“……Yes.”
Ultimately, Ruth, having cleared his strange expression, let out a slight laugh.
Feeling that the stiff atmosphere that had surrounded him had loosened, I smiled and changed the subject.
“By the way, I’ve been curious since earlier, what are you so busily making?”
“Ah, this.”
At my question, he looked down at what he held in his hands and gestured with his chin for me to hold out my hand as if showing me.
When I did as instructed, Ruth handed me something small and round made of flowers.
“What is this? It looks like a ring.”
As I examined the object and asked, he lowered his eyelids and fiddled with the back of his neck.
“It’s called a flower ring. I roughly made it to fit the size of your finger, but just in case, try it on.”
A flower ring. It was the first time I had heard of such a type of ring.
I carefully pushed the flower ring onto my index finger and stretched my hand high into the sky.
Although it was roughly made, the flower ring fit my finger well.
“It’s pretty. How did you come up with the idea to make something like this?”
“……I felt like I was always the one receiving, so I tried making it as a token of gratitude. Do you like it?”
“Yeah, I really like it. I wish I could keep it for a long time if I could.”
The flower ring made of white wildflowers did not shine brighter than my mother’s diamond ring. Despite that, perhaps thanks to the brilliant sunlight, it was very beautiful.
After hearing my honest feelings, Ruth hesitated for a moment and then said,
“Give that to me.”
“Why? It’s not polite to give something and then take it back.”
“I’m not taking it back, so don’t worry.”
“……”
Eventually, I had no choice but to return the flower ring to Ruth, who smiled reassuringly at me.
Having taken the flower ring back from me, he suddenly used his fingertips to pour a golden light onto the ring, and as promised, returned the flower ring to me.
“Here. Now you can keep it for about 10 to 12 years.”
“You… did you just use preservation magic?”
“Yeah. Although I’m not very good at handling mana, so I can’t preserve it permanently.”
I looked at Ruth, who replied as if it was nothing significant, with a surprised face.
Preservation magic was considered quite high-level magic. It was a kind of magic that defied time by keeping an object in its present state to be carried into the future.
But even after using it, since I’m not very good at handling mana, it doesn’t stay permanently.
Having cleared my mind of those thoughts, I slid the flower ring back onto my finger and burst into a wide smile.
“Thanks anyway. I’ll cherish it.”
Maybe it’s because it’s my first time receiving such a gift. My heart seemed to swell for no reason. It was an overwhelmingly good feeling.
***
“Hmm.”
Leaning against the window frame, I looked at the flower ring and was lost in thought about the past few days.
I want to make something for Ruth, too, but what would be good? A sandwich? Embroidery? A handkerchief engraved with Ruth’s name wouldn’t be bad either.
“…Sigh.”
But, as always, I couldn’t come to any meaningful conclusion and just sighed.
It was all good. I could do it, too. But the problem was getting my father’s permission. My father originally didn’t allow me to do things involving sharp objects like embroidery or cooking.
Moreover, even on the rare occasion he did permit it, he always asked for a reason. That was the problem. I couldn’t honestly tell my father it was for Ruth.
“Primrose… Moss… pink?” I unconsciously started reciting the names of flowers Ruth taught me and then I stood up straight.
That’s it. Flowers. A bouquet would be something I could easily make, and playing with flowers in the garden was something I could get my father’s permission for without any trouble.
Before the good idea that sprang to my mind faded, I hurried to find my father.
On the way to my father’s office, I noticed the servants I passed had pale faces, but I didn’t pay it much mind. Shortly after, clearing my throat quietly, I knocked on the door to my father’s office and stood straight, waiting.
“Come in.”
After a few seconds, permission came from inside.
Why isn’t he asking who it is today?
I briefly wondered about the skipped verification but quickly brushed it off and slightly opened the door.
“Hello, Father. It’s me.”
“……”
“It’s just that in the garden I would like to…”
I was about to ask for permission to go out when my words stopped short as I carefully stepped in through the partially opened door. A middle-aged man I had never seen before was looking at me with a smile that reminded me of a snake.
“Ha. So, this is the second daughter of the Obelton Duke’s family?”
…What is this?
I stood frozen, staring at the middle-aged man.
It’s unlikely for my father to allow a stranger into the mansion…
As I racked my brain, which had gone completely blank, I remembered something my mother had told me before.
“Seri. From now on, there will be many visitors to the mansion. So, try to stay in your room until dinner time.”
My goodness.
I was pondering over what gift to give Ruth when I forgot the most important fact. That I must stay in my bedroom during the day when guests are over.
I hid my trembling hands within the folds of my clothes and looked at my father sitting opposite a middle-aged man.
“!”
My father’s eyes fiercely shone as if he had been waiting for me to look at him.
Facing his gaze, I felt not the slight pressure I felt from Ruth, but a more overwhelming pressure as if someone was stepping on my shoulder.
I swallowed the suppressed groan that tried to escape through my closed lips.
Should I just close the door and leave? Or since I called out to my father upon entering, should I approach him and speak my purpose to not seem odd?
Being my first time in this situation, I had no clue what to do next.
“…….”
As I stood there, having barely stepped into the office, the middle-aged man laughed heartily and then stood up to speak.
