DDSWTB 60

Chapter 60

「It’s my fault that I made you feel that way. I truly am sorry… deeply sorry.”

I caught my breath at his words.
A tightening pain spread through my chest.

They were heavier and deeper than I had expected.

The duke’s voice trembled faintly,
but even so, his eyes never wavered from me.

“It’s totally fine! Really, I don’t mind!”

Tiana forced a smile.
But she didn’t realize it was strained —
she thought she was smiling naturally.

Seeing Tiana’s pained expression,
the duke felt his heart being torn apart.

“I knew that you still carried that pain,” he said quietly.
“And I knew it was because of my own actions.”

Regret flickered in the duke’s eyes.
No doubt his heart was tangled with many emotions.

Old wounds never truly heal.
In the past, unable to move on from her painful childhood,
Tiana had been executed.

But now, the duke was admitting his mistakes,
regretting them from the depths of his heart,
and offering a sincere apology.

“You don’t have to hold it in anymore.”

After a brief silence,
the feelings Tiana had locked deep inside finally burst out.

“Even if you apologize now, the wounds of the past won’t heal.
It was so painful.
When Lily hit me and it hurt,
I couldn’t ask anyone for help —
I was scared people would think I was a burden.
I thought… if no one helps me, it must be my fault,
so I have to deal with it myself…”

Tiana spoke without stopping,
recounting all the painful things she had endured.
Tears glimmered in her eyes.

Anger welled up inside her.
There was no way years of suffering
under her father’s coldness could be eased so easily.

“I always thought… that nobody loved me.
But now, I can see that the duke truly regrets it.
There was a time I wanted you to be a father to me…
but now… I don’t… feel anything anymore…”

“I don’t feel anything” —
the words caught in her throat.

“I understand.”

His voice was low,
as though he was enduring his own pain.

“I truly am sorry.
When you were suffering, I did nothing.
I see now how indifferent I was…
If only I had faced you then —
you would never have been hurt…”

The duke spoke as if holding back tears.

But deep down, I already knew.

Even if I told myself I was fine,
somewhere in my heart,
I had always been waiting —
waiting for him to come to me and apologize.

“I will never forget that I deeply hurt you.
But now, I want to apologize from my heart.
You don’t have to accept it.
Just remember this one thing:
I love you.
From now on, I want to show you that love.”

Those words — I love you —
pierced deep into Tiana’s frozen heart.

“I want to show you that love again —
not as a duke, but as your father.”

On his face was a gentleness
she had never seen before.

“…Yeah. Yeah…”

Tiana nodded through her quiet tears.
She decided she would accept his apology —
not all at once,
but little by little.

If the duke was truly trying to change,
then she wanted to change too.

“Tiana, happy birthday.
Thank you… for being born as my daughter.”

The duke wrapped Tiana in his arms.
The feelings toward her family
that had long been locked away
melted all at once.

Plip, plip.
Tiana’s tears fell —
so pure and beautiful they sparkled like glass.

“Uuh… ah… F-father… Father! Uwaaahhhh!”

Huge tears overflowed,
everything she had been holding inside
finally spilling out.

She had always known it —
even if she didn’t want to admit it.