The Return of Lilietta - Chapter 79

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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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Chapter 79

In any case, in Pascal’s history, the Crown Prince who had met with an accident was safely rescued. He grew up smoothly, gained power under the Empress’s support, and solidified his position by welcoming a Crown Princess from Duirebourg.

However, the current history, where the Crown Prince became an imbecile due to Pascal’s summoning after the fire, flowed somewhat differently from the original history.

“You’re right, Rita. His Majesty the Emperor doesn’t want His Highness the Crown Prince to ascend to the throne. His Highness is the legitimate heir, but if we trace back to his great-great-grandfather, Adicl also has justification. This is why Raskail, loyal to the royal family, has maintained neutrality until now, and why supporting His Highness the Crown Prince is dangerous.”

Leonhardt asked calmly.

“Lillieta, can you guarantee that your judgment to support His Highness the Crown Prince wasn’t influenced by the friendship you built with him in that other world?”

Lillieta answered honestly.

“No, I can’t guarantee that. If His Highness the Crown Prince hadn’t been the ‘Gid Pascal’ I knew, I wouldn’t have voiced such an opinion in the first place.”

“Even knowing that, you still think we should support him?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because he’ll ultimately be victorious.”

Leonhardt fell into a long silence. Rita waited for a moment before speaking.

“Brother, have you met His Highness the Crown Prince?”

“I’ve met him several times. At banquets and official occasions.”

“Have you ever had a private audience or a long conversation with him?”

“That kind of… no, never.”

“Then meet him once. I’ll arrange it.”

Rita smiled slightly.

“It’ll be sufficient to decide after that.”

“…Rita, you really trust him, don’t you.”

“He was a comrade I entrusted my life to and a commander I trusted and followed.”

She shrugged and added.

“Even setting aside personal connections and simply considering what I know about Gid, I think we should support him. But since this is a judgment I can make because I know him, I can’t force it on others.”

“You believe that if I meet him directly, my opinion will change?”

“Yes.”

Though she had this level of trust before, now that she knew what his current goals were and what kind of hero he became in history, she could speak with even greater certainty.

Seeing Rita answer without a moment’s hesitation, Leonhardt smiled gently.

“If you’re this confident… I should trust you. Will you arrange a meeting?”

“Yes, it won’t take long. I’m planning to meet him at a salon I’ll be attending soon.”

She nodded and added with an “Ah.”

“Since we’re arranging a meeting anyway, should Father, or rather, should the whole family meet him together?”

“Father would leave it to me anyway, hmm.”

Leonhardt, who had been answering habitually, stopped mid-sentence and touched his lips.

“…No, that’s right, not anymore. Now it’s not something I should decide alone. Yes, it would be better to do as you suggest, Rita.”

“I’ll do that. But… did Father used to leave all these things to you before?”

He answered with a gentle smile.

“That’s right, it seemed difficult for him.”

Rita, who had been quietly watching that smile, suddenly asked.

“Wasn’t it difficult for you, Brother?”

“What would be difficult for me? It was naturally something I had to do as the heir apparent.”

“Making all the decisions and taking responsibility alone?”

“Making decisions and taking responsibility is originally the head of house’s duty.”

“But Brother, you weren’t the head of house. You were just the heir to the head of house.”

“What are you trying to say, Rita?”

Rita chose her words for a moment before speaking.

“I think Father placed too heavy a burden on you, Brother.”

“What?”

“Brother, you told me before. That I was too calm. That it would be normal to complain about difficulties and get angry.”

She looked straight up at the bewildered Leonhardt and continued.

“That’s how you look to me now, Brother.”

“…Me?”

“Both you and I know well that Father truly loves us. So I wish you would speak honestly to Father at least once. About how difficult it was for you to support the family alone for the past 10 years.”

Leonhardt blinked in bewilderment, then smiled awkwardly.

“Rita, I think you’re misunderstanding something. It wasn’t that difficult for me. These were naturally things I had to do.”

“…I think I’m starting to understand how you felt when you called me strange back then.”

Lillieta sighed softly and gently pressed a piano key. As the first note of ‘Rabbit’s Waltz’ rang out with a ting, she said.

