Chapter 64: (Self Edited) Carol and Myaro (3)
“Alright, let’s talk about it. Before that, I would like to ask you, Your Highness. Do you know that I was born? No, not that. I mean, I am wondering whether you know about our Gudanvier’s situation. Aah, you only know about the name of Grandmother, is it? I see. Then, it seems better to explain from the beginning.
My mother is the first child of my grandmother, but my father was born as a Knight. However, he wasn’t actually a knight.
He graduated as one, so he held the certification of Knight, but it wasn’t enough to call him a Knight. Yes, it is as you imagine. Be that as it may, he didn’t hold any title. To put it simply… Well, he was almost in the same position as an average person.
My father is dead. So it’s fine. Aren’t you in the same position?
Well… anyhow, let’s talk about the time when Father and Mother were the Academy students.
Father was a Knight student of the same cohort as Mother. Needless to say, Mother was a Liberal Arts student. Father’s household, the Guy Household, is a household that has been given a title Baron by the Boff household for generations. Since his relationship with the household was cut off afterwards, I have never met the people of the Guy Household.
No, no, it’s fine. Nowadays, I also don’t have the need to meet them.
Father used to associate with Mother while at the Academy. When I remembered the story, it seemed that it was Mother’s love at first sight.
Apparently, Mother thought she would draw attention from surroundings because she was a child of a big household, like the Gudanvier Household. She used an alias when associated with him.
Of course, Gudanvier’s daughter was a famous person. So, Father would know who she was if he consulted his friends.However, Father hid the fact that they were associating from his friends. Perhaps, the idea of associating with a Witch didn’t look good among his friends.
The relationship between the two lasted for three years. There were many things going on during that period, but I’ll skip that.
On a day when Father was about to graduate… Mother was pregnant. It could be said that Father’s life began to turn upside down.
For the first time, Father knew that she was the daughter of a Great Witch Household. Until that moment, Mother lied to him, telling that she was a daughter of an insignificant Witch household, so he was very surprised. If it’s about marrying someone with a low rank, a man can just marry and get a wife.
However, if the other side is the eldest daughter of a well-known Great Witch Household, of course, the matter would be different. If the daughter is impregnated, he has to take the responsibility, enter the daughter’s family and becomes the son-in-law.
I don’t know what kind of quarrel Father and Mother had at that time, but eventually, Father gave up and agreed to become the son-in-law. He had to give up almost his entire life.
This incident has been treated as a scandal by Father’s household. It was also the same with the Gudanvier. As a woman, who was thought to be the daughter and the heiress of the household, got impregnated while attending the Academy, such a matter was inexcusable.
It seemed that Grandmother was furious, but when Mother’s tummy grew bigger to the point she couldn’t hide it, they got engaged.
But she had a miscarriage.
Just because of that, it didn’t mean the engagement was broken. If the pregnancy wasn’t known, it was possible for Father to leave it all out, but Mother herself was the one who spread the news, so it was impossible.
Father spent a cold-like school life, and got married after graduation. At that time, he was already disowned by his household.
He had been abandoned by his friends, cut off from his household, and started living in the Gudanvier’s mansion. Since he hadn’t graduated from the school of Liberal Arts, he couldn’t get a job, and he just spent his life aimlessly. While sometimes showing his face in high society meetings, he spent his days by doing nothing.
After fifteen years of marriage, I was born. Yes, they couldn’t have a child for fifteen years.
Father loved his first child so much.
The household members hated Father, who was close to me, probably because they thought that he would influence me badly. But, I didn’t stop them even if I complained. After all, I had Father take care of me.
No, I wasn’t overlooked with human kindness. I wasn’t expecting much because Mother wasn’t a good mother. Hehe, that’s strange.
I was breastfed by a nanny and raised by Father.
Father read me bedtime stories, played toys with me, told me funny stories when he was in the school of Knights. He taught me basic reading and writing.
However, as I became a somewhat excellent child, I was gradually separated from Father. Even so, Father came to my room, and spent time with me.
Yes, I really love Father.
He hadn’t forgotten the spirit as a Knight even after fifteen years. Then, from the early age, he taught me the readiness of a Knight.” (Myaro)
“Eh, did you enter the school of Knights because of that?” (Carol)
“No, how could that be. At that time, I was still planning to enter the school of Liberal Arts.” (Myaro)
“As for Knights, hunting in the forest is irresistibly interesting, you know.” (Carol) “Even if you say so, he wouldn’t want to abandon the Knight’s path and became a hunter.
