Grand Duke's Beloved Granddaughter

As she sat and waited, the food soon started to come out. The servant and maid brought the trolley one after another and served the meal on the table between her mother and her. She watched quietly as they served the food. Then, suddenly, she noticed something familiar in the maid’s pastoral voice as she placed the stew in front of her. It was a brooch with two overlapping circles. She felt like she had seen it once before, so she slowly recalled it. Given her clear memory, it was clear that it was a relatively recent event. Where on earth did she see that? She was sure she saw that pattern…

 

“Ah!”

 

“Huh? What’s wrong, Belle?”

 

She recalled the memory later and let out an exclamation without realizing it. That seemed to have surprised her mother.

 

“It’s no big deal. I just suddenly remembered something.”

 

When she answered with a smile, her mother’s surprised face also relaxed. Although she said it was nothing, she was actually a little surprised. The brooch the maid was wearing had the same pattern as the brooch Daniel was wearing earlier. Was there any meaning to that brooch? What if people related to Daniel were wearing this brooch? If so, finding Daniel’s liaison would be easier than expected.

 

“Hey.”

 

“Yes?”

 

SheI cautiously called the maid, and the maid looked at her.

 

“Thank you for preparing the meal.”

 

“No. I’m just doing my job.”

 

When the maid heard her thanks, her eyes softened and she smiled. Her smile looked so kind that it was hard to believe that she was the one helping Daniel behind her back.

 

“What is your name?”

 

“My name is Helene Ruthbolt. Please call me Helen.”

 

“Huh. Thank you, Helen.”

 

“It’s an honor, little lady.”

 

She smiled and muttered her name several times in her mind. Since she had succeeded in confirming her name, she could go back and compare it with the documents later. She started eating as if nothing had happened. Even though she tried not to make it obvious, her eyes kept moving towards the maid, but since she was just looking around pretending to observe her support, she probably didn’t know what exactly she was looking at.

 

“Is it okay to eat outside sometimes?”

 

As she was concentrating all her attention on the maid, her mother said to her so.

 

She belatedly came to her senses and kept an eye on her mother.

 

“Huh. It was frustrating to stay inside in the morning, but I think it’s much better. A lot of flowers have already bloomed in support. It smells good and looks good too. really good.”

 

Wherever she looked, flowers were blooming beautifully.

 

“Actually, this is what my mom did.”

 

Mom explained to her with an amused look on her face.

 

“Mom?”

 

“Okay.”

 

She looked at the support slowly, like a mother reminiscing. She also checked the flowers that caught her mother’s eye.

 

“When your mom and dad were here together, your grandfather changed the garden.”

 

Her mother seemed lost in her memories with her father. It seemed like memories of Mom and Dad remained here and there, not only in the village of Delphia where we used to live, but also in this Grand Duchy of Crichton.

 

“I wonder how tickled Gail was back then…”

 

She didn’t want to disturb her mother, who was lost in her memories, by talking for no reason. So she quietly enjoyed her meal and listened to her mother. The meal was finally over.

 

“I really enjoyed the meal!”

 

When she finished speaking and tried to get up, her mom opened her eyes wide.

 

“Are you going already? No more rest. You’ve always been busy, but now you have time. How about having some tea and taking a break?”

 

Her mom cautiously suggested it to her. Following her mother’s suggestion, it was a good idea to have tea with her mother during my long-awaited vacation. But she wanted to quickly go back to the bedroom and check to see if Helen’s name was among the people related to Daniel mentioned in the documents.

 

“I have something planned today, so I’ll drink it later. I’m sorry, Mom.”

 

She couldn’t hide her regret and told her mother that she refused.

 

“Okay, then you can drink it later. Because there is a lot of time. Go quickly.”

 

Mom said as she carefully tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

 

“Huh. Mom, see you later!”

 

SheI said goodbye to her mom and ran straight up to her bedroom. If Viscountess Maynard had seen her, she would have scolded her for not running indoors without her body, but today, as Viscountess Maynard was returning home from her lessons this morning, she didn’t have to worry about running into her.

 

“Little lady, let’s go together!”

 

She was running without thinking, but stopped dead in her tracks when she heard a sound coming from behind. When she turned around, she saw Kalina and Anita chasing her with difficulty. She had to admit later that she had completely forgotten that these two people were supposed to be with her.

 

“Sorry. Because I’m in a hurry. Are you okay?”

 

“Yes… It’s okay, it’s okay.”

 

“What about Kalina?”

