Episode 151
Initially, I intended to have a meal alone with Edenber, but because Rune struggled and insisted on following, Ikart ended up joining us.
“The Duke is dining with us as well? Ah, yes, yes…….”
Perhaps because it had been a long time since the two of them shared a meal, the servants were startled as if struck by lightning, yet they quickly prepared the table.
Dining with the father and son was awkward and uncomfortable.
Neither man said a word, but for that very reason, a taut tension hovered throughout the room.
“Edenber, do you want a strawberry?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“What about you, Duke?”
“I’m alright. You eat a lot of them.”
Asil nibbled on the strawberries she had offered them and glanced back and forth at Edenber and Ikart.
She tried to start a conversation in the middle to reconcile them, but they only gave short answers and quickly shut their mouths.
Asil, who was preoccupied with the father and son the entire time, made the mistake of eating a piece of broccoli she had set aside instead of a strawberry.
She even accidentally took a roasted potato that Rune had set down to eat.
“Ah, hot!”
“Kyang!”
However, Rune only grumbled softly and did not rebuke her for being a ‘bad lizard dragon’ like before.
It was likely because Rune read the atmosphere drifting through the dining room and reflexively kept a low profile.
After finishing the meal somehow.
Asil puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction throughout the carriage ride back.
‘Are they really sure they didn’t have a fight?’
No matter how she looked at it, there seemed to be something more beyond the lingering resentment from seven years ago, but she couldn’t figure out what it was.
Whenever she tried to ask subtly, the two of them would say they had never fought and quickly change the subject.
Even the servants of the Monlepe household only replied that they didn’t know.
But she didn’t like the idea of leaving the humans she liked in a state of discord.
‘What should I do about this?’
Just what happened to make their relationship worse than it was seven years ago?
It was as she returned to the Count’s estate with such worries.
“Asil!”
For some reason, Brianna and Arcian had faces filled with a mix of anger and worry.
“I heard you took the Basilisk venom.”
“Nothing happened at the Imperial Palace, right?”
Oops.
She had taken it secretly so they wouldn’t worry, but she had been caught.
‘I’m going to get scolded.’
Asil, feeling a bit dejected, shook her head side to side.
“No, nothing happened.”
“Give the venom to Mommy.”
Asil obediently handed over the bottle of venom. At this, Brianna checked the contents and narrowed her eyes.
“I heard you took more, so why is there only this much left? You didn’t actually use it on the Crown Prince, did you?”
“I tried to use it, but it didn’t work out. I’m sorry.”
Asil decided to confess voluntarily before getting scolded.
She bowed her head and even used formal language, which she rarely did.
However, it didn’t have much effect on the angry Brianna.
“Do you know how dangerous this is—!”
“She says she was wrong.”
On the other hand, Arcian was different.
He calmed the raising voice of Brianna and spoke in a steady tone.
“Asil, do you know what you did wrong?”
“Yes. I tried to do something dangerous without telling Mom and Dad.”
“Why?”
“To help Mom and Dad……. I’m sorry.”
As she bowed her head again, Arcian let out a light sigh, knelt down, and met her eyes.
“Are you going to do something like this again in the future?”
“No…… but I want to help Mom and Dad……”
“Your heart is more than enough. Our Asil doesn’t need to worry about these things. When Asil does dangerous things, Mom and Dad worry a lot.”
“Yeah…… I’m sorry.”
“Where did you use the venom?”
“I tried to put it on a handkerchief and touch it to the back of the Crown Prince’s hand, but he dodged it, so I couldn’t. But I wasn’t caught.”
“I see. Still, let’s promise Daddy not to do things like this from now on. Here, promise.”
“Promise.”
Asil hooked her pinky with Arcian’s and shook it. They even high-fived to seal the deal.
While the two shifters did that, Brianna held her forehead, trying to suppress her intense emotions.
Then she suddenly pointed out a blind spot that came to mind.
“Wait a minute. Weren’t you at the Empress’s tea party today? Did you see the Crown Prince alone?”
“That’s true. Where did you see the Crown Prince?”
“After the tea party ended, the Crown Prince called me to see him alone.”
“What? Alone?”
“Why?”
As it turned out, taking the venom secretly wasn’t the main issue. The two shifters were appalled by the unexpected words.
“He said he wanted to say things he couldn’t say at the Monlepe ducal house.”
“And when was that?”
“A few days ago? When we had the celebration party for Sister Lilibet and Brother Briden, he asked me if I had any intention of becoming the Crown Princess.”
Crack—
Cracks appeared in the venom bottle Brianna was holding. Sparks also flew from Arcian’s eyes.
“So what did you say?”
“I said I didn’t. But he kept bothering me, so Edenber helped me. He helped me at the Imperial Palace too.”
“That bastard dares to my daughter—!”
“If something like that happened, you should have told us right away!”
“I was going to, but I forgot.”
On the day she returned home, she had heard the talk about the exchange with humans, and Elcai came the next day, so she had completely forgotten.
Arcian grabbed Asil’s shoulders firmly.
“I understand. If something like this happens again, tell Daddy immediately. For now, Daddy will make sure the Crown Prince never approaches you.”
“Tell Mommy for sure, too. If you go alone to help like this time and get hurt, Mommy will be really angry. Got it?”
“Yeah, I got it. I’m sorry.”
Asil hugged Brianna tightly as an apology.
Brianna, having managed her heightened emotions, hugged Asil back.
Mom’s embrace was very warm.
Mom and Dad decided to handle Reinhardt’s constant clinging, but the fact that Edenber and Ikart were acting like sworn enemies was still an ongoing situation.
Since she was somewhat related to the reason their relationship had soured, Asil wanted to reconcile them.
So she visited the Monlepe ducal house more frequently to meet Edenber and Ikart.
“You’ve been coming often lately.”
“Yeah. Where is the Duke?”
She decided to start by connecting the two so they would see each other often.
Since she had heard they only saw each other about once every three months.
‘Maybe they’re just awkward because they don’t see each other often enough.’
In the past, when she first saw Arcian, she had also acted stiffly on purpose because it was awkward.
Once the ice was broken, words might pour out like a burst dam.
So, every time Asil went to Monlepe, she called Edenber and Ikart to have tea time together.
But.
“…….”
“…….”
Even if the first time was expected, by the second and third times, they returned after only drinking tea without exchanging a single word.
At least Ikart would speak if prodded, but Edenber was the problem.
He kept his expression stiffly hardened and only glared at his teacup.
After several more attempts, around the time the meaningless meetings reached the fifth time.
‘I don’t think this is the right way.’
Asil was walking through the garden of the Monlepe ducal house dejectedly.
She thought they would naturally open up if they saw each other often, but she was wrong.
On the contrary, she had only become closer to Rune, while there was no progress between Edenber and Ikart.
‘Let’s stop having tea starting today and use a different method from next time.’
How can I get the two humans to reconcile?
It was as Asil stopped in her tracks, racking her brain in serious thought.
“Does the Duke’s opinion remain unchanged?”
She heard someone’s voice nearby.
As she walked wherever her feet led her, she had reached a secluded area, and by chance, vassals were having a
conversation there.
“He remains the same. His opinion is that the current Duke is the only family head.”
“Their relationship doesn’t look good either, so I don’t understand it. Since the divine beast also follows only the Duke, it would be right for the Duke to become the family head.”
“Anyway, why does the divine beast follow only the Duke like this?”
“Well…… hasn’t the good relationship between the divine beast and the Duke been famous since a long time ago? After all, he even gave up his wife’s life to choose the divine beast.”
What? The Duke gave up what?
Startled, Asil’s eyes widened.
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