The Runaway Maid is Loved by the Archmage - Chapter 235

※ This book contains depictions of coercive/dubcon/noncon acts, violence, and immorality. Reader discretion is advised.

Neilla was a good daughter. Aljan was a father who was on the better side. That’s how it looked from the outside.

Having lost his wife early, he raised his daughter alone, working hard to build a family on his own. He was reasonably talented in business and had a good reputation in society. When Castrello came under the rule of the empire, he quickly read the situation and rode the wave, gaining even greater profits.

“Neilla. Say hello. This is the person you will marry next year.”

The man he brought and introduced one day was also a good man who had passed his strict standards. He had a handsome appearance, came from a much better family, was intelligent, and was a promising talent.

It was just that everything was sudden for Neilla. Aljan had never consulted her even once while choosing her future husband.

“…Yes.”

Neilla stared at him blankly and soon bowed politely. She had vaguely thought that such a day would come someday, but it was too fast.

She knew how hard her father had worked to raise her and how much he cherished her. So, she thought she should accept this marriage willingly.

Nevertheless, the reason she felt uncomfortable was simply… because she was flustered.

Neilla looked at the young man smiling and greeting her and shrank back slightly. She secretly hid her right hand, stained with charcoal, between the folds of her dress. It was a trace left from being engrossed in drawing while her father was away. Aljan glanced at Neilla, then sternly gestured for her to go wash up quickly and turned back, patting his future son-in-law on the shoulder.

Neilla just smiled awkwardly and hurried to the bathroom. She thought as she moved her feet. It’s okay.

She was not a very ambitious person. She would be fine as long as she could continue drawing and live comfortably.

Her father, busy with his business, was often away from home, but she lived quite well without feeling lonely. There was a maid who took care of her in place of her father, and she found it quite fun to tend the garden. Her world was small and cozy, but it was filled to the brim.

Neilla thought that was enough.

Then one day, she returned after briefly paying her respects at the temple. Her father strictly controlled Neilla’s destination, so the places she could go were very limited.

“…Huh?”

When she opened her room as usual, she froze.

All the paintings she had drawn and her drawing tools had disappeared.

Neilla frantically searched the room. The paintings she had put her heart into, the tools she had used for a long time and was familiar with, and the charcoal drawings she had made after seeing things she wanted to remember were all gone. As if they had never existed in the first place. She was greatly flustered and stood there bewildered, then found her father standing outside the door and hurriedly approached him.

“Father! Do you know where all my drawings and tools that were here went? Perhaps…”

“I took care of them all.”

“Yes?”

Neilla stopped abruptly. She couldn’t quite grasp what her father had said. Her father had always told her to do as much as she wanted with activities in the house.

He was a person who was lenient with her. He had even praised her paintings a few times. Neilla firmly believed that her father liked and supported her drawing.

“You’re getting married soon. Stop with hobbies like painting. Your future husband doesn’t like it when a woman is messily scribbling. Instead, I’ll buy you any painting you want, so focus on your bride training. I’ve hired the best teachers for you.”

Neilla just stared blankly as her father spoke. It felt like something was crashing down. She didn’t know what this feeling was or what was happening to her. Her father suddenly felt unfamiliar, and this whole situation felt like it wasn’t her own.

“…Yes. You’re a good girl, Neilla. I have an excellent daughter.”

She just nodded obediently as she always had. She didn’t fully understand what her father was saying, but she had to do that. She didn’t want to worry her father.

When she came to her senses, it was evening, and she had come into her room to go to bed. During her hazy memory, she had just done as her father told her. She was a good daughter, after all.