/
Elliot jumped off the horse without even having time to catch his breath as he rode the horse without stopping.
“Your Highness, how do you know
”
The butler, who was giving instructions to the servants who were cleaning up the mess in the cluttered atmosphere, saw him and ran to him.
“By the way, you’re already here, so when did you leave
”
“Where are Luna and Luca?”
The fact that the butler behaves nonchalantly means that the two children were safe. However, it was the moment when Elliot, who was so engrossed that he didn’t realize it, asked.
“Brother!”
“Brother!”
He turned to the familiar voice calling him. They were safe.
Children dressed in horse riding clothes came running to him and clung to him. Elliot caught his breath only the moment he leaned over and embraced his younger siblings.
“Uh? Your Highness, are you here already?”
At the voice of dissatisfaction that he had come early, he raised his head with a crinkle between his brows.
“Witch, what have you done?”
However, it turns out that he was not committed by a witch, but he must have been stopped by a witch. Elliot’s eyebrows crumpled and straightened as he heard the news of his return and heard the whole story from Daniel and the captain of the guard who ran to him.
The assailants dug a tunnel in the northern forest and climbed over the heavily guarded wall. The captain of the guard, who revealed the intrusion route, muttered in dismay.
“To think of using such an ignorant method
”
“Aren’t you overestimating your opponent? The man behind the scenes is, as you say, an ignorant person.”
Daniel took over the explanation as the captain of the guard kept his mouth shut and tried to put on a serious face at Elliot’s bony horse.
“He was also ignorantly strong. Judging from their physique and accent, they appear to be mercenaries from the northern barbarians.”
“
Northern barbarians?”
How ferocious and fierce they were, Elliot had already experienced on the battlefield numerous times. However, unlike the Knights, the Guards and Praetorians had no experience dealing with them. However, it was admiration, not criticism, that the attack was safely prevented.
“You did a great job. You worked really hard.”
“Actually, that great effort was not done by us.”
Elliot, who was congratulating the two for their work, tilted his head at Daniel’s words.
“If it wasn’t for the witch, we wouldn’t have been able to lift our face in front of His Highness now.”
The captain of the guard nodded his head as if he was right.
“He is right. The witch did a great job.”
“The witch?”
“We were struggling from the start due to the power difference, but it was thanks to the witch who changed all of their swords into sausage and broccoli
”
Sausage? Broccoli? While Elliot couldn’t believe his ears, in the greenhouse and kitchen, soldiers were harvesting an armful of swords from the fields and pots.
“Just in case, it didn’t seem like they were a team. She got so angry for waking up the children who had been put to sleep with difficulty that she turned the hallway into a battlefield.”
Daniel, who added an explanation, turned around. He wondered at the fact that Elliot had brought only a few guards, not the Templars, and asked.
“By the way, why did you come so soon after subduing monsters?”
“I left that to the temporary vice-captain.”
“Have you ever received information about this raid
”
“It’s not like that.”
At that moment, a silver rocket dripping poison flickered in front of Elliot’s eyes. Perhaps the witch’s necklace saved his life and warned him that his siblings were in danger. Of course, all of that was just a coincidence.
“First, search the tunnel and collect evidence
”
As the two captains talked about preventing him from recurring and disposing of the prisoners held in the dungeon, Elliot remembered the witch’s face.
“Witch, what have you done?”
When he had asked that a moment ago, the witch opened her eyes wide and tilted her head. Like what nonsense.
Now he knew he deserved it. Apart from being evil in the past, today’s witch was his benefactor. He tried to apologize and say thank you, but even when he looked around he didn’t see the witch.
“Let’s postpone the prisoner newspaper a little later. I have something to do first.”
Elliot left his men to take care of that and went inside the mansion.
* * *
‘I was going to say goodbye before they went to bed
’
After putting the two children to sleep in Luca’s bed, she sighed deeply as she returned to the nanny’s room.
‘No. If I did, they would both have cried.’
She sighed again and looked around the room. The maids had cleaned up in those days, and the mess in the morning was gone.
“My
”
There was very little to pack. She left the things she had received from the Grand Duke’s house and moved her things to the cabin with a flick of her fingers. Then, in the end, she was the only one left to leave this place.
