My Dear Aster

Viscountess Copland was perplexed.

Lihen was a very gentle child. She had never had a major accident until she was nineteen. While other girls would squeal out at young, handsome men, often commit love affairs, and even do things they couldn’t say to avoid their parents’ eyes, Lihen was an exception.

But now she was going to the party with a young man as her partner, who was neither her father nor a relative. It was even the illegitimate son of the daughter of Marquis Laft whose birth turned the world upside down.

Of course, the Viscountess knew that Schudermel Laft was a very handsome young man. When he passed by, not only the young ladies but also the elderly ladies would cover their faces with fans.

She knew that he was a talent the Magic Tower cherished, and he was the painful finger[1] of Marquis Laft.

When her daughter gave birth to a fatherless child, the Marquis’s grief was indescribable. Although the day would never come when her daughter, who became a single mother, would take it as a dowry, the Marquis gave her a large fortune as her property. Schudermel would also inherit the property in the future.

However, he was still an illegitimate child. An illegitimate child was a symbol of immorality and a stain itself on the parents, and no matter how noble his bloodline was, he cannot inherit his parents’ status.

Rather, if he had been a commoner, he would have been recognized for his amazing magic talent and could have entered a certain family as a son-in-law or obtained a proper title himself.

But Schudermel was different. It has not been more than a hundred years since the Marquis of Laft family was the ruling family of an independent vassal state. Their status was also different from the other two marquis families currently in Elda. Given that the duke’s titles in Elda were all owned by the royal family, the Marquis of Laft were a noble family second only to the royal family.

Since he was a known illegitimate son of the Marquis of Laft, he could not enter a family lower than his lineage. Because of their relationship with the royal family, it was impossible to obtain a new title and open a family line on his own.

Moreover, the queen hated him to death, and the future king’s aides were wary of him.

This was an insurmountable obstacle for the marriage partner. This was true even if Schudermel took the surname Laft, the only son of the daughter of the Marquis and the beloved grandson of Marquis Laft.

That’s why no matter how many young ladies adored him, there was no talk of marriage. Even though the Count of Melland’s daughter was dying of love sickness, her parents didn’t even lift an eyebrow.

“How dare you!”

The Viscountess was also angry and shouted so at first. Lihen lowered her head with an apologetic face.

“I asked for it, not Lord Schudermel, so please don’t blame him. He also said that if mother would give him permission, he would visit and formally ask.”

“No, do you have any idea at all? You know that that man is an illegitimate child! He doesn’t fit in with you, and he doesn’t suit you!”

“I didn’t ask him to be my marriage partner. I am well aware of Lord Schudermel’s position.”

It was the exact opposite of what her mother thought, but either way he didn’t suit Lihen. Her eyebrows drooped in trouble as she put her hands together in front of her chest.

“I just…… want to leave a memory of my girlhood. I have never been escorted by a man other than my father and grandfather. Lord Schudermel can’t be seriously interested in me either. He just happened to be kind.”

“But……”

The Viscountess relented. Lihen was also a girl in her prime. There was no way that there was no longing or love.

What’s wrong with going to a party together for once? Although graduation parties were a big deal, it was different from a royal ball. It was more common for students from the same academy to attend in pairs.

“This is just a graduation party. I’m not asking him to marry me. Mom, what do you think of your daughter? I’m not thinking like that.”

Lihen’s words reassured the Viscountess. She let out a small sigh and took her daughter’s hand.

“Your mom was making a needless remark. It’s not that I don’t trust my daughter…”

“No, you did not. I knew you’d be surprised.”

Lihen smiled.

“And there’s nothing wrong with having a close relationship with a magician. There are very few people who are officially researchers at the Magic Tower. Even if Lord Schudermel isn’t a member of the nobility, he is an amazing wizard and master of the Magic Tower. Knowing that will help us someday. Especially a family as small as ours.”

“You really are. You speak like an adult.”

“I am an adult now.”

Having said this, Lihen, on the contrary, affectionately, like a little girl, stretched out her arms and hugged her mother’s arms. The Viscountess stroked Lihen’s head in surprise and delight.

“You really are. You’re such a baby.”

“Don’t worry. Mom and Dad don’t have to worry about it. I love you, Mom.”

