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Queen’s Ride
At noon, Veirya and Angelina brought Leah back. Leah looked much better than last time. She very cheerfully ran over to tightly hug me when she saw me. When she touched me, though, her expression stiffened; she looked puzzled. My entire body jolted.
“It’s been so long; why is Leah still able to smell the elf’s smell?” I wondered.
“Mm… What a strange smell… Actually, no… Why has Leah never smelt this scent?” Leah vigilantly took a step back. She then paced back and forth in the house while fanning her nose. She mumbled to herself, “I can’t smell the same smell in the house. Papa shouldn’t have gone out; why does he have that strange smell on him…? Papa, did you meet someone?”
Awkward, I touched my face and looked at my daughter. I vaguely answered, “Papa went to see the elves during the day, right…? Maybe their smell got on me… It’s all right, Leah. Don’t worry.”
I gave Leah’s head a rub. She responded with a small nod. She was still slightly vigilant, but she accepted my explanation. She folded her arms and followed up: “Papa, why do you have an elf’s scent on you, then? You were just checking on them, so how?”
“Mm…” I stopped to think before replying, “Mm… the bodyguard elf upstairs fell off the bed, so I helped her back onto the bed. Honest. Nothing more happened, Leah; rest assured.”
Veirya came up from behind. She hugged Leah and seriously looked at me: “Have the three elves. Come to?”
I nodded: “Yes, the Queen has woken up, as well. By the looks of things, their conditions shouldn’t be too severe. I doubt they’ll die. Also, I talked to them this morning and decided that, henceforth, the diplomat will be acting as Leah’s private tutor. My plan is to have Leah study during the day, join you two in the afternoon, then come back and read in the evening.”
Veirya didn’t argue otherwise. Not sure what I meant, Leah inquired, “Papa, what’s a tutor?”
I smiled: “Remember when Lucia taught you to write? Tutors are similar to that. From now on, the elf will teach you humanity’s literacy and language. If you’re interested in anything, just let us know. She should teach you it. Leah, you won’t be able to survive here in humanity’s lands if you don’t learn anything. If you can, I hope you can study more.”
“Uhm! Since it’s Papa’s request, Leah will definitely do Leah’s best!” Leah earnestly nodded.
Judging from her response last time, Leah wasn’t averse to studying and is actually quite keen to. I felt bad when I realised that. Nevertheless, Leah then grabbed my hand and asked, “So, so when Leah is studying, will Papa stay by Leah’s side?”
I hesitated then told the truth: “Uh, probably not.”
I shouldn’t be loitering around when Leah’s tutor was teaching her, should I? After all, I’d get in her tutor’s way. I probably had other work to attend to during the day. I had plans to see what other business I can do in the North. I didn’t want to stay at home all day. Leah looked upset. She tightly clung to my arm and almost cried: “Papa, do you hate Leah now? Has Leah done something wrong…? Why… why… why has Papa not wanted to be with Leah recently…?”
“No! No!” I tightly hugged Leah.
Veirya shot over a displeased gaze. Sounding unhappy, she questioned, “Why. Did you. Make her cry?”
“I didn’t! Don’t make things up!” I quickly denied the allegation, and then hugged Leah.
Leah cried in my arms. She gripped my clothes tightly and cried. Veirya came over to us. She crouched down and caressed Leah’s head. Leah pushed me away and ran over to cry loudly in Veirya’s arms. As she cried, she exclaimed, “Mama Veirya, Papa doesn’t want me anymore!! He doesn’t like me anymore!! Mama Veirya!! Papa doesn’t want me anymore! He doesn’t want to be with Leah anymore! He wasn’t this way before!!”
“It’s all right. It’s all right, Leah. I’m here for you.” Veirya stroked Leah’s head in a particularly gentle manner. She then shot me an extremely cold gaze, sending chills up my spine. She coldly asked, “If. You like her. From now on. Do things. Together with us. No. Saying no. Loud and clear?”
“No… Listen to me, Veirya; that’s not what I was saying!”
“I asked: loud and clear?”
I really wanted to say, “Come on! That’s not what I meant! I want to keep Leah company, as well. I can’t stay with her when class is in session, though!! Who goes to class with their child?!”
