TTMLPTWW ~ Chapter 180 – THE END

💟 Translator Notes 💟
TRIGGER WARNING: SUICIDE

“I’m not your father.”

“Okay.”

Cynthia didn’t say anything else.

Count Queensguard, who had turned to observe her expression, walked ahead again.

“I thought you might be worried that I was your father.”

A father is supposed to be a hero to his child, but he was nothing more than a villain who would bring shame.

“Then who is my father?”

“If you need, I can send people to find him.”

“No. It’s not like I’m at an age where I need a father.”

Although she responded calmly, the Count thought that was the reason Cynthia had come to find him.

Before she could say she was leaving after finishing her business, he abruptly opened a door.

It was a guest room lavishly decorated with wainscoting walls, a fancy chandelier, and expensive furniture.

It didn’t really mean anything.

“This room is, uh…”

He made something up.

“It’s stylish. Use it as a reference when you’re decorating.”

“Ah.”

After that, he showed her a room with a window that overlooked the scenery Princess Margarita had loved.

The slightly melted, sparkling ice river, the village across the way, and the flying birds blended together like a painting.

The floral fabric, quilts, old dolls, and small props made it look like a country girl’s room.

“She liked a pastoral atmosphere more than extravagance. This place used to be a cabin, and she would secretly sneak out of the palace to admire the scenery here.”

Cynthia, who was looking at Princess Margarita’s childhood belongings, asked,

“Can I look at this? I’ll look at it secretly if you say no.”

When she pointed to what looked like an album, the Count nodded.

“That’s a photo album taken when cameras were first introduced.”

Cynthia sat on the bed and opened the album.

The Count sat at a distance and looked at the photos in the album with her.

The black and white photos, starting with a 14-year-old girl, became more colorful with each page, showing the passage of time.

Occasionally, they could see the Count as a young boy with a sulky expression.

“Your expression is always the same, Mister. Did you have a rough adolescence?”

“I’m a knight, after all.”

The Count, who had given up on correcting her title, quickly flipped past the photos of his stern self.

Then, the Count’s brow furrowed slightly when he saw a photo of a handsome young man with thick golden hair and dark green eyes.

Cynthia, sensing his unusual energy, looked at him.

“What’s wrong? Did you not get along with this man?”

“Crown Prince Ewan. He was a crazy bastard.”

‘If that man acknowledges him as a ‘crazy bastard’ with such vehemence, is he on the level of an official madman on Line 1?’

But he doesn’t look like a madman who does everything he wants.

Cynthia tilted her head, looking at the neat young man’s photo.

“Grant. I hate sharing what’s mine more than anything. Whoever covets it is just a competitor to be eliminated.”

The Count, recalling Crown Prince Ewan, Princess Margarita’s brother, rummaged through his coat before remembering that he had quit smoking cigars and lowered his hand.

“He’s the starting point of the tragedy, you could say.”

“Starting point—what, that guy?”

He didn’t give her any more details.

After touring the entire mansion decorated to Princess Margarita’s taste, it was afternoon.

Cynthia prepared to leave.

“I should get going now. You’re returning to the north tomorrow, right?”

“Yes. I sold this mansion, so there’s no reason to stay here any longer.”

At this, Cynthia’s eyes widened.

“Why would you sell such a beloved house?”

The Count swept back his hair and smiled bitterly.

“Because there’s no princess or knight anymore.”

The era of royalty and swords had ended long ago. The knight had lost his oath, and there was no one left to protect.

Looking at Cynthia, who was dyed in a lavender sky blue, the Count’s lips curved loosely.

“You seem to like fixing broken things. I can play the role of a father if you need me to, but I can’t be a real father.”

It was a callous remark, but his voice was extremely gentle.

“Our deal is over. We won’t see each other again. I’m planning to travel very far away.”

The scam of the ‘fake princess’ marriage had come to an end, and now it was time for the final curtain call.

“I won’t apologize. I’m sick of apologies.”

Cynthia, pouting and glaring at him, held out her hand.

“You apologize in a strange way. Is that noble language from the royal era?”

“Think what you want.”

The Count took her hand and shook it up and down.

As expected of a former knight, his hand was firm and rough.

A wristwatch was fastened on his wrist, where he used to insist on carrying a pocket watch.

It is said that there is one word that people cannot convey throughout their lives.

She thought that that might be the word that is etched in the other person’s mind for a long time.

What were the words they couldn’t convey to each other?

Cynthia decided not to ask. It was already a story of a princess and a knight that had ended.

“Then goodbye. Father-like Mister.”

Cynthia smiled brightly and waved her hand.

“Goodbye, Princess. Take care.”

The Count put his hand in his pocket and nodded his chin.

It was a farewell to her mother’s first love and a long, ill-fated relationship.

* * *

The day after Cynthia left.

The Count, who had been watching the passage of time with the scenery that the Princess had loved, put down the glass in his hand.

Nox Train Station Opening Ceremony Scheduled…

They’ve already completed the train station.

The Count, seeing the title of the article sticking out from the documents, unfolded the newspaper.

His gaze, which had been on the common railway and train photos, went down the body of the article.

Soon, his blue eyes widened, and the light that had been extinguished returned.

