I Will Try to Save My Dad - Chapter 186

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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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Side Story 6

Laksek Iron Trabel and Reytan Quartz Trabel were at the Imperial Palace.
“Whether Berry Quartz is truly my biological granddaughter matters little. Though I must say, her extraordinary nature and keen intellect certainly mark her as mine. With eyes so like Julia’s, she could be no one else’s granddaughter.”
….
The Sanha Research Institute had promised results soon, yet impatience gnawed at his heart.
The possibility that Berry Quartz might not be his biological granddaughter unsettled him so deeply that Laksek Iron Trabel had refrained from asking a single question about her biological father.
Reytan Quartz Trabel, too, could not yet reveal the identity of her father to anyone.
‘I cannot tell Father or the others first.’
No matter how many years had passed, Berry Quartz remained my highest priority above all else.
Because of this, my heart had grown terribly heavy of late.
‘I resolved to raise her myself. I thought it would be enough if I became Berry’s father.’
My teeth clenched at the memory of Belesa’s inhumane act—how she had nearly abandoned the infant Berry Quartz. I longed to erase Belesa’s existence from Berry’s world entirely.
Keeping Brown’s identity as her biological father hidden stemmed from that same protective impulse.
‘Berry has likely known about the First Princess for several years now….’
Yet I had never directly asked her about it.
My desire for Berry and Belesa to remain unconnected remained overwhelming. All these years I had let pass, unwilling to confront that reality.
What began as a firm resolve had become a lie spanning twenty-four years.
‘Now, at last….’
I could hide it no longer.
I had to tell Berry first.
But before that, I harbored a desire to resolve this predicament that had become so troublesome for her.
I confirmed the small capsule hidden within my sleeve with my fingertips.
It was the crux of this entire plan.
“If we conduct the reagent test again, it will prove biological relation, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Good. That will be better than waiting for the research institute’s results. With each passing day, more loose-tongued fools emerge. How dare they question that she is my granddaughter.”
Laksek Iron Trabel ground his teeth, recalling the turmoil of recent days.
The problem was that Berry Quartz was not merely the Crown Princess Consort.
Journalists had descended upon the celebrity scandal like vultures, competing to publish sensational articles, and the populace, swayed by their incitement, grew more restless with each passing day.
Calls had even begun to emerge demanding the Crown Princess Consort be stripped of her title.
“The time has come to silence every last tongue.”
Before the Emperor and the assembled Igselona Royal Family, I would prove that I am Berry’s biological father.
Should that occur, the Trabel Family’s demands would be twofold.

1. A public retraction and apology from the journalist and the Fourth Concubine.
2. An assurance that the Crown Princess Consort will face no further discrimination within the Imperial Palace.

Of course, Reytan had planned to disguise Belesa’s blood as his own when he dropped it into the reagent.
Laksek and Reytan left the Waiting Room and headed toward the Audience Chamber.

***

But something Reytan hadn’t anticipated occurred.
It was right after Reytan had successfully dissolved Belesa’s blood into the basin containing the potion.
“I am….”
Berry Quartz, standing beside Theon, hesitated to wound her fingertip.
Reytan was bewildered.
He had asked Berry Quartz to follow his lead without asking questions this time.
If it were Berry Quartz, she would have complied with his request even if he weren’t her biological father.
‘…Could it be that this isn’t Berry Quartz?’
Reytan’s gaze flickered with rare uncertainty.
He was aware that Berry Quartz often went out with a substitute.
‘Then….’
Reytan’s gaze turned toward the basin where blood had spread.
For a parent-child reagent test, the results appear immediately.
If they are truly parent and child, the transparent reagent’s color changes to red; if not, there is no reaction.
“I am not the biological daughter of Reytan Quartz Trabel.”
“…!”
From the Emperor to the Fourth Concubine, everyone involved in this matter watched as Berry Quartz delivered her bombshell statement.
“I am the biological daughter of Brown Quartz.”
“…What did you say!”
Reytan looked at Berry Quartz with trembling eyes, and Laksek forgot the situation entirely and let out a loud exclamation. Then he asked Berry Quartz.
“W-what are you saying? Berry, or rather, Your Highness.”
His voice was flustered, yet within it rippled faint joy and sorrow.
“Are you truly my granddaughter, Your Highness? Is Brown your father?”
“Yes. Grandfather.”
Berry Quartz smiled and handed a piece of paper to Laksek.
It was a test result from the K Research Institute.

