Father, I Don’t Want to Get Married! - Chapter 17

“Just because.”

I answered hastily before quickly changing the topic.

“By the way, you’re quite fast. I was surprised to see you suddenly appear right in front of me.”

I wasn’t just saying empty words because I wanted to change the topic — it was the honest truth. He had appeared by my side so quickly when he had been quite a distance away just a moment ago. It was enough to leave anyone speechless.

“Getting surprised over something like that, how pathetic.”

Yet this arrogant man was mocking me.

“Your swordsmanship must be excellent as well–like the Imperial Knights.”

He scoffed at my slightly sarcastic remark.

“I’m much stronger than them.”

As expected, he was definitely my father’s apprentice….No, that’s not right. My father may be indifferent and cold, but he was not arrogant like this person.

‘How did your personality end up like that?’

My father’s apprentice continued to stare at me while I mourned over his poor personality.

“So, why were you crying just now?”

Really, he should know when to drop it–how persistent. I was a little annoyed and had the urge to just tell him the truth, but was interrupted by a sudden knock.

“Milady, it’s Derrick.”

If it was Marilyn, I would have just told her to leave and come again later, but I let out a sigh when I recognized the voice of our butler.

‘He wouldn’t have come to see me if it was just a trivial matter.’

Male servants were usually assigned to serve the men in the household while female servants were assigned to serve the women. Derrick coming all the way to my room himself, something which he rarely did, meant that it was an important matter.

I turned to my father’s apprentice and gestured towards the closet.

“Um, if you don’t mind, could you go in there again and hide?”

He had a disgruntled look on his face. Nevertheless, he got up and quietly headed to the dressing room.

‘It’s nice that he’s being cooperative now.’

As soon as he disappeared into the closet, I approached my bedroom door and turned the knob.

“What is it?”

“Milady, a messenger from Marquess Crocus just arrived. They said they would like to deliver a message from their eldest son, Lord Ronald, to you directly. Is that alright?”

The Crocus family was a fairly prestigious house. In addition, them sending a messenger meant it was a rather significant matter. It was a situation where I would have to go down and meet with them myself. However, I was too nervous to leave my father’s apprentice by himself.

‘If a maid were to find him while I’m gone….I don’t have a choice right now.’

I purposefully let out a few coughs before responding.

“Derrick, I’m afraid I’m not feeling too well. Would you mind receiving the message for me instead?”

“I understand. Please rest, milady.”

Derrick responded with a look of concern on his face before taking his leave. I let out a sigh of relief while glancing at the closet.

‘He won’t ask me about that anymore, will he?’

* * *

Although he tried not to, Max kept thinking about what he had just witnessed earlier — large, doe eyes filled with tears.

‘Why was she crying?’

Contrary to Juvellian’s expectations, Max was bothered by her tears and had been pondering about it the entire time he was in the closet.

‘What could she be so sad about to the point that she had to cover her mouth….’

He suddenly recalled what he had heard from his close aide not too long ago.

<Apparently Lady Floyen was completely smitten with Lord Mikhail. I heard she followed him around everywhere, unconcerned about her worsening reputation….I guess you could say she finally came to her senses.>

‘Don’t tell me she’s still not over him…..’

Max clenched his fists, his face instinctively glowering. He soon heard the voice of the butler.

“Milady, it’s Derrick again.”

Opening the door, Juvellian immediately noticed Derrick’s beaming face.

“What did the messenger say? And why do you look so happy?”

The butler quickly straightened his expression.

“Milady, Lord Crocus has sent a message expressing that he would like to be your partner to Lady Arlo’s upcoming party.”

Juvellian widened her eyes in surprise.

‘Why would a renowned man like Lord Crocus want to go with someone like me…?’

The eldest son of Marquess Crocus was a rising star who was going to lead the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the future. To think someone like him is requesting to be my partner….

Juvellian thought that the situation felt too unrealistic.

“What would you like to do, milady?”

What should I do? Juvellian wondered whether or not she should give a reply right away — her mind became muddled with conflicting thoughts.

Then, there was an abrupt sound of a thud. To be precise, it seemed to have come from the direction of the dressing room.

‘Ah…don’t tell me…’

Feeling the blood drain from her body, Juvellian shuddered at the thought of getting caught.

“Milady, just now….did you hear a sound coming from your dressing room?”

“No? Did you hear something?”

When she spoke calmly, feigning ignorance, Derrick gave Juvellian a dubious look.

“I’m sure I heard something just now….Maybe there’s another rat?”

“Ha..ha…there’s no way. Don’t be ridiculous.”

Refuting the butler’s appalling insinuation, Juvellian tried to change the topic, speaking to him in a composed manner.

“Derrick, I’m not feeling too well. Do you think you could let me rest? As for the reply…tell the messenger I’ll send a letter soon.”

“Oh, of course. Then, please rest.”

Not wanting to offend her, Derrick didn’t press further on the matter. Instead, he simply bowed his head before taking his leave.