In accordance with Princess Cynthia’s wish to eternally preserve her mother’s name, the station name has been confirmed as ‘Margarita’.

“Hahaha.”

After laughing for a long time, he lowered his head and covered his face with one hand.

He ended the laughter, which had subsided like sobbing, with a sigh and looked at the music box on the desk.

He belatedly opened the music box and wound it up.

The tin soldier and princess in the music box began to spin around, holding hands.

“Is this a song called ‘Dream of Love’?”

The Count muttered, listening to the song.

At that moment, a small note was seen sliding out from under the princess in the music box.

Recalling the princess, who used to hide secret notes in unexpected places, he unfolded the note.

“…….”

And he read the contents of the note over and over again.

All the truth was contained in the message she had hidden in the music box.

The princess loved the knight. Enough to want the knight’s happiness more than her own.

When did it all start?

“You don’t remember what happened last night? I’m sorry. I……”

Maybe it was that night when we broke the taboo.

“Will you be my knight?”

Was it from the time when the fourteen-year-old princess made a bold proposal to him?

“I won’t let anyone who hurts my friends get away with it.”

Was it from the time when she was even bolder at the age of ten, hitting the collateral relatives with a wooden sword?

“……It was the beginning of every moment.”

The Count muttered, staring blankly at the ceiling.

The emotions that had been quietly building up finally collapsed miserably, telling him that it was love.

The loyal knight could not easily leave her side, leaving her alone.

In the indifferent flow of the void, he could not become the husband of the woman he loved, nor the father of a child.

“I’m sorry I’m late, my Princess.”

The Count, who had finally finished his long mission, got up from his seat, straightened his tie, and tidied up his clothes.

“Father!”

He recalled Cynthia, who had hugged him, uttering useless words.

Although he could not give her love, he could give her an ideal ending.

Not remaining as a father who would be a blemish, but being forgotten as an eternal secret and atoning for his sins.

In the age of guns, what was in his hand, which had insisted on swords, was none other than an officer’s pistol.

“Grant.”

The girl sitting on the window sill fluttered her golden hair and smiled playfully.

“You’ll always be by my side, right?”

Count Queensguard, reaching out to the illusion, smiled faintly.

It was time to wake up from the long dream.

Before he knew it, he was standing upright, holding the pistol to his head as if saluting.

Click.

“Everything is for my beloved Princess.”

Soon, a loud noise that covered the song of the music box filled the room.

After the song that had been echoing sadly in the silence stopped, the tin soldier who had finished dancing with the princess collapsed.

It was the moment when the last chivalry of this era ended.

* * *

As time passed, the world was preparing to take off its white winter blanket and put on spring clothes.

The temperature in Rutemia, which was white winter all year round, also became slightly warmer.

Cynthia, who was no longer a princess, was doing her best to support the restoration of the Republic of Mare de Veldetta and was living diligently.

“Wow, the train is coming!”

The opening ceremony of Nox Train Station.

The people from the official residence and Cynthia’s friends gathered at Margarita Station and popped champagne.

Stan, the Village Chief, the subordinates, the children from Raphael Orphanage, and Erwin, who had met good parents with Masera’s help, were also there.

As the train circulating the Nox area came in, Masera, who had rushed over in a hurry, took a deep breath and made a resentful expression.

“Why did you abandon me and go ahead without me?”

Cynthia and the people at the official residence laughed awkwardly.

“I’m trying to get revenge for you refusing to go on a honeymoon before.”

“I didn’t know you held grudges for so long.”

Cynthia pointed to the train, putting her arm around Masera, who was complaining.

“I’m kidding. Everyone was waiting? Let’s get on. Towards our next station.”

Masera got on the train with a very sulky face and looked out the train window.

The scenery, which had been all white, was showing green here and there, telling them that spring had come to Rutemia as well.

“What should we name the next station?”

At Cynthia’s question, he deliberately didn’t answer, unfolding a magazine in the train.

Cynthia pinched his cheek, showing that she was sulky, and added.

“I want to name it ‘Leticia’ or ‘Letian’.”

“That sounds like a person’s name.”

“It is a person. It has great meaning for both of us.”

Masera’s expression gradually began to change to surprise when he saw her meaningful eyes.

“……No way.”

“Have you ever heard the saying that a ‘no way’ gives birth to a person?”

A new love was beginning for the two people heading to the next station.

Cynthia smiled brightly, holding his hand.

“I hope that not only our children, but all the children in the world are happy.”

She hoped that the future descendants, who would later make fun of her as a crazy gong while taking history classes, would not experience the tragedy of the same war generation as her.

“It’s a task given to us adults. To pass on love to the children.”

Even after so much time has passed that our lives remain as one story, may everyone in the world I love live peacefully and happily.

Cynthia, holding hands with Masera, closed her eyes, feeling the wind carrying the smell of sunlight.

Rustle-

The wind blowing through the open train window turned the pages of the magazine and stopped at a certain part.

[The flowers placed in the broken vase did not wither, but took root and bloomed new flowers.

People left on the ruins, don’t give up and live the comedy with a smile.

Through adversity, towards the stars.]

– The End

💟 Translator Notes 💟 Wow! That ending huh?? Anyways, it’s been quite a journey! Thank you so much for sticking with me through all of it, I hope you enjoyed the story!