The Lady Only Deals With the Real Ones - Chapter 234

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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‘It’s my fault.’

Seeing Elisha sniffling made that fact feel even more painfully clear.

“I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry.”

“What do you have to be sorry for, Manager…?”

“No. I must apologize to Miss Elisha. I’m truly sorry for making you reveal your pain in such a way.”

Her tear-moistened violet eyes blinked as if asking what he meant.

“And I don’t know what that bastard Tesagh said to Miss Elisha, but!”

“…”

“You mustn’t lose hope that any illness can be treated. The duchy’s medical team will do their utmost to help Miss Elisha. I don’t mean this as asking you to forgive me and Tesagh, just…”

“Forgive you both…? I understand about Tesagh, but why you, Manager?”

With a face that looked ready to cry as well, Theodor squeezed his eyes shut and undid his disguise.

“Because I am that worthless boy’s worthless father!”

He shouted loudly enough for an echo to ring out, but no answer came back.

Was Elisha too shocked to say anything?

I’ve burdened someone who’s already in pain even more!

It was when Theodor opened his eyes while reproaching himself.

“…”

Before he knew it, Tesagh and Ailren were standing behind Elisha.

“…Tesagh?”

“Yes. As you can see, your worthless son has arrived.”

“…Miss Elisha…?”

“Yes, it’s Elisha.”

Elisha, who had firmly pressed and wiped around her eyes, smiled brightly.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Lord Theodor.”

***

A little while ago.

“It seems like Lord Theodor is deliberately guiding us to follow him.”

“You mean it’s not an error with the magical device?”

“Yes. For an error, there’s too much consistency in the places we arrived at by following the traces. Romantic and lovely places. It’s hard to see it as coincidence.”

Elisha explained all the points that had made her suspicious.

From how exactly two suite rooms with the best views happened to be available, to the sense of unease she’d felt from the hotel manager.

Unlike Ailren, who listened quietly and nodded, Tesagh’s expression was strange.

“I don’t understand.”

“What I said?”

“No, I understand what you said. Looking back, there’s plenty of evidence to support your words. But I don’t understand why Father would act this way.”

“Well… Just like how Lady Belastard gave Tesagh dating course information, perhaps Lord Theodor also wanted to meddle in his son’s love life?”

“…”

“Anyway, to draw out Lord Theodor who must be hiding somewhere on this ship like when he disguised himself as the hotel manager, I think there’s only one method.”

Elisha’s mischievous eyes sparkled.

“We put on an act!”

The idea was to create an extreme situation that would force the flustered Theodor to reveal himself, something he could never have anticipated.

The result…

“I, I cannot marry Tesagh-!”

“Then, then.”

As planned, they succeeded in making Theodor reveal himself directly.

Theodor looked back and forth between the three of them and asked blankly.

“That was all an act to find me…?”

“Yes.”

Actually, it wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

Not for any other reason, but simply because Tesagh and Ailren were really bad at acting.

Originally, the script was for the two men to follow after Elisha ran out and add a few lines,

“I am not. Trying to interrogate you. About hiding. Such a fact.”

“…Don’t you think you sound strange even to yourself, Tesagh? It’s too stiff and choppy. You’re not a wooden puppet.”

“It doesn’t make sense for me to raise my voice at you over something like this. And just looking at your face makes me want to laugh. I’d rather look in a mirror and yell at myself.”

While Tesagh had no talent for this sort of thing as expected, Ailren was bad at acting in a different way.

“How could I dare to block the Princess’s path? I’m sorry, but that would be difficult.”

“Huh… Oh, then will you block Tesagh?”

“Ah, yes. That seems possible.”

“Why me?”

So after several revisions, they decided to isolate the two men early and have Elisha come out alone.

“But, but Miss Elisha was crying…?”

“Ah, for that I got some help from this. Onions.”

Elisha pulled out a pouch of pungent onions she’d hidden under her sleeve and winced at her still-stinging eyes.

Tesagh wiped the rest of Elisha’s eyes with a dampened handkerchief he’d prepared in advance.

Theodor, who had been watching this scene half-dazed, suddenly asked.

“Then Miss Elisha being sick was also?”

“Ah, well, that’s not exactly a lie… The multiple something is actually just a cold. Everyone catches a cold once or twice, right?”

“…”

“I’m sorry, were you surprised? Actually, Tesagh had a similar misunderstanding before, so I thought of that and did it…”

“No, no. Don’t say such things, Miss Elisha.”

Theodor waved his hands and let out a deep sigh of relief.

“I’m so glad you’re not really sick…”

Tesagh had said the same thing when he learned that the multiple something was just a cold.

Elisha looked at Theodor for a moment, then smiled slightly and looked up at Tesagh.

Tesagh crouched down in front of the seated Theodor and asked.

“Why did you do this, Father?”

“…”

“By the way, on our way here we already heard that this cruise was reserved for a proposal. Were you worried that your shy and worthless son would make a mess of things by trying to get married without doing the basics? Or.”

“…”

“Is there another reason?”

“Of course I was worried that my shy and worthless son would make a mess of things by trying to get married without doing the basics.”

Theodor smiled weakly.

“But I wanted to… give you a gift.”

“A gift.”

“But I couldn’t give you the gift I had prepared, so I wanted to at least create some memories for you.”

“It will certainly be memorable. In many ways. But what gift are you talking about?”

Ailren, who had stepped back some distance, thought.

Usually at times like this, wouldn’t the answer be that having Father come is the gift?

“…I’ve been searching for a long time. For a way to work around your magic immunity.”

“A kind of treatment?”

“Yes. It’s called immunity, but you can’t use magic circles or magic potions either. But I couldn’t find it in the end. Even though I searched the entire world, I couldn’t find it… I’m sorry.”

“I don’t find that inconvenient.”

Ailren thought again.

Usually in situations like this, wouldn’t one say there’s nothing to be sorry about?

“You might not feel uncomfortable, but I was uncomfortable. You might be fine, but I wasn’t fine.”

“No one punished anyone, so why are you trying to punish yourself alone?”

“Parents are originally like that.”

“Well, to say parents are originally like that, unlike Father, Mother didn’t particularly…”

“This child.”

However, Ailren smiled faintly as he listened to the story that followed.

“Still. …Thank you.”

“Tesagh.”

“I found it difficult to understand Father all along.”

Tesagh spoke calmly.

“You would say you were sorry for not being able to stay by our side, yet you would continuously leave on adventures, and knowing that those waiting would worry, you would still frequent dangerous places. I thought Father was a truly contradictory and inefficient person.”

“….”

“But now I know.”

Tesagh turned his head to look at Elisha, who was smiling at me.

“That doing things you don’t have to do, that taking one more step even when a perilous cliff awaits before you. Sometimes that contradiction and inefficiency… is also a form of love.”

A smile also appeared on his lips.

Tears welled up in Theodor’s eyes as he watched that sight.

“Tesagh….”

“So please get up now.”

However, the welled-up tears never fell.

It was thanks to Tesagh’s words, whose specialty was scolding everyone around him except Elisha.

“Sharp as a blade.”

“If I were really sharp as a blade, I would have held the wedding long ago, leaving Father out. What kind of trouble is this? I mean, I have no choice but to endure this hardship since I’m Father’s son, but to drag Elisha and Count Airen into this chaos too…”

“It’s okay. I found it fun.”

“I was also able to gain various new perspectives thanks to this. Please don’t worry about it.”

“New perspectives?”

Tesagh was wondering whether Ailren’s words were an insult or a compliment.

“Oh? It’s a meteor shower!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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