——
Blood Sample Test Result Report for Third-Degree Relationship Confirmation

Sample 1: Reytan Quartz Trabel
Sample 2: Berry Quartz Igselona
Test Result: Positive

According to the examination results, it has been confirmed that Reytan Quartz Trabel and Berry Quartz Igselona are third-degree relatives.

– Camilla Research Institute
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“Reytan Quartz Trabel and Berry Quartz Igselona are third-degree relatives….”
Laksek’s voice trembled.
Once I compared this against the results from the Sanha Research Institute, the truth would become clear, but at least for now, this document did not appear to be lying.
My instincts were telling me so.
“Yes, that’s right. So after Brown passed away, Reytan became the Crown Prince….”
Laksek felt as though his chest were being torn asunder. He was not one to dwell on regrets about the passage of time, but never had he regretted his past self as deeply as he did now.
The Emperor spoke to Laksek.
“Count Trabel, compose yourself.”
“My apologies, Your Majesty. This old man has shown himself in an unseemly manner.”
“Never mind. So it is settled. The Crown Princess is indeed Count Trabel’s granddaughter, and while the article involving the Fourth Concubine was exaggerated, it cannot be said to be entirely false. The Fourth Concubine, who escalated this matter, shall apologize to the Crown Princess here in my presence instead of issuing a written apology, and we shall conclude the matter with a retraction.”
“Your Majesty…!”
The Fourth Concubine grasped the Emperor’s arm with a pitiful expression.
With a sharp sound, the Emperor’s arm withdrew coldly from her grasp. Then he whispered quietly near her ear.
“You would make the Igselona Royal Family the laughingstock of the Empire? Should you attempt such foolishness again, I shall not remain idle.”
“…Y-Your Majesty.”
“Consort, know that I have been showing considerable restraint.”
The Emperor, having patted the Fourth Concubine’s shoulder, departed from the Audience Chamber.
After that, the Fourth Concubine, her complexion drained of all color, trembled as she apologized to Berry.
“I have committed a grave wrong against the Crown Princess…. Please forgive me.”

The retraction was published the following day.

——
【Retraction】 Berry Quartz Igselona,
confirmed as the granddaughter of Count Trabel.
——

***

After receiving an apology from the Fourth Concubine.
Thanks to Theon’s consideration, I was able to remain alone with Father in the Audience Chamber.
Father, who had been silent for a while, finally spoke.
“When did you find out?”
Reytan Quartz Trabel, who used to play detective games with me, now bore a face that could no longer be called young.
Wrinkles beginning to form around his eyes, silver strands of hair peeking through, ….
Reytan Quartz Trabel, in his late forties, who had given his youth to me as a child, had only worried about me even after I married Theon.
….
Without a word, I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around Father.
I felt him tense, his body stiffening slightly.
“Reytan Quartz Trabel.”
“…Yes. What is it?”
I had suddenly brought up the playful game from my childhood, and Father immediately played along.
Even after more than a decade had passed, I remained a child in Father’s memory.
“Thank you for raising me. Father.”
….
I laughed softly and tightened my arms around him. Father’s hand on my back slowly patted me gently.
When I discovered that Uncle Brown was my father, and why Father had hidden it—
Such things didn’t matter between Father and me.
‘This is good.’
And for the future that would soon arrive.
With Theon, and ….
“Berry!”
The Audience Chamber door burst open. Still embracing Father, I turned to look at Theon with wide eyes.
Theon’s face was flushed so deeply he could barely breathe as he spoke to me.
“A, a baby…!”
It seemed my physician had told him.
I stepped away from Father’s embrace and boldly declared to the two men I loved most.
“I’m pregnant!”
Both Father and Theon wore equally foolish expressions.
I laughed brightly at the sight of them both.

【 The End 】

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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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