Chapter 65: I cannot love like a young man
By the time Diana completed the sampler, dusk was already approaching.
As the three of them left Melissa’s house and rode in a carriage on their way back to Hans’ shop.
In the evening glow, with the sampler against her chest, Diana was lost in thought.
(Sofia-sama, with her girl-like beauty, and the dashing Klaus-sama… they really make a good match, don’t they?)
Should I still rent out the mountain cabin after all?
But unlike with Ilsa, that alone won’t solve everything.
Sofia wanted the cabin to get rid of his lover. Now that it’s been revealed that he didn’t have a lover, it seems unnecessary to rent out the cabin. Besides, she didn’t ask to rent it because she wanted to deepen their relationship.
“Um, Klaus-sama.”
Diana mustered up the courage to ask.
“What do you think of Sofia-sama?”
Leon pursed his lips and looked out the window, seemingly annoyed.
Klaus narrowed his blue eyes and gazed at Diana.
“Well… I think of her as a daughter.”
Surprisingly, he honestly conveyed his thoughts without hiding anything. Diana was captivated by the sincerity in his eyes and felt a slight sweat forming.
“…A daughter?”
“Yes. As you can see, my wife and I have quite an age difference.”
“Not a wife, but a daughter…?”
“I don’t know how much you know about the situation, but I know what happened when Sofia was born. I’ve been there to witness her growth up close.”
Both Diana and Leon were wide-eyed at this revelation.
“Oh?… So, Sofia didn’t tell you the most troublesome part. Sophia’s mother is my cousin. Our marriage was between relatives.”
Seeing Klaus trying to expose the truth, it seemed like he wanted to tell Diana something.
“At that time, I still had a wife, you see.”
The sound of the carriage echoed emptily.
“That wife passed away five years ago without bearing any children due to illness. So, after discussing among relatives, it was decided that Sophia would be entrusted to me――.”
His tone seemed regretful.
“…Looking back now, I should have refused such a proposal. It’s pitiful for a young girl like her to be stuck with an old man like me.”
An uncomfortable atmosphere filled the air, and Diana looked down at her feet.
“Diana, you suddenly asked about that because Sofia said something to you, right? Like… having a lover.”
Diana nodded without hiding anything.
“Yes, Sofia-sama told me. She wants to separate Klaus-sama from his lover.”
Upon hearing that, Klaus smiled happily.
“…When I heard that, you know.”
“Yes.”
“I was happy, very happy.”
Diana raised her face in surprise at his unexpected words.
“I was glad that Sofia recognized me as her husband.”
“… “
“I got a little carried away, despite my age. It’s troublesome, isn’t it?”
Diana blushed at his indescribable warm gaze. After glancing at her for a moment, Leon spoke to Duke.
“Shouldn’t we stop giving gifts and such?”
Klaus looked at Leon with a serious expression.
“I feel like there are more important things to do.”
It seemed like they shared some lingering emotions about this matter. Klaus looked at Leon, partly mocking and partly advising, and said,
“The way you love someone of the opposite sex, like a young man, is something I can no longer do with this old body.”
Silence returned.
“So, as a form of atonement, I’m traveling around to maintain a comfortable life. Someday, you, as a young man, will understand.”
The sun was setting. He was entering the twilight of his life. He could only fade away while gazing at his radiant wife.
“But…”
Leon dropped his gaze irritably and countered.
“…Seeing Sofia-sama, I think the way you love her now is probably wrong.”
Klaus didn’t dismiss the opinion of the young man and silently nodded in acceptance.
Meanwhile, Diana anxiously fiddled with the sampler, her heart pounding.
That warm gaze from Klaus earlier…
Diana knows that gaze.
But does Leon, who insulted Duke, truly realize it?
(Klaus-sama loves Sofia-sama more than anyone else)
Leon has repeatedly cast that kind of gaze at his wife, Diana. A warm gaze that melts her cold heart――.
It was undoubtedly a gaze filled with love.
(But Sophia-sama doesn’t understand it. She is captivated only by what gathers around her, unable to see Klaus-sama’s gaze)
Sophia overlooks all the expressions of love that Klaus-sama is desperately showing with his aging body. Diana thinks to herself.
(I must meet Sophia-sama and talk about today…)
Suddenly, Diana remembers the words she heard from Sophia at the omelette shop.
(That’s right. Sophia-sama said she wanted to become an artisan.)
In Diana’s hands, a silk thread embroidery sampler faintly shines in the sunset.
(Using teaching embroidery as an excuse, I’ll try to lure her out. I wonder if there are any silk threads and wooden frames left at Hans’ shop.)
[insert page=’4633′ display=’content’]
[insert page=’4587′ display=’content’]
Translator’s Blog
Blog
- Naruto Runners Storming Area 51: A Weeb’s Perspective
- Loid Forger: The Ultimate Husbando?
- The Ultimate Isekai Checklist: From Denial to Acceptance (and Maybe a Little Indigestion)
- How to Know If You’re Cringing Your Classmate: A Guide to Social Survival
- Trucks, Isekai, and the Struggle for a Good Image: When Anime Hurts the Real World
Leave a Reply