Ah, I was so tired. I left the shop frustrated, and as I walked away, I tried to brainstorm ways I could recover from what had just happened.
“Where have you been, Jubelian?” Father asked me. For some reason, he looked displeased. I quickly answered him.
“Oh, I bought something.”
Father turned to Geraldine, who was carrying the bought goods.
“And what is that?”
“It’s armor polish,” Geraldine replied.
At Geraldine’s answer, Father glanced at me with a slight frown. Then, he sighed. “Let’s go.”
I knew I had bought something useless, but there was no way he could berate me. If he had a conscience, that is.
I resumed following Father for who knows how long. When an obstacle appeared before my eyes, my composure threatened to crumble.
Ugh, stairs!
I had been following him for several hours today, so my feet were throbbing, but I needed to get through this. I only needed to endure for a little while longer. I tried to ignore the pain I felt by imagining the bright future I was going to have after inheriting Father’s wealth.
Wait, what was happening?
I suddenly felt a tingling sensation in the back of my head and my vision began to obscure, blotting up with specks of black dots. My legs also lost their strength and I struggled to take another step.
“Help!” I cried.
Fortunately, I hadn’t fallen because I grabbed onto something in front of me.
Phew. I survived.
As soon as my eyesight came back, I looked up to see what I was holding onto and the sight had me stiffening in fear. I had latched onto Father’s arm.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Oh, I’m sorry…” To avoid ruining Father’s mood, I hurriedly apologized and tried to back away from him, but he held onto my wrist.
“Stay still.”
My field of vision swayed violently as he spoke. The next thing I knew, I was in a princess carry. I choked in embarrassment. “F-Father?” I usually never stuttered but I ended up doing so because of the embarrassing display we made in front of everyone.
Instead of acknowledging my inquiry, he continued to walk while holding me in his arms. “We’re going back to the carriage,” he told me.
I looked up at him, surprised by what he had just said. Icy blue eyes and a twisted expression met my markedly more harried ones. It looked like he was annoyed that I had gotten in his way.
“I’m fine, Father.” I tried to convince him to put me down, but he ignored me, and his voice was a harsh winter’s night upon his next command.
“Quiet.”
As he continued to hold me in this embarrassing position, I somehow gathered enough of my wits to swallow my shame. Why was he acting like this today? He had also acted strange when we were shopping. Maybe it was due to the stress, but my head was throbbing. I was in so much pain that when Father sat me down on the carriage seat and took off my shoes, I couldn’t say anything.
It hurt. I felt a stinging sensation around the back of my feet; I must’ve chafed my heels. I decided to apply some medicine and get some rest after I arrive home.
While I was concentrating on enduring the pain, I heard a stern voice.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked. He was in a bad mood because I had ruined his day, wasn’t he? Well, he insisted on coming to the carriage despite my protests.
I tried not to reveal my heightening stress. “Because it’s really not a big deal,” I answered calmly. “Let’s just finish shopping.” If I pretended to be okay, maybe he wouldn’t treat me like I was useless. That ought to do it, right?
Contrary to my expectations, however, his response was uncompromising. “We’re going home.”
“What? But…”
“Don’t say anything useless and stay still.”
At those words, I clamped my mouth shut. Then, I let out a small sigh. Although I had listened to him all day and behaved nicely, he still looked so displeased. It was incredibly difficult to make him happy.
I could feel my forehead becoming warmer and my headache worsening. What was this? I felt sick. As soon as I became conscious of how strange I felt, Father began speaking once more.
“Jubelian.” I turned to him. He sighed. “Sooner or later, I’ll… a good one… shopping… your thoughts…”
How strange. Father’s voice kept cutting off and I couldn’t concentrate on his words properly because of my pounding headache. Oh well. I’ll just agree to whatever he said. I nodded along even though I couldn’t hear him very well. I didn’t want to keep ruining his mood, after all.
My head began to feel awfully heavy. In fact, it got so bad that I couldn’t sit upright anymore.
“Is something wrong?” he asked. Fortunately, I could hear him clearly this time.
