༺ What a Long Vacation (2) ༻
Even if they weren’t suspected of being spies, the guests shouldn’t be taken lightly as they were foreign princes and a saint candidate. Even the fact that the 3rd Prince was staying in our mansion only added an indescribable weight to my wife’s burden.
Normally, such distinguished guests wouldn’t even have to visit the County of Tailglehen. If they did, it should have been at my invitation. The burden and responsibility of being the host fell on my wife, which didn’t sit well with .
Fortunately, His Majesty had now instructed to send them back at an appropriate ti. I’m sure my wife would feel relieved.
“You’re going to send them back?”
“Yes. It’s impolite to detain such esteed guests for too long. They’re better off in the capital than in a re county.”
So, I personally conveyed it to my wife. Perhaps surprised by the sudden news, her eyes widened.
“You’ve had a hard ti, wife.”
“Billy… Are Carl and Erich also returning?”
“Yes. Erich is a companion of the guests, and Carl is too busy with work.”
It was an obvious statent. After all, Carl wasn’t just in any departnt but the Prosecutors’ Office, and was trusted by both His Majesty the Emperor and His Highness the Crown Prince. I almost felt guilty for having kept him in the territory for this long.
Moreover, the Count of Horfeld changed just the other day. When such a significant event like the change of an Imperial Council mber occurred, the Prosecutors’ Office inevitably had to act. In fact, it was no different from having them sent back to the capital even before they began packing their bags.
“Carl could leave even today—”
“No.”
My wife interrupted .
I was sowhat surprised that a lady like her, who valued dignity and decorum, would cut off soone’s words. Of course, she must’ve had her reasons.
“No, not yet. We can’t send him back yet.”
“The Emperor and the Empire have high expectations for him. He’s our child, but he’s also a subject of the Empire. We need to send him back to where he belongs.”
“Carl belongs here.”
“Wife.”
It was unusual and sowhat endearing to see her being so stubborn, reminding of how she was before our marriage.
However, it couldn’t be helped. I couldn’t let my personal feelings compromise the affairs of the Empire. I had no choice but to persuade my wife.
“I’ve only just found a child for Carl to be with.”
However, I couldn’t ignore what she just said.
“Wife, what do you an?”
“It’s exactly as I said. I’ve found a suitable match for Carl.”
“Send them back imdiately.”
It seed that my wife had been up to sothing strange in the anti. A suitable match? What did that even an?
I firmly shook my head and stopped her. This was sothing we shouldn’t ddle in.
I didn’t bla my wife, though. It was my fault for not fully understanding what she was doing and for not explaining things to her properly.
“Billy!”
Thinking it would be quicker to speak to Carl myself, I turned around, only to be tugged back as my wife let out a loud cry.
When I turned back, I was stunned. My wife, her face flushed red and tears in her eyes, was glaring at .
“Are you going to take my child away from again, just when I can finally see his smile once more after all this ti!?”
“Wife, what are—”
I wasn’t able to finish my sentence as she grabbed by the collar.
***
Only after promising to send the guests, including Carl, in a few days was I released from her grip. Besides, His Majesty had said ‘at an appropriate ti’, not ‘imdiately’.
“My Lord.”
“I’m fine.”
I encountered the head butler on my way back to the office, who looked at awkwardly. I must look like a ss right now.
“I won’t give in this ti! If you send Carl back without telling , I’m going to return to my family’s ho!”
I hadn’t realized my wife could be so assertive. Even though I retired from the military and beca a Count of the Empire, I was still active in the war until just two years ago. I shouldn’t have been so easily overpowered by her.
I waved the head butler off and entered my office.
‘A match.’
That was an unexpected developnt. Ever since I told her to handle the marriage discussions herself, my wife hadn’t been involved in Carl’s marital affairs. But now, she suddenly found a ‘match’?
How could that child possibly have the leisure of finding a match? He had lost soone he cherished. After sending him away…
“Where did it all go wrong?”
I sighed in frustration. To be honest, I knew where things started to go wrong. How could I not know?
It began four years ago during the Great War.
“The Prosecutors’ Office also participated in the war. The 4th Division ca.”
“What are you talking about? The Prosecutors’ Office is supposed to handle dostic affairs.”
The Prosecutors’ Office, the Emperor’s sword, was ant for dostic and not foreign affairs. That was why I placed my eldest son, Carl, in that departnt and went to war myself. It was the most efficient, safe, and sure way.
