"Actually, there was an accident a moment ago," said Denish. He looked calm, but for some reason, Primrose felt that he was trying to hold back his laughter.
What kind of accident would make this composed person want to laugh?
[I’m being so rude,] he thought. [Why do I want to laugh when His Grace got injured because of it?]
Injured? His father was injured?! Then, why did Denish want to laugh?! He had been with her father for such a long time, so he shouldn’t be laughing at her father like that!
However, when Primrose found out the cause, she finally understood why Denish had wanted to laugh a moment ago.
"Father," Primrose began. "This is why I told you to listen to Mr. Lennox!"
The Duke of Illvaris was sitting in a chair in his room, with one of his legs resting on a lower stool. His foot was wrapped in bandages, but Denish had told Primrose that it used to look very red and swollen.
Meanwhile, Lazarus folded his hands and turned his face away from his daughter. "It’s your fault for arriving so late!"
Primrose frowned. "I didn’t even tell you to wait outside!"
Just a moment ago, maybe around two hours before Primrose arrived in Illvaris City, Lazarus had kept strolling around the front garden. Denish had told him to wait inside since the weather was getting cold and the sun was about to set. However, the stone-headed Lazarus still wanted to stroll around the garden longer.
He said that he just wanted to exercise and get some fresh air, but everyone knew that he was just waiting for his daughter to come home.
Initially, nothing bad happened, but as the garden grew darker, he accidentally slipped on the snow and sprained his ankle. More than that, he also accidentally knocked over barrels full of fertilizer supplies, so he was submerged in fertilizer and snow.
"What’s wrong with waiting for my daughter to come home?!" Lazarus huffed. "I haven’t even seen your face in such a long time!"
"Then, why are you avoiding my face like that?" Primrose also folded her arms in front of her chest, staring at her stubborn father with a furrowed brow. "Do you not want to see my face now?"
Lazarus was silent for a few moments, and he still refused to direct his gaze toward Primrose.
[If I turn to look now, I will cry!] He suddenly spoke in his mind. [Why did Denish and my son also have to come here?! They would probably think I’m such an emotional old man if they saw me crying!]
Primrose was speechless. Sometimes, she truly did not understand why these men always acted like crying was the most horrendous sin they had ever committed.
They never even wanted to shed a tear in front of other men, preferring to hold their emotions inside their hearts until it caused many misunderstandings.
Just like what her father was doing now. If Primrose couldn’t read his mind, she would have thought that Lazarus didn’t want to see her because he was angry with her!
Forget it. Her father was probably just feeling embarrassed, angry, and also touched all at the same time, but was trying hard not to show it. Instead, he just ended up looking annoying.
Well, what could Primrose say? She had often acted like him in the past.
Like father, like daughter, as they say.
"Can you leave us alone, please?" Primrose asked Denish and Edmund. "I want to have a private talk with my father."
Denish immediately nodded his head, while Edmund said, "Then, I’ll wait outside."
Once both of them had left the room, closing the door with a soft click, Primrose let out a soft sigh. She pulled up a chair and sat directly in front of her father, placing herself squarely in his line of sight whether he wanted to look or not.
"Father," she said, her voice gentle but firm. "You don’t have to hide from me."
Lazarus stubbornly kept his head turned, his jaw tight.
[I am not hiding. I am being dignified. A Duke does not... sniffle.]
Primrose, who was beginning to lose her patience, finally forced Lazarus to look at her. Then, after a moment of silence, she spoke gently, "Father, I’m home."
It was at that moment Lazarus knew that he had been defeated by his emotions. Tears streamed from his eyes like a river whose dam had broken.


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