<Episode 15>
“Father, Mother.”
“Chelsea!”
The two sides of the room are firmly pinned together.
It was my own parents, Count and Countess Reed, who were holding me in their arms with a force that was crushing me to death as my eyes were black and white.
It has been a little over a month since I started staying at the Duke of Beardsley’s house.
Thanks to the Duke’s family who treat me well, I am living a very fulfilling life.
I would not want to worry my parents, so I would have sent a letter to them, spelling it out politely to that effect.
However, it seems that the parents had made a request to the duke’s family to visit their daughter.
I was shocked to hear that that reclusive couple came all the way to the head duke’s house.
Even though it was during the social season, I wanted to praise them just for staying in at their townhouse in royal capital.
The two of them always made up some excuse to leave early, so it was a miracle that they didn’t leave me behind and go back to their territory.
It was a standing ovation.
Or perhaps a report that they are leaving early?
If so, I commend them if their coming just to tell me in person instead of in a letter.
They are doing a great job, considering for my father and mother.
And on the day of the visit.
My parents looked like they were about to fall into a coma as they were greeted by the entire Duke of Beardsley family.
“It’s been a long time, Sir Reid. It’s good to see you. Please make yourself at home today.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Paula, I am so glad you are here. When you and Chelsea are finished talking, the three of us will have a tea party.”
“Oh, thank you.”
My parents are as white as burnt-out ashes, compared to the blood-colored complexion of the welcoming Duke and Duchess.
I’m tempted to intervene and say that it’s time to give them a break, as his facial muscles and vocal cords seem to be at their limits.
I am not sure if Solomon-sama noticed my conflict, but he gently stopped the Duke and Duchess, saying, “You mustn’t interfere with their family reunion.”
The Duke and Duchess and Solomon-sama, who were reluctant to leave the room, and furthermore, the servants disappeared, as if they had been seen away.
I’m sure you are in a position to hear the bell, but I can only thank to Solomon-sama for setting up a place for us to talk private as a family.
A few seconds of silence falls between us left in the reception room.
I called out to my parents, who stared at me, puzzled. And that leads us to the beginning.
“Chelsea ……, you did great. How did you survive in such a gorgeous mansion, surrounded by such radiant beauties? Mother would be so proud of you.”
“I’m sure you’ve had a hard time because your father just wasn’t reliable. I’m sorry.”
The parents mourn as if they had thrown their daughter into a dragon’s den.
What is going on?
I thought I wrote that I was being treated well by everyone in the Duke’s household and living happily.
Or did I not reach them because they were eaten by goats on the way?
“But it’s all right now. Father will take care of it.”
“Ehhh….”
Just as I thought I had to clear up the misunderstanding first, I stopped moving when I heard the shocking words.
(Father said, “I’ll leave it to me”! That’s the first time in my life I’ve heard such a dependable word.)
The father who provides a way out of anything he does.
The father, who had said without hesitation that promises are made by people who have confidence in themselves, and who had never made even the smallest promise to take his daughter out to the city.
I am touched by the fact that they are refusing to back down even when facing the leading duke family.
I was so impressed that I almost forgot for a moment how he looked like a newborn foal when I first met him earlier.
“But father, the Duke of Beardsley is ……”
Before continuing that he has been very good to me, Father covers the words, “Don’t say that.”
“Certainly that man is brilliant. He is certainly a great man, and I am sure that nothing can compare to him in status, family, looks, or ability. He has one skill that you will never be able to imitate.”
“Special skill.”
I’ve never heard of that before, I muttered to myself.
My parents, ordinary people, are also ordinary people.
I was surprised that they had hidden abilities, even though I thought they were characterized only by the fact that everything was average, without any outstanding parts.
“What on earth is that?”
“Gulp,”
My father swallowed.
Just like me, who was watching, my father’s face was serious as he spoke..
“Get down on your knees.”
“What do you mean?”
The words could not be converted in my brain and spilled out of my mouth with dumb pronunciations.
I don’t understand what it means. No, I don’t want to understand.
I thought it was a (not-so-funny) joke by my father to lighten the mood, but he nodded his head with a serious face.
Mother is Mother, looking at Father with a trusting gaze. What is this crazy place? Am I crazy?
“Don’t worry. Father’s down on his knees is quite something, don’t you think?”
I would like to ask you not to be a little embarrassed and proud of your chest.
Because the difference between your choice of words and my choice of words confuses my brain.
“Father’s getting down on his knees, it’s beautiful. I love the way he throws away his pride without any hesitation. Mother saw that and decided to follow him.”
What kind of situation is it? I’m very curious about it.
I am curious, but I definitely don’t want to see it.
And please don’t make me listen to some nonsensical familiarity story.
I will not know how to look at my parents in the future.
I don’t know what to do, I can’t keep up with the tweaking.
It would be a mental breakdown if we had to deal with every strange situation from one end to the other.
Even if one escapes reality by wanting to let go of everything and sleep twice on a soft bunk, the scene in front of one’s eyes remains the same.
Feeling a headache, he set out to solve the problem, starting with one obvious one first.
“It’s a misunderstanding.”
“…… misunderstanding?”
Father and Mother both tilt their heads.
I nodded my head at the two of them, who were so similar to each other to no end.
“As I wrote in my letter, the Dukes have been very good to me. I myself am now enjoying my life, even though it began at the request of Solomon-sama.”
“Really?”
“Aren’t you pushing yourself too hard?”
The unadorned honesty was met with skepticism. Why?
“I’d like to ask why the letters are so suspicious of me.”
“You wrote in your letter that you wanted to die.”
“What?”
“How worried we were when we found the sentence, ‘I want to die, kill me.’ I couldn’t forgive myself for letting you off with the winds of cowardice.”
“What? I don’t remember writing those words!”
“You don’t have to do anything. Your timid words to ask for help with all the courage you could muster reached your father and mother.”
Mother then pulls out an envelope that looks familiar.
When I received and reread the letter he had written himself, I could not find such a tragic passage anywhere.
“Here. Here.”
Mother’s slender fingertips move vertically, ignoring the flow of the sentence.
“Why the vertical reading! No, and yet such a miracle …… happened.”
When I pulled out the words on the far left, a sentence that my father had said earlier appeared.
It seems that in an unknown place I had performed a miracle.
“It’s a misunderstanding.”
The same words were repeated.
As I thought that if I could formulate a sentence so neatly, it would sound false to me, my parents would not believe me.
“Don’t be afraid, Chelsea. Your mother is with you.”
“Sure, you can’t tell where or who is listening, even if you’re paying people off. But you can be honest. Father is ready.”
I want to rejoice, but I can’t, because my parents, who have always been so reliable, look at me with affection.
How many times did he repeat, “It’s true,” or “Don’t push yourself too hard”?
When the same questions and answers exceeded the number of fingers on each hand, they finally began to take my words seriously.
I was scared, thinking I had entered an endless loop.
“Then you really aren’t pushing it, are you?”
“You haven’t given up on your whole life and become desperate, have you?”
“Yes.”
He nodded firmly and without averting his eyes to their still semi-convinced questions.
Then they both let out a breath of relief.
I hear them say, “Thank God,” and I blush.
Though a little unreliable, I was once again glad to be their daughter.
“I was worried that you might be in despair now that your name has become known as Solomon-sama’s partner.”
“Huh?”
“I was surprised because I thought Chelsea was going to reject Solomon-sama’s proposal, but now that word has spread that the engagement is imminent, there’s no way I can find another partner. Mother was worried that you might be crying now that you have nowhere to run.”
“What about?”
“I’m not ready …… to be related to the Duke’s family, to be honest. But if Chelsea wants, then I’m fine with it.”
“Wait a minute.”
I interrupted the well-dressed father’s words with all my might.
I know you are trying to give me some inspiring words. But now is not the time.
“Solomon-sama and I, what?”
Father and Mother looked at each other and then looking at me in confusion.
Father, said. It seems that it all started when Solomon-sama embraced me in his arms at a recent evening party.
Solomon-sama is a gentleman and is constantly rumored to be involved with women, but he rarely touches a woman in the public eye.
Dancing and greetings are the least he can do, and the rest is just a touch on the shoulder in an accident.
He was so upset that he picked me up and asked me who I was dealing with.
The Reed family, who predicted that it would be rare for anyone to remember my face, said that my identity was immediately revealed.
Why. Was it so featureless that it stood out against the grain?
She is different from the daughters who have been named as Solomon-sama’s partners up to now.
She is not a playful person. In other words, he is serious, isn’t he?
Such a hellish game of association ensued, and I seem to have been successfully made a candidate for Solomon-sama’s fiancee.
(That’s ridiculous.)
Before I knew it, the story was moving along.
Without being prepared for any of this, I was forced to announce my participation in the battle for the future duchess’s position.
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