Father, I Don’t Want to Get Married! - Chapter 8

It would’ve been better if I was given books on agriculture or business, that way it could be of help when I move to the countryside. The books my father ended up giving me, however, were completely irrelevant to my life.

‘But my father told me to read these so I have no other choice, right?’ 

For the purpose of becoming independent, I still had so many books left to read, so this was quite annoying.

‘Hm….Oh, a pendant?’

Embedded in the center was a large jewel the color of the sea, shimmering silver in the light. It looked quite familiar.

‘Where have I seen this before?’

After racking my brain for a moment, I realized it looked very similar to the one my father always wore around his neck.

‘Oh, it belongs to my father.’

It seemed he had forgotten to take it with him. Deciding to return it to him later, I grabbed the pendant and put it in my pocket.

* * *

When I entered my room, I saw that Marilyn returned from the errand I sent her on earlier.

“Did you have a safe trip?”

“Yes, milady. I’ve delivered all the letters as you had requested.”

“Good. Thank you for the hard work.”

As soon as I voiced my gratitude, Marilyn’s expression became strange once again.

‘Hm, was I being too much?’

Looking back, I realized that I didn’t like it when the work was harder than usual either.

‘I’ll give her a nice bonus later, but for now I should give something to cheer her up.’

I handed her the plate of chocolate cookies.

“Here, you can have this”

“Huh?”

Not wanting to be mistaken as a shameless owner who was only throwing away her leftovers, I added,

“These are new. I haven’t touched them yet.”

“Thank you, milady. I’ll eat these well.

While staring at her master with a confused look, Marilyn took the plate before bowing and leaving the room. After sending Marilyn off, I was absorbed in thought while sipping my tea.

‘I’ll be receiving responses to my letters soon’

Until recently, there had not been a single time where I responded back to a formal letter before. Therefore, the nobles probably weren’t expecting a formal reply from me either. But the moment I sent a letter I had written myself through my personal maid, the nobles were in a position where they would have to write one back.

The only thing left to do was to be patient and wait. Though it was quite bothersome, I had no choice but to put up with it for the sake of my future. I had to simmer down the nobles’ aversion towards me in order to live a peaceful life.

* * *

As always, the royal family was the main topic of conversation among the nobles.

“I wonder why the emperor still hasn’t called for the Crown Prince to return even though the borders are secure now?”

“I’m curious about that as well. It’s almost time for the princess’ coming-of-age celebration. I wonder if we’ll finally be able to see their faces.”

The Crown Prince and Royal Princess had yet to reveal their faces to high society. As a result, there was a lot of curiosity from the nobles towards the two royals.

“Sir Louis, didn’t you say that your cousin is serving at the northern border?”

“According to my cousin, the crown prince is always wearing a helmet, hence my cousin has never been able to see his face.”

“Hm, do you think there’s a reason behind why he’s always wearing a helmet?”

“Maybe he has a scar, or…..”

As the conversation quickly became heated, the one who led the conversation spoke up.

“Yes, that could be a possibility. However, that’s something we cannot confirm unless we see it directly ourselves.”

Catching on quickly, another noble switched the topic of the conversation.

“That aside, did you all receive a letter back from Lady Floyen?”

After the royals, the duke’s family was another topic that garnered a lot of interest and the other nobles quickly took the bait.

“Yes, it seems she has matured.”

There was a bit of pride evident on the face of the noble who had just spoken.  It was because there were a limited number of people who had received replies from the duke’s daughter.

A twisted voice interrupted,

“We all know what kind of person she is, there’s no way she would’ve changed that quickly.”

Aside from the few who had received replies, the ones who were critical of or held animosity towards Juvellian began to badmouth her.

“That’s right! Did you all forget what kind of acts she has committed? It’s obvious someone else wrote the letters for her.”

The ones who did not receive replies, but did not hold any animosity towards her, still expressed their doubts.

“It’s strange for sure. For someone who does whatever she wants, I can’t believe she would do something like that.”

It was inevitable that Juvellian’s change in behavior would attract the interest of nobles, because no one could deny that her powerful status and beauty were at the top of society. Therefore the nobles who had not received a letter, though they continued to gossip about her, there was a sense of envy that subtly hung over them.

‘I’ve had enough of this.’

A man was observing the other men invited to the party, and was disappointed by their change in attitude.

“Come to think of it, what do you think about all this?”

The man glared at the young noble who had asked him the question. He frowned.

“I think that you’re a very disrespectful person.”

And then, the man turned his back and began to walk away.

“S-Sir Mikhail!”

The young noble called after Mikhail but he had already left the room.

Coming out of the room, Mikhail clenched his fists and ground his teeth.

‘What do I think about all this?’

The image of her smile he last saw appeared in his head, causing a cold smile to appear on his own face not long after.