“It seems the little miss is surprised to see me.”
“…….”
As I neither denied nor affirmed his words, the corners of the middle-aged man’s mouth stretched further.
“I am Laszlo Hazel, the head of the House of Duke Hazel.”
The middle-aged man who approached me and bent his knee introduced himself as Duke Hazel.
The House of Duke Hazel?
I tried to recall the name, which felt strangely familiar. It certainly couldn’t feel this familiar just from reading about it in a book.
Eventually, I realized why the House of Duke Hazel felt familiar and gasped.
That’s right. I had definitely seen a carriage bearing the emblem of the House of Duke Hazel leaving the mansion that day.
The reason this memory remained, even if it had been any other family, I would have dismissed, is probably because the House of Duke Hazel is considered the leader of the noble faction opposing the Emperor’s faction.
The noble faction that opposes the Emperor’s faction…
“Gasp.”
As my thoughts reached that point, I suddenly became aware of a fact I hadn’t been paying attention to.
For the first time in my life, I had revealed my existence to a stranger. And not just any stranger, but to Duke Hazel, a member of the noble faction eager to find any fault with my father, who is part of the Emperor’s faction.
Now I finally understand why my father had such a scary expression just now. I felt like I had made a much bigger mistake than I initially thought and wanted to just sit down right there.
However, I knew showing such disgrace in front of Duke Hazel would anger my father, so I forced strength into my trembling legs.
“Selena.”
My father called me in a voice as soft as pudding, with a very sharp look in his eyes.
“What brings you here?”
Seeing my father’s hands tightly clenched, I instinctively realized that I couldn’t afford to make even a slight mistake here.
I took a small deep breath and managed to squeeze out my voice.
“I, my recently purchased jewels have not arrived. Is it okay if I contact the jeweler?”
I remember my sister once complained that jewelry discussions and gossip are always part of tea parties.
Based on that, I brought up a question that a young lady might ask her father, which seems to have been the right choice, seeing that my father’s imposing demeanor softened a bit.
“Is that so. Is that all you came for?”
“Yes, yes.”
“Then, you may leave now. As you can see, I have a guest.”
“Yes, Father.”
As I was about to quickly leave the office upon my father’s dismissive gesture, the Duke of Hazel began to speak.
“It seems the Duke of Obelton has educated his child well. Unlike other children, she even comes to ask for permission to contact the jeweler.”
At the meaningful remark of the Duke of Hazel, my hurried steps faltered.
I felt a sharp gaze on the back of my head but did not turn around. Somehow, I felt that looking back would lead to regret.
“…I’ll be going now.”
Bearing the weight of the icy silence that filled the office, I barely moved my lips and then ran off to my bedroom as if fleeing. Then, hiding as though in a mouse hole, I curled up inside the blanket.
Thrown into the pitch-black darkness, the corners of my eyes grew hot.
I had made a mistake. And a very big one at that.
What should I do now?
I was already overwhelmed with how to face my father, who must surely be very angry.
As I twitched my dampened lashes while deep in thought, suddenly the sound of my father’s voice echoed in my ears.
“Do not make decisions on your own, Seri. You are still too young to make rash decisions on your own.”
“……”
My shoulders hunch a little more.
***
It was about two hours later when my father came to my bedroom.
“Seri.”
As the bedroom door opened, I heard my father call my name in a monotone.
As I crawled out of the blanket at the sound, my father, sitting straight in the armchair, came into view.
I must have acted immaturely, and that must have angered him.
Looking at my father’s expressionless face, which gave away no emotion, I fidgeted with my fingers.
After a good cry, my pounding heart had somewhat calmed down. And perhaps because of that, I wasn’t trembling like before anymore.
Though I was still nervous.
“Father.”
As I called out to him in a low voice, my father rose from the armchair and approached me.
“Why did you come to the office today?”
“I just wanted to ask if I could go out to the garden and play with the flowers…”
My voice trailed off as I looked up at my father, who now stood only a step away from me.
Perhaps because his cool, green eyes seemed like a ticking time bomb compared to when we were in the office, my mouth shut on its own.
After staring at me for a moment, my father leaned in slightly and asked,
“Seri. Do you know which faction the Duke Hazel you saw today belongs to?”
The question was one with a predetermined answer.
I took a breath and replied.
“Noble faction.”
“You know well. The House of Duke Hayzel is effectively the head of the Noble faction. That means, a house that is in hostile relations with our house.”
“…….”
“And yet, you, who were so dangerous that I haven’t even shown you to the retainers of our house.”
“!”
Suddenly, my father roughly grabbed my shoulder.
The green irises, which had been coldly settled, flared up like embers that would not go out. The deeply furrowed brow seemed to indicate just how angry my father was at the moment.
Father, trying to suppress something surging up as he looked at me, bit his lower lip and then continued his words.
“That person saw you. Do you know what this means?”
When I shook my head no, the grip of my father’s hand on my shoulder grew stronger.
Ugh.
A numbing pain rising from my shoulder twisted my face terribly.
Father, not caring at all about my reaction, shouted loudly.
“It’s practically the same as throwing bait to those who are already trying to tear the Obelton family apart!”
wt heck..!! father..!!