I Shall Break Off Our Engagement For You
[Chapter 23]
Translated by: ME
Felicia entered Marquis Airheart's study and, without being asked anything, said, [I want you to cancel my engagement to Silas.]
[That's rather sudden.]
[I know I'm being selfish.]
Marquis Airheart looked straight at his intelligent daughter's face.
[There must be a reason for you to say such a thing.]
[Let's hear it,] he said, moving away from his desk and gesturing for Felicia to join him at the seating area in the center of the room.
Felicia wasn't confident she could explain it well.
Even after sitting on the sofa diagonally across from her father, the words didn't come easily.
[What do you dislike about Silas?]
[It's not that I dislike him, it's not about that...]
Taking her father's cue, she finally opened her mouth.
[I don't think it's just Silas's fault. It's just that, somehow, I don't care anymore...]
[Is that so...]
Asked why she no longer cared, and since when, she slowly peered into her own heart.
[Sometimes, I'd hear Silas say things that looked down on people, and it made me feel bad. Maybe it was my fault for not saying anything at the time, and maybe saying this now is just badmouthing him...]
[I see. Then, why didn't Felicia point it out to Silas?]
[That's...]
Felicia thought.
She had pointed it out once or twice.
[Maybe it's because I knew he'd just get sulky if I did...]
Marquis Airheart nodded slightly.
[Is there anything else that could be a reason?]
Felicia told him about what happened at the noble district cafe today.
Including the fact that Silas was against Felicia going to Barney's party, and that Maisie sided with Silas on the matter.
Then, she muttered.
[I hate Maisie...]
Marquis Airheart, showing interest, smiled as he did when she was little and asked, [Oh? And why is that?]
[I can't explain it well, but I just hate her. It's not like she's terribly mean, and it's not like she deliberately breaks the school rules, and probably no one thinks Maisie is a bad person, but still, I hate her.]
Her father listened in silence.
She said that Maisie did things that Felicia thought most people wouldn't do.
[For example?]
Coming to Felicia's house and ordering tea from the maids without permission.
Tagging along on dates with Silas or plans with friends even though she wasn't invited.
Telling people about shops and books Felicia had found, acting as if she'd found them herself.
Submitting poems that imitated Felicia and Rachel's poems as her own.
[They're all such small things that they shouldn't matter.]
[But you don't like it, don't you?]
She nodded in agreement.
She didn't like it.
Including things she couldn't even put into words, she didn't like it, and it made her uncomfortable.
[Maisie even asked me many times if she could go to Barney's party. There was nothing I could do about it, and I told her she couldn't because it was impossible. So, even though Maisie couldn't go from the start, she spoke to Silas as if she had decided not to go herself.]
There were countless other instances like that.
Gradually, words overflowed as if a dam had burst.
When Maisie found someone who was against someone, she would approach both, or either one, as if fawning over them, saying, [I'm on your side.]
A shared hatred creates the greatest bond.
Saying bad things about someone together strengthens the sense of solidarity.
Maisie looked truly happy when she agreed with Silas when he spoke ill of Barney. She seemed so happy that it was hard to believe that just a little while ago, she had wanted to go to the party herself, and she said that she would never be friendly with Barney again.
Even though Maisie and Barney had never been close in the first place.
[In other words, Felicia dislikes Maisie's baseness, or rather, her lack of a sense of aesthetics, and feels uncomfortable about it?]
[Y-yes, maybe... I'm being selfish...]
[No, I don't think that can be helped. In short, you don't get along. There's no need to force yourself to associate with her.]
Hearing her father's words, Felicia felt a sense of relief.
There was no need to force herself to associate with someone she didn't get along with. The thought that she didn't have to deal with Maisie anymore made her feel refreshed.
[Silas might have thought that if Felicia was going to be friendly with Barney, then he should be allowed to be friendly with Maisie.]
[Yes... I think so.]
It was mutual.
Felicia looked down.
Looking only at the facts, it still felt like Felicia was being selfish.
But Marquis Airheart said with a serious face.
[Then, let's let him be friendly with Maisie.]
[Eh...]
[I will tell the Haymer family that we want to return to the starting point.]
[F-Father...? Is that okay?]
The Marquis nodded and gave a small smile.
[As Felicia herself understands, we can't necessarily conclude that it's only Silas's fault. But which one is right or wrong, that doesn't matter.]
[I-is that so?]
Could she really break off the engagement like that?
[Their ways of thinking don't match with us. That's enough.]
Felicia stared blankly at her father as he stated it so simply.
Thank you for reading. If you want to help my hobby please download and install LDP9 with my link down below. Just Click the small yellow LDPlayer Banner.
OR
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel
No comments:
Post a Comment