SWNOVELXO Chapter 87
TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 87
Two years ago.
My household was on the brink of collapse.
The household I had devoted my entire life to.
The household I had nurtured, earning the reputation of being a head capable of surpassing limits.
It all came to an end because of my daughter’s love.
-Head of the Household, there’s a grave matter! The Young Lady has—
-Did Olivia get into another fight? I hope she won.
-That’s not it. The Young Lady used Dark Magic!
-What did you say!?
The downfall happened all at once.
The bribes we had offered to the Imperial Family over the years.
The service and donations we had displayed outwardly were rendered meaningless as society began to trample on us.
The malicious news articles that spread throughout the Empire.
Citizens boycotting us.
Even the Imperial Family trying to suppress us through legal means.
My hopes of surpassing the Histania Family, which had been considered our rival, were shattered by a mistake we didn’t even commit.
-Boom!!!
The number of desks I broke in my boiling rage was beyond count.
Just when things seemed to settle, Olivia’s evil deeds at the Academy resurfaced, crushing any chance of recovery, and malicious articles destroyed our ventures before they could even begin.
Even the Gold Coin Merchant Guild, with whom we had maintained contracts since the previous generation, drew a line, saying further relations would be difficult. My household was shaken to its core.
I resented my daughter.
Though she was a daughter raised with love, the more I watched everything I had built turn to dust, the more my negative feelings toward her grew day by day.
I thought perhaps taking away everything she had—her jewels, her money—might make me feel better. But even after stripping her of everything, the suffocating frustration didn’t go away.
Instead, I grew angrier and more stifled.
So, I decided not to see my daughter anymore.
No matter how lovable and precious a child she was, the damage caused by a single mistake of hers was beyond imagination.
I had always forgiven and understood her, but this time, I vowed not to forgive her.
Even my son, who cherished his younger sister dearly, cursed her with malicious words at that time.
We decided to part ways with Olivia.
-The Young Miss will never walk again, they say.
-…Do not bring up Olivia again. She is no longer part of our household.
Even when I heard she would never walk again, I didn’t go to her.
Even when I heard she was struggling due to a lack of money, I didn’t help her.
Out of consideration for Ricardo, who stayed by her side until the end, I left her with the title of noble, but I didn’t pity Olivia, who would live a life worse than that of a commoner.
That was the discipline I could offer.
It was the petty revenge of an incompetent father.
My son left for another country, striving to build a business, and the long-serving household staff, unable to endure the public criticism, submitted their resignation letters and quietly departed. In the empty estate, I spent my days consumed by anger toward Olivia.
I regretted not stripping her of the Desmond name. If I had, the public’s perception of us might have been different.
‘Even now, it’s not too late,’ I thought to myself.
One night, as I drank alone over yet another business ruined by a malicious article.
I resolved to make a decision.
I vowed to draw a clear line rather than leaving things ambiguous.
It was for the sake of the household.
Though it pained me, I felt it was time to put an end to the decision I had made.
-The quest has been completed.
[You can now view the 53rd Side Story, ‘Your Daughter Who Can Never Return.’]
After seeing just one glimpse of the past, I changed my mind. As a father, I couldn’t bear to see the wretched ending of my daughter.
I clenched my teeth and decided to endure, and I remember the words I said that day as I cried for the first time in a long while.
“Thank goodness. Thank goodness you’re alive…”
***
Beneath the dazzling dining table.
In front of the grandly prepared meal, we were all being cautious.
“…Hiccup…”
Even the Young Lady, who seemed to have severed ties with caution.
“Ahem…”
Even Darbav, who was to become the Head of the Desmond Family.
“Haha…”
Even I, the Young Lady’s butler, swallowed nervously as I watched the woman with sharp eyes sitting at the head of the table, arms crossed.
In the heavy silence, the woman with her arms crossed sighed and opened her mouth.
“Dear.”
“…Olivia’s mother is calling.”
“I wasn’t calling you. I was calling your father.”
“Then you must have been calling Ricardo.”
“I have no interest in committing adultery, Head of the Household.”
Despite Darbav’s plea for mercy, the Young Lady and I responded with cold indifference.
We had to survive too.
The Mistress of Desmond.
Darbav’s wife, Desmond Rosanna, was glaring at us, her unannounced visitors.
Especially at her husband.
“You’re looking at him so lovingly.”
“Yes, I’m so madly in love that I can’t stand it. Seeing you bring her here after swearing you’d never see her again is just…”
Rosanna gritted her teeth and said.
“So lovely.”
“Hiccup!”
The Young Lady hiccupped at the voice filled with Rosanna’s anger. Clutching her chest and searching for water, the Young Lady looked at me with trembling eyes.
“Ricardo…”
“Yes?”
“Are we screwed?”
Rosanna, her ears perked up at their whispered exchange, shouted at Olivia with a menacing aura.
“Olivia. Didn’t I tell you not to use vulgar language?”
“…But you do it too, Mom.”
“When did I ever?”
“At the social gathering hosted by the Magic Tower, when you slapped that noblewoman for giving you attitude…”
“That was because she made me angry!”
“…”
The Young Lady clamped her mouth shut.
The Head of the Household was Darbav.
The head of the family was Rosanna.
The hierarchy of the Desmond Family was clear.
No matter how great an Archmage he was, within the household, Darbav absolutely obeyed Rosanna’s words. It was this very aspect of her that had captivated him when he proposed to her, so Darbav could only keep his mouth shut.
To quench his parched throat, Darbav drank water and spoke in an awkward voice.
“Now… now… let’s all stop and eat. You must have come a long way. Aren’t you hungry?”
“Hungry? After how much she’s eaten already?”
