I Will Try to Save My Dad - Chapter 162

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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 162

24. Master of Diamond House

How strange.
Calips’s reaction to my rumor was utterly unexpected.
I’d assumed he would scoff and tease me, yet here he was, actively stepping forward and suggesting we flee together.
I studied Calips’s serious expression for a moment, then opened my mouth.
“Why?”
“Why, you ask?”
Calips cast a wary glance toward the Maids and Knights clustered behind me, then lowered his voice as he spoke to me.
“Do you know how old His Imperial Majesty is? He’s practically your Uncle’s generation. You want to marry your Father’s friend? Seriously?”
“I’m not marrying him.”
“Exactly. You’re usually so stubborn about not doing things you don’t want to do. What on earth are you thinking? Did someone threaten you?”
“No. I’m telling you—I’m not marrying His Imperial Majesty.”
I leaned close to Calips and whispered, conscious that we might appear quite intimate to onlookers, but
there was no other way to communicate while avoiding others’ ears.
Jeffrey and Roxie tactfully retreated. Thanks to them, the Empress’s people were also pushed back a few steps from where they stood.
“You’re not? Then what about all those newspaper articles? They were talking about it like it was practically confirmed.”
“Well, that’s because I really am engaged to the Igselona Royal Family.”
“The Royal Family? Is there another pervert among them?”
“That’s lèse-majesté, by the way.”
“So what? Only you’re listening anyway.”
“What if I report you?”
Calips heard my words and scoffed. Then he looked at me with an expression of amusement.
“You’d really do that, wouldn’t you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’d never do something so petty. Even if you’re not good at studying.”
…
“Anyway. Who is he? This member of the Royal Family?”
Calips furrowed his brow again and pressed me further.
I suddenly felt his presence unfamiliar to me. Until now, I had placed Calips within the boundaries I had drawn.
We’d built affection through bickering, but if he became Father’s enemy, he was someone I could push away at any moment.
“I have something I’m curious about.”
“I asked first. Answer my question.”
“What will you do if I do something mean to you, older brother?”
“What are you talking about now? How mean could it be? I’ll let it slide once—”
“You’ll let me get away with it once?”
“Why do you have to twist my words like that? Fine, I’ll let it slide, so just answer my question.”
But it seemed that at some point, Calips had begun drawing a line around me—one I wasn’t supposed to cross.
‘I won’t be letting anything slide.’
If Calips did something mean to me, I was fully prepared to return it tenfold.
I leaned close to Calips’s ear and whispered.
“Theon.”
“What are you talking about? What does he have to do with anything?”
“I’m going to be engaged to Theon.”
“So he’s….”
Calips, who had been listening to my whisper with a furrowed brow, seemed to fall into thought for a moment before suddenly straightening up like a spring.
“Him?!”
Calips had eyes too. The Emperor’s black hair and Theon’s black hair. I wasn’t sure if he’d deduced that Theon was a prince, but he’d certainly picked up that Theon was of royal blood.
Calips looked so shocked he’d lost his words, hiccupping a couple of times.
I stepped closer and patted Calips’s back while whispering again.
“It’s a secret, so you can’t tell anyone until today is over, okay?”
“You, all this time, hic—”
Calips looked at me with eyes full of disbelief. I grinned. We were in a spot where no one but Jeffrey and Roxie could see us.
“And I won’t be letting you slide if you do anything mean to me.”
“….”
At my threat, Calips let out a short exclamation as if he found it ridiculous. But what could he do?
“Older brother, next time I’ll teach you how to negotiate.”
“What negotiation?”
“‘Never mention unfavorable terms first.’ Just remember that for now.”
Calips’s foot was trying to slip into the line I’d drawn.
I had to decide whether to block it or let him cross just a little. I needed more information about my cousin.
“I’ll teach you the rest later. Though that’ll only be possible if we get through today safely.”
The fact that Calips was Aunt Mariane’s only son remained unchanged.

***

“Berry Quartz Trabel.”
I was about to enter the Banquet Hall building with Calips when it happened.
Jeffrey grabbed my arm.
“Yes, Jeffrey?”
I stopped walking and turned to look at him beside me. But Jeffrey’s words didn’t come. His lips pressed firmly shut. His gaze fixed on the hand gripping my arm.
“Traitor, hurry up.”
Calips stood beside the staircase connected to the entrance, urging me forward. As if he hadn’t noticed anything unusual, his tone remained characteristically sharp.
“Right, right.”
Officially it was a medal ceremony, but it was also an occasion where I represented the Trabel Family.
It was better for the family’s reputation to enter together with Calips as my escort, so I had no choice but to do so.
“Wait a moment.”
I gestured to Calips to wait. Jeffrey’s demeanor seemed serious.
“Jeffrey, what is it?”
“About the engagement.”
“Ah, yes.”
At his words, I was momentarily flustered, my heart skipping. I never expected him to bring up that topic here.
I’d only told Jeffrey this morning that I would announce my engagement to Theon.

“I know.”

Contrary to my expectations that Jeffrey would be shocked, he responded calmly.

“But it’s fake, right? You’re doing this to build credentials for Diamond House.”
“You heard?”
“Of course. You’d hurt my feelings if you underestimated my hearing.”

That conversation had ended there. After that, I’d had to ride the Wolf Clan all the way to near the Imperial Palace.
I waited for Jeffrey’s next words with a hint of tension.
“You still have five years left.”
Jeffrey’s lips curled up playfully. The faintly visible fangs of the Wolf Clan caught my attention.
“Until the wedding.”

***

“Calips Presto Trabel and Berry Quartz Trabel are entering!”
At the Attendant’s booming announcement, every eye in the Banquet Hall turned toward us.
More precisely, toward me.
‘Good heavens. There are so many people.’
Glittering chandeliers, ceilings bathed in gold, dozens of people dressed in elaborate finery.
“We’ll guide you to your seats.”
The Attendant led Calips and me down the Central Corridor, where a crimson carpet with white borders stretched before us.
The structure evoked the main chapel of the Grand Temple. Seats lined both sides of the Central Corridor, and at its end stood a broad dais adorned with an ornate, immense imperial banner hanging against the wall.
The Emperor and Empress’s thrones were positioned at the center, with elaborate chairs placed at the edges of the dais on both sides.
‘One of those must be where Theon will sit.’
I focused on that thought as I walked, using it to shield myself from the weight of all those watching eyes.
Whether the Empress Palace had issued a gag order or not, I heard no whispers about the newspaper article, but they couldn’t suppress their stares.
“They’re staring so intently.”
Calips muttered with displeasure.
“A spectacle, perhaps.”
“Maybe it’s because I’m beautiful.”
“…I can’t argue with that today.”
“So you’re saying I’m beautiful?”
“Yes.”
Calips answered curtly to my impudent question, as if telling me to stop.
We passed the rear seats where commoners receiving medals sat, and arrived at the front row of the nobles’ section.
“Theon Phil Voltman is entering!”
With the Attendant’s thunderous cry, the murmur that had begun at the entrance swelled like a wave.
I felt the eyes that had been fixed on me shift backward. Since there was no gag order regarding Theon, the previously quiet Banquet Hall filled with gasps of admiration.
“Tch.”
Calips, who had turned first, clicked his tongue and then collapsed into his seat like a man defeated, guided by the Attendant.
‘It’s Theon.’
Most of the murmuring concerned ‘the identity of that beautiful man.’ This was the moment the diamond that had been hidden all this time finally emerged into the world.
My heart swelled with overwhelming emotion as I turned to look.
“Berry.”
Theon called my name.

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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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