Grand Duke's Beloved Granddaughter

The mother’s letter incident was put to rest thanks to the actions of Walter and Cedric, the butlers who managed the letters. Butler Walter had two sons, one of whom was said to have loved my mother and died from lovesickness. The inside story is that Walter, who had a desire for revenge, stole the letter from my mother, and Cedric witnessed this and tried to stop him, but in the end, he was unable to stop Walter until my mother returned. It was ridiculous. The person behind all of this was Daniel. I didn’t know how Daniel had recruited Walter and Cedric, or whether the story was plausible and the two people were originally Daniel’s people, but I could at least know that the two people were deceiving the Grand Duke Crichton with lies. But there was no way to find out. The punishment for Walter and Cedric had already been decided, and Mother had also agreed to the punishment, so I could not intervene. Moreover, there was no evidence to suggest that Daniel was behind it. Everything was just my memory. I thought maybe they would help me if I spoke to the Duana Temple, but thinking back on our previous meeting, I thought the outcome would not be good. It would have been better if the two had been properly punished for this, but their mother and the Grand Duke Crichton had forgiven them.

 

For me, it was my first time seeing Butlers Cedric and Walter, but for them it wasn’t, and it was a decision made because of the affection they had built up over the years. It was a ridiculous and shocking ending, but since I had no authority to comment on the decision that was already over, I had no choice but to keep it to myself. If it were me, I would have  somehow found out who was behind it through those two people. My mother died because the letter was not delivered to Grand Duke Crichton, and I also lived cursing and hating Grand Duke Crichton for 14 years. Although I was able to resolve all my doubts through a conversation with Daniel before my death, it did not mean that everything I had experienced disappeared. Although Vivre was able to turn back time and correct many things, the emotions and memories that remained within me were still clear. I probably won’t be able to erase it for the rest of my life. However, I couldn’t be angry at Grand Duke Crichton and my mother, who ended the matter by firing the two people. In the end, I had no choice but to direct the remaining resentment towards Daniel again.

 

I guess all of this turned out just as Daniel had intended… How happy must he be that the biggest doubt at this point has been overlooked? Just that thought made hot emotions well up inside me. In my current situation, was it too much to give Daniel a fair end…?

 

[Mirabell, don’t get too caught up in those thoughts.]

 

Vivre said worriedly.

 

‘…okay.’

 

[There will be an opportunity in the future, so let’s make use of it.]

 

Instead of answering his words of comfort, I smiled. I had no idea if Vivre noticed my smile.

 

“Mirabell, let’s spar again!”

 

While I was thinking about what happened before, Adrian suddenly shouted at me. I came to my senses late and checked Adrian sitting across from me. Since he became my friend, he has been visiting Grand Duke Crichton’s house very often. He came back for as little as a day, or as long as once a week. It was the same today.

 

If you were to be the crown prince, you would have to be busier than me and Elliot, but perhaps because Adrian was still young, he seemed to have more time than expected. Moreover, it was surprising that whenever he had time, he would immediately visit our mansion. Wasn’t he bored? Maybe I’m not the only friend? I slowly put down the glass of juice I was drinking and shook my head.

 

“No, I do not want.”

 

“Why?”

 

When I came out with a firm attitude, Adrian’s eyes widened and he immediately asked a question. He looked despairing, as if his confession had been rejected. I was taken aback by Adrian’s incomprehensible attitude, so I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes to glare at Adrian. I also knew that sparring with as many people as possible would be a very important experience for me. Still, there was a reason for avoiding sparring with Adrian.

 

“You really don’t know why, do you?”

 

“I’m asking because I don’t know. let me know. Why on earth don’t you want to spar with me? Not just today. Usually, whenever I ask to spar, you keep saying no.”

 

“Your Majesty the Crown Prince will ask me to keep sparring until you win. Besides, he has never won in a sparring with me, so I have to keep sparring with him until he dies.”

 

I shuddered as I recalled the sparring I had had with Adrian. Of course, it was an advantageous sparring for me as I had a lot of practical experience and was in a high weight class. Not only that, but the formal swordsmanship taught by Brian was combined with the know-how I had learned while rolling on the floor, so my skills were steadily building up. So I have no choice but to beat Adrian. In a situation like this, sparring with Adrian was practically a meaningless act. But Adrian was stubborn, and once he started sparring, he attacked again until he won. His stamina was endless, so I could never finish the repeated sparring. 

