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Chapter 61
Hickson’s apology was quite crude. “It’s…”
“What?”
“I’m sorry.”
“So… what is this about?”
Hickson’s face turned red uncontrollably. Now that he was older, he wasn’t used to apologizing.
It was hard.
“In the past… I hurt you a lot.”
“I heard you became somewhat like a drunk dog.”
“Why are you talking about the past?”
“And correct your words.” Seal set down his cup of warm black tea. White steam rose from the cup. “You didn’t hit me a lot.”
“…What?” He didn’t know what else to say, so he promptly shut up.
“It was a simple situation.”
“Really?”
“I judged that responding to violence with violence was not suitable for the dignity of the nobility.” He laughed. “As long as it’s in the past, that’s fine.”
“…Really?”
“When you lost your daughter, I honestly thought it was justice.”
Hickson frowned. He had come to apologize, but this felt like scratching an open wound. Maybe he should teach Seal a lesson. It’d been a long time since his reputation was cemented, so he felt for a moment that it wouldn’t matter if he acted like it.
“My heart was so evil then too. So let’s forgive each other.”
“Do you even know what it means to forgive? I thought my ears would start bleeding because you always talk about honor and dignity.”
“Let’s make an agreement.” Seal put out his right hand. “I confess and apologize for having an evil heart. I ask for your forgiveness.”
“I can’t think of any reason not to. All right then.”
“Anyway, you accepted my apology. You can’t take it back later.”
Hickson held onto Seal’s hand. “I’m sorry for your son.”
A strange consensus was formed between the two. One lost his beloved daughter, and another lost his beloved son.
After shaking it three times, Seal let go of Hickson’s hand. “I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“You claimed to be the guardian of Princess Viola, right?”
There was a big smile on Hickson’s face. He wagged his index finger. “No. Viola asked me to help her.”
“Princess Viola?”
The princess in Seal’s eyes was cool and reasonable. She didn’t look like the type to reach out to someone for help.
“She wants to have a good adult next to her. She said she needs guidance.”
“That’s unexpected.”
“What about it?”
“That she chose you as a good adult.”
“I know.”
It was funny even to Hickson. What did Viola see that made her want his help? Why did she reach out to him?
“The Princess Viola I know is the owner of a calm and thorough spirit.”
“I know. That’s also what I think of her.”
“Princess Viola needed your help and at the same time recognized your need.”
“What do you mean, ‘my need’?”
“I guess she wanted to help you.”
“Viola wanted to help me?”
Hickson was lost in thought for a moment. In hindsight, his life did change after meeting Viola.
“She brought me back to life, from when I was living so pitifully.”
Was that the best way to describe it? Like some sort of salvation?
“I guess it’s true that she helped me. But why is that?”
“Princess Viola is a Verratoux. I’ve never seen a successor quite like her.”
That was right. That’s what Hickson thought too.
“She seems to have immense wisdom.”
Otherwise, these situations could not be explained.
“She reached out to you, who was a nuisance, and came here as a special envoy and opened my eyes. And…” Seal took a moment.
It was difficult to speak. A child in the belly of his beloved woman. The child who would be born due to his wife’s affair.
“What is it?”
“And she claimed guardianship over my child.”
“What, do you have a baby?”
Seal nodded. “Although it’s not exactly my child.” He gulped. “When I decided to forgive my wife… it didn’t matter. From now on, my wife’s child is my child. It’s like that.”
He didn’t know if he had forgiven her completely, but at the time, he had decided to embrace his wife’s everything. That was the forgiveness that he was thinking of.
“My child has tremendous magical talent.”
“They haven’t even been born yet. How would you know that?”
Seal only nodded, as if to state the obvious.
“Hey!”
“What’s wrong?”
“Don’t you have too many theories about the princess?”
“…What?”
Hickson’s nostrils flared. “I know Heron Verratoux is my friend.”
“That’s right.”
“Okay. No matter how monstrous Verratoux is, would he have that ability?”
“…”
“Even if you have theories in your head, you have to keep it at just the right amount, man. Why would Viola say that? Isn’t that idea too far-fetched? How would a fetus’ magical talent be recognized?”
It was as if Seal had been hit on the head. It made sense, now that he thought about it. Recognizing the magical talent of an unborn child? That was impossible even for the most skilled magicians.
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“Ah…”
Seal was deeply shocked and speechless for a while. It was like seeing a new side to Viola
Hickson smiled and continued to talk, “It’s true that she’s an iron-blooded Verratoux who knows how to wear a thousand masks.”
“…”
“But she’s really warm and cute.”
“Being warm and cute is just a part of being young. Are you kidding?”
But he was being serious! It was an exceptional warmth and cuteness.
“But even though I said it myself that it’s part of being young, somehow Viola being like that is unimaginable.”
Hickson burst into laughter. He decided to keep the precious secret of Viola’s qualities to himself.
It was then that the butler suddenly knocked on our door.
“What’s going on? I told you not to disturb us.”
“I’m here to report a great disturbance in the castle.”
“Disturbance?”
