CH 16

16 Papa is Awesome

TN : The Last consecutive release, also the end of introduction phase. Starting from the next chapter will be the battle of wits. Stay tuned next week.

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Royal capital, I’m comi~ng!

At the moment, we were traveling eastward from the Goldberg territory, in the direction of the royal capital of Serendious Kingdom; Selendia.

And we were nearing that place now. Well, to be fair, we had been travelling for one week in the coach. So, of course we would be near.

Unlike what I had half-expected, though, the coach did not make the travel uncomfortable. The road was maintained properly, and the little town along the way also had nice and comfortable inns, making the whole trip completely comfortable and satisfying.

There was only a single thing that I was disappointed in. The fact that I couldn’t ride anything like a magic car, magic train, or magic airship. When I found that out, I was completely bummed out.

I tried to ask, but my father said that such transportations wasn’t something that could be used by Marquis. He also mentioned that though the transportations itself existed, it hadn’t reached a stage where it was able to be commercialized as it took a huge amount of enchanted magic just to use it. It seemed, at the moment, only the royal family owned those vehicles.

Although I wanted to ride one of those vehicles – just once was fine really – but, I guessed it was impossible. There was no way the royal family would give their permission just because a noble wanted to ride the royal family’s aeroplane. As such, I laid that wish to the grave.

While I was lamenting that fact, our coach passed the main street of the royal capital, and we arrived in a plaza. Gazing at the place, I noticed that one corner of the plaza was elevated with a water fountain built on top. Furthermore, there were also a lot of street stalls set around the fountain. The city development department even kindly arranged the path for coaches and pedestrians to be separated by stairs, allowing people to travel freely and safely.

“This place seems to be a famous spot called the ‘Lovers’ Fountain’. Legend said that confessing in this place will make your love come true.” Richard explained while reading the royal capital guidebook carefully.

“He~” I half-heartedly made a sound from the back of my throat in response, not even willing to look away from the coach’s window. Right now, I really didn’t want to interact with this guy at all. So, though I knew Richard was trying to attract my attention with various stories, I chose to ignore him.

As for the reason? Well, it was because we were in the middle of a fight now. And I refused to forgive him no matter how much he tried to coax me. I. Refused.

“Theodore, though I don’t know how you feel right now, don’t you think that it’s about time for you to stop sulking?”

Father, who was riding the same coach as us, tried to mediate. However, no matter what he said, no is no.

“Theodore-sama, uhm…” Richard attempted to speak, but he was unable to finish his words as I glared at him.

“Theodore?” Father asked, his whole demeanor telling me that he wouldn’t be taking no or silence as an answer.

Haa, I know that the reason for this fight is childish. But still, everyone has something that they will never forgive, right? I rhetorically grumbled in my heart. Still, I knew I had to explain now, so I cleared my throat and explained.

“Because of Richard, I can’t meet Wendy before we depart. Not only that, before that, Richard’s actions actually hinder me from visiting her some time before our departure. Even though all I want is to see her everyday… I can’t because of him!”

One week. I had to be patient for one week, and in that duration of time, I was not able to see my beloved little sister. Furthermore, he went as far as preventing me from seeing my sister before our departure to the capital citing schedule.

What did he say again? Oh, right. He was saying stuff about how I must prioritize the schedule, and action outside it was out of the question! What the h*ell?! Are you going to rob me of my freedom?! My eyes darkened in displeasure as I remembered what he said next when I protested.

Selfish, he said? Seriously?! Selfish? Me? Okay, you said it now… you know that you’re practically saying the F word, right?

Anyhow, I wholeheartedly opposed such a tyrannical schedule. I mean, the existence of schedules was supposed to help you manage your time, so you would be able to set some of it for whatever you wanted to do. That being the case, shouldn’t the one you make prevent this incident?

This was especially important since it was I, who was the one who became the victim of the schedule he made for me. Having a schedule was fine, but of course, it should be flexible as well. So, for him to try to manage my time down to the minute… NO. Like hell I could accept such a detailed 24/7 schedule that controlled my activities down to the minute.

