Rather Than The Son, I’ll Take The Father

Chapter 41

“Can you tell me his name?”

“We just called him Shaula. He said he has no last name.”

As expected, it was an unfamiliar name I’d never heard of.

I could think of two reasons why I hadn’t heard of him: he had left to a place far away from the Ravena Empire, or he was already dead.

“Hmm. Good morning, Your Highness.”

Before I knew it, Vega greeted me.

He was also accompanied by the knight, who I believed had been scammed by him.

“Good to see you, Your Highness Grand Duchess! I’m Pollux, a member of the knights who protect the Kallakis!”

He was a knight who looked much more foolish than the youngest and freshest of the knights, Procyon.

He couldn’t raise his head even after he greeted me, as if he couldn’t dare to look at me.

“It’s nice to meet you, Sir Pollux. Then I’ll get going.”

“Yes, yes!” Pollux replied with his head bowed.

Procyon raised his hand.

“Your Highness! I’ll take you!”

“Can you do that?”

“Because I’m the Grand Duchess’ escort, for now, I don’t have anything special to do now. I’m going to go sledding later.”

“In this weather?”

Outside the window, a disaster was relentlessly unfolding.

‘Does he see the same landscape as me?’

“I’m also giving a ride to the Second Lord, but wouldn’t Your Highness like to go?” Procyon asked.

“It doesn’t sound like a good idea.”

What sleigh ride? I refused to risk my life.

“If you look at my sleigh, you’ll change your mind. I bought it by spending my first month’s salary. My brother, who works at the tower, gave me a spell. I can guarantee safety and fun.”

I remembered the sleds I saw in Korea before I was born again as Maevia. Most were plastic or cost-effective sacks.

(T/N: The sacks are made of plastic instead of the burlap sacks, you can google image this word ‘포대 썰매’ for reference :D)

I didn’t think there was plastic here.

“What kind of sled does it look like? I only know the sacks.”

“A sack?!”

Procyon immediately flared up. It seemed like he was shocked.

“That’s not a sled! It’s an insult to the sled, an insult! My Pegasus is a good sled!”

I was shocked.

The sled’s name was Pegasus? Wasn’t that too grandiose?

Again, I was sorry for Raven. Last time, I heard the cats’ names and tried to put together cool words like this and that, but Raven didn’t respond when I called it by other names. It seems that Raven has already imprinted in his mind that Raven was his name.

Procyon, who was running and snorting, blatantly gave off a sullen appearance.

“Your Highness will have a different mind after seeing Pegasus. The Second Lord also praised me for being cool…”

‘Huh? Regen?’

“Does The Lord also like sledding?”

“Of course! When I asked him what he thought, he begged me to give him a sled ride. Oh, keep it a secret from Mrs. Terissa. He only rides secretly on the days she’s off,” Procyon confidently assured me.

When I found out that Mrs. Terissa was off today, I made a sour expression.

Vega’s silent expression wasn’t as good as mine.

“The guy who didn’t give me a ride even though I gave him 50,000 marka…”

“Ah, do you think the leader and our second Lord are different?”

He said the word ‘different,’ and a spark burst from Vega’s eyes.

In addition, Procyon had just earned mileage by boasting the knight’s former leader’s skills at the distance that could be heard by Vega.

‘I’ll make you do 50 laps around the training ground.’

I watched the two with hazy eyes and then turned around. Procyon quickly followed.

“Then, I will escort you!”

“Go ahead.”

Both Pollux and I noticed the appearance that was struggling, but only Procyon didn’t know.

Perhaps he was very positive because he grew up receiving love from his ten brothers.

Then, I suddenly had a question.

“Isn’t Sir Procyon’s hometown in the South? Why did you become a knight of the Kallakis family?”

“I wanted to ride a sled.”

“…..”

“Make a snowman…”

“….”

“No, of course, I want to serve! The first ones are jokes, jokes. Hahaha.”

***

Procyon took me to the doorstep. Meanwhile, Aedis was back.