“What’s wrong? Why am I seeing your family’s catastrophe as soon as I come back?” asked Angelina, who was standing at the door, looking stunned. She then immediately trained her gaze on me: “How did you upset the two of them this time?”
“I didn’t! Don’t make things up! I just don’t have time to keep Leah company…”
“Waaahh!!!” Leah cried louder. Veirya’s gaze changed in an instant.
I thought, “I think Veirya will actually hack me to death if this continues…”
Baffled, Angelina queried, “You don’t have any work anyway. Aren’t you at home all day and night? How do you not have time for Leah? Maybe you couldn’t help it today, but what about in the future?”
“Wow!! Calling me unemployed makes me feel horrible!” It was a fact that I didn’t have a legitimate counterargument, however. I was unemployed, after all… I let out a heavy sigh: “The main reason is that the elf will be tutoring Leah. I can’t stay by Leah’s side all the time, can I? That’d make her tutor feel incredibly awkward, wouldn’t it?”
“Make some time to spend with her and problem solved?” Angelina looked as if it was a given. She elaborated, “Leah is a good girl, but you can’t use that as a reason to not concern yourself with her; that’s not what a father is supposed to do. You can do things with her in the evening and make time for everyone to go out together this week.”
“Right, right, right.” I nodded as if I caught the life-saving straw. I then grabbed hold of Leah’s hand and sincerely told her, “Leah, Leah, Papa will read with you at night, and Papa will go out to play with you every three days as a holiday of sorts and not work that day, okay? Papa doesn’t hate you; Papa wants to be by your side, too. Don’t be scared. Papa will never want to abandon you.”
Leah raised her head from Veirya’s embrace. She looked at me while her tears coursed down her face. I looked at her with sincerity. Leah finally moved back to my arms and tightly gripped my chest. Angelina giggled in a soft voice: “How nice. It’s so joyful to have such an attached daughter. Veirya was very important at a young age.”
Veirya appeared unwilling to listen to Angelina recount the pass. Angelina, consequently, just smiled helplessly and cut off her speech. Veirya stood up and gazed upstairs: “I should go. See the Elven Queen. In the past. When I was in the elven lands. The Elven Queen. Was very nice to me.”
I nodded: “She’s awake, so you can go on up.”
“All right,” replied Veirya.
As soon as Veirya went to head upstairs, we heard horse hooves at the door. Anna froze. She looked at everyone in the guest room. She asked, “Everyone has come back, so who would it be, a messenger?”
“Go and have a look,” I said.
“All right,” Anna responded.
I watched Anna go out. I went to the chair, while Leah clung to me and refused to let go. Leah placed her head on my thigh similarly to a kitten and refused to move. Anna bolted back, looking white as a sheet. As she ran, she shouted, “Bad news!! Bad news!!”
“What’s the matter? What’s the matter?” I asked.
I scanned Anna. She didn’t look any different, except for having a letter with her. As soon as I saw the letter, I understood why she was so worked up. The envelope, the blue envelope told me who it was. It was from Queen Sisi. After what happened last time, I knew that receiving a letter from the Queen wouldn’t be good news. In saying that, Anna didn’t know what happened, so why is she so worked up, I pondered.
“Queen Sisi… Queen…”
Anna pressed the letter onto the table. She was so worked up that she couldn’t speak. Confused, I picked up the letter: “What are you so worked up for? It’s just a letter from Queen Sisi, isn’t it? Don’t panic; don’t panic no matter what happens. She isn’t here, anyway. She won’t know what happens here; what’s the big deal?”
Always keep calm. Queen Sisi’s letter wouldn’t contain good news, but you need to calm down to think properly about how to reply to her to not worry her. You can’t think when you’re flustered. You need to learn from me. The tenser you feel, the calmer you need to be. That’s the only way you’ll be able to come up with a good idea.
“Her Majesty will arrive in the North in three more days!! The letter told us to tidy up to welcome Her Majesty!!”
“Aaaaahhh!!!! Crap! Crap!! What do I do?!! That woman is coming! Why is she suddenly coming?!!!!” I exclaimed.
“Sir, calm down!! Calm down!”
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