The Flower Dances And The Wind Sings - Chapter 6

“Ercella, I think you… need to treat your son better.”
Eshahilde, her older sister smiled sadly.
“You wouldn’t know…”
She patted Ercella’s head gently.
“Just how much I envy you…”
At the time Ercella was unable to fully understand her sister. She thought that it was just a loving gesture as if she were dealing with something precious.
“I envy you.”
By the time she began to understand the meaning behind her words, she was already died and gone.

* * *

She sat down there and cried for a long time. It was then that Lianne, who was worried about her, came to her.
Lianne wiped away Ercella’s tears and patted her back. Lianne did not ask any questions as if she understood her.
After Ercella’s tears stopped, Lianne kindly helped her up. Her grieved body had no power left, so Ercella leaned against Lianne back to her room.
Ercella blankly layed on her bed, recalling what had happened earlier. Vicente is right in a way. Queen Grania, who held the highest position in the country, died as soon as she gave birth to Prince Alexis, so there was only a prince, but no princess.
But that wasn’t the answer she wanted. Ercella wanted to be a mother to Vicente.
What does she mean to Vicente? There was nothing to think about. It’s just a beneficial relationship with a mother who is from a good family.
Had she been from an insignificant family, there would be no such regard. Even the servants would not have obeyed her command to reduce the number of tutors or control the training grounds. She would have lived being unable to do anything without her husband’s consent.

No, you couldn’t even get married in the first place.

She deprecated herself. Ercella was also noble, no matter how free she was, she had to consider the interests of the family. Essentially, aristocrats value family honour above life and live their whole lives trying to elevate the family prestige. In that, marriage was usually the way women lived for their families. To get married to a good family and save the family’s status.
Ercella, like the rest of the aristocracy, was also faithful to her interests. As her father had suggested she chose to marry a man of the best family that had ever come to her.
It is true that she did not have any regrets. In fact, the idea of regret itself was strange. It was the best family she could go for. She made the best choice at that time. Therefore, Ercella didn’t know what was there to regret about.
“Madam, the Lord has returned home. And he wants to see you…”
Lianne’s voice seemed stiff as she opened the door. Ercella sighed and got out of bed. Her gestures seemed weak because she had yet to regain her energy.
“My husband must have been angry.”
She walked away thinking that it was the worst time to meet him.

* * *

As she entered his office, Ercella’s body paused. The lights were off. To be exact, all the lights except for the lamp on the table.
The dark room looked dreary, relying on light from a dimly lit lamp. The owner of the room was sitting on a sofa with his eyes closed. Shaking lights fluttered over his face. Because of that the man’s face repeatedly darkened and brightened.
“Harsen.”
Her heart trembled like a stem of reed. It’s been a long time since they had confronted each other. Ercella looked at Harsen’s face a little blankly.
Jet-black hair was scattered irregularly over his forehead. It looks like he just arrived.
“You are here.”
Harsen’s closed eyes, slowly opened, and revealed his black eyes that turned towards Ercella.
Ercella was speechless from the suspense. She wanted to know if he was angry, but there was no sign on his face. The black eyes facing only her seemed strangely decadent. Looking at it, they also seemed tired.
She finally understood why there was no light in the room. He must have been tired because he was in the lights all day long for consecutive few days of work. He must’ve wanted a shut eye until she came.
“I’ll turn on the light.”
As she expected, Harsen tried to turn on the light when she came.
“No, I’m sure you’re tired. We can talk like this.”
Ercella stopped him. It was not difficult to talk to each other face to face because there was a lamp anyway.
Harsen seemed relieved. He listened to her without glancing at her. Ercella sat across from him as the suffocating tension eased a little.
“Why did you involve yourself in Vicente’s education without my permission?”
He said with his eyes closed. Although he did not express his anger openly, he was pointing out her involvement in his son’s affairs with consistent coldness. When Ercella’s answer was not heard, Harsen once again said.
“Tell me, why did you do as you please without asking me?”
Even with closed eyes, Harsen somehow seemed to be looking at her.
Ercella swallowed dry saliva. She took a breath and opened her mouth.
“I heard about the education Vicente has received thus far.”
“What about it?”
It was not a scary situation but she was scared. Ercella regretted not turning on the lights. The light was still flickering over his face, and his shadowed face felt sharper than usual.
“What do you mean? Your teaching style is too harsh. Vicente is still young.”
“Whether he’s young or not, age doesn’t matter. What matters is that Vicente is the family’s successor. I’m only giving him the education that is best for him. What would you involve yourself in it?”
“He can do well enough even if you don’t do it that way. And I….”
“That’s not for you to judge.”
Her face looked irritated when Harsen cut off her words relentlessly.
“I’m sorry for doing it my way. But I’m that child’s mother. If the parents don’t judge, who will judge?”
“… hah.”
His mouth opened slightly in the dark shadow. He opened his closed eyes. Light flashed in his pupils.
Ercella thought that those eyes were as sharp as a blade. He intently kept his eyes on her. Ercella also faced him without avoiding him.
She suddenly wondered how she might be looking in his eyes. What was he thinking while looking at her blue eyes? She could hear a low laugh somewhere. Harsen was looking at her with an odd look.
She knew why he looked at her like that. All that time she had no interest in her son. It would look ridiculous to talk about his education now.
No matter what sharp words he used, Ercella had nothing to say. It’s something she was prepared for. She was ready to hear harsh words from the moment she faced him.
There was a tension in the quiet space. Harsen slowly opened his mouth as if he were lost in thought.
“I want my child to be perfect. In regards to continuing the family, I’m not saying that he’s lacking. Even if it may seem cruel to you, I want you to know that I’m doing this for his sake.”
Fortunately, Harsen didn’t criticize her intentions. Relieved by it, Ercella spoke in a calmer manner.
“I didn’t mean to criticize you. But he’s still 15. I was just worried that if he’s pushed too hard, he might stray from the right path later on.”
Harsen paused for a moment. Ercella’s guess was that he was probably surprised. He probably can’t believe she’s worried about Vicente, not anyone else. In truth, there was no indication of such a thing on his face, so it was just her guess.
“… Okay.”
She heard his drowsy voice. He was really tired, so he was wiping his face down with one hand.
Ercella felt sorry. She must’ve added to his fatigue with the butler’s report on her deliberately returning all the hired tutors and controlling the training grounds.
It doesn’t matter if she is the Duchess because the true owner of this house is Harsen. Even now, there is nothing she could do if Harsen ignored her opinion and turned back everything to how it was.

Harsen is finally here. He’s scary but sexy at the same time.