That Piece Of Trash Was Me - Chapter 122
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 122
* * *
“Here are the records from December 7th, six years ago.”
Max, the chief advisor to Marquis Aster Frazier, said while pointing at the documents.
“On this day, Viscount Lilius Frazier urgently sent someone from the main castle.”
Lilius was someone who was exceptionally skilled at managing his position.
Compared to how respectfully he had treated Nigella, he groveled even more pathetically before Aster Frazier, who was both his eldest brother and the Marquis.
“On this day, he said that Lady Tulia had caught a severe flu and was in really poor condition, so he asked us to procure several medicinal herbs…”
Ruk Kelfosher, who had been standing silently behind Assis Grand Duke Frazier, wore a somber expression.
“These are all extremely difficult to obtain.”
“Yes. Especially this medicinal herb called ‘Shine Flower’ – even the Grand Ducal House and the Imperial Family wouldn’t have it. It only grows in the territory beyond where the barbarians have settled.”
Just thinking about that urgent night still made Max break out in cold sweat.
“To urgently obtain this herb, the Marquis actually broke through one of the barbarian outposts. He was badly injured then-“
“…Badly injured? Father was?”
Leon unconsciously asked back. This was the first time even the twins were hearing this story.
Max slowly nodded his head.
“Yes. He’s fine now, but… Anyway, because of that incident, he couldn’t come to the Grand Duchy, and after his wounds healed somewhat, another letter arrived.”
“What kind of letter was it?”
Assis Grand Duke Frazier asked in a low voice.
Max swallowed dryly and pulled out a crumpled letter from his chest.
The Grand Duke’s eyes blazed like fire as he read through the letter.
“I raised a beast, not a human! That wicked Lilius Frazier!”
The paper, which clearly showed it was an old letter, contained Lilius’s handwriting with long greetings and stories about Tulia’s condition.
The key part was just one paragraph.
[Elder Brother Aster. Tulia was deeply hurt that you didn’t come. Beyond being hurt, she cried profusely while hugging my little aunt, saying she didn’t even want to see your face anymore.
We will try to comfort her, but the fact remains that you weren’t by your daughter’s side when she nearly died from high fever, so for Tulia’s stability, please don’t come to the main castle for a while.
The attending physicians unanimously agree that the child might have a seizure if she sees you.]
* * *
Creak, thud.
I fell silent for a moment at the sound of the door closing.
Marquis Aster Frazier.
He seemed like someone who hadn’t had the time or thought to change clothes.
He was wearing exactly the same outfit as when he first arrived at Sandra’s birthday party.
Instead of speaking to me right away, the Marquis stood still and first looked around my room.
The shabby bedroom where everything except the blanket was old and creaky.
I couldn’t properly see what kind of shadow crossed his expression.
The room was already dark.
However.
“Tulia.”
At some point, I could tell that his voice calling my name had become very subdued.
One step.
Two steps.
Footsteps as heavy as his voice echoed in my ears.
The Marquis Aster’s cheek revealed under the moonlight was sunken.
Could a person become so haggard in just half a day? It was almost miraculous.
“So you’ve been living in a place like this.”
“…”
“No, you’re right. You survived in a place like this…”
“…”
“Tulia.”
The moment the Marquis called my name hesitantly, so unlike him, so unsuitably for him.
Whoosh.
A cold wind blew fiercely through the open window. Though it carried the spirit of spring, it was still full of chill.
I staggered for a moment like a flower blinded by moonlight, and unfortunately, as I put weight on my sprained ankle, I unconsciously let out a groan of pain.
And it happened in an instant.
A hand that easily supported me as I was about to fall.
The strength I could feel in that hand.
Tulia’s ‘real father’ who possessed both tremendous power and practical strength, someone who could easily lift ten people like me.
“I heard you injured your ankle. Because of Nigella.”
So he had heard about that too.
I didn’t know who had told him.
However, just looking at the Marquis’s expression, I could tell.
He knew that Nigella had thrown me aside saying she would save his daughter, and that I had been injured like this.
Was that why he had such a heavy expression?
Or perhaps…
“First… you should sit down.”
When I nodded, the Marquis set me down on the sofa.
Though it was a careful touch, perhaps because it was an old sofa, a creaking sound was heard.
Since this room wasn’t meant for receiving guests in the first place, there was only one sofa.
Normally, nobles would properly place two sofas with matching fabric sets with a tea table decorated with vases between them.
