Chapter 59 (2/2)

Somehow, I felt empty and gloomy.

“I didn’t want to pass our daughter this curse flowing through my blood, but she wants it.

I couldn’t stop Tia’s intention, but let me try my best to stop her. Others might blame me, who they say I’m the most loyal subject in the empire, pointing a finger at my actions. You’re going to support me, right?”

‘Curse flowing in his blood.’

He was probably referring to the Monique family’s covenant with the imperial family, embedded into the blood of the Monique family. I thought it was a double-edged sword for my father, but I never thought he hated it that much.

“His Majesty is good. As I agree with his political ideology, I’ve taken the lead in realizing it, but I don’t want Tia to get hurt because of that. I wish she could live freely.”

I felt the gravity of his worry when he sighed. Somehow, I felt heavy.

“I’m sorry I told you about something gloomy. Do you like my gift? It was your favorite flower. ”

I looked at the white bouquet under the portrait once again. As it was dark in the room, I could not know which flower it was, but the white bouquet stood out in the dark.

“It’s because she took after you. Tia grew up as a very pretty girl. There are already some guys trying to win over her heart. She is still a child in my eyes. Today, I forgot about my work and played with one of them. I wanted to give him a piece of my mind, but I didn’t because I didn’t want to look petty. I feel like I’m already jealous, so I’m worried how I can marry her off. Sir League is saying the same thing.”

I was moved to tears when I heard his low voice full of longing for her.

“I’m sorry. I stopped by here as I can’t sleep and lamented to you. Let me go now. I will come back tomorrow. ”

His footsteps were getting closer and closer. My heart was beating fast though I didn’t commit any crime. I closed my mouth with my hands to muffle the sound of breathing. A dark shadow was cast over the table, and soon, I heard the sound of him closing the door.

I got from behind the table after he went into his room. As he went out with the candle, I groped around the darkened area and approached the portrait. I strained my eyes to look hard, but it was so dark that I didn’t see it properly. Instead, I saw the white bouquet shining alone in the dark.

It was a pure white camellia flower.

My mother passed away less than six months after my sixth birthday. At that age I should have been able to recall her last moments, but no matter how hard I tried to recollect, I couldn’t recall anything other than the tears I cried. Perhaps it’s because more than ten years, including those years I lived after coming back from the past, passed since then.

But still, how could I forget tomorrow was the date my mother passed away? In the past, I could make excuses because I was so busy taking empress classes. Of course, even now I could make some excuses since I’m leading quite a busy life, but I felt I went too far.

After touching the white camellia flower, I came out of the room carefully.

The next morning when I saw my father while practicing fencing, he didn’t look different.

But when I was about to go to the Imperial Palace to do what I didn’t finish yesterday, he told me that he would not report to work today although he was supposed to.

‘It’s probably because today is the day when mother passed away.’

Looking at me in uniform, he praised me with a smile by saying it suited me well, but his smile seemed bitter. I was going to tell him that I know that today was the day mother passed away, but I hesitated a few times because he might ask me how I got to know it.

As soon as I arrived at the Imperial Palace, I encountered Duke Lars who had already reported to work. I told him I would start working today, then opened the document, but I couldn’t work.

I didn’t want it on my first day on the job, but I couldn’t concentrate because I kept recalling what my father did last night.

Duke Lars, who quickly looked at me working on the same page for almost an hour, told me to get some fresh air outside instead of scolding me. Since he was my father’s friend, probably he knew what day it was today, so it seemed that he decided to go easy on me.