That’s exactly what I hated. In reality, I have nothing to gain and am just repeating meaningless sparring. Wouldn’t it be better if I were the teacher? I had no intention of having that boring sparring again.

 

“No! I can win this time! I also practiced a lot! Did Duke Crichton also say that I’ve improved a lot?”

 

Adrian, who saw that I was disgusted, shouted angrily. Brian seemed to express his swordsmanship achievements quite positively. But that was okay. I snorted slightly.

 

“I think I was playing around while His Highness the Crown Prince was practicing? I also practice swordsmanship from early in the morning. And that too to my uncle, the teacher of His Highness the Crown Prince.”

 

“That… but…”

 

Adrian must have hit the nail on the head with what I said, so his face became somber that he trailed off.

 

“Still… Can I spar with you…? I really like sparring with Mirabelle…”

 

Adrian slumped his shoulders and muttered in a low voice. It wasn’t easy for me to refuse when a child who was only seven years old was acting like this. Moreover, he was the crown prince, the future owner of this empire and a precious hand of the imperial family.

 

“Then decide the number of times instead. Otherwise, we will continue.”

 

“Good! How many times should we spar? Ten times?”

 

“…Five times.”

 

“Five times is too few.”

 

Adrian muttered as if he were dissatisfied.

 

“Not if you don’t like it. Let’s just think of today as a rest, okay?”

 

I did not miss the opportunity and spoke words of conversion. Then, Adrien touched his lips a few times as if hesitating, but eventually nodded his head in agreement.

 

“Okay, five times. So are we doing it right now?”

 

“Take a break. You couldn’t even drink all the juice. Also, I have prepared meringue cookies, which His Highness the Crown Prince likes, so please eat them.”

 

“Huh! Then, let’s eat all of this and spar!”

 

“Yes-yes.”

 

I answered half-heartedly and raised my glass. The yellow drink inside gently swayed with my touch. I was really busy every day. From early in the morning, I received the sword training that knights receive, after breakfast, I studied various liberal arts, and in the evening, I visited a temple to practice my spiritual powers. This was a repetitive process. Originally, I visited the temple three times a week, but fortunately, as I was learning how to use my divine powers more and more quickly, Priest Lynel deliberately made time for me. I had no choice but to prepare diligently to prepare for what would come in the near future. I also had to do my best to never lose what I had again. Although he mentioned it a little negatively, in that respect, this moment when Adrian was visiting was a time when I could relax. I sat down on the back of the sofa and quietly closed my eyes. There was no fatigue like others might feel. This was because on the way back from the temple, I used divine power to heal my body. But a different kind of fatigue overtook me. Worries about the future and anxiety about reality. The fatigue that came from all kinds of thoughts that came to mind showed no signs of going away even when I used my divine powers. It seemed like their intention was to continue to harass me until they dealt with Daniel.

 

Knock, knock.

 

I slowly opened my eyes to the sudden knocking sound. While Adrian and I were meeting, everyone else would be doing their best not to disturb us. I checked on Adrian. I was wondering if it might be related to that.

 

“What’s the matter?”

 

I asked the person on the other side of the door.

 

“Hey, little lady. This is Dayrick Rupel, the guard at the door.”

 

The person on the other side of the door introduced himself in a cautious voice.

 

“Come in.”

 

When I gave permission, the door slowly opened and a guard who appeared to be in his early 40s came inside.

 

“What’s the matter?”

 

I was puzzled that it was a guard who came to see me rather than another maid or servant, so I asked straight to the point. The guard, who introduced himself as Dayrick Rupel, hesitantly moistened his lips with his tongue before revealing the reason for coming here.

 

“There is someone outside right now who wants to meet the little lady.”

 

“Me?”

 

No matter how much I thought about it, there was no one who could come to me, so I opened my eyes wide and looked at Dayrick. Dayrick continued his sentence with a quick nod of his head.

 

“At first, I thought it was a strange child and tried to kick it out, but the child said that if I let the little girl know that he came, she would welcome me… I know it’s ridiculous, but I risked my shame and went looking for the little lady.”

 

I found a hint in what Dayrick said. A child with a bold personality who would come to me. There was only one person that came to mind.

 

“What is the child’s name?”

 

“My name is Jeffrey Coleman.”

 

—————————————————————

Translator Note: