Chapter 117
We soon arrived at the grand council chamber of the main castle.
Valdrich had entered so hastily that the door to the council chamber wasn’t even closed.
Peeking inside, I saw Valdrich on his knees in front of grandfather.
“Father, I only believed in my son.”
The confidence he had was gone, and he was pleading with his hands clasped.
“It’s natural for a father to believe in his child. It’s just a minor misunderstanding.”
Geoffrey turned pale and trembled.
Seeing his father’s plight, he must have realized the extent of his actions.
“Geoffrey, you fool! What are you doing!”
Valdrich shouted, and Geoffrey scrambled to his knees.
“I, I was wrong, Grandfather. I was wrong…!”
“Should I even be the one receiving that apology.”
At grandfather’s words, Valdrich and Geoffrey’s shoulders jerked.
“Bring in Erylotte.”
The twins gently nudged me forward, and I toddled inside.
Viscount Debussy, sitting beside Grandfather, made room for me.
Sitting down, Grandfather looked at Geoffrey and his father.
It meant they had to apologize to me.
Valdrich’s face flushed with humiliation.
The thought of bowing to me, whom they called ‘tainted with common blood,’ was unbearable.
Gritting his teeth, Valdrich muttered to Geoffrey,
“Apologize.”
“What?! Father…!”
“Do it.”
After his father spoke sharply, Geoffrey trembled. It took him a while before he finally spoke.
“I… was mistaken…”
“……”
“……Sorry.”
“Owkay!”
I cheerfully said,
“Will you accept the apology?”
Viscount Debussy asked, so I nodded.
“Yep. Wif half of Uncow’s juwisdishun, as pwomised.” (Yes. With half of Uncle’s jurisdiction, as promised.)
“……!”
“……!”
Geoffrey and his father turned pale looking at Erylotte.
Valdrich shouted,
“He apologized, didn’t he!”
“Just like the agreement, if I’m not a thief, half the domain is mine.”
“……!”
“Erylotte was sad but endured. Because it’s a promise.”
Valdrich stood up abruptly.
“This is absurd. To give up half the jurisdiction over such a trivial matter!”
I looked at Grandfather.
“Bwut shudun we keep thwe pwomises we make in fwun of Gwanfathew?” (But shouldn’t we keep the promises we make in front of Grandfather?)
I deliberately emphasized the phrase ‘promises made in front of Grandfather’.
‘It’s a vow taken in the presence of the household head.’
And breaking that vow would undermine the authority of the household head.
Moreover, most of the direct descendants of Astra had witnessed him making that vow.
If this were passed off as a trivial matter, others might think, ‘Ah, so a vow like that is a just minor thing, since it got overlooked’.
That’s what you call setting a precedent.
Grandfather stared at Valdrich and then closed his eyes tightly.
“Bring the map of Valdrich’s jurisdiction.”
“Father…!”
Valdrich screamed as if in despair, but nothing changed.
I looked at the map Conrad brought with sparkling eyes.
And with my tiny finger, I pointed, tapping here and there.
“Fum hewe to thewe!” (From here to there!)
Watching me point only to the choicest lands, Viscount Debussy burst out laughing.
Relatives whispered among themselves, lowering their voices.
“What happens if that land is absorbed into the Daymond jurisdiction?”
“My goodness. Why does the Daymond jurisdiction have so much good fortune? It seems to have started since Erylotte entered the castle.”
“Is she their lucky charm…?”
While my father smiled at me, I covered my mouth with both hands and giggled deviously.
* * *
I left the council chamber.
Valdrich and my father stayed behind to discuss the land in detail.
The sun had already set.
Walking down the dark corridor, a man dressed as a servant came from the opposite direction. It was Han Ji-hyuk.
As Han Ji-hyuk passed by, he handed me something, and I lightly accepted it.
[Geoffrey Astra]
It was the very fountain pen that Geoffrey and his father had been so desperately searching for.
I twirled the fountain pen in one hand lightly.
Then, I threw it to the needlefish in the second gate.
The needlefish, whose diet is iron, crunched up the fountain pen quite deliciously.
“Hmm, hm, hum.”
Humming a tune, I happily bounced toward my room in the new wing.
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