I Will Try to Save My Dad - Chapter 76

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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 76

“A key? What sort of key?”
It was the kind of key that would fit an old lock.
We put our heads together, but with no knowledge between us, there was no answer to be found.
The fact that I couldn’t recall anything else from my memories made me wonder if I truly didn’t know.
“I think it would be best if Berry kept the key.”
“Right! Berry is our leader after all~”
Somehow I had become the leader of the Secret Society. It felt like a position backed by Father’s authority, but when they offered it, I accepted without hesitation.
“Then I’ll keep the key safe!”
If I left it in the Room of Contemplation, no one would ever know. I made one final request of my helpers to maintain secrecy.
“Theon, Jeffrey. What happened today is a secret. Understood? You mustn’t tell anyone?”
“Of course not! I’m a man of honor!”
“Right. But Berry, what are you going to do about the earrings?”
“The earrings are—”
“You found them because you needed them for something, didn’t you?”
At Theon’s question, I blinked. I had been about to say I simply wanted to have them, but Theon spoke with absolute certainty. He was convinced that I would cause trouble with those earrings…!
“If it’s dangerous, I’ll do it with you.”
“Together? Theon, if it’s dangerous, you should try to stop me!”
He had a point. If it was dangerous, he should try to stop me.
“But Berry will do it anyway.”
“What? That’s unfair!”
“Right. Big sister Berry will do it no matter what we say~”
Even Jeffrey joined in with Theon’s assessment. My reputation had truly hit rock bottom.
I felt wronged, but given my glorious track record, I couldn’t argue back. Theon looked at me with serious eyes and spoke.
“If it’s dangerous, promise you’ll do it with me, Berry.”

***

“He has given his permission for you to visit.”
Count Trabel had granted his approval for me to seek him out.
Mariane went directly to Laksek’s study. Laksek was sitting on the sofa, playing chess against himself.
It seemed excessive that a daughter had to go through all this just to meet her father, but the Trabel Family was precisely that kind of place.
A private audience with the family head could only occur with his explicit permission.
“Father—”
“So your husband entered my study.”
Laksek spoke to Mariane without lifting his gaze from the chessboard.
Even without meeting those golden eyes, she felt herself shrink instinctively.
Mariane offered her father a gentle smile and offered an explanation.
“He came to submit his performance report.”
“And took the liberty of opening my drawers as well.”
A chill ran through her. Excuses and lies held no sway with Laksek.
This was precisely why Mariane feared her father. Yet what drove her now was something far more compelling than fear.
If Laksek already knew, the matter became easier. Mariane spoke to him directly.
“I apologize. As you well know, Father, he is such a considerate man. I must have seen it while closing the drawer.”
“If his consideration were any greater, he’d be opening my safe next.”
“Father, you jest. But I heard the Dwarves asked for the most perfect jewel to be brought to them?”
“….”
Even hearing this, Laksek kept his eyes fixed on the chessboard. Mariane, emboldened, approached her father and whispered. She was confident. After all, she had made a name for herself throughout the Heishal Empire as the proprietor of a jewel merchant dealing in the finest gemstones.
“Father, when it comes to jewels, I know better than anyone. I will procure the perfect gem for you.”
“….”
“You might fail, after all.”
Audacious.
Laksek let out a hollow laugh.
There had been traces of someone touching the letter in the drawer. When he asked to identify who had entered the study, it turned out to be his son-in-law. Curious to see how this would unfold, he had remained silent—only to have this man arrive at a fully prepared table like a thief and attempt to claim his share of the meal.
“And if you fail? If your jewel fails to win the Dwarves’ favor?”
Laksek despised such lack of commercial ethics. If one were to insert themselves midway and snatch another’s opportunity, a suitable price was required.
“Once, I gave you all the same task. To leverage our cooperative relationship with the Dwarves and produce results. Who succeeded then?”
“….”
Laksek clicked his tongue. He was deliberating where to place his next piece on the chessboard.
“Not a single response from any of you. Knowing how difficult it is to receive even a reply, and yet you wish to simply take this without earning it?”
Mariane moved to her father’s side and knelt before him. Then she placed her hand upon his and pleaded.
“Father, I do this precisely because I understand how difficult it is. This is an opportunity you have struggled to obtain.”
Laksek was weak when it came to his daughter. Though the years had worn away at his emotions, and he had inadvertently revealed his vulnerabilities more than once, she knew that his affection for her had never truly diminished.
“I am confident I can succeed. If this transaction you have yearned for comes to fruition, how greatly it would benefit the Trabel Count Family?”
“It would benefit your performance record.”
“Father—!”
“If you truly wish to proceed, do it this way.”
“How?”
That’s what I thought. Mariane’s face brightened. Father would never be so cold to me.
“The reply wasn’t secured by me—it was an outsider. They’ve also invested considerable effort with the Dwarves.”
“An outsider? Who?”
The black queen moved from Laksek’s hand, capturing the white bishop. And the white rook positioned on the same file.
If the white rook advanced as things stood, it would capture the black queen. What was I to do?
“I have no obligation to tell you who. The gems are also being prepared by an outsider, so if you wish to participate in the Dwarves’ transaction, I’ll need your consent. However, should you fail, you’ll transfer 15 percent of your gem business stake to them.”
“Father!”
Mariane withdrew her hand from Laksek’s, her voice sharp and piercing.
It was absurd. To place a hand in the Dwarves’ transaction, to surrender 15 percent of her primary business stake to a complete stranger?
I could sense what my father was truly thinking.
“…You want me not to be involved at all, don’t you? If you put it that way, you thought I’d become frightened and refuse?”
“If you don’t like it, withdraw. I won’t have this opportunity ruined.”
“….”
Mariane bit her lip.
Laksek was now sixty. If he maintained second place in this Separate House succession battle, he would have to wait nine years until the next one opened. If my father were to pass without announcing a successor before then, naturally Hevanth, master of Diamond House, would claim the position of family head. What had I been struggling to survive for?
I had to succeed no matter what.
‘It must succeed unconditionally.’
The response to Shin-yak, which Hevanth had carefully prepared, wasn’t favorable. I needed to create results to leap forward at this moment. If the Dwarves took a liking to my gems, I wouldn’t need to surrender my stake, would I?
“I’ll accept.”
Mariane cornered herself willingly.
“The terms you mentioned. If my gems fail, I’ll surrender the 15 percent.”

