Chapter 37
“My dear, is it true? Ah, my dear! Where are you going!”
At Count Huan’s question, the Countess turned and fled.
“My dear!”
Count Huan hurriedly chased after his wife.
Everyone was momentarily speechless at the sudden turn of events.
“This seems… rather complicated.”
Serio was the first to regain his composure.
“…I apologize.”
Duke Nor apologized to Serio.
Although it was Count Huan who caused the commotion, he was still the host of the banquet.
“I’m sorry, Count Herolds.”
Next, he apologized to Count Herolds as Viscount Berta’s father.
He never knew his lacking son would stoop so low.
“…”
However, Count Herolds, who would normally accept the apology, remained silent.
“Count Herolds seems to be in great shock. Well, it’s understandable to be surprised that the man who almost married his daughter was having an affair.”
Serio’s indifferent gaze lingered on Aveline.
“By the way, the young lady almost became Duke Nor’s daughter-in-law. Viscount Berta is an illegitimate son, so it wouldn’t have been a very good match.”
Serio also seemed curious as to why Aveline had almost been matched with Viscount Berta, Duke Nor’s illegitimate son.
But Aveline was just as curious about that herself.
“…”
Count Herolds still remained silent with a stern expression.
‘What’s going on?’
Aveline found her father’s reaction strange.
Although she had been the one who eagerly jumped at the chance to prove her worth at her father’s words, she wasn’t entirely without resentment towards her father for arranging such a meeting.
Nevertheless, her desire for her father’s approval was greater.
‘I really can’t figure him out.’
When she heard Melina Sroon’s story, she thought her father cared for her, but then thinking back to that time, she was back to square one.
“I should take my leave now. Nothing is more unsightly than a crown prince lingering till the end at a gathering of nobles.”
Serio, who had become quite detached, stepped forward to wrap things up.
“I’ll have a carriage prepared for you.”
“No need. It’s faster on horseback, why bother?”
“Considering Your Highness’s safety—”
“Hahaha!”
Serio burst into hearty laughter at Duke Nor’s words.
“Are you worrying about the safety of the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Knights?”
“…”
At those words, Duke Nor fell silent.
‘Well, Ares did say the Crown Prince’s skills were formidable.’
Serio’s words weren’t mere boasting, but the confidence of someone truly skilled.
“Ah.”
Serio, about to turn around, seemed to remember something and turned his head.
“Lady Herolds, my earlier challenge for a duel wasn’t a joke. I’ll be sure to invite you soon.”
Serio winked at Aveline, then turned his gaze to Theron.
“…”
Theron simply met Serio’s gaze without any expression, showing no particular reaction.
“Then I’ll be taking my leave as well.”
As Serio left, Logan, who had been standing with a pale face all along, also excused himself.
“Sister, let’s go too.”
As people started leaving one by one, Ares pulled Aveline along.
“Thank you for the invitation, Your Grace. I’ll see you at the next meeting.”
After greeting Duke Nor, Ares pretended not to see Theron standing next to Aveline as he passed by.
“See you soon.”
Theron called out to Aveline’s back as she was being led away by Ares.
When Aveline looked back, Theron wore his usual inscrutable, painted-on smile.
* * *
In the carriage on the way home, no one brought up what had happened at the banquet.
As soon as they got out of the carriage, the three bearing the Herolds name dispersed to their respective rooms.
Aveline, heading to her room with Ares, suddenly stopped in her tracks.
“What’s wrong?”
“I just remembered something I forgot. You go ahead.”
“What? What is it!”
“Sorry!”
Aveline walked briskly, leaving Ares calling out behind her.
“Father!”
Aveline’s destination was the corridor leading to Count Herolds’ bedroom.
Count Herolds was standing in the corridor, seemingly about to enter his room.
“Aveline? Why are you here instead of in your room?”
“I wanted to talk to you, Father.”
“…Talk?”
Count Herolds tilted his head, seemingly puzzled by Aveline’s words.
“Alright, go ahead.”
Although Count Herolds nodded, he still seemed to be trying to gauge why Aveline had come to him.
Aveline, after confirming that no one else was around, opened her mouth.
“About earlier…”
“Earlier? You mean at the banquet?”
