I Will Try to Save My Dad - Chapter 152

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 152

Had the Imperial Palace always extended such a lavish welcome?
Yet, as if to dispel my doubts, I caught sight of maids and servants bustling about with armfuls of flowers, seemingly preparing wreaths for other occasions. The sheer abundance of blooms suggested they were crafting multiple arrangements.
‘Goodness. How much must all this cost?’
Winter was the season when flowers commanded exorbitant prices. The wreath before us was enormous—larger than two servants combined—and studded generously with rare, expensive varieties. Converting it to currency, it easily exceeded four million Cona.
Of course, since the flowers came from the Imperial Palace’s Greenhouse, it was the Greenhouse’s inventory that would suffer, not the budget.
“Who…?”
The Attendant beside me, apparently sharing my thoughts, stood slack-jawed. Then, with trembling legs, he walked toward the servant behind the wreath and asked.
“W-who sent these flowers?”
“Her Majesty the Empress sent them.”
“You haven’t confused the dates, have you? Weren’t these supposed to be prepared for use two days from now? Surely Her Majesty the Empress ordered it that way originally.”
The Attendant lowered his voice behind the wreath, glancing nervously at us. Though his words were meant to be inaudible, we had Jeffrey. He summarized the conversation and relayed it to us.
“Apparently Her Majesty the Empress suddenly issued new orders. Since the Trabel Family has been so helpful, she wants the display to be the most magnificent… ugh. The flower scent is overwhelming. I can’t stay here any longer. I’m leaving.”
Jeffrey pinched his nose and rushed off somewhere deeper into the Separate Palace. Calips accepted this welcome as his due, letting out a satisfied smirk before following in the direction Jeffrey had gone.
“Calips, where are you going?”
“To my room. By the way, the largest and finest room is mine.”
The three burly servants Calips had brought gathered the luggage and thundered after him. Theon and I remained in place until the wreath was finally positioned in the center of the Separate Palace’s Lobby.
‘Once we’re in our rooms, I don’t know when I’ll have another chance to be alone with Theon.’
The Knights were busy dividing up guard posts, and the servants were occupied distributing luggage. Now was the perfect moment. We stood side by side against the wall of the Lobby, watching the bustling activity unfold.
“Theon.”
“Mm.”
This morning, the adhesive on the sticky substance that had bound our hands together had weakened enough to peel away.
“The adhesive seems to have completely worn off now.”
I spoke as I removed the gloves, which had hardened from the residual stickiness clinging to my hands. Theon also removed his leather gloves. Fortunately, since it was winter, no one found it odd that we wore gloves.
“There’s something I want to ask you.”
Yet an unresolved question remained. Even though our hands were no longer clasped, I felt as though Theon held my entire being in his grasp.

“Go ahead.”

Last night.
I was so startled by Theon’s answer that I couldn’t form another word.
‘Was I caught?’
My heart hammered against my ribs. I couldn’t turn my head back from where I’d faced Theon, instead holding my breath entirely. Even closing my eyelids felt like something he would notice. My palms, clasped together beneath the blanket, burned with heat. Shame flooded my face with warmth, and the sound beginning in my heart thundered against my eardrums.
‘…Ugh.’
Then I realized an obvious truth—that he could feel my heartbeat from my wrist. That it was being transmitted to him completely.
I quickly lowered my eyelids. Perhaps if I couldn’t see his silhouette, I could regain composure. Was that desperate choice the problem?
Silence, darkness, scorching warmth, a racing heart, Theon’s answer repeating, and Theon, only Theon….
‘Please, just stop.’
I spent the entire night trying to rationally convince my uncontrollable body, and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep. Theon appeared even in my dreams.

– Should we not cancel the engagement?
– You want your teacher to die, don’t you, Berry.

Dream-Theon’s answer felt more real.
‘I might have misheard. I thought it was an answer because I heard it clearly, but “yes” is something that could slip out even as sleep talk. And Theon hasn’t said anything again since then.’
After waking, rationality took the lead. My mind shifted to the far more plausible scenario of sleep talk, but to cleanly sever this feeling that Theon had caught me in, I needed to hear his answer directly. People’s psychology works that way—I’d read it in a book.
“Did you sleep well yesterday, Theon? It must have been uncomfortable sleeping on the sofa.”
“It was fine.”
“Really? That’s a relief. I couldn’t sleep well last night. I was bored, so I asked you something, and you answered me in your sleep, didn’t you?”
It was fortunate that I was removing my gloves. I fidgeted with the gloves in my hands, adjusting their shape. My appearance of organizing the gloves shouldn’t seem unnatural. Even if my voice quickened, Theon would think I was concentrating on the task.
“It was sleep talk, right?”
I touched the fingers of the gloves as I asked Theon. My heart trembled as though it would escape with my words. As if Theon was trying to take the ruined gloves from my hands, he placed his hand on them and answered.
“No.”
“I thought as much….”
My eyes met Theon’s. It hadn’t been many weeks since the way I looked at Theon changed. And I had quite a talent for noticing his changes. Perhaps it was because Theon, like Father, was beloved by the wind spirit. Father’s wind had been with me since infancy, before my eyes could even open.
But that wasn’t what mattered now.
I couldn’t pinpoint exactly when it began, but the way Theon looked at me had always been the same. That gaze that said he would become wholly my ally. Those eyes that made being beside me seem inevitable.
Theon took the gloves from my hands.
“….”
“It wasn’t sleep talk.”
I quietly nodded to Theon.
“Yes.”

***

“Miss, may I reorganize the bedding? The Imperial Palace maids seem rather lacking in skill.”
Anne and Sherry remained at Stone House, but bringing no maid to attend to me at the Imperial Palace could have been seen as an oversight.
I had asked Zena Chaser to employ a trustworthy and skilled maid, and one had joined us from the Imperial Capital.
“If you’ll entrust me with it, I’ll show you what true craftsmanship looks like.”
Roxie, my maid, picked up a long wooden rod and her eyes gleamed with determination. She looked like a knight stepping onto the battlefield.
“Sure. Go ahead.”
“If it’s acceptable, would you mind moving to another location? Dust may scatter.”
“…A lot? Can’t I stay in my room?”
“You may stay in your room, but I wouldn’t feel at ease.”
“Mm, understood. Then I’ll stay with the others.”
“Yes, thank you. Please stay with your friends rather than the knights. It’s better to be with people you can trust.”
Receiving Roxie’s earnest farewell, I grabbed my bag and stepped out of the room. It was filled with Burdbell’s inventions. With this bag alone, I could hold my own against most knights.
As I walked down the corridor pondering where to go, a smile crept across my lips.
‘Should I go see Theon?’
I wondered if I could continue our earlier conversation.
‘Perhaps Theon feels the same way I do…’
Suddenly, Father’s face flashed through my mind. And the scene that followed—a high priest standing before Father’s coffin. It was Father’s funeral.
I shook my head side to side. The excitement I’d felt imagining my relationship with Theon deepening evaporated in an instant.
‘I’ll put off talking with Theon until two days from now.’
Given the current situation, going to Diamond House was almost certain, but nothing in life was 100 percent guaranteed. I couldn’t afford to let my guard down until the very end.
It was when I tightened my grip on the bag.
“Oh, Berry.”
Jeffrey, who had hidden somewhere in the Separate Palace to escape the flower scent, called out to me.
“Jeffrey? Where were you? I was looking for you.”
“In an empty room~ I couldn’t go down to the first floor. The smell is still there.”
Jeffrey made a fanning motion in front of his nose, then caught sight of my hands and grinned widely.
“You took off your gloves?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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