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She was glad she understood what the bird was saying. Even if the culprit missed it. No one knew what happened to the princess after that. It seemed that she was missing, but since her reputation was at stake, she seemed to be hiding the disappearance of the princess from the imperial palace. According to the Grand Duke, they never asked them about her whereabouts. The Emperor didn’t seem to know that the princess had turned the children into larks and tried to kill them. It was said that it was the princess’s solo act.
That way they returned to the cabin that day. Until she made an antidote and returned them to their original form, the children took on the form of larks and were scolded by the Grand Duke.
“What would you have done if it wasn’t for Hazel?”
Chirp, chirp.
“Luna, what are you chirping about doing well?”
It must have been a mistake to be away during the day. On that day, the date with the Grand Duke came to an end. After that, she supplemented the magic formula drawn in the closet. Now, when she was not around, the children couldn’t go to the cabin.
The Grand Duke told her the truth, saying that since Luna was also 9 years old, her time had come. What she didn’t understand was why would anyone want to kill her? From then on, the words of wanting to go to the imperial palace entered easily.
Frightened children have become her chewing gum these days. Today, instead of going out to play, she calmly watched the tailor measure her in her room.
“The dimensions haven’t changed since last time.”
The tailor, who was standing in front of the mirror with a tape measure on her, smiled happily and brought her this and that fabric and applied it to her.
“Anyway, since it’s spring, I wonder what this color will look like. It suits Miss Hazel very well.”
The last time the tailor was called in to make babysitting clothes, she was shy, but today she was friendly. There was a spark of curiosity in her eyes. It must be because rumors that the Grand Duke and she were dating, of course not for real, spread quickly throughout the empire. The tailor had been called by Mrs. Valea to make a dress for the Hobart Mansion ball in the spring. The cloth on Hazel’s shoulder looked expensive even to her unfamiliar eyes.
“But my closet is already overflowing with clothes. I was thinking of picking one out and wearing it.”
Mrs. Valeria shook her head at her words.
“Of course, the clothes Miss Hazel is wearing right now are nice, but they don’t suit the rank of a Grand Duke.”
Oh, indeed. A Grand Duke is an extremely high-ranking aristocrat. If you go to a chaebol family party in wedding guest fashion, you’ll be a laughing stock.
“What about the jewels?”
Luna, who was sitting on the sofa watching, began to give her advice while tilting her teacup gracefully.
“Your Highness said you don’t need to prepare jewelry separately.”
“Hmm…”
Luna, who was staring at her with her arms crossed, opened her mouth again.
“What color does my brother wear?”
That was a good point.
“His Highness said he would match it with the dress Miss Hazel chose.”
‘Miss Hazel’. To the nanny, the head maid, who oversees the management of the female servants, wrote a tremendous honorific. After the Grand Duke made a bombshell remark in the dining hall, everyone treated her like a member of the Grand Duchy’s family. It was still difficult to adapt.
“Miss Hazel, which color do you like best?”
The tailor asked, but she couldn’t answer. Originally, even if they take good care of others, they tend not to take care of her.
“I like white like a swan.”
“Everything is pretty in my eyes.”
Luna liked white, Luca liked everything. While she was in trouble, Luna asked right away.
“What does my brother think?”
At that moment, their eyes met with the Grand Duke reflected in the mirror. It seemed that Mrs. Valeria heard him knock on the bedroom door first and opened the door.
“I like white.”
As Luna called out to her, the tailor gathered the pale yellow cloth and wrapped a white cloth around Hazel. The Grand Duke just stared at her blankly, but said nothing. Then…
“It looks like a wedding dress…”
The moment he murmured, she made up my mind.
“I’ll do it with this one!”
She picked up the pale yellow cloth. It would be embarrassing if people blurted out that the witch was aiming to marry the Grand Duke because she had chosen white for nothing. If the Grand Duke had such suspicions, he might even cancel his fake love contract. She shouldn’t have enjoyed this fake relationship, but honestly, she enjoyed it.
“Put the kids to bed and see you tonight at 10pm.”
The Grand Duke had a different business. He whispered in her ear the time and went out again. Her cheeks in the mirror were red.
The children went to bed at 9 o’clock. The appointment is at 10 o’clock. She had an hour to spare, so she opened the magic book, but in the end she couldn’t read a single word. Time, which had flown like a darting just a moment ago, became slower than a snail’s. When it was only 9:40, she finally closed the book and stood in front of the mirror.