Eventually, I went through all resistance and got to enter the school of Knights. Of course, I was affected, but anyhow, I wasn’t really thinking about entering that from an early age.
The event that caused me to enter the school of Knights happened when I was eight years old. Father protected Mother and he died.
That night, I went for an evening party together with the household. Along the way, a group with a grudge against the Gudanvier, struck our carriage.
Yes, that kind of thing is common.
The Witches are supposed to kill each other, but for those who have been deprived of everything in political and business disputes, and remain humiliated, there is nothing they can do.
Needless to say, the Great Witch Households create a lot of grudges. At that time, a Witch household, who had their members killed by Grandmother, and a merchant, who had his business crushed completely, joined hands. They hired people and attacked us.
During that time, the carriage where Grandmother and I were riding, was far behind from the carriage my parents were riding. My household took two carriages and headed for the evening party.
It was my parents’ carriage that was running ahead that was attacked.
The bandits killed the two guards escort first, killed the coachman, and attacked the carriage. Father had a sword, went out alone, guarded the carriage door and fought.
When I think about it now, it was probably because those people were gangsters, Father was struggling a bit and he managed to kill five of them. However, even if they were gangsters, there were ten of them. So, it couldn’t be helped.
The carriage we were riding rushed in, and our guard escorts helped. But it was too late when they wiped the bandits. His clothes were ripped up, and his body was slashed. So, he couldn’t stand anymore.
Father was immediately taken to a doctor and had his wounds sewn. Unfortunately, there seemed to be a lot of blood loss. His face was pale even though he was breathing. Mother fainted in the carriage and was taken to the mansion. Grandmother was occupied, trying to control the situation. So, I was the only one who was on his deathbed.
At the corner of his death, he told me.
‘I want to die as a Knight…’
And…
I said… I didn’t protect Okaa-san.
In that case…
‘I’m not protecting that woman.’
He said it.
‘If I’m going to die, I wanted to protect someone and die in that way. It’s a bit like a Knight… but, even if I protect her and die, who would think I die as a Knight, right?’
When I think about that now, I don’t think Father loved Mother anymore.
Father said…
‘I’m sorry… but I don’t feel bad about it.’
He stroked my head and died after that.
…Wouldn’t you feel moved?” (Myaro)
“Eh?” (Carol)
“No, no, that’s not what I meant.
Of course, Father’s last words remain in my heart, but that didn’t make me want to become a Knight. At that time, I still wanted to become a Witch. I still thought the Witch’s life wasn’t that bad.
Even if I heard his words, there’s such a way of life. The way of life isn’t that bad. That’s what I thought. Father didn’t deny Witches.
Yes, as a human, he didn’t tell his child how bad they lived. For me, Witches are usually a respectable job that people respect. I also thought of that at that time. That’s because I was told that way.
Father didn’t make it sound bad because he was indirectly making an example of himself. If he put it badly, maybe I thought the life as a Witch would be bad.
I grew up completely in an environment where people rarely talked bad about Witches. That was a matter of course. Even if it’s a bad person, he wouldn’t tell his children that ‘I live by doing bad things.’
Because of that, I wanted to become a Witch of the Gudanvier Household. I thought it would be great if I became the head of the household.
Well, you should understand when I told you this far, but after that, there was an event
I was sad that Father died to the point I couldn’t even study. Since he was the one who died, I didn’t know how to accept the fact. I was crying every day and finally, I fell sick. One thing happened after another, I think I was on the sickbed for three months.
Both Grandmother and Mother repeatedly came to my room, trying to do many things like encouraging me, and telling me that it was fine to stay like this for two months.
Other than me as their family member, they gave cold treatment to Father’s death. Perhaps, they were afraid that his death would turn me to be a useless person.
I understand their feelings. Mother seemed really loved him at the beginning of the engagement, but when I was born, their relationship seemed cold. Well, Grandmother considered him as an obstacle from the beginning.
Father wasn’t needed by anyone but me. Perhaps, they wanted to say that I should get back on my feet immediately and I didn’t have to be sad pointlessly.
So… aah, before that. It seemed no one was paying attention.
No, since everyone in the Witch households knows about it, it doesn’t matter who to ask. Then, let me continue.
One day, my mother visited my room, even these days also, and she said…
‘You’re not the child of that man.’
Phew, were you surprised?
