I'm The Only Granddaughter Of The Strongest Duke
Ch. 25

At the end of his sentence, my grandfather glanced at me with a hint of expectation in his eyes. It felt like he waited for me to say 'yes' to his proposal. 

8

Did my dad already know about this?

"If  you live here, you can eat expensive food every day and wear pretty dresses like a princess in a fairy tale..."

Was that why he asked me that?

But my answer remained the same both then and now.

No, I was even more certain after listening to my grandfather. 

"W-Why are you talking like that....?"

"...Huh??"

"Why are you talking like that? Your Grace, do you know how hard it is for a single dad to raise a child?"

Although I couldn't control my hurt expression, I tried to word it as carefully as I could. 

"Your Grace, my dad works all day and night to provide for me."

"Eve....!"

My dad opened his eyes wide in dismay, but I had no intention of stopping.

"He accepted all kinds of menial jobs. He put so much care into tying my hair just because he didn't want the kids to make fun of me for not having a mom. He really cares about every little thing."

I was simply telling the truth. 

My dad was the type of person who wouldn't get his glasses fixed until it actually broke, but he would go to the market every day to get me different colors of hair ties.

"He'll do any kind of job other than sword smithing as long as it earns us an extra penny. He works hard to feed me even if he must starve himself, and he buys me pretty clothes on my birthday."

"...Eve."

The Duke called my name in bewilderment. I shook my head firmly and continued to speak. 

"Your Grace, you met me when I was already a little bit older, but my dad has been raising me since I was a baby. It couldn't be easy for him, but he still raised me with all his heart, even without my mom around."

"....."

"My dad tried his best to raise me while you didn't even know if I was alive or dead. So why did you say such things to my dad...."

Only then did his expression change. He put down the napkin and extended his hands to me anxiously. 

"Eve, baby, that's not what I mean...."

"I'm so sick of that excuse...why is everyone here saying the same thing?"

"...Everyone is saying the same thing??"

[This is your time to shine, Eve! Go tell him! Go!]

"Earlier, an uncle named Silvester came to me and said that I'm a half-breed mixed with commoner blood, that I don't look like my mom at all. He doesn't believe that I have Ferdinand's blood in me. Then he backtracked and said that I misunderstood what he meant."

"What nonsense is he spouting...! Did he really say that to you??"

"Yes, the maids also watched me like a spectacle and whispered behind my back. They said I looked nothing like my mom. Your Grace, after hearing all those nasty things, do you think the pain goes away just because people said they don't mean it?"

"Eve...."

"That's what I truly feel right now. I really feel like crap. I don't want to stay here. I want to go home..."

"I'm sorry, baby. I made a mistake. Eve..."

"The most important person to me is not myself, not my grandfather for sure, but my dad. And I don't want to stay in a place where there are a lot of people who look down on my dad."

I sprang up from my seat. I could feel my dad and grandfather staring at me anxiously. 

Maybe because leaving the seat before the meal was over was against the noble etiquette. 

But I was just a commoner kid. I didn't know any etiquette and didn't want to know..

I just know for a fact that my own grandfather looked down on me and my dad. 

I won't forgive those who look down on my dad. 

I used to be intimidated by people of high standing, but the great nobleman called Grandfather in front of me did not scare me at all. 

Maybe because I instinctively felt that he wouldn't hurt me?

I looked at my dad and said.

"Let's go, dad. Let's go back to the palace. His Highness might be waiting."

"Eve...wait...!"

"I want to go. I don't want to stay here any longer..."

Leaving my dad behind, I stormed out of the dining room. 

I didn't look back even when I heard my grandfather calling my name in panic.

I couldn't forgive those who made light of the time I spent with my dad, even if that person was my own grandfather. 

He must've thought it was easy to raise me since he only met me when I was slightly older. He didn't consider how much pain my dad had to go through just to raise me. 

Seeing that my dad didn't run after me, he must've spoken with my grandfather. 

But at that moment, 

"Oh my, Miss Eve."

Charlotte came across me on her way to the dining room and smiled.

She bent her knees and asked me gently after our eyes met. 

"Did you enjoy your meal?"

"Yes, it was delicious. By the way, where's my one-piece?"

"You mean your one-piece dress? The other maid keeps it for you."

"Can you return it to me now?"

"...Why did you do that?"

Nial said in a voice filled with resentment, but Theobold didn't answer. 

"That's what I truly feel right now. I really feel like crap. I don't want to stay here. I want to go home..."

He kept replaying the scene where his granddaughter muttered in a shaky voice as if she were about to cry.

'What the hell did I do to her?'

Eve looked so hurt when she said that she didn't want to stay. He didn't even have the slightest idea where she might run off to after she stormed out of the dining room. 

'Where did it go wrong?'

Theobold looked blankly at the empty seat where Eve had been sitting until a little ago. 

Theobold wasn't a good father. He was busy with work and barely had time for his daughter, Astrid, when she was at Eve's age. 

Even when Astrid decided to run away with Nial at night, he couldn't be a good father even if he wanted to. 

After all, it was Theobold himself who said that he would cut off family ties with her. It was him who made a stupid vow to never see his own daughter, her husband and their child....

No one knew how much he regretted his actions that day. 

He wallowed in regret every single day that he hoped to turn back the time and fix everything. 

But Astrid didn't want Theobold to meet Eve and had been hiding the news of her pregnancy from Theobold. 

Theobold would have lived without knowing that her granddaughter was born into the world had it not been for the occasional letter from Nial. 

Nial sent a letter to Duke Ferdinand on the day Astrid died and Eve was born. 

It was both her daughter's obituary and a letter announcing the birth of his granddaughter.

It was written in an orderly fashion, but there were marks of dry tears everywhere, so Theobold knew how exactly Nial felt as he wrote the letter. 

The reason why Nial sent this letter to him.

Perhaps Astrid had told him not to reveal Eve's existence until the end. Same with the news of her death. 

Because he knew just how cold-hearted his daughter was.