“Aedis? When did you come?”

I felt happy inside. It seems that I slightly raised the tip of my lips without realizing it.

It was an unconscious smile.

Aedis also captured me in his deep blue eye, a color that could only be seen in the depths of the great, blue sea.

In contrast to the pitch-black hair and white skin, his eyes looked even colder.

“Just now,” Aedis said, smiling as he looked into my eyes.

“I didn’t know my wife would get up so early.”

“I’m a little under the weather. Well, you know I can only do normal activities only when I sleep a lot.”

Putting down my lap blanket, I turned to stretch. I had a little headache. My body felt heavy, like a cotton blanket soaked in water. My shoulders also seem a little stiff…Again….

“You also had a mild fever yesterday.”

‘Huh? He knew.’

I explained to him thoroughly.

“At that time, I was nervous about telling the Lord about my sincerity.”

Still, Aedis was not convinced. He looked anxious with a villain-like face that felt decadent. Soon, his nose was a little crumpled.

He seemed to be struggling to figure out how to solve the problem.

But I didn’t want to play hospital again.

I calmly changed the subject of the conversation.

“Aedis, have you ever ridden a sled?”

“No. ”

His answer was sharp, signaling his disinterest.

Tsk. I sat on the edge of the bed, sticking my tongue out.

After I entered the bedroom, Aedis hadn’t turned away from me for a moment, but he didn’t seem to want to change his upright posture by the window.

“What were you doing? Is there anything interesting outside the window?”

“I was watching because I seemed to be struggling to come up with something that shouldn’t come out.”

“Your heart wants to come to me?”

It was a light joke that I thought would be good to revitalize the atmosphere, but Aedis was serious.

“If you are tired, sleep more.”

“Hmm. ”

I turned my head to the side, pretending to be moderately sulky, but I got slightly dizzy and narrowed my eyebrows reflexively.

That momentary change in facial expression seemed to be unusual.

Aedis, who was standing as if nailed by the window, approached me immediately.

He was close.

He reached his hand out to caress my forehead.

“It’s awful.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

I was so conscious of Aedis that my voice trembled a little.

Aedis, who interpreted it differently, was adamant.

“Lie down. I won’t go out.”

“You can go out.”

“I’ll stay with you until you fall asleep.”

“Umm…”

He didn’t seem like he would back down, so I checked the time.

It wasn’t even seven yet.

I seemed to have been talking with Procyon for 30 minutes, but that was all.

“Okay, I’ll lie down.”

I thought it was wrong to fall asleep anyway, but I crawled into the blanket.

The bed was warm. Warmth soaked into my cold hands and feet rapidly.

As if Aedis could hear, he sighed and sat next to me.

Bathump. Bathump. Bathump.

My heart raced.

It was fascinating. Maybe because we’ve been together since leaving the capital, Aedis had become more friendly as time passed.

I didn’t want to be afraid or wary.

Just as he tried to accept me as his own, I naturally regarded him as my own.

I haven’t told Aedis all the secrets yet, and I can’t leave everything entirely to myself, but I felt comfortable and calm when he was so close.

Had Aedis ever felt the same way as me?

“Eve.”

“Yes.”

I liked the nickname.

Will the day come when I will call him by his nickname someday?

But I didn’t know if Aedis had a nickname.

Eddie? Ed?

“Do you miss the capital?” Aedis asked.

…Huh?

“Not really.”

It was a sudden question, but I answered it without hesitation.

But again, Aedis didn’t believe it.

When did my credibility become so low?

“You can be honest with me. You’ve only been in the castle all the time. It’s rather strange if you don’t think of your hometown.”

He seems to be misunderstanding something. I didn’t think of my hometown.

“I’m not homesick.”

“Then please make me believe that.”

…No, how do I convince you if you have no intention of believing me.

Instead of answering, I squinted my eyes with a sullen face.

When I exercised the right to remain silent, Aedis’s cool hand swept my forehead lightly. His perfect fingers gleamed before my eyes.