“I love you, too, my daughter.”

When Lihen suddenly started saying “I love you” as in her childhood, the Viscountess was awkward and embarrassed to say that to her grown-up daughter, so she couldn’t answer easily.

However, as she listened and answered every day, she became able to say it naturally. There were more words of love between family members than ever before, and soft smiles were exchanged.

Even the adolescent Macaulay didn’t like it because his face would turn red but he would still make eye contact with Lihen and would greet her with a shout, “Have a safe trip, sister!”

Like most noble families, Viscount Copland was not a house with such a warm atmosphere in the past.

In fact, Lihen liked and respected her father more than her mother. However, there was a sense of distance with her father, but not on the side of her mother. But because it was difficult for her to tell her father that she loved him, she didn’t tell her mom either. Macaulay, who was no different from boys his age, could not have made a friendly face to his family, and so did she.

But in fact, all three of them loved each other. By the time she realized it when she got older, she was already a stubborn middle-aged person and couldn’t fix it, and she lost her parents in the midst of hesitating day by day.

This time she wouldn’t be late. She decided to say I love you as much as she did in her two lifetimes, and she was putting it into practice.

The Viscountess said gently.

“Send a letter to Lord Schudermel respectfully. Mom was so surprised that she overreacted, but your thoughts are deeper than mine. Opportunities to get acquainted with a magician are rare.”

“Yes.”

Lihen smiled. In fact, she didn’t expect to be able to build a deep relationship with Schudermel, and she didn’t intend to try.

It was an excuse to tell the Viscountess, but it was true that if she could actually continue even a small bond with Schudermel, it would be of great help to Baron Hadley in the future. It was also the same for her daughter. If she was thinking about cultivating her magical talents, what could be more reassuring than her friendship with Schudermel?

Still, she decided not to. Asking him to be her partner was just an impulsive act. She did not want to break or defile the memories and pure feelings of her first love. She felt a little sorry for her daughter, but she just wanted to keep it as a jewel for her girlhood.

In a voice mixed with laughter, the Viscountess said.

“It’s also necessary for you to meet several men before getting married.”

“Is that so? Even Deborah told me that today.”

“Of course. That way, you’ll develop an eye for seeing so you can make successful choices when you have to make a really important choice. ……I understand how you feel about wanting to make memories. In fact, I also thought about talking to Natalie. It’s so lonely to be escorted by your family to your graduation party. But if I, your mom, introduce you to someone, it’ll be like a meeting with a prospective partner.”

Lihen laughed. She thought it was strange that Natalie, whom she was not very close to, would introduce her to a man who would escort her, but she didn’t know that there was a reason.

“You must have not trusted me that much.”

“I trust you too much. I thought you were too kind to make your partner without any permission.”

“That’s why I came to ask for permission.”

“Come to think of it, that’s right.”

The Viscountess laughed along with Lihen. She said teasingly, pinching her soft cheeks slightly.

“Right. You’re my good daughter. Your partner was unexpected, but I really hope you have a good time.”

“I will.”

Lihen asked what suddenly came to mind.

“But did mom have it too?”

“What?”

“The feeling of wanting to make memories.”

“Of course, there is. Though it’s a memory with your father.”

“Mom was so lucky.”

The Viscountess blushed a little and smiled.

“You really are. You’re siding with your father.”

“Father was lucky, too.”

Lihen said so sincerely and with envy. When she was younger, she thought all couples lived like her parents, and she thought she would, too. But in hindsight, such a couple was really rare.

‘I was already fortunate that it was Harold.’

She smiled bitterly. Harold was not alone to blame for the placid and lack of warmth between the couple.

‘This time around, we can get along well.”

It was a strange feeling to think of Harold while getting permission to go to a party with Schudermel. It seemed that instead of living in reality and dreaming, she was living in a dream and worrying about reality.

She let out a small sigh and decided to forget about Harold for the time being. It was a dream that she would wake up to someday anyway, so wouldn’t it be good to enjoy it a little more? Perhaps waking up in the body of a 19-year-old again was a dream in itself.

TL Notes:

[1] “아픈 손가락이” literally means painful finger. It comes from Korean idiom “열 손가락 깨물어 안 아픈 손가락 없다” which translates to “every child is dear to his or her parents.”