I was also very surprised when I heard it. My heart might have stopped for ten seconds.” (Myaro)
“Eh?” (Carol)
“Of course. So, whose child am I? I asked that.
I was confused so I don’t remember well, but to cut it short, she said ‘I slept with many men, and was pregnant’. Well, she didn’t feel ashamed about it.
After that, I was completely disappointed and couldn’t say anything.
There’s no way to confirm it now, but perhaps, Father lacked the ability to conceive a woman.
Yes, such a person exists. No, it might not because his manhood was struck and couldn’t function. It might be because it was by birth. I asked Yuri-kun casually about that, and he said he had some idea of that.
Yes, that’s right. Men have a tendency to ejaculate outside in order to prevent women from pregnancy.
Well, yes. It’s reasonable.
Perhaps, even when she was in the school of Liberal Arts, or even if she wanted to marry my father and got pregnant, she couldn’t do it easily, so she slept with other men. Or maybe, she was just having affairs.
I checked it later, and apparently, Father and Mother weren’t their first partner respectively, and they had various sexual encounters. During fifteen years, they sometimes quarreled due to Father’s affair.
However, even though he had many encounters with housemaids and bar waitresses, no one got pregnant. There was no such a rumor. Anyone who has a relationship with an unspecified number of women for more than 10 years can have one or two children. That’s why, I think of what was the reason for it.
Speaking of Mother, she had intercourse for fifteen years, and she didn’t get pregnant. I suppose she became impatient. It’s not that I don’t understand. When I thought the result was myself, I didn’t feel good.
Well, yes. I’m now able to see it, but of course, it was different that time. I don’t feel bad about it anymore.
Yes, I vomited everything I ate. I was hungry all the time, but I couldn’t swallow anything. My mind was angry, and it felt like a plate was broken.
Hehe, when I think about it now, it feels interesting. Yes, that’s right. It was like breaking a plate. That’s what happened to me.
At that time, I had never held anything heavier than a spoon. That’s because I was an eight-year-old girl who was raised like a princess. The furniture didn’t break when I hit it.
I was sleeping in bed all the time, and when I got angry, I tried to tear the sheets and blankets as a kid. However, the blanket was torn a bit, even the thin sheets couldn’t be torn by my strength.
Speaking of the furniture, all of them in the mansion were luxury and sturdy. So, when I was angry and hit hard enough, it was so painful to the point I was rolling around the floor. Hehe.. that wasn’t the time to get angry.
The only damage I could do as a child was to throw a plate on the floor and break it. After that, I once threw a candlestick with a burning candle on the floor, and it became a mess.
In the end, I got worried as it became worse, so I went to Grandmother.
Yes. After all, she is a family member and she is the head of the household.
What I didn’t do until then was telling Grandmother about Mother’s wrongdoing. I was worried about what to do if Mother was severely punished. But I decided to say it eventually.
To me, at that time, Grandmother was a fair leader. As a result of my worries, I will have my mother judged. That’s what I thought.
Yes. After listening to my story seriously, Grandmother said ‘Why do you say that?’. Then… She said ‘I don’t really care. It’s a small thing when it’s about who it was’.
No no, I didn’t think that was terrible. There was a feeling that she was trying to comfort me. At that time, I was thinking that I also didn’t care who my real father was.
But, what I wasn’t convinced was that Father was betrayed. It was that.
Well, yes. Father was also having affairs, so I think they were to be blamed respectively. At that time, I didn’t know about affairs.
But, even if she had an affair, having another man’s child be falsely raised as Father’s child was another problem. Father loved me and raised me. However, the love he poured while he didn’t know was the fact was the love for his real child.
Mother didn’t only betrayed him once, but she told him lies, and that made Father express his pure love and dedication to me. That seemed to me a despicable misdemeanor that made me nauseous.
I told Grandmother sincerely. But, she didn’t seem to understand.
Father died without knowing anything, and no problems appeared on the surface. So, what was the problem? That was her opinion. That’s that, and it’s true. For the point of view of someone innocent like me, who didn’t have the knowledge of the world, it wasn’t a big problem. In the first place, I thought Grandmother was a good person.
Well, yes. I was naive.
That being said, what made me feel uncomfortable at this time was because of the Knight’s way of thinking, which Father taught me. Without him, I would have accepted Grandmother’s words.
This story is getting longer, isn’t it? That’s about the end of the story.
After that, for the first time, I had the opportunity to rethink my household businesses. As a result of various investigations, by the time I was ten years old, which was two years later, I had no intention of succeeding the business.
