In fact, she wounded her finger in the winter when she was 22. While she was crying, holding her dead father’s coffin, her finger was scratched by a nail that protruded from it and bled a lot. Luckily, her family doctor Laeneek, who was at the funeral, gave her first aid. But the ugly scar on that finger couldn’t be removed.
“If you had your finger hurt in the summer or if you had tetanus, you probably would’ve had to cut your finger. I am so glad that your finger looks okay. Since the wound is hardly visible, don’t worry too much,” Codelli said. She could vividly recall Codelli’s voice who said so on the day when the doctor removed her bandage.
And the wound was still there on the same spot in the same shape as if to prove that her 23 years of life was not a dream.
At that moment, someone knocked on the door.
“Lady, it’s Hugo.”
The person who knocked was Hugo, he butler of the house.
She hurriedly hid her hand and looked out the window like a child caught stealing something.
“Come in.”
When she okayed, Hugo opened the door politely and showed his manners. He seemed too young to be the butler of her house, but he was more capable than any of the other servants in the house and won her father’s absolute trust. His sharp character and perfect attention to details could be confirmed by looking at his swept hair and tight shirt collar.
“What’s the matter?”
“I’ve got a message for you.”
“Message?”
When Marianne asked, Hugo answered in a polite tone.
“It looks like Duke Kling will come home soon. Originally, he was supposed to be back tomorrow afternoon, but he has adjusted his schedule a bit.”
“My father is coming now?” she asked in a trembling voice.
When she walked out of the bathroom, she asked Cordelli about where her father was.
Though her father left the mansion because of his inspection, she was told that he would return soon. Although she could not see him right before her eyes, she could believe the premise that his father was alive.
In particular, Hugo’s statement that her father would be here soon was clearly different from a vague answer that he was somewhere.
“Yes. he will probably arrive in about an hour.”
“I have to go out. I want to go out and wait for him.”
She was about to run out to the gate when Hugo stood in front of her gently.
As if she had read Hugo’s mind, Cordelli spoke as she returned to the room, “If you go out in a dress like that and get exposed to the cold air, Hugo and I could be fired today,”
“You still have some more time. You won’t be late even after you get dressed up first.”
She looked down at her body. Since she just came into her bedroom out of the bathroom, all she put on was loose silk pajamas and a thin gown for indoor wear.
“Got it. Let me get ready soon after changing clothes.”
“Let me tell the chief maid and help you prepare”.
“Don’t do that. Mrs. Icell might be absent-minded with lots of other stuff because my father is suddenly coming back. That’s why you’re here, Hugo, right?”
“I’m sorry.”
As if he was caught off guard, Hugo bowed politely and went out.
Cordelli put a tea tray on the table and looked impressed.
“I am just amazed by Duke Kling’s dedication to you. In fact, he said his schedule was too tight for him to be back in time for your birthday. So, I was a bit worried. But he kept his promise! I think he is the most dedicated and kindest man in Aslan.”
Forgetting her own position, Marian laughed at her praise of her father.
Corelli’s words reminded her of her father’s kindness and affection.
She wanted to see him as soon as possible, right now.
Rather than an hour, she didn’t want to wait another ten minutes.
“I agree. My father has cared for me so much like this, I think I have to repay for his efforts. Can you help me prepare for his return?”
“Sure. Let me call the junior maids and pick out the dress for you ”
Cordelli quickly left the room as if she was more excited than Marianne.
Left alone, she turned around and looked at the quiet room again.
She felt it looked like a dream, but she became calm when she touched the scar on her left hand as if she memorized a spell. It was really strange.
Though the scene unfolding before her eyes as was nonsensical and even ridiculous, she felt she was recovering the sense of reality little by little.
It was only about a month or so after Duke Kling returned home after the tour.
It took him so long partly because the Aslan Empire was large and vast, and partly because the two territories he ruled were too far from his house.
Most of the great aristocrats with more than two territories had either pioneered or subordinated the land adjacent to their original territories. But Kling was a little different. The Castle of Kling was located at the southwest end and the Castle of Lennox was at the north end.
Given this situation, a full month was not enough for him to make a good inspection trip. According to his usual schedule, it would take at least two months for him to finish the inspection tour, so it was thanks to Duke Kling’s special considerations of his daughter that he cut down his schedule by 15 days and came back home. Before he left, he had promised to return before her lovely daughter’s birthday, and as promised, he returned to his mansion in Lennox two days before her birthday.
Several carriages arrived in front of the mansion, led by Astolf Knights, the elite knights of northern Lennox. Duke Kling got out of the middle one in a row of carriages.
Marianne, eagerly pacing up and down at the entrance of the mansion, quickly glanced over a bunch of people. Even though there were only a few people moving around, her heart beat so fast that she could not find him. After sunset, the yard was lit by rows of lanterns, but what she saw was blurry. She realized after a long time that it was blurry because of the tears in her eyes.
“Oh, Marie. My lovely daughter!”
In the end, Duke Kling recognized her first.
She heard his familiar voice coming from far away.
‘Marie, my lovely daughter.’
She breathed in when she heard that familiar and kind voice of his. She wanted to run and hug him right away, but her feet wouldn’t move.
The wound on her told her this was not a dream or hallucination.
Nevertheless, she was stricken by the fear that her father coming nearer to her might be a ghost.
‘If I approach him, look at his eyes and hold his hands, will I disappear in a handful of ashes? What if my body is broken like the frozen soil that buried my father during that cold winter? Maybe I’m still dreaming a dream that I won’t wake up from while being rotten in that lake…’
She crumpled the collar of her dress without knowing what to do.
A light blue frill of her dress was squeezed out through her fragile hands.
“How have you been? I really pushed the horsemen hard to come back before your birthday,” said Duke Kling, who climbed up the stairs quickly while doing himself credit for his quick return.
“Marie? Why are you crying? Are you sick?”
He was pretty much surprised at the wet marks around her eyes.
In fact, it was not only Kling Duke, but also all of the people, including the chief maid, who were pretty much embarrassed at her reaction.
“Marie, what’s wrong with you? Huh? What happened? Mrs. Icell, what happened during my absence? Why didn’t you report it to me quickly? I clearly told you that you should report to me anything about her, right?”
“I’m sorry, sir. Except for what I reported to you regularly in letters, there has been nothing unusual or particular about her.”
Chief Maid, Countess Elgot, was restless while watching her face.
Given that there was no duchess and no successor, Marianne was the only woman that she had to take care of. Sometimes it was a greater sin to fail to meet her feelings than to rub the duke the wrong way.
“Dad!”
If Marianne had not diverted Duke Kling’s attention by calling him at that moment, Mrs. Icell and her maids would have been given a good scolding on the spot.
Fortunately, the duke immediately turned his eyes from the countess and looked at his daughter. He wiped her wet cheeks kindly.
“Come on, Marie. Tell me what happened. Why are you crying?”
“Dad, I… … . ”