“Hic… Hiccup.”
The Young Lady, now sulking, refused to engage further and stuffed bread into her mouth.
“Olivia. How many times have I told you to eat bread with a fork? Eating with your hands is impolite!”
“Ricardo didn’t say anything about it.”
“Ricardo!”
“I’m sorry.”
I, too, couldn’t say anything to Madam Rosanna. When Madam Rosanna got angry, no one could stop her.
From the past, Rosanna was like a cuckoo protecting the peace of the household. When her son got angry, she would get equally angry to calm him down, and when Darbav faced frustrations due to business, she supported him through her domestic efforts, proving herself a true household talent.
I, too, received a lot of help from Rosanna when I lived in the estate in the capital.
If I faced discrimination for being a commoner, she would step in herself, even going so far as to confront the Knights’ Order.
Perhaps because she was a former adventurer, she had a somewhat rough side, but she was a warm-hearted person who showed a truly human side.
As if to signify that, Rosanna’s gaze was now fixed on the Young Lady’s frail legs.
“…”
Without saying a word, Rosanna looked at the Young Lady’s legs, biting her lip as her eyes grew moist.
“Sniff… So. What are you planning to do?”
Rosanna sniffled, turned her head, and wiped away her tears.
The estate they had come to at Darbav’s suggestion.
-If no one’s eating, why don’t we eat together?
-Father. Do you hate me?
-Enough. Let’s talk while we eat. Ricardo, if you haven’t eaten, join us. Surely, you can spare the time for one meal.
-Of course, Head of the Household.
Though Darbav had entered the estate confidently, at the final gate, he couldn’t lift his head, unable to be of any help to us.
-It’s just a meal. It should be fine, right, Rosanna?
“Sigh…”
Rosanna’s deep sigh resonated across the silent dining table.
“What are you going to do if Kyle shows up? If he acts out like last time, will you take responsibility?”
“…”
“Last time, he said he’d just go say a word to Olivia. If he’s inside the estate, what do you think he’ll do? Ask how she’s been? Is that what you think?”
“I… I’ve thought it through.”
“Thought it through? You just brought her here without a plan.”
The more Rosanna nagged, the more Darbav’s shoulders slumped.
Rosanna’s commanding presence, paired with her age-defying beauty, might have seemed lovely in Darbav’s eyes, but nagging was a different matter altogether.
Watching the two of them, I quietly ate my soup.
“Oh… This is delicious.”
“Really? I made it. How is it?”
Rosanna spoke to me with a glow of hope in her expression.
“It’s tasty, isn’t it? I made it using the recipe you sent me in your letter last time. The guests said it was delicious, so I tried it.”
“Last time?”
Hearing this, Darbav perked up his ears and looked at Rosanna.
“Ah…”
Rosanna, with an awkward smile, glanced between me and Darbav before speaking.
“We’ve been exchanging letters.”
“Since when?”
“About two years, I think? You never tell me anything, so I planted a spy.”
The Young Lady, who had been eating bread with a fork, looked at me with eyes full of betrayal.
“Ugh…! Ricardo!”
“I’m sorry. I had no choice.”
“…Traitor!”
Rosanna, with a gentle smile, spoke. She praised how much the Young Lady had grown and matured over the course of their correspondence.
I realized that the reason she treated us so warmly was because of the letters exchanged over the past two years.
In one of the letters, I had hinted about visiting during the Head of the Household’s birthday.
Even Darbav, who thought her fiery temper would be the correct answer to such situations, merely looked at me with the same eyes as Olivia.
“Traitor.”
“Father is right.”
“That’s my daughter.”
“Yes.”
They were a perfectly matched father-daughter duo.
Rosanna, who had been chatting away, brought out a perfectly cooked steak from the kitchen and began sharing the most memorable stories from the letters at the dining table.
“Dear, did you know? Olivia once tried to earn money.”
“Olivia?”
“Yes. She said she was going to sew eyes onto teddy bears….”
The Young Lady’s face turned red as she shouted.
“Eeeek!!! Don’t say it! It’s embarrassing!”
“Why~? I’m proud of my daughter. Supporting your family starts now…”
“Eeeek!!! Ricardo, punish her!”
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re my butler!”
“If you have complaints, Young Lady, you should become the Mistress of the House of Desmond.”
“Eeeek!!”
Rosanna smiled warmly as she looked at us. Then, placing a piece of warm meat on my plate, she said.
“Thank you.”
I couldn’t lift my head.
***
The sun had set in the evening.
Rosanna and Darbav sat in the office for the first time in a long while, sharing drinks.
There was an inexplicable wistfulness in the sight of the two, sipping their drinks as the gentle breeze blew.
As Rosanna quietly set down a tray of snacks on the table, Darbav asked her in a gentle voice.
“What about the children?”
“Olivia is asleep. Ricardo said he’d sleep later.”
“Hmm…”
Darbav nodded while sipping his bitter wine.
“Ricardo said he could leave, but I told him to stay until your birthday. I did well, didn’t I?”
At Rosanna’s bright smile, Darbav also smiled and nodded.
“You did well.”
A tranquil atmosphere.
A family reunited after a long time.
Darbav smiled, feeling a rare sense of fulfillment.
Rosanna cautiously asked Darbav a question.
“Why did you bring her? You said you’d never see her again.”
“Just…”
Darbav looked at the brightly shining moon and spoke.
“I missed her.”
Rosanna smiled at Darbav and replied.
“You did the right thing.”
*
The next morning.
The estate was bustling with the loud voices of two people.
“Hiiiik! Air raid alarm!!!!”
“Pant…! Empire emergency…!!”
“Be quiet!”
It was the cuckoo’s call on a peaceful morning.