The contract was until the Grand Duke returned from subjugating monsters. In other words, it’s already over.
‘Actually, I tried to beg for an extension
’
However, since there was a commotion last night, there was no doubt. Everyone cheered that the children were safe thanks to her, but the Grand Duke might have a different opinion.
‘What’s more, you are someone who doesn’t trust me
’
As she looked around the room again to see if she had forgotten anything, her eyes stopped at the desk. A small pile of parchment pressed against the ink bottle was fluttering in the wind through the broken window.
‘Should I leave a letter for the Chestnuts?’
She sat down in front of the desk., thinking how to write it so that the children wouldn’t cry. It was a time when she was struggling to find the right words and couldn’t write a single word.
Knock.
Someone politely knocked on the door. She thought the sound was exceptionally thick, and when she opened the door, the person standing in front of her was the Grand Duke.
“Miss Hazel.”
Was he there to tell her that the contract was over? She was standing face to face waiting for her next words, but the Grand Duke looked over the top of her head to the room and narrowed his eyes. He muttered to himself why the room was so empty.
“I’ll have to ask them to fix the windows as quickly as possible within today.”
“Ah, that
”
At that moment, she flinched. Lady had told her that the man who was frightened by Daisy had smashed that window. Was it right that she should compensate? While she was thinking about it, the Grand Duke called her again.
“Miss Hazel.”
“Yes, Yes?”
She looked up and saw the Grand Duke staring down at her with serious eyes.
“Ah, the price of the window
”
The moment she brought up the issue of reparation alone, the Grand Duke’s forehead wrinkled.
“I am a Grand Duke. It means that the western part of the empire is all my land. But what kind of moth does Miss Hazel think I am?”
“I just wanted to
”
The Grand Duke pressed his index finger to the part of his deeply wrinkled forehead and closed his eyes tightly. Were his words painful? As he kept his mouth shut, he sighed abruptly.
“I apologize for being suspicious a little while ago. You said something bad to the benefactor who saved my younger siblings.”
“No. Well, that’s about it.”
Compared to the absurd suspicions she received after possessing a character there, that time was not a big deal.
“Of course, I can’t forget to say thank you. I heard that if it hadn’t been for Miss Hazel, we wouldn’t have been able to stop the intruder.”
Like that, at least there were people on her side who explained it.
“Miss Hazel did more than the duties of a nanny. I’ll have to add a guardsman’s pay to the nanny’s weekly wage.”
The Grand Duke raised the corners of his mouth while making a light joke. She was stunned, not expecting such a compliment.
“I’m worried about how to repay this favor.”
There was an answer that suddenly came to mind, but she hesitated. Maybe it’s a polite word. but

“Your Highness.”
The Grand Duke tilted his head as if to ask him to speak.
“I’m actually
 Contract if nothing happens
 I was going to ask if you could extend it
”
Looking at the Grand Duke’s eyes, she carefully brought out his words. A strange expression flashed in his purple eyes. Maybe that means it’s difficult.
“I don’t have the face to do that anymore.”
Yes, because she had committed sins. She lowered her head and suddenly burst into tears.
“Hehuk
”
In the middle of her field of vision, the archduke’s boot tip twitched.
“I really didn’t do that on purpose.”
“Uh
 witch?”
“No, just listen. That man called the Chestnuts bastards!”
It’s unfair. Even if she didn’t turn him into a frog, she was proudly asking for a contract extension. She said she wasn’t the Wicked Witch, but she did what the Wicked Witch used to do, so would the Grand Duke believe her? No matter how much she protected the children, there was a degree.
“Yeah, I was so angry at that moment that I couldn’t see anything. I didn’t do that on purpose, hip, it was a mistake. You may not believe it.”
She whimpered and appealed for her regret, but the Grand Duke asked in a puzzled voice.
“What the hell did you do?”
What? She looked up. She wiped her tears with her sleeve and saw that the Grand Duke was looking at her with incomprehensible eyes.
“
 Didn’t you hear that I turned the intruder into a frog?”
The Grand Duke wrinkled his brow and shook his head.
‘Oops, I ruined it, I confessed because I thought he knew.’
Was the past going on again? She waited for the disposition with a nervous heart.