chapter 11
Chapter 2. Coming of Age Ceremony (2)
The time left until the coming-of-age ceremony is about two weeks from today. Until then, I had to spur preparations with the members of my family.
Even if I put aside the value of my own name, there was no way I could lightly pass over the coming-of-age ceremony of a person with the title of the eldest son of the Ipretz family.
“To think I had to memorize even the people in attendance… Only like this, I don’t know whose coming of age ceremony it is.”
“Even if it’s troublesome, I can’t help it.”
The first task given to me was simple.
It’s a coming-of-age ceremony, memorizing important people among the people who come to commemorate my first entrance into society.
Currently, in my hand was a piece of paper with the rough portraits and names of the heads of families that ruled the viscounts or higher.
Even if it’s a coming-of-age ceremony, it’s just a birthday, so why do I have the most work to do? Can’t we just give congratulations and finish it?
Twelve years have already passed, but with my values, it was difficult to understand the ideology of the aristocratic family.
“Matilda, don’t you think it’s a little strange?”
“If you’re going to be the next head of the Ipretz family, you’ll have to overcome this.”
“ha… … .”
The name of the woman next to me helping me through this seemingly useless memorization process is Matilda.
He was a teacher who taught me etiquette and various knowledge of the world, including etiquette, and was my private tutor.
Wearing a monocle that only fits in one eye, she always gave off a haughty and intelligent impression, and she was also the person I had the most difficulty with.
Originally, a teacher is someone who is farther away than anyone else and feels closer than anyone else. Matilda’s case was just like that for me.
“Anyway, he didn’t say a word.”
“If I, who has been teaching the young master since childhood, is pushed behind in my speech, that would be something that shouldn’t have happened.”
“That is also true.”
I don’t know if I’ll remember it well because it’s not a picture, but it’s a portrait and a name matching.
In the midst of looking through the paper, I found a name that stood out.
“This man… … .”
“You mean Sir Stefan?”
It was. ‘Stephan Fatude Bayemurn’.
As can be guessed from the surname, Emilia Bayemurn’s father and the first person to be given a middle name directly from the current king among the head of the count family.
Perhaps the middle name Fatude is the name of the previous queen.
I heard that in the case of a person who made a profound contribution to the royal family, the name of the previous queen was given as a middle name, so Stefan must be of that type.
In this world, middle names were like a kind of decoration.
“The woman the Bocchan gave his heart to is definitely the daughter of the Bayemurn family… … .”
“Who gives you your heart?”
It’s a line that Emilia would have pulled out her sword right away if she had heard it. Is it fortunate that the party is not here?
By the way, Matilda is playful today. She was strict when teaching, but in private, it was embarrassing for me, who knew well what her personality was like.
He’s someone who has seen me since I was young, so he knows my personality well, and sometimes treats me like a younger brother, so he was a very difficult opponent.
“I heard that you gave him the Yueluhwa as a gift.”
While I was reading and memorizing the names of the characters written on the paper, Matilda spoke to me again.
It’s at this point that I can’t tell if he’s here to help me or to hinder me.
“I didn’t know it had already entered your ears.”
I didn’t tell anyone about Walloohwa except my parents and Paula.
It was because there were only a few people who knew that the flower was blooming in the flower bed in the first place. It wasn’t a fact worth bragging about.
“They don’t have a heart after giving them the monthly flower they cherished so much… You’re not being honest either.”
I have no intention of listening. At this point, no matter what I said, it only hurt my mouth.
Leaving behind Matilda, who was busy teasing me, I memorized the characters to attend the coming-of-age ceremony again.
In the meantime, I see a few people who look very tough. I want to refrain from saying anything because I was afraid to see your face on the day.
“After a while, even though you are an adult, you still feel like a child at heart.”
It seems that Matilda still sees me as a pure-hearted man who is embarrassed to let Emilia know that I have feelings for her.
“Leave it. Stop caring about other people’s love affairs.”
“Oh, do you admit that it’s a love affair?”
Shit, was it a judo newspaper? That’s why I have no choice but to close my ears.