‘Ignoring only my letters, it’s obvious what that woman is trying to do. It’s likely this is just another scheme to get my attention.’

* * *

These past few days I have been enjoying my lavish homebody lifestyle, being alone in my room, and rolling around on my bed.

‘Hm, I’m bored’

Dinner was still two hours away so I had a lot of free time. As I was contemplating what I could fill that time with, something caught my eyes.

‘Oh, it’s the books my father gave me. I guess I’ll read them.’

Since I didn’t know when my father could surprise me with another quiz, it would be good to read them early and be prepared in advance.

Picking up the book from the bedside table, I began reading.

Initially, I thought it would be boring but I was soon surprised.

‘Huh, what is this?’

The book was describing a brilliant tactic but it felt like I was reading a novel about a hero. In other words, it was quite interesting and fun.

So absorbed in the book, I didn’t even realize I had been sitting in an uncomfortable position.

‘Ugh, my arm is numb.’

Adjusting my posture, I felt something rustle in my pocket.

‘Ah, father’s pendant’

I marked where I left off with a bookmark then pulled out the pendant. A blue jewel resembling the sea. When held up against the light, it scattered about silver lusters.

‘Should I just keep it? It looks expensive.’

Though I coveted it, I didn’t want to get into any trouble for taking something that belonged to my father.

‘He tends to spend more time in his study than his room so I should go there.’ 

Heading for his study, I left my room and walked through a long corridor decorated with all sorts of paintings and sculptures.

‘No matter how I look at it, everything is so neat and clean.’ 

The white marble floor was spotless. It was probably due to the work of the servants who constantly swept and wiped it.

‘It must be really hard for our maids.’

I noticed the armor that was shining a little too brightly and knew it was karma. It’s probably from the armor polish I bought, right?

With mixed thoughts, I walked through the sitting room. I would arrive at my father’s office after passing one more corner.

“Please don’t try to persuade me any further.”

The sound of voices coming from around the corner made me come to a halt.

‘That voice sounds quite familiar. Is it one of the servants?’ 

Then, a voice, which didn’t lose to the other voice in terms of its elegance, spoke up.

“It’s not persuasion but a warning.”

I immediately came to my senses. Unless I heard wrong, that was clearly the voice of my father.

‘Was there someone that could talk with my father for such a long time like this?’

Even Derrick spent no longer than one hour at a time with my father, but this man was here since lunch, meaning they’ve been together for at least five hours.

‘Just the fact that he’s able to hold a conversation with my father for so long makes him remarkable.’

At that moment, I heard the sound of the sitting room door next to the study open. Not wanting to be caught, I quickly hid behind the corner. Luckily, my spot was hidden from view by the pillar in front.

Glancing at the hallway in front of the sitting room, I saw my father and the back of a younger man wearing a black cloak.

‘Wow, he’s really tall.’

He was above the average height for a man, taller than even my father. Rather than looking rough, his back looked quite nice.

‘But why does it feel like I’ve seen that back figure before?’

“Your interference is unnecessary.”

Wanting to get a better look at the man’s face, I peeked my head out a little further. I let out a gasp.

‘..amazing..’

Used to my father’s face, most handsome men would leave me unimpressed. But after seeing this man’s beauty, I couldn’t help but admire his good looks.

He had fine, black hair and crimson eyes which held a slight cold glint. His facial features were masculine, yet beautiful, looking almost unreal. The word “handsome” was not enough to describe his face. It was like art that a master artisan worked his best on.

‘Wow…It’s the first time I’ve seen someone who can stand next to my father without looking like a squid*’

The image they both gave off was cold, but the air surrounding them was slightly different. My father seemed more sharp and intelligent while the man seemed to give off a darker and more dangerous vibe.

Then I had a sudden thought.

‘But who is this man? This is definitely the first time I’ve seen him, but why does it feel like I’ve seen him somewhere before?’

I quickly scanned the man.

‘An outfit that lets him move comfortably, a hooded cloak, and a large claymore sword on his back..’

Seeing such a huge sword, I concluded that he couldn’t be a knight or soldier. Since they fought in a line, wielding such a long, wide sword could injure fellow comrades.

It didn’t seem right to call him a thief or assassin either. He would draw too much attention with that sword after all. The only occupations that I could think of that had no restrictions on the type of sword, were either a mercenary or a wandering swordsman.

Then, I saw my father place a hand on the man’s shoulder.

“Max.”

Was that his name? Max? Hearing my father, who is not the type to call out someone’s name affectionately like that, my doubts grew stronger.

I was trying to guess what kind of relationship they shared when I saw my father suddenly turn his head.

‘Huu, that was close.’

Quickly hiding behind the pillar again, my heart was racing from almost getting caught. When my heart finally calmed down, I frowned.

‘Wait, why am I even hiding?’