IPMPBB 22

Chapter 22

“Something serious?”

I tilted my head and asked Mary again.

“What’s the matter, Mary?”

“Well…”

Mary fidgeted, her eyes nervously darting around.

“There’s someone inside the mansion…!”

She was about to get to the point when—

“There you are, Elia.”

A deep, solemn voice rang out—one that, once heard, was impossible to forget.

I looked up to see the man approaching me.

It was the Marquis of Elvington.

He looked at me with a strangely subdued expression.

“Come with me. We need to talk.”

Without waiting for my reply, the Marquis turned on his heel and walked away.

I was taken aback but couldn’t defy an order from my father, so I followed him into the mansion.

The atmosphere inside was tense. The servants couldn’t meet the Marquis’s eyes, and the butler avoided looking at me altogether.

‘What in the world is going on?’

As I seriously pondered the situation, we arrived at the Marquis’s study.

“Go in.”

The butler opened the door, and the Marquis ordered me once more.

Though I felt some resentment bubbling up, I swallowed it and entered the study.

“…Huh?”

We weren’t alone.

“Young Lord?”

At the mention, Michael flinched.

‘He’s gotten so used to being called a stick-in-the-mud.’

With a conflicted feeling, I looked at Michael, who always wanted to be called stuffy. Then, click, the door closed behind me.

The Marquis had entered.

“There’s only one reason I called you both here.”

Sitting at the main seat behind the largest table in the room, the Marquis began speaking.

“It’s because I heard from Michael about what you did today, Elia.”

Ah, he must’ve heard about the duel with Cesare.

I wasn’t particularly upset with Michael for tattling.

The rumors would spread anyway, and it was better that he told the Marquis directly than someone else.

In a way, it was a protective gesture.

“How reckless to duel with your subordinate.”

Still, the Marquis clearly wasn’t pleased that I fought Cesare.

“Did I not warn you not to act rashly?”

He scolded me.

I kept my eyes down, staring at the floor.

“Do you have any idea how much trouble you cause me and your brother every time you act out?”

The Marquis asked, and I looked up to meet his eyes.

He gazed at me with fingers laced, his face serious.

I was supposed to answer, but nothing came to mind.

No—that’s not it. I just didn’t feel like answering.

‘Wait. Why am I holding back?’

The moment I stood before my father, I instinctively tensed up—probably due to Elia’s ingrained habit.

But I didn’t need to do that anymore.

I’m a changed troublemaker now!

“I don’t understand why I’m being reprimanded. Didn’t I do well today?”

The words burst out of me before I could stop them.

“…What did you say?”

The Marquis raised an eyebrow.

“If I hadn’t dueled Sir Girotti, he would’ve continued to bear a grudge against me, which could have hindered my role in the knight order.”

Once I started talking, the words flowed freely.

“The other knights were also waiting for me to prove myself.”

I explained why the duel had been necessary.

“Besides, I won.”

I had defeated Cesare.

And I did it by the rules!

“I’ve also been consistently rehabilitating my right hand.”

Not only that, but I had regained my combat ability—one of the most important traits for a knight.

“Sir Girotti now swears to respect me as his superior and as a fellow knight. He no longer bears any resentment.”

I listed all the things I had done well.

Then I looked directly at the Marquis.

“Didn’t I do well today? Just for today, don’t I deserve some praise?”

And I asked him:

“Is saying ‘well done’ really that hard?”

I wasn’t Elia, but in front of the Marquis, I felt her emotions clearly.

“Am I really such a terrible daughter?”

Silence fell over the study.

Michael’s face showed his shock, and the Marquis stared at me with wide eyes.

“You… think you’re a terrible daughter?”

The Marquis’s voice trembled.

He seemed genuinely shocked by what I said.

‘He really didn’t realize I’d feel this way after all that?’

But I couldn’t place all the blame on him.

The Marquis acted this way because of Elia’s long history of reckless behavior.

I dug through Elia’s memories.

Elia, who clammed up every time she stood before her father.

Elia, who’d run off to a tavern and drink herself silly the moment he tried to talk.

Elia, who’d scream at him, saying he didn’t understand her…

‘Yeah… that was rough.’

Suddenly, I felt embarrassed for asking if I was a terrible daughter.

I was a terrible daughter!

But this time, it wasn’t all my fault.

The strict, distrustful Marquis had scolded me without giving me a chance.

These two need to talk. Properly.

“I’m sorry, Marquis. What I said earlier was too hasty.”

I quickly apologized.

Fast acknowledgment, fast apology—that’s the first step in repairing a broken relationship.

“You… apologized?”

The Marquis widened his eyes even more.

He was more surprised by the apology than by the accusation of being a terrible daughter?

How odd.

“But today, you were also hasty, Marquis.”

I continued calmly.

The Marquis, now bewildered by my lack of shouting, silence, or drunkenness, kept staring at me in amazement.

“I’m not asking for praise. But at the very least, I want you to see me for who I am now, trying to change and improve.”

“…”

The Marquis fell silent.

His eyes, now calm again, studied me.

“Elia, regardless of everything… before your father—”

Michael tried to step in, but—

The Marquis raised a hand to silence him.

Michael immediately obeyed.

Wow, they really run a tight ship.

Suddenly, I gained new respect for the old Elia, who used to yell at this strict, dignified man.

“I see.”

As I mulled over various thoughts, the Marquis spoke.

“Have you said everything you wanted to say?”

He asked, and I nodded after some hesitation.

“Then you may leave for today. We’ll discuss this further once you’ve had time to calm down.”

He said curtly.

‘That’s it? After all that?’

I had poured my heart out, and he just dismissed me?

Still, I figured there was no point in pushing further now.

“Yes, I’ll take my leave.”

I bowed and exited the study.

Click.

After Elia left, back in the study—

“Father.”

Once her footsteps had faded, Michael spoke.

“What happened today was my—”

“No. This isn’t something you need to apologize for, Michael.”

The Marquis shook his head, already knowing what his son was about to say.

Michael fell silent, carefully observing the Marquis.

The Marquis sat in deep thought, eyes fixed on the door Elia had just closed.

‘What’s going through Father’s mind…?’

Michael wondered, when—

“She closed the door gently today.”

The Marquis finally spoke, and Michael’s eyes widened in surprise.

“She didn’t yell. She didn’t go silent. She didn’t insist on drinking.”

Still staring at the closed door, the Marquis continued.

“What do you think?”

This time, he turned to Michael and asked.