Matilda is also difficult to deal with. In a sense, it felt more difficult than dealing with Emilia.
Maybe it’s just that he’s weak to women?
* * * * * * *
Hearing that a letter had arrived from the Ipretz family, he ran out of the room in a month. Probably because I wanted to check straight away to see if my guess was correct.
My father is probably still in the drawing room today. One of my mother’s hobbies was playing the harp, so there was always a harp a little smaller than my height in the drawing room.
And watching my mother happily play the harp was also my father’s hobby. Thanks to that, I thought that he might be able to maintain a good geumseul until now.
“miss. What are you doing?”
Waiting in front of the parlor door was Dana, mother’s exclusive lady-in-waiting. It seemed that she was taking over the role of the gatekeeper today.
“Are your father and mother in?”
“Yes, you are. Please wait a moment.”
At my words, she knocked on the door and took permission from the two of them, and she ushered me in.
The harp rhymes heard from outside the door wrapped around my ears more gently. As expected, my mother’s harp skills seem to be improving day by day.
“Welcome, Emilia. What is it?”
“It’s no big deal. It’s said that the message has arrived, so it’s been a while… … .”
Mother took her hand off the harp and asked me about business.
I just ran to the word that the letter had arrived, and since it was a car that hadn’t made an excuse, I waved my hand in bewilderment.
“They arrived from the Ipretz family. I remember that you were the family you visited this time.”
“Yes, Father.”
I don’t know why, but my father’s words made me feel very hot. It felt like I was being caught.
I told my father that I had been to the Ipretz family, but I didn’t talk about Ludwig. I was worried about my wedding from before, so I wanted to make a guess.
“It’s nothing. It seems to be an invitation from the eldest son there to have a coming-of-age ceremony.”
As expected. I couldn’t overcome the momentary feeling and had to endure the fact that I almost screamed.
Ludwig. He hasn’t forgotten his promise to me.
“Are you planning to go?”
“I will go. There wasn’t a lot of contact in our generation, but they say that the former head of the Ipretz family and the Bayemurn family had a close relationship.”
Because it was a story from so long ago, did my father say it as if he was vague? Probably at least a few hundred years ago.
“It’s been a long time, so it’s good. I wanted to see the child you met at least once.”
“Yes?”
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Just as I was clenching my fists and cheering at the fact that I would be able to meet him again, my mother delivered an unexpected message.
You want to meet him, mother? Is there any reason?
“It was a car I was curious about because you, who hated going out so much, came to meet me on my own.”
“Oh, mother. Such a relationship with Ludwig… … .”
“Are you Ludwig?”
Oh, I never thought I would make such a mistake. The tension soared and he stopped calling him Ludwig, not Prince Eifretz, in front of his mother.
I rolled my eyes in all directions from the cold sweat running down my back, looking for a countermeasure, but nothing came of it. I don’t know about the spilled water, but there was no way in the world to pick up the words I said.
“no way… Is the name of the eldest son of the Ipretz family Ludwig?”
“Yes, mother.”
“It’s a big deal. You, who never called a man by his first name… … .”
My mother stared at me with eyes that were even bigger than when she first saw the ice curtain in the northern mountains, as if she was really surprised.
How can I get out of it? I didn’t want to let the two of you know about his existence yet. It was because I wanted to approach him more as a woman named Emilia than as a daughter of the Bayern family.
What followed after that was a silence that was so uncomfortable that it seemed like the stomach was going to regurgitate.
At a time like this, I hoped that my mother would play the harp again, but unfortunately, such a miracle did not happen.
And soon after, the sound of the teacup my father put down and the table clashing filled the room and broke the silence.
If I felt that the sound sounded strangely nervous, would it be just my ignorance?
“The eldest son of the Ipretz family… It would be nice to meet you on this occasion.”
“… … .”
Father smiles with anticipation as he leaves the tea slowly cooling down. Somehow, I feel like I’ve committed a big mistake against Ludwig.
I’m sorry, Ludwig. On your coming-of-age day, I will definitely apologize. It might have been too late by then.