‘That face is that face. The Grand Duke wouldn’t even care anyway.’
She checked it from head to toe. She even did the pathetic thing of putting on perfume and then going to the bathroom and wiping it off, fearing that it would show that he cared too much. Then, at 9:55, she came out of the bedroom. Just around the corner was the central staircase of the hall on the first floor, the meeting place. But she stopped.
‘What if I go too early and show that I’ve been waiting for this time?’
She paused behind the corner, counting the patterns on the carpet. Then, when the old clock in the hall rang to announce 10 o’clock, she turned the corner and hesitated.
“Uh…?”
The Grand Duke was sitting on the railing of the stairs. Unlike during the day, he was dressed comfortably in black pants and a white shirt. Not knowing she had come yet, he was looking down the railing.
“You’re here early.”
When she spoke to him, the Grand Duke turned his head towards her and smiled.
“What did you do behind the corner?”
“…yes?”
‘Uh, how did you know?’
“I was tying my shoelaces…”
She was flustered and gave any excuse, but the Grand Duke got up from the railing and came towards her. As soon as he stood in front of her, he fell to his knees.
Squeak.
The shoelaces caught on his long fingers untied.
“It’s dangerous if it’s solved like last time.”
Watching him tying her shoelaces again, she covered her mouth. She felt like her heart was about to jump out of her mouth. Why did a high-ranking person like the Grand Duke do this to a witch like her?
“Well then, let’s go.”
He didn’t let go of her hand the whole way down the stairs, probably because he knew she was going to trip over her shoelaces like last time. As if the Grand Duke had mentioned it beforehand, the lights in the chandelier in the ballroom were lit. Standing face to face with the Grand Duke alone in the huge ballroom, her mouth went dry.
Today’s promise was dance practice.
The Grand Duke first offered to teach her how to dance. Well, if she stepped on the Grand Duke’s foot, as she did to Sir Victor, it would be a shame in front of countless people.
‘Hmmm’, the Grand Duke muttered as he looked around the empty surroundings with a snort.
“Come to think of it, there is no music.”
“I prefer not to be.”
Fearing that a musician might be called, she immediately shook her hand. It was disgusting to feel the eyes watching her wiggle and pop.
“If you like Hazel.”
The Grand Duke nodded his head and took a step away from her. Immediately, he was polite and modest, like a swan. She was stunned, and only after he winked at her did she awkwardly raise the hem of her skirt and made a reverence.
“Now it’s your turn to run away.”
The Grand Duke held out his hand to her and made a mischievous noise. They were making fun of what happened at the ball the other day. Fireworks were just an excuse, he knew she ran away.
When she stopped to put her hand on him, he held back a laugh and gently pulled her hand.
“You just have to do as I lead.”
Soon his other hand was wrapped around her waist, and the Grand Duke pulled her until their bodies were barely touching.
“Now put your right foot on mine.”
Was she the only one having trouble concentrating? The Grand Duke was calm throughout the entire time teaching her how to step.
“Are you used to it now?”
She followed his lead and nodded her head. She thought it was going to stop because the Grand Duke pulled his outstretched hands inward while holding hands, but it wasn’t. The Grand Duke held her hand and pushed the tip of her chin up with his knuckles.
“Then, from now on, look at me and dance.”
From the moment the Grand Duke looked down at her, everything was a mess. She quickly forgot everything she had learned. Then finally did it.
“Oh!”
She trampled on his feet.
The Grand Duke frowned at her and bent over. The wind brought his face closer.
“Oh, it hurts.”
Even if his ribs were broken, even if he was poisoned by monster poison, he had never said anything of pain. If his foot hurts, how hard did she step on it?
“Hey, I’m sorry.”
“Looks like it’s broken.”
“Omg! Uh, are you alright? I will cast a healing spell on you, so show me.”
“It’s a scary partner.”
“Yes?”
“To break your partner’s foot and then casually put it back together and dance.”
The Grand Duke raised his head and smiled. His toe wasn’t broken, but something was broken. He was deliberately teasing her to see her reaction. He stopped laughing and, casually, took her hand again and started dancing. She puffed out her cheeks sullenly and glared at the Grand Duke.
“If you keep teasing me like that, someday I might put a small, sure curse on you.”
“If you’re going to turn me into a frog, I’d like you to break the curse with a kiss.”