Mary moved her head slightly sideways. She was still inside the side hall of Munashii Temple. The windows were high up with only a narrow panel. A little sunlight penetrated through the window and shone on one side of Luna’s face. Luna’s eyes were red and swollen, yet she was humming about Amy’s embarrassing moments from that day to Mary with a sweet smile on her face.
Mary grasped Luna’s hand all of a sudden and secretly exerted some force on it. Luna frowned and wanted to complain due to the pain yet Mary suddenly wept. “Luna sis, I feel painful.”
Luna immediately forgot the pain on her hand. She stooped and took off Mary’s robe, showing her shoulder which was nicely wrapped up. Red spots were seen on the white cloth used as a bandage.
“Oh my, the blood’s all coming up. The wound must have opened up.” Luna could not help but blame herself. “It’s all my fault. I’ve neglected my duty to take good care of you by keeping on talking to you. Wait here, I’ll let Jewel to ask Doctor Thompson to come over.”
Luna randomly covered back Mary’s robe. She lifted the corner of her dress and quickly opened the door of the side hall. “Jewel, hurry up and… ”
Upon speaking, Luna spotted a tall figure looming at the entrance of the side hall. She startled, and quickly knelt down. “Luna greets father.”
Ralph slightly stooped and held her up with one hand. His brow wrinkled when he noticed Luna’s red and swollen eyes and face which was being slapped by Amy yesterday. “What happened to you?”
Luna’s looks came last among the four sisters of the Debeur family; therefore she exceptionally cared about her appearance and manners. She lowered her head, pressed the corner of her eyes with a hanky and whispered. “It must be because I didn’t rest well, therefore my eyes are a bit red and swollen.”
She would not say that it was because of her crying. She did not have a close relationship with Ralph as father and daughter. She could not be affectionate in front of Ralph whenever she wanted like Amy and was not given high expectations like Grace. She even felt incomparable towards Mary who had recently gained Ralph’s favor; therefore naturally she could not act vulnerable in front of Ralph.
Yet Ralph clamped his hand over Luna’s chin and forced her to lift her head up. He asked with a deep voice. “I’m asking you what had happened to your cheek.” He had lived for more than half of his life and he certainly knew Luna had cried until her eyes swelled. He did not need to ask her as the servants had told him that Mary was injured yesterday and Luna had gone mad, crying.
However, no one dared to inform him that Luna was actually slapped by Amy in the face. The people in the room that day all belonged to the side consort and spreading that out meant was equivalent to being sentenced to death.
Luna stammered and could not give a clear explanation. She was not brave enough to say that she was slapped by Amy as Ralph had pampered Amy too much. No matter how big was Amy’s mistake, Ralph could always forget about it quickly after being raged for some time. Luna wondered whether Ralph would still behave like before if she told him, punished Amy hard after being angry but would soon forget about it. If so, the one being doomed would still be her and her mother.
Seeing Luna not dared to speak, Ralph snorted and released Luna’s chin with his brows tightly squeezed to each other. “I heard from the servants that you fainted yesterday. Since you don’t have a good body, you should go and have a rest!” Although he sounded stiff, yet his words were full of care.
Luna’s eyes went red and she knelt down before Ralph. “Luna appreciates father’s care.” She stood to her feet and spoke with panic. “But Mary sis needs someone to take care of her. Her wound has opened up just now and Luna needs to go get Doctor Thompson. And Mary sis has not eaten for the whole day…”
Ralph waved his hand wanting to chase her away. “You don’t need to worry about all these. Granny Gordy is here too. You need only mind your business and have a rest. If I see your eyes still swollen up like peaches and there’s still the slap mark on your face tomorrow, prepare to receive the whipping!” Nonsense, how could his own daughter being bullied like this! No matter who the person was, he did not intend to settle this problem that easily.
Luna knew Ralph’s temper and that he never go against his words. She felt a bit intimidated by his words and asked anxiously while touching her face. “But father, it’s not that easy to get rid of the swell, and the eyes too…”
“Then why don’t you hurry up and go to bed?”
Luna was almost scared to death by his roar and her tears almost dropped again. Yet she forced her tears back as she still remembered Ralph mentioning about whipping her if her eyes still swelled up tomorrow. She quickly gave Ralph a bow and scampered back to her room while planning ways to alleviate the swelling.
Seeing Luna’s innocent behavior, Ralph felt amused and burst out laughing, he immediately heard Mary chuckled too, followed by an exclamation, as if accidentally pulling her wound.
Ralph put up a straight face and strode towards Mary’s bed. He sat on the stool which was previously sat by Luna. The stool was low and Ralph was heavy, therefore he felt uncomfortable when he sat. He stretched his legs forward and this had not only shattered his stern image but also made him looked more amiable as a father.
“What were you laughing at?”
Mary moved herself slightly to the edge of the bed. She could feel a murderous aura coming from Ralph. When she had started to doze off listening to Luna’s blabbering, she suddenly felt a strong murderous aura and heard Ralph’s unusual footsteps.
