Yasashī Shinjitsu to Seiryaku Kekkon Vol II Chapter 25
A
fter washing, she dressed and having a small breakfast, shewent to visit Marquis Bellmud. He was sitting up in bed, with pillowscushioning his back.
‘Have been crying?’ he asked when he saw her face.
Matilda’s cheeks bloomed red from embarra.s.sment. It wasshameful to have cried so much. (Zuben: ¬.¬)
‘It’s good to cry, but it is useless to keep doing it, isn’tit?’
Matilda smiled, she was touched. It was the first timeanyone ever told her it was good to cry. Maybe
this person was someone shecould talk to about her confused mind.
She sat up and leaned on the bed,
‘I’m not good at relying and talking to others aboutthings.’
Bellmud smiled and said, ‘Aren’t you human?’
‘Lord Bellmud is Leann’s grandfather…’
‘You can identify people, you have as much brain as a littledog.’ He said chuckling though his words were harsh.
‘A dog?’ she repeated tilting her head.
Did she have a wild instinct? (Zuben: Where the f is thisauthor going with this nonsense meandering?)
‘Humans believe what they want to believe. Animals rely ontheir instincts. The former sidesteps deep thought. The latter is like a bet,what one believes is not limited and is friendly to all. (Zuben: Some writersreally like to write shallow nonsense and dress it up as deep. But it mightspeak to someone out there. Google and I are confused.)
‘It sounds like a very scholarly answer.’ (Zuben: Don’t patyourself on the back, dear author-sama)
Bellmud stroked Matilda’s head; he was very compa.s.sionate asthough she was one of his grandchildren.
It was still confusing.
‘I want to believe but I cannot believe because I am notconfident.’ She said in a small voice
‘It’s self defence.’
‘Self defence?’
‘You don’t want to be hurt, so the lack of confidence. It isan excuse not to engage with others. You are rejecting reality.’
‘Eh?’ She sat up.
‘Do you think that you would like to believe in that foolLeann, or do you already believe in him?’
It seemed like a riddle.
She put her elbows on her knees and rested her chin on herhand, as she chewed on Lord Bellmud’s comments.
I could be said that she believed him. She believed him butshe was still anxious that the ball was going to drop and she would be left outin the cold.
She clenched her fist unconsciously.
She was rejecting reality. In other words, she was afraid oflosing.
‘A gla.s.s figurine is beautiful from afar, but when you getcloser you might find dust all over it. The keeper is careless, it has becomedirty from neglect, and it can crack and break.’
‘Yes,’
‘A figurine can break someday.’ (Zuben: What are you gettingat, o wise one?)
‘Yes,’
‘But if one owns it, one should know how to take care of it.So that dust doesn’t collect on it keep it in a gla.s.s box and protect it withan invisible string,’ (Zuben: What…? What does this have to do with anything?!)
Matilda smiled at the end of his words. (Zuben: At what?)
Leandroth expended great effort to get her father to accepthis suit for her hand in marriage.
Leandroth’s actions matched his words to her. He patientlycared for her, trying to guide her, protecting her…almost as though she was agla.s.s figurine he had acquired. (Zuben *sarcastic snort*)
She was stunned at this realisation. (Zuben: That you’llforget tomorrow…)
He treated her gently and with kindness. He always wantedher near him.
Her face grew warm.
‘Grandfather Bell, what kind of person is Leann to you?’ sheasked.
‘Leandroth? Hmm, he goes at his own pace with an incompetentsmile on his face, but he is really rather ruthless. He rarely shows what he istruly thinking. I’m sure the Leann Matilda knows is quite different from theEmperor Leandroth.’
‘He is straight-forward and kind, innocent and gentle…’
Bellmud laughed, ‘Isn’t that how one treats the one theylove?’
Her face turned even more red.
‘The Leandroth you know and the Emperor; neither of them area lie. They are simply different sides to a person. There is no human that doesnot have more than one side to them.’ Lord Bellmud said. (Zuben: She’s 26 not12! How can she not know this by now?!)
‘Leandroth really loves you. He looks like his walking onclouds these days. His heart is on fire.’ Bellmud said laughing.
Although, they were not related by blood, Matilda feltMarquis Bellmud and Leandroth were similar.
‘Yesterday, Leandroth had a truly happy smile on his face…’Bellmud said as his gaze turned to the window looking out into the distance. Itwas a sunny day; the sky was vivid blue with puffy white clouds pa.s.sing by. Thetrees were swaying in the light breeze.
‘Grandfather Bell, would you like to become mentor to twoyoung boys?’
Leandroth hadn’t replied when she spoke to him about it.(Zuben: Because you turned into a brainless watering pot) He may not have likedthe idea, but she was going to ask Marquis Bellmud anyway.
‘Mentor?’ he asked.
‘My brothers, they are ten and nine; children of mystep-mother: Ebert and Clervo.’
She felt a bit of nostalgia at the thought of them.
Hopefully, her father the king would not mind if it wasMatilda recommending the Marquis. It would be difficult to be fully welcome anda.s.similate into Ice-Coreta life as the Prime Minister of Barenshiaga, but as aretired knight, things might go better.
‘Step-mother?’
‘My mother died when I was young and father eventuallyremarried her younger sister. My brothers are her children.’
‘I see,’
‘It was rather painful for me to see my mother’s memoriesand influences disappear from the palace.’
She said with a sad smile. Bellmud returned the smile.
She continued, ‘I’m only suggesting it because I thoughtthat Grandfather may be a bit lonely.’
‘My memories of her in this place would eventually fade…maybe sometime away would be good.’
‘If you choose to fly away, please send letters to me.’ Shesaid earnestly as she grabbed hold of his hand.
The Marquis burst out laughing.
‘Did I do something…?
‘No, it’s the first time encountering such an aggressivelady.’
‘Grandfather is attractive…’
‘Shall we have a love affair behind Leandroth’s back…?’ Hesaid jokingly but Matilda wondered if he was a bit serious.
‘Shall we exchange love letters between Barenshiaga andIce-Coretta?’ she replied
The Marquis’ eyes sparkled with a strong inner light.
◇
She spent a little more time with Marquis Bellmud listeningto stories of Leandroth’s childhood. When he looked tired, she left him to restand went to see his attending doctor. She was informed of the Marquis’ condition;it was nothing serious therefore could easily be corrected with medicinal teas.
Matilda put a hand on her bosom and sighed in relief, ‘MaybeOrlatta-sama replied from heaven,’ (Zuben: ¬.¬)
The doctor laughed.
Although the laughter was calm? It made her feela bit uncomfortable. She could not clarify the source of discomfort. (Zuben: Hethinks you’re an idiot.)
Matilda returned to her rooms. The reception room had beencleared for a large dining table, where her ladies-in-waiting and personal maidwere all gathered talking excitedly. The table was laden with food and pastriesof varying kinds (Zuben: There was a list)
‘These all look delicious,’ she said smiling at the ladies.They looked like they were having fun.
Agata pointed her hand out in a deferent pose at an emptyseat near Augustina, ‘It is delicious. Please take a seat, Empress.’
She wanted to say she wasn’t Empress yet, but it would be unluckyto keep saying that. They were only following Leandroth’s lead, so she smiledand took her seat.
Leandroth arrived a little later.
All in all there were eight of her personal maids becausetwo of them were looking after the Marquis Bellmud, her ladies in waitingexcept for two; who were off, Julia the Chief of Staff, and Matilda andLeandroth.
‘Please eat well everyone.’ Leandroth said with a smile.
‘Let’s eat after prayers.’
Matilda sent thanks to the spirits of the forest.
‘Matilda, this is delicious,’ Leandroth said as he put someboiled squid on her plate.
She ate it.
‘It is delicious.’
‘The chef cooked all this. Please let us know if you likeseafood or what you don’t like. We well tell the chef.’ Julia said with a smilefrom her seat.
‘Thank you…’ Matilda replied.
‘Don’t just smile and say everything is delicious, we needto practice giving a proper opinion on aspects of the meal. I will ask youlater, in the meantime, taste this…’ Leandroth said as he handed her anotherdish.
Her eyes widened. (Zuben: Is someone’s head going to roll?)
‘Huh? What do you mean?’ she asked Leandroth who was on herright side.
‘You’re listening to me without having to ask. Is feels likewe’re a proper married couple.’ (Zuben:
You’re taking several giant leaps infantasy land, Leann)
That was not an answer.
‘Let’s concentrate on eating now, we’ll talk about itproperly soon.’
‘Leann…?’
I didn’t realise there was a purpose to this luncheon.
‘The meat dumplings are also delicious,’
‘Thank you, Leann, but you can’t avoid the bell peppers.’
‘So shrewd,’ (Zuben: In what land…?)
They laughed as they ate.
After the meal was finished, Leandroth began to speak asthey reached for their desert,
‘I gathered everyone here today, to commence the Empress’Salon. I hope that we can meet like this once or twice a month. I will not beable to attend all of them but I hope that the meeting would carry on withoutme. This is a social gathering but also an important meeting to discuss thedirection the Salon is going to take.’
‘Your Majesty, what is the purpose of the Empress’ Salon?’Julia asked.
‘I would like the salon to plan and manage the commissioning of a statue of the Beloved Empress thatwould be loved by the people.’(Zuben: Is this your grand gesture, Leann? This sister is too dense for that)
Zuben: This one wasn’t too full of WTF-ery. Although it wasfull of that shallow nonsense that is supposed to be profound, one sometimes comes across in manga and j.a.paneselight novels. I’m not saying that it occurs only in j.a.panese instances. I"m just saying for a while I read and watched too much j.a.panese entertainment.
Anyway…onwards and onwards.
Be well all x.
N.B: Comments don"t show up right away because they are moderated, so make your comments if you want. If I"m not busy running around I will make sure they show as soon as possible.
⚔ Chapter 26