“It’s nothing. You don’t have to worry about me,” I tried to say, but nothing came out. His eyes widened as if something startled him.
“Jubelian?”
Him calling my name was the last thing I heard before I blacked out.
✤ ✤ ✤
A carriage adorned with a crest that bore a lily and sword, thus symbolizing the Floyen house, emerged in the distance. A butler came outside to greet the approaching carriage and smiled to himself, wondering if Duke Floyen’s date with his daughter went well. He had been excited about it.
The butler recalled his master’s serious expression as the imposing man questioned the other servants about Lady Floyen’s preferences, and tried to suppress his amusement at the memory. He had almost succeeded, but he couldn’t help the laughter that spilled from his lips.
When the carriage arrived at the mansion and the door opened, he bowed to greet his lord. “Welcome, Master,” he began, but after he rose once more, his smile immediately fell from his lips. Eyes widening in shock, he cried, “L-Lady Floyen!”
Jubelian, deathly pale in the arms of her father, looked like a wax doll.
The butler stuttered, trying to find the right words to say. “Wh-What is—”
“Derrick,” Dyke Floyen snapped, cutting the butler short with a fierce voice. Panic reflected in his eyes despite the ice-cold steel he wore upon his face. “Summon Allen. Right now.”
✤ ✤ ✤
In the past, I had fallen sick a few times, but it was never severe enough for Father to show up. I used to be sad about this, but now I felt nothing.
However, a voice was murmuring in my ears. “Wake… up…” it told me.
Out of annoyance, I tried to open my eyes to spot the culprit, but I could barely make out the blurry, distorted face of the man before me. The fact that my body was floating in the clouds, devoid of any sense of reality, certainly didn’t help.
“Jubel!”
It was strange. Was this Father? No, he had no reason to call for me like that, or gaze at me with such tearful eyes…
“No, this can’t be. If you’re gone, I…”
It is said that dreams are unconscious expressions of what the dreamer desperately wants.
“Please wake up…”
What a terrible dream.
As soon as that thought ran through my mind, I sank back into darkness.
✤ ✤ ✤
When I gained consciousness, I was lying on my bed. The first person I saw was Allen, the Floyen family’s personal doctor. That was when I realized I hadn’t fallen asleep but passed out instead.
“Are you feeling okay, Lady Floyen?”
“How long have I been out, Allen?”
“Three days, my lady.”
I observed my surroundings. Some maids looked back at me with anxious expressions. I counted the maids in my room: Merilyn, Julia, and Sella. Father, meanwhile, was nowhere in sight. Well, I didn’t expect him to be here in the first place. He hadn’t even shown up to my debutante ball.
“Are you feeling okay, Lady Floyen?” Allen repeated. I didn’t answer right away because at that moment, the door opened. Allen brightened and ushered the person who had arrived inside.
Turning around, I checked to see if it was Derrick, our butler, but I ended up with a surprise instead. Wide-eyed, I witnessed as Father stepped closer.
Why was he here? I stared at him, unable to reconcile his presence with reality. He gently placed a hand on my head.
“You’re awake,” he said. Unlike his flat, emotionless tone, his large hand felt warm. Was I dreaming? I couldn’t believe what was happening. As I continued to thoughtlessly stare, he withdrew his hand. “Rest.”
Then, he began to retreat. I watched him go. Regaining my senses, I laughed at myself. “Don’t be fooled, Jubelian,” I thought to myself, reproachful. Ever since I was a kid, his heart had always proven cold when it came to me. He had even gone as far as detaining me himself back in the novel we were written in.
He only checked up on me because he didn’t want to look like a heartless father who neglected his bedridden daughter.
To avoid developing worthless expectations, I destroyed any lingering attachments I might’ve had.
✤ ✤ ✤
“You’ve overexerted yourself recently,” Allen had explained to me. “Please rest well.”
As he advised, I decided to rest by reading a book in bed, but… It was boring. A novel would’ve been more entertaining, but this book was about human resources and estate management.
I guess this is what I got for neglecting my studies up until now.