For a general who had roamed across battlefields for decades and a martial art master, years of habits had made him silenced his footsteps no matter how heavy his body was. Yet the murderous aura one possessed could not lie.
Ralph had deliberately made heavy footsteps after he left the battlefields yet that contradicted his years of habits. Therefore Mary could discern his deliberate heavy but slightly hollow footsteps.
Mary understood clearly that it was a good chance to completely ruin Amy and elevated Luna’s position in Ralph’s heart. Only if Luna gained importance in Ralph’s heart would make the matter between Luna and Kace easier to handle.
She needed to keep on maintaining Luna’s obedient impression to Ralph during this time and not revealed how much Luna had hated Amy secretly. Since Ralph had always wanted them sisters to love and cherish each other, Mary decided to act and let him know how much she and Luna loved their sisters.
The more she proved to him about that, the more she highlighted Amy’s cruelty and violence. And she could already imagine Amy’s impudent and mad look when she saw Ralph.
She had to make good use of this opportunity today to clarify Luna’s image in Ralph’s heart.
“Mary greets father.” Mary smiled obediently and struggled to get up, yet the pain made her break cold sweats when she moved.
Ralph quickly pressed her down. “Lie still and don’t move.”
Mary could only let out a feeble smile. She needed not pretend as the injury caused by Amy was indeed serious and her body was weak in the first place.
Ralph gazed at his little daughter before him silently. She looked just like her, with clean and clear eyebrows which differed with the lanceted eyebrows currently on trend. Unlike the lanceted eyebrows which emphasized a lady’s fragility, her eyebrows gave her an inexplicable sense of power and strength. Her pair of almond eyes was always filled with smiles which made her looked lovely even without speaking. She looked obedient and docile which made people’s heart ached just by staring at her.
Ralph had loved and cared for Lenroe when they first married. He felt blessed when Lenroe had her eyes on him though she was a princess, not to mention Lenroe had put her whole heart towards him and could not fancy anyone else. If not for what had happened afterwards, he and Lenroe would still be a loving married couple.
The light in Ralph’s eyes gradually dimmed down. If Mary did not look that much alike towards Lenroe, he might pay more attention towards this little daughter and not letting her all by herself in the palace. Maybe she would not have been poisoned and wasted all these years for being idiotic.
A formal daughter like her was actually impoverished that she needed to live based on the concubines’ children’s temper. Ralph felt he was really a bastard. Lenroe might not have died if that did not happen, and the household would still be in good shape. None of those fusses would happen and he would be able to focus on dealing with the state affairs.
Ralph let out a deep sigh. It was all because of his wrong doings. Maybe it was still not too late to remedy now?
“What were you laughing just now?”
Mary smiled fawningly after making considerations on her choice of words. “I felt amused as Luna sis was too timid that she thought father really wants to beat her up when father was actually caring for her.”
“You knew I was caring for your fourth sister?”
Mary retrieved her smile and nodded with a serious look. “Certainly. Although father always looks stern, yet I know that father is extremely nice to us sisters.”
Ralph slightly choked. He did not expect that the daughter who had been idiotic for more than ten years actually knew him the most. “Aren’t you afraid of me?” Ralph deliberately put up a stern look. “Your elder sisters are all very scared of me.”
Mary smiled innocently. “Since I know father care about me, why would I feel scared of father when I even want to come close to father?” She struggled to move herself slightly closer to Ralph’s side like a pitiful little white bunny. “Father, Mary actually has a time when she feels scared and panic.”
She was just transported here not long ago. In order to make her life comfortable and make herself useful, it was definitely necessary to curry favor with the head of the family. Not to mention Ralph, her cheap father was actually quite nice to her; it was just that he did not know how to express his love.
“What are you afraid of?” Ralph was amused by Mary’s flattering yet careful behavior. He stretched out his hand and folded the corner of her blanket in a natural way.
Mary examined Ralph’s expression. He was calmed down and there was a soft light in his eyes when he stared at her. The encouragement in his eyes made her uttered her words cautiously. “Mary is scared that she’ll return to the idiotic look one day when she wakes up. Daisy told Mary that father disliked Mary very much in the past. If Mary has become idiotic again, would father still love Mary like now?”
Ralph felt his heart was given a lam and his heart ached with a wrench. He wondered how much had he neglected his little daughter in the past until she felt that she was being abandoned.
“Which one’s Daisy?” Ralph’s anger aroused and he was not sure whom he was angry with. Him, or the Daisy who was being talkative?
Mary quickly appeased him. “Please don’t be angry, father. Daisy did not mean it; it’s just Mary’s self-imagination.”
She must be frightened by him to appease him like a little bunny.
Ralph sighed helplessly and his tone of voice softened. “Don’t worry. You’re my daughter. No matter how you’ll become, I’ll never ever neglect you.”