart. For your birthday present, I give you an unlimited use pass for Dad.”
“…What can I use that for?”
“We can go boating together, eat snacks together.”
“But… you’re always busy, Dad.”
Rubiana’s small mumble carried expectations.
“That’s true. With work, we can’t be together every day.”
“I figured…”
“However, just as Ruby acted mature to spend time with me, I’ll act a bit childish too to be with you.”
The Regent playfully ruffled Rubiana’s hair as he continued.
“As you said, this father doesn’t work alone. I’ll make time to be with you, even if I have to delegate to my subordinates.”
That last remark sounded rather ominous.
I felt like I just heard a terrifying threat.
“I love you, my daughter.”
“I… I love you too, Dad!”
Rubiana hugged the Regent tightly.
Realizing the situation was resolved, Chris abruptly turned and started cleaning up.
As for me…
‘There it is! The clincher!’
I extended my hand with my index and thumb stuck together towards the Regent.
“First, take a week’s vacation. Let’s spend time together, doing anything.”
“Dad is the best!”
Rubiana giggled, wiping the corners of her eyes.
Her smile was not that of an adult pretender, but of a true seven-year-old child, making the corners of my mouth turn up as well.
“But Dad, there is something I want.”
“What is it? Just say it, I’ll give you anything.”
“I want that.”
What Rubiana pointed at was none other than Chris. Randomly singled out, Chris frowned as he paused wiping the tray.
“How much will it cost?”
“This handsome part-timer would be 3,000 coins.”
“I’ll give you double that amount, so hand him over.”
Wow, no wonder she always got whatever she wanted from her dad with that kind of forcefulness. For a moment, I almost handed Christ over.
🥂
Thank you for reading! ♡
