26. Things you can handle

‘Good morning, Young master.’

When I opened my eyes, I heard Tina’s voice like an hallucination. She was staring at her door, as was her habit, even though she knew she wasn’t there. She always wakes up at the same time and comes to visit her every day to say hello to herself.

“Good morning. Tina.”

Even though no one was listening, Froden said hello. There was a hint of sadness in her voice that echoed through the air.

‘Are you planning to go exercise after breakfast today?’

“No, I’m going to be a bit busy today, so I’ll just go get breakfast.”

She pulled up the blanket covering her body. Tina, who came to visit her every morning, got her into the habit of sleeping in her nightgown. She gently tossed off the silk nightgown that wrapped around her body and looked toward her door.

“Are you going to keep standing there to change clothes?”

‘I-I’ll go first.’

I pictured Tina hurriedly shutting the door and exiting, blushing in embarrassment. She was so adorable that I couldn’t help but smile.

After changing into the clothes she usually wears, she called the servant who was waiting in front of the door. She entered her room with a light knock, and the maid finished her preparations for a simple wash.

Perhaps because of her daily routine of always washing her face and showering after her workout, her maid’s touch was skillful. After sending her maid out to finish her preparations, Froden stared at the water in her basin. Her own reflection in her clear water is so clear.

“Why are you so fine?”

There was no answer. It’s a frowny face, but it’s a face that can’t be found to be tired. Maybe it’s because the trained body naturally maintains its best condition with magical power overnight. Or maybe her disappearance wasn’t such a big shock.

I expected it. If she can’t exorcise her soul from Tina’s body like this, maybe this will happen someday. Even though she expected it and tried to prepare her, she couldn’t stop it in the end.

‘I don’t resent Froden.’

“Please blame me instead. She resents me, please rebuke me. If I had been a little more competent, if I had been moral and took measures by any means. This would never have happened.”

The face reflected in the water was distorted hideously. In fact, I wanted to scream and make a fuss. But what kind of shame do you mean? Even if you haven’t done everything you can.

‘Froden did his best. Don’t beat yourself up too much.’

From nob le mt l dot com

My stomach was boiling. She screamed and wanted to deny it. Even knowing that Tina’s voice is an hallucination, and knowing that only the sound she wants to hear comes out due to her guilt. Froden made no reply at all.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Tina. I am really sorry…”

A wave arose in the calm water. Her sleep was distorted by the tears falling drop by drop, and Froden’s expression disappeared.

After standing like that for a while, Froden put his face in the basin and looked up for a moment. The wet bangs and the water dripping down his face soaked his clothes. After roughly wiping off the water with the towel next to him, he once again put his face on the surface.

With the tip of his nose touching, he made eye contact with himself.

“You have to find Tina no matter what. We have to save her, even if it means killing her soul.”

As if hypnotized, he mumbled and swore. After staring for a long time, he turned his gaze and left the room and headed for the dining room. He silently walks side by side, slowly following Tina’s steps.

The meal was satisfactory. Froden, who had eaten all of the meals for two people at a table with no one else in front of him, gave the attendants a rough idea of Tina’s whereabouts.

After coming out of the annex and on the way to the main building, the coachman asked for Tina’s whereabouts after seeing her getting into the carriage alone.

‘Whoops. I guess we kept hanging out.’

“I have something to do alone today.”

Froden almost unknowingly retorted to Tina next to her, but she managed to persevere. The coachman was silently convinced and turned her horse’s head toward her main body. Her magic blocked out the noise around her, so she watched Tina continue to talk to her inside the carriage.

“Today I am on my way to see my father. I have something important to do.”

‘Proden is also true. If you are on your way to see your father, let me know in advance. I have to visit her with a prettier appearance.’

“Tina is beautiful even without makeup. Just one smile and he’ll grab his heart and collapse. Secretly, her love for her daughter-in-law is special.”

‘Whoops, is that so? I need to show you the results of my recent practice of smiling.’

I’m looking forward to it too. The words didn’t come out of her throat. At first she seemed so real that she was chattering to herself and mixed up her words, but what she returned was her feelings of self-loathing. I felt like I was about to burst into tears now. She forced a laugh to turn her head and hold back her tears.

‘Ahahahaha! What is that strange face? Froden sometimes goes crazy.’

“If Tina laughs, I’m happy with that.”

Tina, heard and seen through her visions and hallucinations, was as beautiful as always.

“I have arrived.”

The carriage stopped and the coachman’s voice came through the connected communication device. Froden straightened her expression and got up to tidy up her clothes.

‘Well, that’s neat. Froden looks great today too.’