The Marquis didn’t sit beside me either.
Nor did he remain standing.
He simply knelt on one knee in front of me.
Marquis Aster Frazier.
He looked up at me from that position.
We were silent for a while.
Only our eyes, darkened to the same shade of green like foliage – a color that would be impossible unless we were father and daughter – gazed at each other.
The Marquis was the first to look away.
Marquis Aster turned his head to look toward my bed, specifically at the tulip painting hanging on the wall there.
[Tulia Frazier, 15th Birthday.]
A painting with just one indifferent sentence written on it.
“Every year on your birthday, I sent tulip paintings.”
“…”
“The year before last, I sent an orange tulip painting. I was worried you might get tired of it if I sent pink tulip paintings every day.”
That was right.
The painting the Marquis had sent was full of tulips.
In a soft pink similar to my hair color, with stems painted in vibrant light green paint full of life.
“And every year, I used to receive a painting from Lilius.”
“A painting?”
I realized a beat too late that there was a crumpled piece of paper in Marquis Aster’s hand.
The Marquis couldn’t have missed that my gaze had turned in that direction.
“Tulia.”
He seemed to hesitate about something, which was rare for him, then handed me the paper.
My eyes froze as I unfolded the paper.
“I’ve been asking for drawings of where you live every year. It’s been quite a while. About 6 years.”
“….”
I stared at the paper that was crumpled and full of wrinkles.
The Marquis’s words were exactly right.
In the crumpled drawing, my bedroom was depicted.
It was my bedroom, but a heavily upgraded version of it.
The fireplace was burning hot and bright, and the bed was clean.
The pure white blanket had embroidery done with gold thread, the carpet and tapestry were plush, and curtains made generously with velvet half-covered the large windows.
The wallpaper in the drawing had no mold, and there was no old creaky table or worn-out sofa.
If there was just one thing that was the same, it was the painting in the bedroom.
The tulip painting that I thought was all the indifferent Marquis would send on my birthday.
There wasn’t just one painting.
Across several drawings, the details of the room changed slightly, but overall it was cozy and warm, exactly the kind of room a beloved lady would have.
Of course, the tulip painting hanging on the wall was also different each year.
So that even a stranger could gauge the passage of time.
“My two uncles really put their heads together, didn’t they.”
“….”
“And you, Marquis, trusted them and pushed me to death’s door.”
“…Yes.”
“Did you think that if you showed me this, I would forgive everything? Marquis. No, Father. No.”
“….”
“Dad.”
My throat choked as I spat out that word. As if I had dared to hold a word I couldn’t say, my entire mouth hurt as if it had been cut.
“Dad neglected me and never came to see me. No matter what reason you give, I can’t understand it. During all that time, didn’t you want to see me even once?”
“….”
“Why did I have to live hearing people say I was an abandoned young lady, that I wasn’t really Marquis Aster Frazier’s daughter? Why? I was too young to endure such words. Did you really not know? Didn’t you know? Did you just think I would live well without any problems….”
I couldn’t breathe as I spoke. I barely managed to inhale, and tears flowed down my cheeks without even having time to well up in my eyes.
I roughly wiped my cheeks with the back of my hand and asked.
“Did you just think so carelessly?”
“…Tulia.”
“A pet dog would have been better. At least you would have looked at it every day.”
Criticism easily becomes mockery.
“I heard from the retainers that Dad rides a very fine horse. Isn’t that horse more precious than me? If you had to choose between the horse and me, you’d naturally choose the horse, right? Unlike the daughter you abandoned, you would have seen it every day—.”
“Tulia!”
Perhaps because my mockery was hard to bear. At the Marquis’s angry voice, I closed my mouth.
I was reflexively frightened, but at the same time, I felt relieved.
Because the Marquis was finally starting to get angry at me.
I, yes.
Actually, I wanted Marquis Aster to get angry.
I wanted him to coldly turn away from me, saying he couldn’t listen anymore, that he had done enough.
Because wounds consumed a person so thoroughly.
I wanted to remain devoured by wounds that couldn’t be shattered.
So I wanted to dismiss all his words as ruthless excuses and pretense.
I wanted to remain rippling eternally with this twisted heart.
But contrary to my expectations.
Contrary to my warped expectations.
“Even if I had to choose between your life and mine, it would be you. It’s you, Tulia.”
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
Shushu
😣😫
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭leave me alone turn away you’re crying I’m not crying😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