“Sir Jermi appeared,” the butler reported. The little storm Jermi—whose beauty caused numerous women to follow him into… entanglements, caused more than a few accidents.
Seal’s head started to ache.
“Three carriage accidents. Six incidents of injury while pushing each other. And two cases where some of them fought by grabbing each other’s hair. In summary, is this all that happened?”
“That’s right.” The butler fixed his glasses and continued his report. “It’s the new culture of young people.”
“New culture?”
“Yes. This group, which expresses a crazy feeling, is called a ‘fandom’.”
“Fans? Fandom? These are all strange terms.”
“Some of them are quite radical. They idolize and follow Sir Jermi.”
“What happened to the land?”
The butler took a deep breath.
This was the point.
“Because I said I was waiting for the beautiful spirit… That’s why the fuss grew even bigger. Some extreme fans, who predicted that the “dark young master” was the one they were seeking, grabbed each other’s heads and even fought.”
“But I think I’m waiting for Princess Viola.”
[I’ll be waiting for you at the village square.]
Viola frowned. At the end of the short note, Jermi’s name was written. Viola recalled the story she had been told. “If Jermi reveals himself in the village square without a disguise, accidents caused by the fandom will continue.”
She could tell without hearing the news that there must have been a commotion already. It was the early days of fandom culture.
The writer also described it themself. Jermi was close to the world’s first-generation idol. Before the mature fandom culture was established, it could be seen as the beginning of the process. As a result, there were much more extreme fans here than in South Korea in the 21st century.
“It’s better not to go out, right?”
No matter how much she thought about it, it was best to stay still. If she got involved with Jermi, that fandom…
She didn’t even know if she’d be safe from all these kinds of stones and insults from the people here. However, the letters seemed to appear by themselves on the note. It seemed to have been made to reveal the words over time.
[If you don’t arrive after an hour, I’ll sing a hymn for Viola Verratoux.]
Viola sighed deeply. “Does it really have to be this way?”
For Jermi’s fandom, the prestige of House Verratoux was not important. As soon as Jermi sang a hymn dedicated to Viola Verratoux, droves of Jermi’s fans all over the continent would start to think of Viola as their enemy.
‘This isn’t a dream is it?’
Viola called Xenon. “Give me my mask.”
“Yes, princess.”
This was a special mask created by Seivan Marcos, the puppet master.
It was so sophisticated that it was nearly impossible to recognize that it wasn’t the wearer’s real face. After finishing her disguise, Viola took the lead in walking as Xenon trailed closely.
Together, they headed to the square with two strong guards to prevent any possible mishaps. They deliberately moved in the direction of the largest and most colorful wagon on the road to prevent getting noticed. As they rode it, more guards were also deployed in advance as a precaution against quarrels.
Jermi sat near the central fountain of the square, and hundreds of fans were peeping around him to see him. Some even cried as if their lifelong wishes had come true.
“Xenon. Did we take that long that a group of hundreds of girls could have gathered here already?”
“We came as soon as we could…”
“Yes.”
“I’m meeting Lord Jermi like this.”
“Is there a need for all this?”
A gaudy wagon and a horse used only for exhibitions. The mask made by Seivan Marcos. Even these guards.
“No matter what happens, we can’t cut down innocent people. Even if we take these precautions it would still be a huge risk and we could face a rude crowd.”
“Wouldn’t it be quieter to reveal yourself as Viola Verratoux?”
Viola shook her head. It was true that Xenon was a great butler, but it seemed that he didn’t know enough to fear the threat of an extreme fandom.
“The Verratoux name is useless, too. It doesn’t matter in front of them.”
“Should I…?”
“They’re going to stare at me with fire in their eyes. If they find out that I’m Viola Verratoux…”
She imagined a sudden darkness in front of her. They would never see Viola Verratoux in the same way again. Tens of thousands of faceless people. It would result in the creation of a myriad of enemies.
Just thinking about it made her shudder.
But Viola didn’t say any of that.
“They’ll be rude to Viola Verratoux, and then Viola Verratoux will have to kill them. I don’t want to spill blood when I don’t have to.”
“As expected, you’re a princess.”
They arrived in front of the fountain. The carriage door opened and she was escorted down by Xenon—who was also wearing a mask.
She got off the wagon.
Viola felt numerous eyes on her. “Wow.” She felt thrilled for some reason, her heart pounding.
“Don’t come out, it’s raining. Stay inside.”
So sharp were her responding emotions that it felt like the original Viola would pop out.
It seemed that the life of an idol with a fandom was worse than that of a Verratoux.
“You’ve predicted all this, Scholar Jermi.”
“You’re here.” Jermi jumped from the fountain and dipped into a bow.
“Nice to meet you. I don’t really know what to do in these situations.”
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“Then I’ll make sure to keep you on your toes all the while.
“What does that mean?”
Jermi had predicted this whole situation and called Viola here on purpose.
In this situation, she thought that even if all the world’s possible futures had been made, they wouldn’t be something she could change, and the idea was an illusion. Jermi didn’t know Viola well yet. From Jermi’s point of view, she heard an answer that she had never thought of.
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