C41
"What's happening with you?" The person who arrived a bit late asked, appearing to be the ambassador's wife.
"E-This..." His reaction, upon seeing the direction indicated by his trembling finger, was similar to that of his husband.
"Oh my god..." A similar scene appears in <Return and Walk on a Path of Flowers>.
After finding Anna, Liena goes to see the ambassador and his wife with a document. It was a record written by a person who found a lost girl near a southern tourist center a long time ago.
Needless to say, that girl was Anna. However, due to the bad atmosphere in the orphanage, the information changed, and Anna believed she had been found in a completely different place.
Liena searched the orphanage's storage and brought the record she found as evidence...
"The parents' eyes were one step ahead."
Because parents recognize their children as soon as they meet them. Even if a long time has passed and the hair color has changed.
The ambassador approached us unsteadily.
"Diana... Is it you?"
Diana was Anna's real name, and when she was a child, she could only remember part of the name in the confusion of her memories.
"Well, I..."
Anna looked at me, unsure of what to do. Although she seemed confused, she intuitively recognized her parents.
I handed the record to the ambassador and his wife, just as Liena did in the novel. Terence helped me obtain this.
Tears welled up in the ambassador's eyes as he read it. He hugged his daughter tightly and stroked her face with trembling hands.
"It's Diana, she's my daughter."
It's as if he's reflecting on whether she still looks the way she did when she was young.
"Mom?"
"Diana!"
The woman also ran and embraced them both.
"Where the hell have you been all this time?"
"I should have come here a long time ago..."
"I'm sorry. I regret losing you."
Before we knew it, the three of them were enjoying the reunion with tears streaming down their faces.
It was a sight that touched the hearts of those who saw it, so my eyes hurt. I looked around and saw that all the nearby guards were in similar situations.
Except for one person.
The first guard I saw had a complexion whiter than a sheet of paper.
"What you did to Anna will come true."
Even without looking at him, I could imagine how the ambassador and his wife, who cherish their daughter so much, would react.
By the way.
"... To be honest, I don't remember much from my childhood."
"It's okay, it's okay. It's enough that you've come back to us."
"But why is your face so damaged? How have you been? Where do you live now?"
No matter how you look at it, other people here are just distractions. Let's leave it to the family.
While waving my arms, the guards silently withdrew. They didn't forget to drag one of their unconscious colleagues away as if taking him with them.
Well, should I take a look around here for a moment? With that in mind, I got on the carriage.
"Wait a moment! What should I do if you leave like this?"
Anna shouted.
No, it wasn't my intention to leave. I was planning to spend some time and come back when you three calmed down a bit.
However, it seemed that Anna was completely mistaken.
"Mom and dad. She brought me here. If that person weren't there, I would have never met you two."
Strictly speaking, that's also wrong. Liena would have brought her there later.
The ambassador and his wife looked at me.
"You're the benefactor of our family."
"There's really nothing of sufficient value that can repay this favor!"
"And yet you're trying to leave without even receiving a reward. How can you be so ungreedy?"
I had no intention of not accepting it, but the insistence of the three people was so strong that it was a bit difficult to refuse. I feel like a faceless angel who secretly donates and then disappears.
"Well, I..."
While I worried about how to tell the truth, misunderstandings constantly piled up.
"I could never let you go like this. Don't hesitate and accept a reward!"
"We'll give you everything we can give!"
"Please, just say the word."
... Is the misunderstanding something that needs to be cleared up? Sometimes it's better to let things be misunderstood.
"If you say so, I have a favor to ask."
The faces of the three family members lit up at the same time.
"My name is Ethel Wallace. In fact, I'm currently facing a difficult situation."
A rather long story began.
------------------------
A few days later.
A long line of people formed in front of the main gate of the Central Court of the Asteroth Empire. It was the day when the most talked-about divorce trial in recent years was taking place.
Approximately half of the crowd were common citizens, and the other half were reporters who had come to cover the event.
"Now the time has come..."
People stretched their necks and looked at the carriage path leading to the city.
The other entrance is only available to judicial officials, so most likely, the people who are waiting will come from here.
At that moment, someone shouted at the top of their lungs.
"Oh, here he comes! It's Cassius!"
The first thing they saw were the duke's knights on horseback. The disciplined, military-armed knights entered through the main gate escorting two black carriages.
The carriages stopped in front of the courthouse, and everyone paid attention.
Many women blushed at seeing the two figures get off the first carriage.
"Look at Leandro's magnificent eyes."
"How can you be so cool even at a time like this?"
"What about Prince Leheim?"
"But both seem in a bad mood."
"Before the divorce trial, young Duke Cassius had a gloomy expression all the time."
The journalists quickly wrote in their notebooks, recalling the content of the article that would be published in today's evening newspaper.
Then the door of the second carriage opened. Liena Cassius stepped out of the carriage, escorted by Duke Cassius.
Whoa! Applause erupted here and there.
"It's Liena!"
"She looks as lovely as always today too!"