Count Fernando spit out the tea that was in his mouth, not because it burned his tongue, but because of the words that came out of Pepper's mouth.
"C...come again?"
Pepper looked at her father, who sat across from her and was coughing hard. The weather outside and the room's temperature were pleasant and bracing, yet beads of sweat had built on her forehead.
"I said I wanted to marry the Grand Duke."
Count Fernando wiped his mouth with a towel while his blues were fixed on Pepper, confounded.
"Are you hearing yourself?"
Suddenly, Pepper's eyes ignited with determination. The father and the daughter had an intense staring competition until one bailed out, which is the Count.
Count Fernando regained the composure that had exploded earlier and waited for his throat to calm down. He heaved a deep sigh.
"Do you realize the gap between your age and the Grand Duke? I may be older than him, but still.."
Pepper cognizant of the difference between the Grand Duke's age and hers, nodded her head violently.
"I do!"
Age wasn't a big problem when it comes to marrying someone, whether you like the person or not, it was just that Count Fernando was worried about how huge the gap was between the two.
However, that wasn't the main issue either.
"Besides, I don't think that the Grand Duke will entertain another woman after his late wife. Humor has it that he truly loved her. You better give it up, Pepper."
Count Fernando caught a glimpse of her daughter, whose face had sunken down by his statements. He didn't know what to say to console Pepper because it was the first time she asked for something that was impossible that he couldn't just give or grant one-sidedly.
He felt troubled since Pepper never asked for something they couldn't give. Their topic at the moment was the exception.
"Pepper you'll need to rethink your request to your mother. Cut her some slack."
Pepper raised her head. Her face had the look of someone who had been rejected, indirectly, yes. However, the count fought the urge to babytalk her and whisper a promise he couldn't fulfill even with his power. It was way too out of his grasp.
"There are some things we can't just give you because you want them, especially if they're non-material things, Pepper."
She might be young in his eyes, but she had already passed her teenage days and become a young adult, so she should be treated like one and be told as one.
Pepper felt like rolling on the floor. She couldn't do anything about that since he was still her father and the one with the highest authority in the house. And she knew that she was asking for something unbelievable.
She couldn't help it.
She was struck by the Grand Duke and went crazy for days as she kept thinking of him every second, even in her sleep. Her rationality finally left her.
"I'll do that."
The Count felt bad because Pepper's response was spiritless as if he had done something irredeemable to his beloved daughter.
He scratched his nape as he thought about what the Grand Duke would say if he ever heard the absurd request. The main issue was that her daughter's request was undoubtedly ridiculous and there was no chance to that.
It was not about age, it was about the feelings to be considered.
Pepper still had plenty of years and time to develop her mind and decision-making skills as well as her physique to the utmost. Unmarried and much younger men would soon seek her since, despite her actions and attitude, she was no doubt a beauty. She was 18 and ready to socialize. Once she stepped inside the social world, that world could be the hand that would slap her from her rashness and into reality. She would soon realize that she was rushing through life when she reached the peak of maturity. She believed that she wanted the Grand Duke today, but maybe that was just a fleeting feeling that would soon flee and be forgotten when she met more people she had never met before.
Therefore, Count Fernando dismissed the talk for the day to give his daughter some time to ponder by herself.
"Rethink and we'll talk again."