DKVM Ch 23

Chapter 23

Was it because the weather was nice?

Or maybe it was the way her golden eyes sparkled in the sunlight.

A conversation he’d never spoken of with others was brought up.

“Is there such a thing as a life without regrets?”

Karlz muttered.

“You know I had a daughter.”

“The princess’s mother?”

“Yes, her.”

Karlz’s face softened at the mention of Isela, his usual intimidation gone.

“Even after losing her mother so early, that child took care of her dad too.”

Karlz paused, staring at the child across from him.

Perhaps because of the similarities between Vivian and Isela’s situations, he could see the image of young Isela superimposed on the child’s face.

Her face was now a blur.

Staring at the figure, Karlz smiled bittersweetly and continued.

“She was so precious, so precious, that I wanted to give her only the most precious things in the world.”

He wanted to give his precious daughter the position of crown princess. To do so, he supported Orpen.

But…

“But it wasn’t the expensive, beautiful things she wanted, it was the small, ordinary things, always.”

Isela loved Leofrid, not Orpen, who would have given her the most exalted seat.

“I forced her to do what I thought was good for her. And it was for love… or so I thought.”

In order to give Isela the crown princess position, he allowed Leofrid’s death as a member of Orpen’s entourage.

Unaware that a child of his blood was already growing in his daughter’s womb.

“That child who had such a father as I, left my side in the end to protect something so little and precious.”

He finally got the place of crown princess that he wanted to give his daughter, but she was gone.

‘Who had I lived my whole life so fiercely for?’

What was it all for…

At first, he was filled with regret, followed by a sinking feeling.

Then he realized something.

He hadn’t been living for Isela but for his own greed.

He would have been a lot happier if he hadn’t spent his life regretting and missing her.

“Then one day, she came back, with a terrible disease.”

And by Isela’s side was a grandson he could never have imagined.

His daughter, who was weak from birth, fell ill while trying to protect the child of a man who had turned traitor, and the child lost his father before he was born.

When Karlz finally realized what he had done, his heart literally broke.

And it was still breaking.

He swallowed hard thinking back on that day.

“If I had respected her wishes, she wouldn’t have run away like that.”

“…”

“If I had, that terrible disease wouldn’t have taken her.”

“…”

“…I still regret that day.”

So desperately, with every breath.

When he finished, Vivian, who had been listening in silence, cautiously chimed in.

“Of course, the princess’s mother would not have liked it when the duke forced her to do something.”

Of course, she would have resented it.

Karlz, who had been listening to Vivian’s words as if Isela were speaking to him, was stunned by what came next.

“But, Your Grace, isn’t that what dads do?”

“…”

“My dad forces me to take my medicine even if I don’t want to because he doesn’t want me to get sick, and he won’t let me climb a tree if I want to because he’s afraid I’ll get hurt.”

“…”

“But I love my dad a lot because I know he does it because he loves me.”

“…”

“So the princess’s mother must have loved the duke very much.”

At that, Karlz’s expression twisted into a wry smile.

It wasn’t as simple as Vivian thought.

Isela had begged Karlz to spare Leofrid, but he could do nothing.

No, he did nothing.

He didn’t have the evidence to clear Leofrid’s name, and he didn’t want to risk being labeled a traitor for letting him escape.

Isela was more important to him.

Now he knew it was a cowardly excuse…

“And just like that, I would be sad if my sweet dad was tied to the past.”

Suddenly, he remembered something Isela had said before she died.

“I used to resent my father a lot.”

“…”

“And even now, I’d be lying if I said I’ve completely forgiven you.”

“…I’m sorry, Isela. I shouldn’t have…”

“But now that I’m a mother, I understand that you had no choice but to…”

“…”

“So I will forgive my father for that time.”

Vivian’s words somehow reflected what Isela said to him.

He still hadn’t forgiven himself, but he told himself it was okay.

Or maybe he was just trying to convince himself because he wanted to be forgiven by Isela.

At the same time, he realized something.

He realized that he would never be forgiven by Isela, who was already dead.

It was not Isela who could forgive him, but himself.

Karlz stared at Vivian, then smiled bitterly and muttered.

“…Yes, I suppose it’s time to let her go.”

It was time to let go of the past.

Just as his beloved daughter had said before.

* * *

Sally was drawing alone in her room when she colored outside of the lines and threw her colored pencil down.

“Ugh, it’s so frustrating!”

Sally had been increasingly irritable lately.

Ever since Vivian started coming in and out of the mansion.

When Vivian started taking classes with Rahel, Sally naturally spent less time with Rahel.

Some servants felt bad for Sally when she was playing alone, so they brought her snacks and encouraged her to play with them.

Even Margaret tried to cajole Sally.

“Sally, you shouldn’t do that, you should get close to that girl. You’re supposed to keep your enemies close and find out their weaknesses.”

“Do you mean to ask me to play with that beggar? I hate it! Mom, get her out of here, quickly!”

But Sally wasn’t having any of it.

Her pride wouldn’t allow her to come between Vivian and Rahel now.

‘Mom will get rid of her somehow.’

It was her mom who had kicked out Rahel’s playmates in the past.

Sally waited, hoping that her mother would take care of it this time, but for some reason, Vivian’s time at the mansion was getting longer and longer.

Sally’s sense of crisis and impatience grew, and she became increasingly irritable.

After finishing with another color, Sally finally threw down her sketchbook and got up.

“I want a snack.”

But the maids didn’t come even when she pulled the bell.

There was no reason for the maids to attend to Sally, the nanny’s daughter, but until now, they’d brought her snacks out of respect for Margaret.

But now that Sally was used to being attended to by the maids, she forgot her status and was furious.

“Are they all ignoring me?!”

Trembling with rage, Sally finally pushed herself to her feet and headed to the kitchen to get a snack.

She stomped down the stairs.

As she passed Karlz’s office on the second floor, she saw a familiar figure coming out of the office.

‘Isn’t that Vivian? Why is she coming out of the duke’s office?’

Vivian emerged from the office and was escorted down the stairs by Owen.

“I was talking to the duke today…about a book called…”

Vivian’s voice was faintly audible over Owen’s chattering and occasional low chuckles.

She couldn’t hear exactly what Vivian was talking about, but one thing was for sure….

‘That little girl even has the duke wrapped around her finger!’

First the servants, then Owen, then Rahel, and now the dreaded duke.

Who the heck was this girl?

She couldn’t understand why everybody was wrapped around Vivian’s little finger.

Sally gritted her teeth.

‘There’s a reason my mom still hasn’t gotten rid of her, that annoying little brat!’

Suddenly, a sense of urgency came over her, and she shouldn’t leave it to her mom alone.

Sally listened to Vivian’s voice getting further and further away and made up her mind.

‘I’ve got to get rid of her before it’s too late.’