I Don't Need A Husband - Chapter 81
Translator and Editor: Effe and Nabi
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Chapter 81
Everything was subjective, based on each person’s judgment. Even if Berthas were to be conniving, he made every effort not to show her such a side. That was another lovable aspect—he was acting all innocent.
At that passing thought, Isilis smiled. The smile that graced the corners of her lips shone as beautifully as a crescent moon.
“By the way, what do you think we should do?”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t we need to resolve the predecessor consort’s issue?”
“My father’s?”
Among the important facts Faylos had conveyed, one was crucial.
Her father wasn’t dead.
Even though it was a surprising and astonishing revelation, it didn’t touch her heart. It had been too long since she’d seen her father, and her memories of him were slowly fading. At this moment, she didn’t want to revisit those memories.
The newfound sympathy for her mother was the end of things. She was too preoccupied to worry about her mother, who had disappeared again and her father, whose whereabouts remained unknown, and pushing those concerns aside was the right course of action.
“For what?”
Seeing her speak lightly, Faylos hesitated before speaking.
“Well… you liked the predecessor consort quite a lot.”
“Some memories are best left as memories. Digging them up might not be beautiful.”
“I see.”
He nodded, affirming Isilis’ words.
Everything was going smoothly. With Berthas and the wedding, what could be a more perfect conclusion? She, who had moved to have a child, was now getting married.
Despite her initial refusal to marry, there was a lifelong companion waiting for her.
At that time, Isilis, who had been smiling all along, turned her gaze towards the approaching footsteps from outside. Faylos, who had been inside the study, reacted the same way. They wondered who was running so frantically within Larchen’s imperial palace.
“Your Majesty!”
Their conversation ceased, and their expressions turned into contemplative ones as Allure entered the study, breathless. His impolite behavior led Isilis to frown as she was about to speak. However, her words were cut off when another person entered behind Allure.
Both Isilis and Faylos were frozen in place as they saw who it was.
It was Tartos, the former Empress’ consort and Isilis’ father.
“Ah…”
Isilis, who had risen abruptly from her seat, stumbled and wavered. Faylos was also left with his mouth agape, unable to move due to his own shock. Allure, who was kneeling in front of her, wanted to support her but stopped as she waved off his extended hand.
She managed to grasp the armrest of her chair.
“Father…”
It was almost an inaudible whisper.
She struggled to regain her composure, still reeling from the shock. While Faylos had already speculated that Tartos was not dead based on his report, seeing him alive and well was overwhelming.
“….”
With Tartos’ arrival, her mind became a chaotic mess. Isilis tried to remain calm on the outside, though she remained uncertain of the success.
She desperately tried to make sense of the situation that had unfolded right in front of her eyes. She had known in mind, thanks to Faylos’s report, that her father was not dead, but seeing him in person was a different story.
She was not alone in her confusion.
Faylos was the same. He wanted to slap his past self a moment ago, who had asked Isilis how she would handle such a situation so nonchalantly.
He couldn’t even fathom what he could do.
Isilis, while trying to regain her gradually slipping composure, looked ahead. Unlike her confused thoughts, her voice was steady and firm.
“Father.”
She found herself relieved hearing her voice somewhat forceful.
She pondered what to say next.
Should she say how much she missed him? Ask why he hadn’t shown himself until now? Or ask why he didn’t tell the truth? Why did he hide everything and disappear? Should she thank him for always protecting her mother? Or confront him about why he left her behind?
She wanted to ask all these questions. However, the cold, indifferent gaze that met her face made Isilis bite back the words on the tip of her tongue. Something about her father was different from the one she remembered. He had an apathetic face, an expression that felt heavy and distant.
His face looked cold, as if he didn’t care about anything.
As she continued to scrutinize his face, Isilis felt a strange sensation. She was nervous, unable to breathe properly, and the unfamiliar sense of detachment made her eyebrows tilt.
…Who was this person?
Why was someone wearing the guise of her father and appearing in front of me? Such icy eyes… Her real father would never look at her with such a cold, piercing gaze. He was always warm and smiling towards her.
“Have you been well?”
The words hung in the air, but the weight of her father’s gaze felt like an impenetrable barrier. The flaming red hair and the voice were undoubtedly those of her father. However, what about the eye color?
It was a deep blue, just like her own.
Staring into eyes that matched the color of her own, Isilis suppressed the groan that was threatening to burst out. She had to make sense of the chaos in her mind at the sight of her unfamiliar father, or she felt she might lose her sanity.
As she struggled to maintain composure, she scolded herself for responding so casually to the earlier question from Faylos.
Why had her father suddenly appeared now? What had happened during his absence? What was his purpose for coming here? She was curious. There must be an intention for his father, whom she had never seen before, to come here.
Even though she had suspected her father was dead, his sudden appearance made it difficult for her to be genuinely happy.
Her mood had shifted dramatically in response to the transformation.
His once ice-cold eyes now held a fiery intensity as he stared back at her. To an onlooker unfamiliar with their relationship, it might have appeared as if they were not father and daughter but adversaries locked in a lifelong feud.
Witnessing the clash of their gazes, Faylos, who had been hesitating, finally moved. He had wanted to leave earlier, though he missed the right moment, and he berated himself for not leaving.
Ignoring Faylos’s predicament, Isilis spoke first.
“Why is your eye color like that?”
“Oh, I must have overlooked that.”
Watching his father change his eye color using magic, Isilis was speechless. Even the color of the eyes was a lie.
“Changing eye color with magic is illegal in the Empire.”
“No, it’s not. It’s not classified as illegal. It’s merely a tradition.”
This tradition had been formalized, and no citizen of the Empire, including her father, had changed their eye color. They took pride in their natural hair and eye color.
Her father’s casual mention of a custom adhered to by the people of Larchen, who took pride in their natural appearance, made her eyebrows twitch. It was all so strange. Was this the same person she had known as her father, who had always been smiling?
“Where is Aila?”
“Why would Mother…?”
“You no longer address her as Predecessor Empress.”
Tartos’ attitude, which caused Isilis’s eyebrows to twitch, stopped her from asking her initial question.
Something was certainly strange. The man in front of her now seemed different from the father she had known. Her memories of her father were of a kind and smiling person who always looked out for her.
Who was this person?
Faylos, who had been hesitating, spoke up.
“It’s been a long time.”
“Faylos. You’re still alive. I thought you were dead.”
Tartos casually threw a curse at Faylos, who was greeting him.
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