***

That afternoon.
I sat in my room on the rocking horse that Callet had bought for me, lost in thought.
“Finding the pearl earrings is one thing, but won’t it be obvious? That they’re the earrings Priscilla lost?”
[Of course it will! It’s not just the Dwarves who would notice.]
Akum was right. If I were sneaking them to the Dwarves alone, that would be one thing, but this time there’s the proxy and Grandfather too.
Claiming I found pretty earrings by chance at the Hunting Grounds and wanted to send them to the Dwarves?
There was no way Grandfather would believe an excuse like that from an ordinary seven-year-old.
“Being competent is so sad…”
[What if you bought different pearls?]
“Different pearls wouldn’t catch the Dwarves’ eyes.”
The pearl in the earrings was among the finest from the Shusubia Archipelago.
A beauty called the mermaid’s tear, with perfect sphericity. Unlike other pearls, its hardness was exceptional—it didn’t scratch easily and the luster didn’t fade. It wasn’t sold on the open market and appeared only rarely at auctions, making it difficult to obtain even if one wanted to purchase it. That was why Priscilla’s charity auction had garnered such attention from the nobility.
It was a pearl that wasn’t sold on the market and rarely appeared at auctions, so it was difficult to obtain even if one wanted to purchase it. That was why Priscilla’s previous charity auction had garnered attention from the nobility.
[Hmm. This is tricky~]
“Exactly. It’s really tricky.”
Tap.
[Huh? Little Quartz, Jack Jack’s come by your window?]
At Akum’s words, I turned my head toward the nearby window.
A small Great Tit sat on the outer windowsill, looking at me through the glass. Our eyes met—mine and Jack Jack’s. Jack Jack tilted his head.
Tap tap, tap-a-tap-tap!
“Goodness. Who’s knocking on the window again?”
“Ugh.”

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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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