CH 32

Before doing anything else, Cain wrote some letters.

The point of the letters was to address the other children at the embroidery meeting and apologize for making them feel scared. 

He got the idea of including an embroidered handkerchief along with each letter, so he diligently got to work on multiple handkerchiefs. 

“The point of sending hand-embroidered handkerchiefs is to show that you personally took the time to do it, right? It’s a sign that you’re truly sorry, right?” asked Ilvalino. 

“It’s just a simple design. No one will know that you helped,” said Cain, as the two of them worked side by side. 

They were using the blue and red embroidery frames that Mother had gifted them. They fastened handkerchiefs to the frames and embroidered small flowers, apples, cherries, clovers, stars, and other small designs into them. 

“When you make a flower, make it vague enough so that it’s not clear what type it is, and the person will look at it and just say, ‘oh, it’s a little flower!’” said Cain. 

“I know, I know. How would I even make a specific flower that someone could recognize when it’s this small?” asked Ilvalino. 

Professor Yannis’s lesson on the meanings behind certain flowers had made a deep impression on the two boys. 

Since they were just embroidering tiny designs, by teatime that day, they had finished enough handkerchiefs to give one out to each child at the meeting.

These two seven-year-old boys had managed to get quite good at embroidering. 

Cain attached the lacy handkerchiefs to the letters being sent to girls, and plain handkerchiefs to letters being sent to boys, and gave them to the butler, asking him to make sure they were delivered.

Even though these were addressed from one child to another, Cain didn’t have a close relationship with any of these children yet. Keeping in mind the political relationships between the Elgrandarks and other noble houses, Cain knew that his parents would check these letters. Therefore, he didn’t bother sealing any of the envelopes. 

It was a good thing he didn’t seal them, because when Elise looked through the letters, she found a mistake. Cain had assumed the wrong gender of one of the children after reading their name, and enclosed the wrong handkerchief. Elise fixed that for him before they were sent out.

Cain had no idea that she had done that, though. 

“I hope that that’s a good enough apology,” said Cain, sighing worriedly. Cain didn’t know it, but the mothers at the embroidery meeting didn’t think badly of Cain at all. 

They were startled when flames burst out from between his hands, but the speech that Cain gave afterward… When he screamed that girls and women are precious and that they have to be respected, they were all moved by his words.

As mistresses of their houses, or belles of society, these ladies heard words of praise towards women all the time, but in reality, they felt that they were looked down upon by their husbands, fathers, and brothers at home.

These ladies were brought up to believe that giving birth and raising children was their duty, and they were never praised for doing so. When Cain gave his speech, it struck a chord in them. 

Although it didn’t last long, at the embroidery meeting, when Cain saw everyone’s work, he not only complimented people on the appearance and beauty of their pieces but also the complexity and neatness of their craft. He marveled at how much time their pieces took to make, and gave respectful and precise compliments. [Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the “Novel Multiverse dot com” website @ novelmultiverse.com]

The ladies were realized that it made them very happy to see someone of the opposite sex showing appreciation for their hobby. 

There were many ladies who thought that if he were to take one of their daughters or nieces as a bride, he could be expected to treat them properly. Not only that, he came from a noble family ranking just under the royal family.

The purpose of the meeting was to have young ladies meet the Crown Prince, but now there were whispers going around that rather than marrying the apparently violent Crown Prince, a young lady would be much happier marrying the respectful, understanding Cain. 

Elise was the only one who knew that every time Cain had said “girls” or “women” in his speech, he really meant, “Diana.” However, she kept that thought to herself. There was no reason to ruin her son’s rising reputation.

“I think I’ve done enough apologizing to the noble children, for now. What I need to do next is apologize to the Crown Prince,” said Cain. 

“I heard you almost killed him,” said Ilvalino. 

“Don’t say such scandalous things. All I did was try to burn him a little bit,” said Cain, nonchalantly, and with a bit of pride in his voice. 

Now, how exactly should I go about stopping the Crown Prince Route? I have to think hard about this, thought Cain. 

If Diana and the Crown Prince got married, and they were able to form a loving relationship, Cain was willing to step out of the way, and he would be satisfied. However, the Protagonist was still an uncertain variable that posed a terrifying threat.

If the Protagonist decided to choose someone besides the Crown Prince as a target for her love, there would be no issue, but the thoughts and emotions of strangers were one thing Cain had no control over. 

Since Cain and the Protagonist were acquainted with each other now, Cain could start leading him in certain directions or pushing him away from Diana, but he hadn’t met the Protagonist yet.

He hadn’t met her, and he didn’t even know where she was. He had no way of intervening in her life choices, yet. 

It was a true stroke of luck that he was able to take Ilvalino in. 

If there was nothing that could be done about the Protagonist, Cain would need the Crown Prince to be dealt with. 

“I gotta somehow make up with the His Highness, the Crown Prince,” said Cain. 

“…You actually want to make up, huh? I thought for sure you just wanted to beat the crap out of him,” said Ilvalino. 

“I can never forgive him for knocking Diana down and injuring her, but I need him on my side to make sure Diana doesn’t end up in an even more painful situation…”

Cain was carefully considering the whole situation, but little did he know that the plot was being propelled forward without his knowledge, right outside his room. 

The adults of both families had already arranged a meeting between Cain and the Crown Prince, and they were already in the process of scheduling the date. Cain’s parents were stalling, thinking that he would try to refuse to meet the Crown Prince at all.