Chapter 21

“Of course not. It’s just that I’m a little late because of something. Who did the Princess come with?”

“I’m here with my nanny. My mother doesn’t come to places like this often.”

I see. It was understandable. The Omerta siblings were descendants of the king, not the slave queen.

In any case, the king seemed to care about his nephew, the personality wrecker, considering the fact that the little princess was present. Next to Ari was another girl about the same age as her.

She was as cute as a doll with beautiful blonde hair and sparkling emerald eyes.

The girl spoke up first, just as I was about to say, “My Lady’s husband is a Paladin.”

“Yes, little one.”

“My brother is Paladin, too.”

“Oh, I see. Do you think I know him?”

“Maybe. My brother is pretty famous, too. His face is pretty, but mouth is very dirty. My mother said he probably swallowed gutter water.”

Wait, why did it feel like I knew who it was? Come to think of it, the color of her hair and eyes were familiar. And the way she spoke…

“Can we drink that, too?”

“Oh, no, no. Instead, you can choose the juice here.”

“Your husband used to give me a ride on his shoulders.”

Really? Izek? Really? No way.

Besides, if he was that kind, why would Ari be so scared of him?

The girl poked out her tongue cutely at my look full of doubt.

“My brother forced him to do so, but still.”

That’s right. There’s no way that cold-blooded man can have such a caring side.

“But, my Lady, Ari said you allowed her to touch your hair. Was she serious?”

“I was serious! But not now. We can’t do it here.”

“Why not now?”

“People are looking, Leah.”

“I want to touch it now.”

In contrast to Ari, who was quite shy, Sir Ivan’s sister was a bold tomboy. Was this the power of blood or the power of the environment she grew up in? Anyway, they were both really cute. I hope they grew up unhurt.

“I don’t care if you touched my hair now. So what if others see?”

“That’s right, why can’t others see it?”

As I sat on the stairs behind me with a smile, Leah approached me and reached out as if she had been waiting.

Ari also hesitated and began to stroke my hair. Their fingers ran through the strands of my hair, twisting and twirling.

“What are you doing?”

You have a knack for ruining a good mood.

I tried to lift myself up, but the two girls were stuck to my shoulders, so I just sat there and grinned.

“Where have you been roaming?”

“Not roaming. I’m the main character of this banquet.”

What is this answer? Are you bragging? Or are you saying that you can go anywhere because you’re the main character? What a know-it-all you are.

My handsome husband stood tall for a moment and looked down at me, but soon shifted his eyes to the two girls.

Don’t stare at them like that. That was why they were scared of you!

I could feel poor Ari shuddering.

It’s okay, I understand how you feel.

“Oh, you were playing here, too. Leah, did you say hello properly?”

“I cursed you a little bit.”

“What?”

Sir Ivan, who followed Izek, had already returned to his serious and pleasant appearance.

But what did she mean?

“Ahaha, the Princess and Young Lady were playing with me.”

“That’s right.”

“Right.”

Guys, don’t be so serious about this.

I was judged again by my husband for being at the same level as a six-year-old princess. As I was slowly trying to get up, Izek suddenly reached out his hand.

Did he want to help me up? I was sure he felt generous because it was his birthday. As soon as I grabbed his hand, my body quickly stood up.

“Can you do it one more time?”

(T/N: Idk why she said this, doesn’t make sense.)

“……”

“I’m sorry, I won’t bother you.”

So please, just let me off. He stared intently at me again, his eyes gleaming as sadly as possible. Why was he staring at me like that again?

At one point, I thought the hardest thing was keeping up with Cesare, but I was wrong. Understanding my husband’s twisted mind was the toughest!

Wait. Was it because of that?

“Oh, I’ll give you the birthday present.”

As I searched through the silk pouch that I had been holding, he blinked as if he had been waiting. This snob–

Honestly, after seeing the pile of shiny gifts piled up on one side of the hall, I didn’t feel like taking out my gifts, but there was nothing I could do. What could I possibly do about my situation?