“Brother’s broken engagement with Sister Anne.”

“…”

“That wasn’t your choice, but a choice for the family. Wasn’t that difficult too?”

A crashing sound rang out.

It was the sound Leonhardt made by pressing his hand randomly on the keys. He pressed the keys and bent his waist toward her.

“Rita.”

“Yes.”

“Didn’t I clearly tell you before? That it wasn’t your fault.”

“I remember.”

“Then why do you keep interfering?”

A low voice. Lillieta knew he was truly angry now.

“Don’t meddle in this matter, Rita.”

It was rare for him, who was always kind and generous to his youngest sister, to get angry like this. If it had been Lili, she would have been scared and apologized.

“Why?”

Rita calmly questioned her eldest brother who cast a shadow over her.

“Even if you say it’s not my fault, it’s true that your marriage was delayed because of my disappearance. And the fact that it eventually led to a broken engagement—”

“Are you feeling some unnecessary sense of responsibility? I clearly said it wasn’t your fault. I also told you not to interfere.”

Leonhardt added coldly.

“Will you only be satisfied if you hear what I did to Anne in the end?”

“…”

“You seem to be mistaken that once Raskail’s fate is decided, once the marriage with House Everett no longer affects the family’s safety, I could marry Anne again… Rita.”

He smiled with only the corners of his mouth raised and whispered.

“Even if the family’s problems are resolved, I can never be with Anne again. I hurt her deeply.”

“…”

“So this is my problem, unrelated to you.”

Leonhardt removed his hand from the keys and straightened his back. Moving away from the piano, he sighed softly, rubbed his face with his hands, and spoke slowly.

“I’m sorry if I startled you. I was being emotional.”

“…No, it’s okay.”

“As you said, this seems to have been a difficult matter for me. So please don’t mention it anymore.”

He smiled as usual, left a greeting saying he’d see her at dinner, and left the music room.

Lillieta let out the sigh she’d been holding and collapsed onto the keys. Through the crashing piano sounds, she heard the voice of a presence she’d forgotten about.

[Analysis: Your blood relative took an angry attitude toward you while saying it wasn’t your fault. Also, while definitively concluding the matter you inquired about, he referred to it as a ‘problem.’]

[Reference: By dictionary definition, a ‘problem’ refers to something without a conclusion.]

It was Grace, whom she had activated as soon as she woke up to keep her promise to Oli but had forgotten about. Rita replied in a deflated voice.

“You were on? I forgot to turn you off.”

[Question: The words and attitude don’t match. Your blood relative was angry at you but lied by saying otherwise? Also, does the fact that your blood relative referred to your inquiry as a ‘problem’ indicate underlying psychology or lingering feelings that there’s room for resolution?]

“He was angry at me, but he seemed more angry at himself. And lingering feelings… there would definitely be some.”

If there were no lingering feelings, he wouldn’t have been reminiscing with that unfamiliar piano piece here in the first place.

Rita rested her arms on the keys and held her forehead, muttering.

“I was short-sighted. I thought the two of them had no choice but to part due to circumstances… but it seems there was more to it than that.”

It seemed that greater wounds than she had imagined were left on them during the process of breaking their engagement.

Lillieta looked down at the sunlight falling on the black and white keys, recalling the youthful faces of her brother and sister blushing as they played together.

She feels as if she has ruined that beautiful picture, that destined happiness.

She knows it’s not her fault. Even so, it was ultimately ruined because of her disappearance.

“How can I just leave this alone….”

[Suggestion: This artificial spirit will actively support the user in solving your problem.]

“…This isn’t a problem you can help with, so just go to sleep.”

[Protest: User, this artificial spirit is compet—]

Rita cut off the flow of Oaths connected to Grace and raised her head.

No matter what warning Leonhardt gave her, she couldn’t give up.

If Annemarie had already married someone else it would be one thing, but she too remains unmarried past the average marriage age for noble ladies.

‘I need to find out somehow what happened between those two back then.’

Probably neither Leonhardt nor Annemarie would easily open their mouths about this matter. Then the gap to dig into is.

‘…Lavinia.’

She now had one more reason to teach the Duirebourg Noblewoman how to shoot.

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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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