“Yes.”
As the topic of the banquet came up, Count Herolds’ expression grew serious again.
However, this time Aveline didn’t mind his reaction.
Although she had always been cautious of her father’s reactions and tried to read his mood, now she needed an explanation for her father’s actions up until now.
So Aveline asked straightforwardly without hesitation.
“Why did you try to match me with Viscount Berta?”
It was something she had wanted to ask ever since seeing her father’s reaction at the banquet, or rather, something she had wanted to ask all along.
“Didn’t I tell you then?”
“You said for me to prove my worth?”
“…”
At Aveline’s response, Count Herolds fell silent again.
“But there’s an error in that statement. If you really wanted me to prove my worth, there would have been no need for me to meet Viscount Berta specifically.”
“As I said then, he is Duke Nor’s son—”
“You saw how everyone evaluated Viscount Berta earlier, didn’t you?”
Even Serio seemed unable to understand why Count Herolds had tried to match his daughter with Viscount Berta.
“Moreover, by your logic, your reaction to the Crown Prince’s interest in me doesn’t make sense. If you truly only thought of me in terms of usefulness, you should have been pleased when the Crown Prince showed interest in me.”
“…”
Count Herolds had no response to that.
In fact, he had always shown displeasure whenever Serio showed interest in Aveline.
“Please be honest with me, Father.”
At Aveline’s words, Count Herolds ran his hand over his face.
“…You’re right. It wasn’t just for those reasons that I had you meet that man.”
Count Herolds was naturally referring to Viscount Berta as ‘that man’.
He had finally revealed that he didn’t think much of him either.
“At that time, you were constantly shut up in the house. I had ordered you to reflect, but I didn’t think it would last for four years.”
“…”
“So I thought you needed shock therapy. Just then, Count Huan came to arrange a marriage meeting between you and Viscount Berta, and I thought it was an opportunity. It was a misjudgment.”
“…”
“In the off chance that you actually got married, I also had the thoughtless idea that it might give you a good reason to leave the social circles of the capital peacefully.”
Count Herolds poured out his words as if confessing.
“Looking back now, it was all foolish.”
The expression on Count Herolds’ face as he spoke dejectedly seemed genuinely regretful.
“And as you pointed out, I don’t want you to be involved with the Imperial family.”
This time it was Aveline who was surprised by his following words.
“Since you seem to know that you’re a candidate for Crown Princess, I’ll tell you this: I don’t want you to become the Crown Princess.”
It was hard to believe these words were coming from her father, who had always been loyal to the Imperial family.
“That doesn’t mean I’m happy about Duke Ribes courting you or whatever he’s doing.”
Suddenly, Count Herolds’ voice turned gruff.
“Apart from his looks, he’s not at all trustworthy.”
Speaking as if he approved of Theron’s appearance, Count Herolds met Aveline’s gaze.
“By the way, I didn’t expect you to ask so directly. I thought you found me quite difficult to approach.”
Count Herolds looked surprised.
And for good reason – the Aveline he remembered was always a timid child hovering around his feet, desperate for even a scrap of attention.
Even knowing this, he had often ignored her under the pretext of being busy.
“I’ve always been curious.”
Aveline met her father’s gaze without averting her eyes.
“I followed you because I wanted your approval, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t notice things were going strangely.”
Facing this, Count Herolds felt that Aveline had changed from before.
Had something at the banquet earlier touched this child’s inner self
-Can I enter with you today, Father?
-I want to establish myself in high society quickly, just as you said.
Count Herolds recalled what Aveline had said before entering the banquet earlier.
Aveline’s change wasn’t solely due to what happened today.
She had been gradually changing even before that.
He had just missed it.
But the change wasn’t bad. Rather, it was welcome.
No matter how unfeeling a father he was, it wasn’t easy on his mind to have his child shut up in her room for years.
…But wait.
-Thanks to Count Huan arranging the meeting, I was able to meet Lady Herolds that day.
Suddenly, an ominous thought crossed Count Herolds’ mind.
What if Aveline had started changing after meeting Duke Ribes?
If that was the case, the furrow in Count Herolds’ brow deepened as he pondered whether he should be grateful for this or wary as a father with a daughter.