My dinner time and bathing time, in particular, was greatly affected by what he did. Fine, I knew that having my meal time prolonged into one hour was a problem, but to reduce it to a frea*king ten minutes?! Seriously, did he think I could fully enjoy my meal with so little time?!

Moreover, we had yet to decide to settle on this schedule – which I definitely wouldn’t, mind you – but his action was… what the hell was he trying to do by complaining to the maids and head chef for indulging me?! Was he for real?!

I made sure to apologize to them for his action, but… if this went on like this… did I really have to do this every time?!

Martha did warn him about this matter later on, but seriously, how the hell did he misinterpret her remark? Seeing his incomprehension, I even tried to tell him to be more lenient. However, if I was too harsh with him, he would shrunk back to his crybaby self. Due to this, I couldn’t really scold him; at least not without turning him into a blubbering mess.

As such, I was left with no other choice, but to go to his grandfather. BUT! Even though Sebas said to leave the matter to him when I spoke to him, my treatment became really terrible for some reason.

THE HECK?!

I could see that he seemed to have no idea on how to be an attendant. But when I encouraged him – in hope that he would adjust that schedule properly – it backfired on me and caused him to become too fired up.

In the end, I went to my final line of defense – as far as advice went, that is – and tried to ask him what I should do. Kevin told me to shout at Richard. As I was at my wits end, I decided to follow his advice and shouted at Richard before we departed to the royal capital.

And Kevin’s advice showed its effect. Richard was trying his best to fix my mood while we traveled.

Well, that was until my father forced me to confess the reason why I was angry. Considering that I didn’t want to anger my father, I fessed up the truth.

Besides, who knew what Richard was going to do if I kept him worrying for too long.

“Richard, Theodore understands that you’re doing your best. However, creating such a tight schedule without giving a leeway and proper management will cause trouble for everyone.”

My father started, explaining to Richard.

“I mean, take our trip right now. Do you remember the time we chanced upon a collapsed merchant carriage along the way? At that time, we took time to help them fix the carriage and pick up the fallen items, but we still arrived on time, didn’t we? We can do that because we have given some leeway in our traveling plan. Now, supposed we let you plan our trip according to how you planned Theodore’s schedule. At that time, we might just not make it in time should something unexpected happen, and everything can happen during travelling. Do take note that we can’t overly exhaust our horses for no reason, since one of our horses might just get wounded along the way all of a sudden, what then? Do you get it now?”

At last, after my father’s patient explanation, Richard’s face finally showed an understanding of what he was doing wrong.

Yup, as expected, papa is invincible~.

“Your mind just needs to be a little flexible. Furthermore, you also have to speak to Theodore properly whenever you create the schedule. After all, it was created for Theodore, so he had to have a say in it. You must not decide such a thing by yourself since all responsibilities of your action will fall on Theodore as he was your master.”

“Father! What do you mean by that?!”

Please stop with jokes like that!

“He’s Theodore’s attendant after all. If his action isn’t your responsibility, then whose? Before, when Father heard you say you’re responsible for him, Father saw you in a new light you know?” My father said, all the while smiling impishly to me. Feeling helpless – especially since I had indeed said that – I could only inwardly sigh.

Geez, I guess I have no choice but to do that since he went as far as saying such a thing to me.

“Understood. I’ll be responsible for him. That being the case, Richard, make sure to consult me first before deciding anything. Is that understood?”

“U-understood. M-my deepest apologies for all trouble I have caused you until now, Theodore-sama!”

Although he said that, I had no idea whether he really understood or not, but I guess this was enough for now.

By the way, we had arrived at Goldberg Family’s mansion that was located in the noble district of the royal capital. Although I, who had already reconciled with Richard, didn’t really pay attention to this as I was busy looking at the royal capital’s tourist attraction section in the guidebook.