Yes, one thing after another, I wanted to enroll in the school of Knights, and live the way that Father wanted so much.
Then, when it was time to prepare for administration, I did a lot of work. I went into Grandmother’s and Mother’s office, and rewrote the documents cleverly.” (Myaro)
“Eh?” (Carol)
“Aah, yes.
It’s a disgraceful way of talking.
But, well, that’s right. It is more obvious than seeing a fire that the household cannot accept. I tricked them into admission. They weren’t still convinced of the Knights.
I got the documents of the school of Knights myself, clearly replaced with the one for the school of Liberal Arts, and I checked the letters that arrived at the mansion every day. So, the letters asking was it really fine not to enter the Liberal Arts or something like that, I burned them all in the fireplace. I came to the Academy during the examination of the Liberal Arts. Once I entered the building, I hid, and went back to the time when it was over.
So, the next day, I sneaked into the Knights exam. It seemed that Grandmother didn’t notice it until the day of the entrance ceremony.
Ehehe, Your Highness, you were angry with Yuri-kun for some reason. Then, you took him away when he was talking to me, didn’t you? Actually, at that time, I was afraid of being caught by the people of the household and put under house arrest.
Yes. if they arrested me, it wasn’t impossible to use their power to urgently make me enter the school of Liberal Arts. Of course, it would be difficult once the semester begins, but if you haven’t moved into the dormitory yet, it isn’t difficult to force it.
Hehehe… It’s kind of nostalgic. That day, I disguised myself like you are right now, Your Highness. Then, I walked in the school of Knights.
I hid the disguise in advance when I came to the castle for business. Yes. I still remember it.
It was in the fifth office on the first floor. It’s a place where cleaning tools that are rarely used are placed.
I investigated well even though I was a child. So, I changed clothes and secretly left the castle, and then, I went to the school of Knights.
However, I didn’t have to take that risk if Yuri-kun invited me for lunch at that time. Yes, he did. But, I refused.
Yes. Of course, when it came to lunch, he would be with Rook-sama. As expected, it is possible to kidnap me while being surrounded with a lot of people, who were nobles. So, if Yuri and I could act together in the school of Knights, it would be the safest.
However, well, I was able to disguise well and managed to arrive at the school of Knights safely. Then, Yuri-kun beat up Dora-kun that same day and made a big fuss.
Ahaha, when I think about it, that was the only time I’ve seen that Yuri-kun completely dejected.” (Myaro)
“Eh?” (Carol)
“Yes, that’s right. Aah, you weren’t there, Your Highness.
Yuri-kun was depressed that you couldn’t see his former self because of that bloodshed incident on the day of entering the dormitory.
After I talked to him, he left the Academy on the same day. He said ‘It’s over.’
Of course, it was impossible for the son of the Hou Household to have his future abandoned because of such a trivial incident. After I gave him that advice, it seemed like he was relieved a bit.
With that kind of feeling, I was able to enter the dormitory safely, but for the next six months, I didn’t go home.
Ehehe, I was reluctant. I knew, if I went back home, I would be scolded relentlessly. It doesn’t matter if lingering enthusiasm cools down in this world. It happens a lot.
But, well… in my case, even if the enthusiasm cools down, I won’t get a big welcome if I go home. Because of that, I still try not to go home even now.
—
At the end of Myaro’s long story, Carol had an indescribable look.
“Yes… I understand very well.” (Carol)
“Is that so?” (Myaro)
“After all, you explained it clearly.” (Carol)
Carol took Myaro’s hand. The palms of each other were a bit hard compared to girls.
“It doesn’t matter. Now is now, the past is the past. I’m happy now.” (Myaro)
“I guess you’re right.” (Carol)
“Right now, I’m worried about my job. Depending on the situation, it may be more tragic.” (Myaro)
Myaro said so.
“Hehe, if you’re in trouble, you can look for me or Yuri, either one is fine. Just let me know. If you do that, most things will be manageable.” (Carol)
“Yes, it is… Aah, the tea has finished. Shall we go now?” (Myaro)
“Yeah. We’ve talked a lot.” (Carol)
“Yes. We’ve stayed here for quite some time.” (Myaro)
“I will pay for it. Thank you for telling me your story.” (Carol)
Carol paid and the two left the shop. After that, they returned to the Academy, took off their disguises and returned to their daily routine.
—
TLN:
- The format for earlier part is a bit different. I don’t change anything from the raw.
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