 

“I am okay.”

 

She checked Anita, who was panting heavily, and Kalina, who seemed somewhat stable. She felt sorry for no reason.

 

“I’ll be careful next time. Kalina, I’m sorry Anita.”

 

“No. You don’t have to apologize. The little lady wanted to go back quickly, but we couldn’t understand her feelings, so we’re sorry.”

 

Kalina actually apologized to her, so she bit her tongue.

 

“Thank you for saying it like that. Then let’s go.”

 

“Yes, little lady.”

 

“Yes!”

 

Confirming that Anita’s breathing had returned to normal, she slowly began to climb the stairs. She slowly climbed the stairs and reached her bedroom. She went straight inside and turned around to see two people following her.

 

“You two, come and eat. I’ll be resting in the bedroom.”

 

“May I?”

 

She didn’t want anyone else to see her checking the documents, so she suggested it to two people. Kalina and Anita both responded positively because it was already time for them both to eat.

 

“Huh. It’s okay, so come back.”

 

“Yes, little lady. I’ll be back then, so if you need anything, please give me a call. Another maid will help you.”

 

After finishing her explanation, Kalina extended her hand towards Anita.

 

“I’ll be back!”

 

Anita bowed her head to her and left her bedroom, holding Kalina’s hand. Only after the door closed was she able to turn around and head to her desk. She opened the drawer using the key she had hanging around her neck and took out the documents hidden inside. Then she sat down on the chair and began to slowly look at the documents. What she was looking for was the name of the maid, Helene Ruthbolt. But as she scanned through the documents, she couldn’t find the names Helen or Ruthbolt.

 

“No…”

 

[What are you looking for?]

 

As she was again going through the documents from top to bottom, Vivre spoke to her.

 

“This is a list of people related to Daniel. There was someone who I suspected might be Daniel’s person earlier, so I checked the documents just in case, but no matter how hard I searched, I couldn’t find the name Helene Ruthbolt.”

 

She couldn’t shake off her disappointment and answered.

 

“I thought it was definitely there…”

 

It would not be highly likely that Daniel, a high-ranking member of the Crichton family, and a maid would accidentally wear the same brooch. So she firmly believed that the brooch had some connection to Daniel. But it seems it was a miscalculation. Or maybe this list wasn’t complete. But the list was given to her by Elliot. Moreover, if he could organize it so neatly, it was unlikely that Elliot would have made a mistake or done something wrong.

 

[Well… I don’t think there’s anything I can do to help.]

 

Vivre said to her in a low voice, feeling very sorry. Just as she was about to agree and move on, she suddenly remembered that he knew more information than her.

 

“By the way, I have one question.”

 

[Speak.]

 

She started drawing the same brooch shape she saw on a blank piece of paper. It wasn’t that difficult because it was shaped like two overlapping circles.

 

“Have you ever seen this shape?”

 

[What is that?]

 

She asked to see if he would know, but judging by the way he asked back, it seemed like Vivre didn’t know either.

 

“No. It’s okay if you don’t know.”

 

[No, I think I saw it. When Fleon came out before, a lot of people had these things on their clothes. And it seems that Daniel Crichton and his followers were also doing it.]

 

“What? Is that really true?”

 

Hearing what Vivre said, he lowered his head and checked his pendant. Unfortunately, the string was short, so she couldn’t see Vivre inside the pendant.

 

“If that’s true, could this be…?”

 

When she hesitated a bit, Vivre immediately asked back.

 

[Are you asking if it is related to the evil dragon Krypso?]

 

“Huh.”

 

[Well. But from what I remember, even people who were not related to Krypso had this pattern on their clothes. Wouldn’t it make sense if this had something to do with Krypso? But I don’t think so.]

 

“Hmm…”

 

She was a little discouraged by Vivre’s words denying her guess. Nothing became clear. It was a brooch that Daniel was wearing in the future, but other people were also wearing it. She thought it was some kind of important sign, but Vivre saw that even unrelated people were doing it. It seemed like she had just made a mistake. She thought she had definitely found an important link, but it turned out to be just a simple accessory. Her shoulders slumped as he lost steam and fell down on her desk. It would have been more beneficial to enjoy refreshments with mom rather than making a fuss like this… She pursed her lips as a thought suddenly occurred to her. However, she had already refused to have refreshments with her mother, and at least she knew that Helene Ruthbolt, who wore this brooch, was not Daniel’s liaison, so that alone could be said to have been a sufficient achievement.

 

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Translator Note: