/
It was clear that the Empress breathed on this from behind. Her father didn’t seem to want to send her to her barbarian king either. Judging from the fact that she immediately scolded Gerald, who had nothing to do with it, she did not want to waste her child, the only lumber of the Emperor, in vain.
“Does it make sense for that stupid illegitimate son to have the throne just because he is a man?”
Regina gritted her teeth.
“I can’t hand over the empire like this.”
There were two ways for Regina to inherit the throne. First, she would get rid of Gerald. This was close to impossible. It was not an easy task to assassinate Gerald in the strict palace. She knew better than anyone that Regina had already tried. Besides, if she accidentally touched Gerald and he found out that she was behind it, her father might be wary of Regina. That she too would assassinate him and try to inherit the throne early.
‘Of course, I haven’t thought about it that much.’
In this bloody palace where no one trusted each other, living as a lazy but bad-tempered princess was the only way to save her life.
‘But what about outside the palace?’
To inherit the throne, the second thing should be restoring the feminist theme. The only reason female household heads were banned was to prevent one person, Lunabell Blaine, from becoming a Grand Duke.
‘Then wouldn’t it be okay if I prevent that little boy from becoming the Grand Duke?’
She went into the bedroom and into a secret room hidden behind a rug hanging on the wall. In the dimly lit room, the shelves of the walls were filled with magic books and medicine bottles, as if her witches lived there. It was the witch’s room. This room was her late mother’s laboratory. Regina did not inherit her qualities as a witch, so her spellbook was just a wad of paper. But not medicine. Because anyone could do it. She picked every available drug from the shelf and put it in her basket.
“My cousin’s dream was to become a family head. Sobbing. The female patriarchy must be restored so that other women can fulfill Lunabell’s unfulfilled dreams.”
Regina sighed, rehearsing her tearful eulogy at Lunabell Blaine’s funeral.
* * *
They faced difficulties. What did lovers do? She had to act like a lover to fool everybody, but the children were already starting to notice something suspicious.
“Are you dating?”
Seeing the two of them concentrating on their work as before, Luna asked a sharp question.
“Should I tell Luna the truth? I’m sorry to lie to her.”
However, the Grand Duke who sat across from her at the table in the cabin shook his head resolutely with his arms crossed.
“If we don’t come up with a countermeasure now, in the future, not only Luna, but others will also hear about it. If you reveal the truth every time that happens, the contract has no meaning.”
“Measures… It’s a countermeasure.”
They have to pretend to be dating, but the problem was…
“It’s my first time dating…”
She put her two hands on her chin and thought about it, but the Grand Duke looked at her with strange eyes and said,
“It’s my first time too.”
The reason they faced difficulties was because it was the first time that both of them were dating.
“What do you do when you date?”
“Smooth.”
“All I know is…”
The Grand Duke tapped the table with his fingertips and paused for a moment before throwing out an unexpected word.
“Kiss?”
At that moment, the cheeks in her hands heated up.
“Oh, kiss… Yes, it is.”
Was he sure he wanted to? She couldn’t look directly at the Grand Duke, she only looked at his fingertips, which stopped knocking on the table. This was her first kiss in all her previous life and this one. She cleaned it… Didn’t she eat garlic today? Put something on her lips. But in this old cabin? No, this wasn’t even a real relationship, so what was she arguing about?
She closed her eyes. It was a time when she quietly closed her eyes, swallowed dry saliva, and waited for the Grand Duke’s decision.
“Now?”
“Yes?”
“It’s Miss Hazel’s turn.”
“What?”
Could it be that he came up with an idea, so he was asking her to act? Was it an outdated idea even in this old world that a man should kiss first? But…
“Uh, I’ve never done that before…”
‘Then at least close your eyes!’
It was the moment when she hesitated and tried to speak with courage.
“Still, you must have heard about what you do when you date.”
Oh, wasn’t it that way?
‘Phew.’
She stroked her chest. If she had said one more word, she would have been treated as a pervert.
“All I know is…”
Hand in hand walking down the street and eye shopping. Drinking tea, eating and drinking at a cafe. Watch a movie. Go for a drive at night. Yes. All she knew was modern Korean style.
“Looking around the shopping street hand in hand…”
She roughly changed her words to match this place, and the Grand Duke just listened with an expressionless expression. It has to be. Because they didn’t fit the status of nobility.
“…Going out on horseback or in a wagon. All I can think of is this.”
Then, awkwardly, she was stirring the cold teacup, but the Grand Duke suddenly stood up and held out his hand to her.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes?”
“What you said, Let’s do it now.”
“No…”
She recited the things she had said again like a rapid-fire gun and asked.
“Your Highness the Grand Duke does something like this?”
“That’s love.”
But wasn’t this a commoner’s love? However, the Grand Duke opened the cabin door regardless of her words. She finally threw off her apron and followed him.
“Is it okay to go without a guard?”
“Hazel, it’s my brothers who need guards, not me.”
Contrary to his hard tone, the hand he reached out to her seemed soft.
“And you, too, don’t need the guards if I’m here.”
She hesitantly took the Grand Duke’s hand. As expected, it was soft, but she could feel the calluses from holding the sword from time to time. Only then did she realize that she was holding a man’s hand. She secretly looked up at the Grand Duke walking down the forest path in step with her while holding her hand. Seeing him looking like nothing happened made her feel small.
When sheI arrived at a nearby village and started walking down the main street, she felt even smaller, and she felt like she could hide in a rat hole in the wall.
“Could that be… No, but why with that witch…”
“I guess the rumors were true.”
They could faintly hear the whispers of people who recognized them. Astonishment and envy were clearly visible in the eyes of the people watching her and the Grand Duke walking hand in hand. She was accomplishing the purpose of this spurious love affair, but she didn’t feel proud. The man everyone envied and the person everyone despised. As expected, she felt once again that this love couldn’t be real.
“Do you have a fever?”
The Grand Duke stopped abruptly and turned to her. He put his other hand on her forehead without letting go of her hand.
“Oh, it’’s not hot.”
His hand immediately fell off. It was regrettable though. But the Grand Duke began to remove the cloak from his shoulders. It wouldn’t be easy to take off with one hand, but her hand was still clenched. As he draped the cloak over her shoulders, she involuntarily looked up at him, stunned, and remembered the cold she caught last winter. Was the Grand Duke thinking the same thing?
“I don’t know, so I’ll have to buy a healing accelerator and stock up.”
She could make it. Normally, she would have stopped the Grand Duke, but she didn’t say anything. It always feels good to have someone worrying about her and taking care of her.
“I should tell Harold to always stock up on shrimp so he doesn’t run out.”
The man opened his eyes and smiled. It was clear that the sky above him was the autumn sky, but a smile like the sunlight of spring rained down on her. Maybe it’s good. It seemed that this love was mistaken for real.
* * *
Knock-knock.
The graceful knocking on the door soon became louder and louder. No matter how many knocks on the door of the nanny’s room there was no answer, the children’s faces turned sullen.
“See? She is sleeping.”
“There’s no way I couldn’t hear her even if she slept.”
Apparently, the guards guarding this hallway said that Hazel had gone into her bedroom.
“Did something happen to Hazel?”
It may be an emergency situation. They tried to open the door despite the rudeness, but the guards who were watching the two came running in a hurry.
“Hey, Grand Princess! His Highness the Grand Duke went in with her, so why don’t you open it…”
“Brother?”
But it’s already too late. The Grand Princess opened the door and poked her head into the bedroom, where the Grand Duke and the nanny would surely have a tryst. How did they do this? It was a time when the guardsmen were sighing on their foreheads.
“No?”
When the Grand Princess’ gaze reached the wide open door, the guards were more embarrassed than if they had witnessed the tryst.
“Oh, no… They were here an hour ago…”