“Well, it’s nothing, but I stayed up all night to make it. I hope you like it. Happy birthday to you. I’m so glad you were born.”

Regardless of him liking it or not, I smiled widely as I held out his present enthusiastically.

Izek gazed down at my hand. To be exact, he glanced at the handkerchief with sunflower embroidered and the finely folded letter.

My heart thumped loudly in anxiety.

Don’t tear it, don’t tear it, no, you can tear it, just put an end to this silent war.

Why was it so quiet, all of a sudden? It was not long before he slowly raised his eyes again and faced my eyes. For some reason, his face had mixed emotions like the one I saw outside.

Why did he look so exhausted? Don’t tell me it was too much to get a gift like this.

Gulp, I swallowed dry saliva.

The smiling corners of my mouth began to twitch, but I added, “It’s fine.”

“I’ll never, ever get into trouble again.”

“So please don’t hate me.”

Why don’t you say something back or take it?

Do it for me, please. My arm hurts.

Finally, he finally moved his hand.

The handkerchief I tried to embroider and the letter I wrote were lying weakly in his iron-like grip!

“It’s… “

“It’s, it’s a heartfelt apology I wrote.”

“Do you like it?”

I was going to say it was a heartfelt letter, but then I thought I’d rather just die.

So, I said it was a letter of apology.

Fortunately, it wasn’t completely wrong, since the words I wrote were pretty ambiguous, and he didn’t end up tearing it to pieces.

Ah, but why are you clutching it so hard? The letter is going to crumple.

“Listen.”

“What?”

“I like it.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

The man who spat this out in a fairly serene tone, held my hand that was slowly falling down.

His blood-red eyes took in my swollen fingers.

“……so foolish.”

Obviously, this was trivial, but why did it sound so painful?

-Northern Wind Circus-

As soon as Izek’s birthday was over, Elendale’s sky quickly turned gray.

A gloomy climate unique to the north had begun, making it hard to see a handful of sunlight until next summer arrived.

I could see why there were so many crooked people here, with such a dark and creepy environment, it was hard to not be like that.

They were likely to suffer from depression, the unknown fear of when and where a bloodthirsty monster would pop out, hanging over them.

Even the most innocent one was likely to turn into a fierce and sensitive pessimist in less than a month.

In this situation, a person whose existence was forgotten had returned.

Duke Omerta, Izek and Ellenia’s father, had finally returned to Elendale.

“I’m sorry for the late greeting.”

I vaguely imagined that their father would have been a middle-aged man with a sharp feeling, who would have maintained the beauty of his youth, as good-looking as best the knight of the North. But my prediction was shattered this time as well.

It was obvious that it was the late Duchess who passed on such beauty to her children.

His red eyes were similar to his children.

However, the combination of his droopy eyes, sparse shaggy black hair, an angled chin, and a troll-like gigantic physique made him look more like a wild bandit boss than the head of Britannia knights.

“I was worried that my son might not have treated you properly.”

“You’re too kind.”

The Duke tilted his head to one side as he replied with a smile.

Ellenia, who was sitting silently, suddenly stepped in, “You missed Brother’s birthday, Father.”

“That’s fine. That brat would prefer me to be left out anyway.”

“His Majesty also expressed his regret. You weren’t there for the wedding banquet either.”

“Nothing unusual. More importantly, Young Lady, did you visit the temple?”

Ellenia bit her bottom lip. I carefully put down the teacup I was holding.

The question of whether I had visited the temple was not a question of whether I had taken a political step to visit the priests here as Izek’s wife.

The northern tradition of visiting temples together meant that nobles who had just been married had their first night of marriage and became a true couple.

It was unexpected that his father was asking me about this. To be honest, I never thought I’d hear a question like this. Rudbeckia of the original, had never spent the night with Izek, because no one had forced them to do their duty.

If someone did force, it would be disastrous for both sides.