Volume 1 Chapter 45 Mean Villainess, Family Gathering
"I wonder how long it's been since all of us had a meal together like this?"
A warm dinner time.
My dad, with a gentle smile, said this.
"Hans hasn't come home for a while, so we didn't have many chances like this."
My mom spoke with a soft smile, not really excited.
"He has been coming home a bit more lately."
Right? Elder Brother tilted his head towards me, and I nodded with a vague smile.
Everyone seems happy, but I feel a bit confused and can only show a strained smile.
Why, why did the whole family suddenly gather like this?
Dad should be busy with work.
He said, "I suddenly have free time," but the butler that came with him does not look free at all.
Could it be that he was suddenly brought here?
Elder Brother said he brought a book for me, but he usually doesn't do it this way.
Someone else usually delivers it.
At first, I thought Dad and Elder Brother might have planned this together, but when they met each other, they both looked surprised as if to say, "Why are you here?" so it seemed like a complete coincidence.
Mom seemed happy and didn't have any questions. She was just glad the whole family was together.
This should be fine.
Well, I'm happy that my family is all together.
I'm happy, but.
When Father and Elder Brother came here, I asked Rolus why they were all together, but he looked away and it bothered me a little.
Rolus might know why they came here.
Moreover, as I have been observing Father from time to time, he seems a bit nervous, as if he is about to say something but doesn't.
Could this mean that they've brought up some troublesome matter regarding me?
"Ah... But Elena, Elena is getting bigger and bigger..."
My father said quietly.
"Is that so? I don't really feel it, though."
"I wish you could stay small forever..."
"Yeah..."
I was surprised by what he said.
As I stood there speechless, my father let out the biggest sigh I had ever heard and started to talk as if he had made up his mind.
"...Elena has some marriage offers."
Oh, is that what it is?
I felt relieved because I had been so nervous.
"Sigh, marriage offers, huh?"
"Your father is turning them all down."
Of course.
I kind of already knew this, so I wasn't surprised anymore.
"There's no need to turn them all down, right, Elena?"
My mother said with a surprised look.
I nodded in agreement to her.
Since I don't really want to get married, I honestly don't mind either way, but I think I could turn them down myself without my father doing it all.
"It's natural to turn them all down! It's still too early for Elena to get married!"
"I think so too!"
Father and Elder Brother raised their voices.
They look alike.
"Even Marisa would have said that you should have refused the marriage proposal in the first place!"
Mariza is my mother's name.
I never thought that my mother would be involved in the rejection of the marriage proposal.
"I just said that I don't like being approached by people of too high a position."
"Too high status?"
As I tilted my head, thinking back on my mother's words, she nodded slightly and began to speak.
"Royalty, Marquis, Duke... well, the Duke family doesn't have any children of an age that would be suitable for Elena"
I've seen many young ladies dreaming about becoming a future queen or marchioness, but my mother said she didn't want that to happen.
So Sir Lorentz was included in that list.
If it was included, I wish they had opposed Sir Lorentz's bride candidate more strongly.
Did I do that?
"It would be hard to say no if someone calls out to me from around here. So, by refusing all marriage proposals from other families, I can show that my Elena does not want to get married."
While I was secretly wondering, my father was smiling proudly.
And my Elder Brother, who was listening to my father's talk, nodded and said, "That makes sense."
Does it?
Makes sense?
"Does Mother not want me to marry someone of high status?"
Ignoring my father's proud smile, I asked my mother, and she looked a little sad while staring off into the distance.
"Once, a friend of mine married a prince from a neighboring country. She was beautiful but very sick. After she got married and had a baby, she died soon after. I was her friend, but I couldn't go to her wedding, her baby celebration, or her funeral."
"I see."
"Father can't stop shaking when he thinks that he won't be able to see Elena after she gets married."
"Me too."
"We are family, so we can still see each other. But some of Elena's friends might not be able to meet you anymore. That would make Elena feel lonely."
I see, if I marry a prince, I might never be able to see Rudger, who is a commoner, again.
...But since Rudger is a friend of the prince, maybe I could still see him.
It seems possible.
"I didn't know Mother was thinking about such things."
I was thinking that she does always think about otome games, and then I suddenly realized.
Royalty and Marquis means Prince and Sir Lorentz.
They were a capture target character in the otome game.
She was just thinking about otome games.
...But wait, so she was making me avoid them?
But didn't she say before that the villainess dies in the Lorentz route, but that's okay?
"Elena is your number one priority, Dad."
"I know"
"Elder Brother too, Elena"
"I know that too"
In the end, I couldn't ask my mom the questions in my heart, and dinner time came to an end.
Well, even if dinner time was still going on, I didn't know how to ask my mom my questions.
"Okay, Elena, shall we read the book I borrowed together?"
"Oh, yes. Thank you always, Elder Brother."
It's a book from the Royal Central Library!
As I happily tried to follow Elder Brother, I met my father's gaze.
Even though he usually has a face like a boss of an evil organization, now he just looked sad with his eyebrows down.
"It's unfair to go ahead without me, Hans!"
"If you say it's unfair, why don't you go to the Royal Central Library and borrow a book for Elena too? She would be so happy!"
A little fight had started.
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