“I’ll be back, Tina.”

‘Welcome, Froden.’

As she opened the carriage door, she covered her face for a moment to avoid the sunlight stinging her eyes. She felt the owner of the house, who was waiting at the front door opposite her, approach and bow her head.

“Welcome, young master. When you come, you were told to take me to the study right away.”

“It’s been a while. Can you guide me?”

The butler bowed her head slightly, opened the front door, and led her Proden into her study. As she passed by, she greeted the servants she met and walked, and before she knew it, she arrived at the study.

-Smart

“Master. The Bocchan has arrived.”

“Come in.”

When the door opened, Froden was greeted by the familiar image of her study and the familiar face of her duke. Pausing the paperwork he was handling, and leaning back on the sofa, the Duke ordered the butler to serve tea.

“What are you doing standing there? Without sitting down.”

“I have to sit down.”

Even if Tina disappears, there is no change in her surroundings. It troubled Froden that the only thing that changed was that she was herself and around her.

“I was a bit surprised that she came without contacting me in advance. It’s like leaving your fiancé, who was attached to you every day like a chewing gum, and coming alone.”

Looking at Froden who didn’t answer, the duke sighed.

“This is important. Don’t take it when I told you to come in.”

I rang the bell and called the attendant who was waiting at the door and sent it to the butler. When the presence at the door disappeared, Froden’s mouth opened.

“Father. Can you handle it even if a war breaks out?”

The duke did not respond to Froden’s sudden words and pondered for a while. The word war is referring to the story we talked about the count family the other day.

“The story must be related to the daughter-in-law.”

“We must destroy the county family. There are a lot of stories to hear there, so I don’t think I’ll be satisfied with the trial.”

“My family is the only duchy in the empire. There is no problem even if the fat and greedy pigs in their stomachs rush into the herd.”

The Duke grinned at the end of his words. Since the last time I told him the secret of the family, I often saw him seeming strangely immature.

“The problem is you, Froden. Can you handle having the whole empire engulfed in the flames of war because of your actions that brought down the county? If you can afford the loss of innocent lives by war, do it.”

“That’s not my problem. It’s not me who’s causing the war, it’s the noble pigs full of greed and grease, following my father’s words.”

“It’s a cowardly evasion theory that is just an excuse.”

Froden shut his mouth at the Duke’s words that stabbed him to the core. It’s a lie if you don’t feel guilty. If Tina had seen this, she would have reprimanded her and made her angry. Even now, I could see the vision I had just said goodbye to, sneaking up on her and glaring at her.

‘Don’t say that. What are the other people guilty of?’

I’m sorry, but please be quiet, Tina. I don’t want to show you the madness of shouting your vision in front of my father.

“Even so, my resolve does not change. If his father doesn’t allow it, he intends to leave the family and do things alone.”

“Where is your daughter-in-law now?”

“This has nothing to do with Tina. It’s my personal business.”

“Where is the daughter-in-law?”

‘My father will be angry. Froden, please calm down and tell me.’

The words walking from the side and from the front are eating away at my spirit. Those words that I keep hearing even when I close my eyes, control my emotions, and try to calm down. The whispers did not go away.

“Answer me, Froden.”

‘Answer me, Froden.’

“Please, please shut up! Please!”

In the end, the accumulated stress exploded. The emotions she had been holding back exploded, and a harsh voice erupted from her mouth. Tina’s vision, which did not disappear no matter what she did, disappeared as if it had never existed at her emotionally mixed cry.

“Please help me, father. Tina… Tina is gone.”

For the first time, I relied on a reliable existence that always silently supported me from behind. When the child, who pretended to be an adult who always tried to do everything by himself even though he knew what was behind him, revealed himself, the duke gently embraced the child.

“Do whatever you want. It’s your first time being a fool, so I’ll accept everything this time.”

In her warm embrace, only silent tears burst out. The duke patted the back without saying anything at the sight of the child whose appearance had only grown up.

After a storm of emotions swept through, she belatedly realized what she had done, and Froden’s face turned red.

“Your dark history didn’t start until you turned 19. Even if puberty comes, you came too late.”

On the other hand, it was the face of a boy who misrepresented the face of a Duke. But that was only for a moment. Froden, who had no time to delay, forcibly hardened his face and said to the duke,

“I will destroy the Count.”

“Then I am preparing for a war that might break out. You only care about your daughter-in-law.”

“Thank you Father.”

“I also want to see my grandson soon, so if you find one, start with the wedding right away.”

“I will show you soon.”

Froden got the Duke’s permission and got into the carriage. On the way to the outbuilding, he could not hear any sound and was quiet.

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