Chaptet 41
Leaving Teiti’s joke behind, Daphne once again scanned the group of the subjugation party.
The front is the Guardians, the middle is the Rose Knights, and the end is the procession made up of the knights from the Finch Marquis family.
Since the knights of the Grand Duke’s family had inserted themselves around the middle of the procession, including those protecting Daphne, Daphne could observe the Guardians and the Rose Knights better.
That’s why she could feel the strange atmosphere even more.
The Rose Knights overall had diminished momentum, and the Guardians were glancing back and observing Daphne.
What is it, exactly?
Daphne frowned with her arms crossed.
“Come to think of it.”
At that moment, Teiti suddenly opened his mouth.
“There should be a child from the Akion family among the apprentice Guardians.”
“What?”
Daphne’s eyes widened. Because she had never heard such a thing before.
“Are you talking about my older brother?”
“Yes. The eldest, I think. Lache Akion.”
“Why are you saying that now?”
“If I say I forgot to mention it, will you hit me?”
“…….”
She wanted to smack Teiti, but if this guy collapsed from being hit, there would be no one to drive the carriage instead, so she had to endure it. Instead, Daphne made another choice.
“I can just meet that guy and ask. Yebara, bring my older brother here.”
She spoke to the Grand Duke’s knight nearby.
“Yes? Wh-what did you say?”
“Are your ears blocked? I said bring my older brother.”
“Th-that…… Yes! Understood.”
The knight made a reluctant expression and then turned the reins.
Since it was a somewhat strange attitude, Daphne tilted her head.
“Why is he acting like that? Have you heard anything from Anne or Anna?”
Anne and Anna always spared their words to Daphne, but ever since Teiti was decided as Daphne’s attending physician, they had been chattering to Teiti about many things in detail.
Most were stories from inside the mansion, so they were quite helpful informants for the current Daphne.
“Lady Daphne. I am an elf. A pure, natural elf with no interest whatsoever in human affairs. Ha, I’m so pure that being with humans makes it hard to breathe…….”
“If you don’t want to bash your head on the carriage, answer properly.”
“I know that the reason the human named Lache became an apprentice Guardian is because of lady Daphne.”
Teiti, whose desire to persuade Daphne again and be abandoned was shattered, replied obediently.
“That human named Lache isn’t a kid brought from an orphanage like Arius or Vipera, but the son of the hero’s friend, I heard. So lady Daphne bullied him more. I heard she cursed at him and hit him and stuff. So maybe that’s why he didn’t come out to greet her even now.”
“…….”
She felt dizzy.
What on earth was this body thinking, going around picking fights everywhere.
To begin with, it couldn’t even be seen as a child’s temper.
“Lady. I’ve brought the eldest young master!”
At that time, a horse approached from behind Daphne.
The one sitting was a boy with light purple short hair reaching his shoulders.
The jet-black pupils that stood out like obsidian embedded in contrast to the bloodless pale skin.
Daphne felt as if a film was covering Lache’s eyes.
“It’s been a while, Daphne.”
That smiling expression,
“Have you been well?”
The kindly offered voice also felt somehow alien.
Daphne was briefly silent.
From Teiti’s words, it could be inferred that the guy named Lache would not want to meet this body.
It wouldn’t be just dislike; he probably ran away from home and joined the Guardians.
Therefore, considering this guy’s state of mind, it seemed she couldn’t ask anything here.
“Phew.”
Daphne, admiring her vast magnanimity and outstanding consideration, opened her mouth.
“(It would be polite to ask if I’ve been well too, but since you probably don’t want to talk to me right now, for now) just ignore it and go back.”
“……Weren’t you the one who called me?”
“That’s right, I called you. But (since we can’t talk properly in this procession, we can see each other later. So) it’s fine.”
“…….”
Lache’s raised lips trembled slightly.
He forced his drooping lips to stay up and folded his eyes in half to smile.
“You really haven’t changed at all.”
Then he turned the reins and went back.
Haven’t changed.
Could it be that Teiti got wrong information? Was the old Daphne quite kind? Daphne was momentarily confused.
“Lady Daphne.”
Teiti spoke to such Daphne.
“As expected, you have a great talent for making the other person angry! The best! Amazing!”
……Did I do something wrong?
***
The procession that entered the mountain path is now preparing for camp.
Originally, they would stop at a village and stay at an inn, but since time is urgent, they chose camping for convenient quick movement.
As an apprentice Guardian, Lache was in charge of gathering firewood.
‘Damn it!’
Lache, who was gathering branches, ground his teeth.
-Ignore it and go back.
-That’s right, I called you. But it’s fine.
No, she forcibly dragged me here and then tells me to go back as soon as she sees my face? Is that words or what? Is she crazy? Is she sane?
“Ah. There was never a time when she was sane.”
Lache clicked his tongue and snapped the branch he was gripping.
He hates Daphne. He really hates her!
……But what he hates the most is his weak self who can’t even retort to such a Daphne.
‘Annoying.’
When his father, Duke Evet, died in battle, Lache was adopted into the Akion Grand Duke’s family.
However, that adoption was entirely the adults’ decision.
After his father passed away, his mother, left alone, decided to send Lache as soon as she received contact from the Grand Duke.
-They say they’ll give money if I send you. What can I do when I don’t even have money to buy a piece of bread right now?
Lies.
She could sell the necklace around her neck, sell the rings on every finger joint.
But Lache’s mother wasn’t that good of a person.
-I’m sending you because I have no choice, so don’t resent me.
Lache didn’t even have a choice.
He just said thank you, please take care of me, changed his surname, and became the Grand Duke’s son.
He thought he could be disowned at any time.
He thought he could be sent back to that horrible mother at any time.
No matter how much Heros gave him many things, no matter how much Grand Duchess Elize said she loved him, he was anxious. Nervous. So he worked hard at swordsmanship, studies, to the point of vomiting blood, but he couldn’t feel at ease. Because he wasn’t a ‘real child.’
But after Vipera and Arius were adopted, Lache began to harbor hope that perhaps this could become his real home.
That these people are his real family.
That his birth mother, who tried her best to sell him off somehow, isn’t family.
That someday he could call them father, mother…… he thought.
Then Daphne was born.
Killing the beloved Grand Duchess.
There wasn’t even time to grieve over the fact that the person who loved him next to his father had left the world.
The Grand Duke no longer paid attention to the children, and the children were thus abandoned in the mansion.
So Lache tried somehow to embrace his younger siblings.
He thought that returning the love he received from the Grand Duchess was mourning for her.
If he raised his siblings like that, someday the Grand Duke would look back at us, he held hope once again.
But no.
The Grand Duke never looked back at them in the end,
And the grown Daphne trampled on them without fail.
-You have parents, right? Then why are you whining here? Don’t you know shame? No pride?
-Our dad brought you because he pitied you. How long are you planning to stick around? Shameless!
Such curses were mild.
“Haa…….”
Lache, squatting down, covered his face with his hands and let out a long sigh.
“It would be nice if she just stayed roughly and went back. It’s hard for me even to see your face.”
Well, anyway, since she’s a pampered lady, this kind of camping won’t suit her constitution.
She’ll probably throw a tantrum demanding a bed right away or yell to prepare warm bath water.
It’s really fortunate that the first day is camping.
“Then, shall I go back now.”
Lache tried to calm his pounding heart after seeing Daphne and stood up.
When he arrived at the campsite like that…….
“Huh?”
What is that?
☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆▪︎▪︎☆
By Anna 💓
