I Will Try to Save My Dad - Chapter 179

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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 179

“No.”
I answered Jeffrey immediately. That comment was just him teasing me again about something Theon had said to me recently.
He’d overheard Theon say something to me and often repeated it like that. I was startled at first, but now I’d grown accustomed enough to respond to Jeffrey calmly and without hesitation.
“Tsk.”
At my response, Jeffrey clicked his tongue and leaned back, sliding his hand into the inner pocket of his formal coat.
With an attractive metallic clink, a small, weighty leather pouch emerged in Jeffrey’s grasp.
“Sister Berry, give me your hand.”
“Gold coins again?”
I asked as I accepted the pouch of gold coins from Jeffrey. He always received his modeling fees in gold coins and invariably entrusted them to me.
“Shouldn’t it be time for you to manage them yourself?”
“Is it bothersome?”
“No. I just deposit them in the bank—it’s nothing.”
The gold coins Jeffrey entrusted to me had been kept in a safe, but they’d accumulated to a point where my personal safe couldn’t contain them, so I’d been using a bank vault for several years now.
“Then just keep managing them for me. If I held onto them, I’d only squander them.”
Jeffrey pressed his hand over mine, which held the pouch of gold coins, squeezing gently. His fingertips brushed against the ring on my ring finger—my engagement ring with Theon.
“You said you’d triple it for me.”
“It’s already tripled.”
“Really?”
Jeffrey’s tail wagged. I’d been converting the gold coins at market rates and investing the cash elsewhere, and the returns had been quite substantial.
“Then how much is it? Enough to make a bed out of gold coins?”
“…Jeffrey.”
“What?”
“It would be impossible to make a bed out of gold coins even if you worked your entire life.”
But it fell far short of Jeffrey’s ambition.
When I was younger, I used to sing about wanting to succeed enough to own a bed made of gold coins. Perhaps that was the influence.
He might believe that a successful person should have at least one gold coin bed in their home.
It was time to show Jeffrey the reality of things.
“280 billion cona.”
I told Jeffrey, looking at him.
“That’s the cost of stacking gold coins to the size of a single bed. The gold coins in your vault are worth 2.1 billion cona.”
Though it was already a substantial fortune, Jeffrey’s wealth seemed trivial before a gold coin bed.
I waited for Jeffrey’s reaction with a bittersweet feeling of crushing childhood dreams. Jeffrey’s tail swayed as a grin spread across his face.
“Then I’ll have to entrust all my money to you for life.”
“What?”
“You have to always meet me when I come to deposit money. Understood? Since all my wealth is with you, I’ll be anxious if you don’t meet me.”
Well, that was true enough.
His words made such perfect sense that I found myself nodding along. Jeffrey’s eyes crinkled as he smiled beautifully, and for a moment, he looked just like the innocent Jeffrey I remembered from childhood.
“You really never change, Jeffrey. I bet next time I see you, you’ll ask if I’ve grown again.”
“Come on, I’m all grown up now. Really.”
Jeffrey released my hand gently.
“Sister, will you marry me now that I’m grown?”
His frivolous joke came right to the end. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I already said no.”

***

Father said he wouldn’t oppose my marriage to Theon as long as I remained healthy. But there was one unexpected obstacle in our marriage plans.

“I cannot permit this marriage.”

It was early this year.
It was the time when the Forest Spirit completed the water vein, when I had planned to seek permission for marriage.
Count Trabel, now fully recovered from his illness and far more vigorous than before, had firmly refused.

“You arranged the engagement on your own, and now you want to arrange the marriage too? Absolutely not.”
“Grandfather, don’t you want me to become the Crown Princess?”
“I don’t. Why would I hand over my granddaughter to the Imperial Palace, swarming with royalty? Instead, tell that boy Theon to come to our side. Then I’ll give my permission.”

Theon knew nothing of the dispute that went back and forth between Grandfather and me for days. And at the end of it, I struck a wager.

“Let’s make a bet, Grandfather.”
“Hmph, I must be getting old. I’m hearing strange things.”
“Baron Hanton’s health isn’t good, and he’s looking for someone trustworthy to inherit his vineyard. It’s the place that produces the wine you love.”
“That baron is stubborn as a mule. He cherishes that vineyard so much that he throws a fit over the smallest thing. Even his own son, full of enthusiasm, gave up and ran away from taking over the family business. There’s no way he’d hand it over to anyone else.”
“So you’re saying it’s impossible to acquire the vineyard?”
“That’s right.”
“Let’s bet on who acquires the vineyard first—you or me. Whoever loses grants the winner’s wish.”

When Grandfather heard my proposal for a wager, he fell silent for a moment, seemingly bewildered, then burst into hearty laughter.

“You think you can beat this Count Trabel? Fine. I suppose I should prepare to welcome a son-in-law.”

And the result was—

———-
The Baron has signed the contract.
You know what my wish is, don’t you?
———-

Hehe.
I lifted the corners of my mouth as I sent a telegram to Count Trabel.
“Miss, something wonderful must have happened.”
The Knight who sent the telegram spoke to me.
“You visited the Telegraph Office in person rather than sending a subordinate.”
There was a knowing look in his eyes. I placed a tip on the counter and spoke.
“Yes, I’m getting married soon.”

***

“Berry.”
Theon rushed to find me at the Imperial Capital Residence, a newspaper in his hands, his handsome face clearly flustered.
“Today’s newspaper—”
He stood before me as I sipped tea in my room, then swallowed his words. After that, he began studying my expression. On the tea table where I sat lay a newspaper identical to the one Theon had brought.
“You’ve read it.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t worry. I sent Sir Shylo to the Newspaper Company. We’ll retrieve today’s edition, and a correction will run tomorrow.”
Theon spoke as if to comfort me while explaining his mistake. Instead of answering, I took a sip of tea from the cup in my hand.
“Why?”
“Because they published an incorrect article about you.”
Theon tossed the newspaper he’d brought into the waste bin as if there was nothing more to say. I picked up the newspaper I had been reading.
Our story was excellent gossip for the newspapers. Whenever an article about what Theon and I wore on a date appeared on the front page with photographs, sales would increase two or three times above average.
“Hmm.”
Today’s newspaper article also felt like the newspaper company had put considerable effort into it to boost sales. A photograph of Theon and me filling half the front page. And speculative article content.

———-
Will the Empire’s long-held wish finally come true?

Word has come that the marriage between Crown Prince Theon Phil Igselona and Berry Quartz Trabel is imminent. A source living in the Imperial Capital learned of the marriage news directly from the parties involved…(abridged)…
———-

The telegraph officer must have fast connections.
I had visited the Telegraph Office yesterday. Theon, unaware of this fact, walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, pressing his head against my neck. Then, with a voice tinged with playful petulance, he spoke.
“Berry, don’t read that. There’s nothing good about it. ‘The person involved,’ they say. I never said anything like that….”
“I did.”
He froze, his body stiffening as though he’d heard something unbelievable.
“…What?”
“Was that the only photograph they had? There must have been better ones.”
“What do you mean by ‘you said’?”
“Exactly what I said.”
“Berry.”
I twisted my words playfully, wanting to tease him. Theon’s low voice calling my name grew hoarse, as though parched with thirst.
I slipped my hand into Theon’s hair and stroked it gently. Then I whispered against his ear.
“Theon, will you marry me?”

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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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