But the war took a strange turn, and the Prosecutors’s Office got involved. Carl, who was newly appointed there, ended up in the North. It was maddening. I wanted a son who lived to serve the Empire, not a hero who died for glory.
If soone had to die, it should’ve been , his father, to sacrifice for the future generation. That was the Krasius way. That was why I placed him in a sowhat safer position.
Thankfully, the training paid off. Carl not only survived the war but also achieved great feats.
Training the children thoroughly without letting my emotions interfere was the right decision.
I grew up disappointing my father. I experienced his expectations turn into disappointnt, then anger, and finally, indifference. The feelings of powerlessness and self-loathing I felt back then were by no ans light.
So, I didn’t put emotional pressure on my children. I raised them with sufficient and thorough training, not wanting them to end up as failures like . I had no doubt that it was the best path for them.
I never expected that the proof of their thorough training would co in the form of the war.
‘At least he survived.’
Truly, it was fortunate that he survived. The Prosecutors’ Office was a place for proving one’s ability and loyalty, and for gaining experience. Who could have known it would turn out like this?
That’s why I sent Erich to the Academy and not to a governnt position. There was no guarantee that the sa thing wouldn’t happen to him, as it did to Carl. Risking my child’s life once in such a gamble was more than enough.
Moreover, my wife wouldn’t be able to endure it if Erich went off to war or faced a similar crisis. She had fainted upon hearing that Carl and I had both gone to war.
‘Erich, at least…’
Carl and I had already rolled through the mud, but Erich had to stay unscathed. He mustn’t experience the tragedies that Carl did.
Carl found his match in a place where anyone could die at any ti, leading to a tragedy. Living at the Academy, Erich shouldn’t face such events.
‘My wife is being unreasonable.’
Thinking along these lines, I recalled what my wife had said. A suitable match for Carl? It wasn’t sothing we should interfere in.
It was up to the child to heal his wounds and make his own decisions. There shouldn’t be any artificial interference in that process. After all, Krasius’s ancestors were ant to be ntors who trained the next generation, not ddlers interfering in the younger people’s lives.
“Are you going to take my child away from again, just when I can finally see his smile once more after all this ti?!”
But recalling my wife’s tearful outcry, I couldn’t bring myself to impose Krasius’s ways on her.
Although my wife now bore the Krasius na, she originally ca from the Aras family. It would be difficult to force the ways of Krasius on her too much.
She already followed Krasius’s thod in raising our children. And now that the children were grown, it was over. Asking for more would be greedy.
Yes, it was only right to let her do things her way now.
***
I was summoned by Mother again. It was unusual for her to call twice in one day.
‘What’s going on?’
Mother usually preferred to keep to herself and didn’t engage in aningless talk or actions. If she was suddenly calling , then there had to be a good reason.
But wouldn’t it be better for her to call once and Erich once as well, instead of calling just twice? Mother, aren’t you interested in Erich?
‘Is this the curse of being the eldest son?’
It felt similar to family gatherings during holidays where the eldest grandchild was bombarded with questions about marriage. As long as I was single, Mother’s attention wouldn’t drift to Erich.
Erich should be grateful to . I was cheering him on in his unlikely battle for love, and also drawing all of Mother’s aggro during that battle. Where else would he find a brother like ?
If he couldn’t make it work with Louise, then it must be fate.
“Mother.”
“Have you arrived? Sorry for calling you again.”
“It’s okay. I didn’t have much to do, anyway.”
I had just been playing with paperwork with the head butler, but I didn’t ntion that.
As I sat down, I noticed Mother looking around uneasily. She seed anxious and worried.
Glancing to the side, I saw the head maid. Judging by the subtle tightening of her lips, she didn’t feel at ease, either.
‘What’s this about?’
If they had been like this since my first day at the territory, I’d understand. But why were they suddenly acting like this now?
“Carl.”
“Yes, Mother.”
After fidgeting with her teacup for a mont, Mother finally spoke.
“I believe you’ll do well on your own, but you’re over twenty now… don’t you think it’s ti to at least get engaged?”
Ah. So this was why.
Since I didn’t budge even when pressured with Marghetta’s presence, it seed that Mother had switched to directly addressing the matter.
It was monts like these that I felt sad for being the eldest son. It would have been nice if I had an older sibling or two.
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