‘Ah, I thought my heart was going to drop — that was close.’

Juvellian approached the dressing room and opened the closet door, spotting her father’s apprentice sitting on the floor with a blank look on his face.

“Excuse me, you were the one who made the sound earlier, weren’t you?”

Max turned to stare at her, the vacant look on his face quickly morphing into a glare.

“Are you going to go with him as your partner?”

‘What, why are you curious about that?’

Juvellian was confused as to why he was asking her about that, but it wasn’t something she couldn’t answer.

“I’m thinking about it.”

Lord Crocus. He was certainly not someone who lacked potential partners. His looks were comparable to Mikhail’s and he was quite popular due to being well-spoken.

‘I don’t have the slightest idea as to why someone like him would request for me to be his partner–I feel a bit uncomfortable.’

Juvellian unknowingly let out a sigh, then noticed her father’s apprentice scowling at her.

“Think over it carefully. A man’s face isn’t everything.”

Juvellian was startled to hear such a remark come from his own mouth. He was a man with a finicky personality on top of his terrible social skills, making it difficult for him to get along with others. It was fortunate that he at least had a handsome face.

‘To think I’d hear those words come from someone whose face is everything he has.’

Then, Max abruptly turned his head.

“What are you looking at”

“What kind of sound did you make earlier?”

Juvellian had a slight frown on her face while Max’s lips twitched slightly before he answered back stiffly.

“That’s none of your business.”

“Do you know we almost got caught because of you?”

“But we didn’t, so isn’t it fine?”

Juvellian shook her head at his shameless remark.

“No, it’s not fine. You shouldn’t say something like that so easily. If you had gotten caught, there would have been a commotion. The marquess’ messenger would have heard and then we would’ve gotten caught up in a scandal.”

In high society, scandals involving people of different social status meant social suicide — you would be throwing away your social reputation.

Frankly speaking, Juvellian didn’t particularly care what others would say. The only problem was that she had yet to gain her independence from her father. If she made the slightest mistake, her father would hate her and, in the worst case scenario, she would be kicked out with absolutely nothing.

If that were to happen, she would lose any sort of protection, and ultimately, run into many dangers.

“I’m risking my future by giving you a place to sleep. I’d like it if you could at least show a little consideration.”

Max turned to stare down at her with his piercing red eyes, but Juvellian shot a glare back at him — refusing to lose. Neither was sure how long they had been locked in a staring contest, until, finally, Max avoided her eyes, speaking in a low voice.

“I understand.”

Juvellian was glad to hear that he at least had a bit of a conscience.

“Then, hurry and come out of there.”

“If an accident like that were to happen….I’ll take responsibility.”

Max had moved to grab her hands, his voice sounding resolute.

‘Oh…I can’t believe he took my words that seriously…’

Well, Juvellian didn’t really believe that he would take responsibility. But his serious expression was too funny that she laughed without realizing it.

“Alright, you do that. Though I’m sure a situation like that won’t actually come up.”

He locked eyes with her, tightening his grip on her hand.

His gleaming eyes that kept staring at her were strange. Juvellian couldn’t look away, staring back at him in a daze, until he spoke while slightly pulling on her hand.

“You never know.”

At this point, Juvellian thought it almost seemed like her father’s apprentice actually wanted it to happen.

‘Speaking of which, when will father return? I want to hurry and hand him over…’

Juvellian was usually never curious about her father’s return, but as she started living with his apprentice, she started becoming more and more curious.

* * *

Although it was ordered to be kept a secret, rumors that the Duke of Floyen was in the palace acting as the emperor’s guard had gotten out. Naturally, those rumors had also reached the ears of the prime minister.

‘If this continues, there will be another uproar from the people. Just like back then…’

Twenty years ago, when the empire was losing in the war against the Kingdom of Tezeria, the young emperor abandoned the imperial palace. Upon hearing that the owner of the palace had fled, the people of the empire were under great distress, viewing defeat as inevitable.

However, a newcomer — a single rookie knight — appeared and took the lead in defending the empire.

His name was Regis.

He was just a regular knight of the imperial palace and the heir to the Floyen dukedom. Everyone thought that he wouldn’t succeed — that he was crazy and should just flee instead. But in the end, the young lord defeated the enemy invaders and brought grand victory to the empire.

Clever and resourceful. A great knight who was also the heir to a noble family with a long history, refusing to be intimidated by his powerful opponents. The entire empire praised his name and called him a hero.

But where there was light, there was always a shadow.

Emperor Carlos, who had abandoned the palace and fled, was labeled as a “coward” in the eyes of many. The people criticized the emperor and argued that he be dethroned. The embers of resentment were just narrowly extinguished when Regis, the Empire’s hero, expressed his support for the emperor.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the general public’s current support of the emperor was only barely sustained due to the victories his son, the crown prince, brought at the border.

“I’ll have to tell His Majesty.”

The prime minister, sensing the crisis in the empire’s state of affairs, entered the palace to receive an audience with the emperor.