Arnold embraced her with mumbles of numerous apologies mixed with an appreciation of her in a muffle on her silk robe.
Both Arnold and Mystique now stood side by side on the balcony. And they overlooked the sprawling line of winter trees, with a beam of the golden crimson glow of the sun, casting several shadow lines into the expanse of snow billows.
He looked at her with a grin from ear to ear."I suppose it''s not too bad to see such a beautiful sunset in our homeland, isn''t it?"
[Indeed. It''s not too bad to stop what seemed to be an everwinter in our place once in a while.]
"Well, would you like that?"
[I mean, the blizzard served its purpose, right?]
"Not quite so… The enemies are still—"
[I shall let Ashtra do the work then.] Then made a steeple of her fingers close to her supple chest.
With that, Arnold shook his head ever-so-roughly like it was the worst decision she''d ever thought of as of now.
"Don''t you dare—"
[I just did.]
His jaws clenched while eyeing at her with sternness.
[He made you suffer and your life a living hell. I think revenge is sweet.]
"What made you so confident that you would be able to keep him under your leash?" He leaned close as he narrowed his eyes with a glint.
[We had an agreement. That, I can tell you~] She then clasped her fingers to her back, rocking her toes back and forth. [Rest assured, I''m not like you who''d make some crazy, selfish decisions—]
Arnold''s face went pale and averted his gaze.
The guilt in his eyes was prevalent, with how his decisions not only affected the vassals and the men under him but also got too close to losing his daughter the second time.
All the more when it seemed the moment became a point of no return, she was still there, bringing to a stop the madness he caused.
Yet it didn''t stop there, as it brought a boon to the Dysnomia Empire.
Now, if utter embarrassment and shame manifested to a physical form, it was him already.
[Well, if you insist we can do some routine! Like a seasonal basis! It''s a good thing we can control the weather here, don''t you think?]
She had been open ever since to thrive a business in the Northern Territory, but it wasn''t an easy feat with the harsh climate it bore, and now it was like divine providence.
"We can do that…" he replied with a hearty chuckle, then cut short rather easily as he went to ponder.
''He must''ve been thinking so much for today as well…'' This left Nathalie to ponder in her thoughts as well.
He knew he had so much to lose, but the conscience crept to his heart every time, taking a toll on his mind. For a man, who wasn''t fond of sharing his feelings with anyone, alas reached the breaking point.
Though, as much as Nathalie wanted to get mad at Arnold, she couldn''t do so as it wouldn''t be right in her heart, and after getting along with him, being the one that stood up to her as a father.
Despite the tragic backstory and his upbringing, she wrote him the way she wanted him to be.
It was wishful thinking. For she believed that art imitates life and vice versa, every part of her story had a speck of reflection of what she thought of then.
Nevertheless, she didn''t think, never in her wildest dreams, that it might even happen to her.
The tender love and care that he didn''t get from William, got found on Arnold. For that, she couldn''t be more than thankful.
But it didn''t cross her mind that his selfish decisions, of all she could think of, would warrant such a reckless decision, like what he did recently.
Not only did he want to atone for what he deemed as his sins that he so claimed deserving, but he also sought after the same people once considered sworn enemies to boot.
Nathalie swore in this life she didn''t want to lose him, who has never done anything but shown this much affection to her, blinded by anguish.
Her actions bore to fruition; now, she wanted to move on with no burden lingering in her heart.
Train of thoughts in her mind snapped out when he started talking again.
"... My Mysti, don''t worry about me…" he uttered raspily, then cleared his throat. "I feel much better now."
She then pulled away from the hug, then faced him with glee.
[That''s good to hear.]
Nathalie wiped the frozen residues on his sullen dark circles around his eyes and brushed off his cheek.
"You silly girl." He then broke out a tight laugh as he reached for his hand, doing the same thing as her. "Why don''t you take a good look at yourself—I suppose you can''t afford to look so ugly when you cry."
She began to giggle, then sear in her eyes vanished as her
[Well, I got them from you.]
Arnold squinted his eyes for a hot minute, then beamed a lopsided smile before he gave her a tight hug once more.
"I''ll become a better father to you, Mysti. I promise you that."
She then hummed in response. [Well, there''s one way to prove that.]
His face cracked into confusion, musing, "What would that be?"
From there, she mentioned that there would be conferment held in the Imperial Palace, and he must be there for her.
Which got Arnold taken aback; throughout his lifetime, he could count less than a total of his fingers and toes for how many times he visited the Imperial Capital, let alone the palace.
This included the ones he pleaded for in Mystique''s case to save her from death.
He wasn''t the one to dwell with the kind of publicity for it wasn''t worth his time. At no point in his life did he have to impress other nobles.
Moreover, he had one of the highest responsibilities he must commit to most of them; not that he could afford to take slack from it.
Everything was in his favor, and no one bothered to question his decision, even His Majesty let it go.
The Grand Duke of Blackwell preferred working in the shadows.
Now, Nathalie took this opportunity to enter society in new limelight, bringing a new era for the Blackwell Household.
With Arnold coming in, it would change the whole narrative, probably for the rest of their lives.