“Anyway, I have to be careful. Wouldn’t it be better to leave the island soon? If I had known in advance that the Imperial family had done it, I honestly think I would have been scared and worried all day.”
“Miss Hazel?”
The person who fearlessly eavesdropped on the prince.
“By the way, how do you treat your parents’ enemies with a smile, Your Highness? My heart aches.”
The nanny looked up at him again with pity.
“The children must not know.”
He gave a stern warning, but this time she pouted her lips again. That should be banned too.
“Anyway, have a nice dream.”
“Yes, Your Highness, have a nice dream too.”
Elliot headed to his bedroom, brooding over the thoughts that had been running through his mind the whole time he was talking to the nanny.
“No matter how you look at it, it doesn’t seem like it.”
It was a thought he had last night, and a thought he had when he extended the contract last fall.
He didn’t think that woman was that wicked witch.
* * *
She thought she would be able to relax for an hour when she returned to the palace.
“Cough, Cough…”
She never thought she would catch a cold in the islands. As soon as she woke up, she coughed. When she got up from bed and drank the tea she had left on the bedside table, the cough subsided a little.
She sighed as she put the teacup and lukewarm wet towel down on the bedside table. The fact that there was no medicine for a cold was the same as the fairy tale speed. The healing potion was a drug used for physical damage, so it did not work for a cold. Healing accelerator worked well for colds, but she had used up what she made. In fact, she wasn’t the first person to catch a cold in the capital. At first, Luna was sick, but by the time Luna got better, Luca started to get sick.
“Sir, Sir.”
Luca became a fool when he caught a cold.
“The other person is Syrer!”
They clung to her and the Grand Duke like gum, swearing at others. However, he was busy with work and met many people, so the Grand Duke could not take care of Luca, which would be a big deal if he caught a cold. That’s how she did one-on-one nursing. Then, by the time Luca got better, she caught a cold.
“Hungry…”
She ate dinner, but after a few hours of sound sleep, she woke up with a growl in her stomach.
“What time is it?”
First of all, it seemed that midnight had passed since it was quiet outside and the moon was waning. She was sorry to call a maid to bring her something to eat at this hour, so she stood up.
“Ah, it’s saksin…”
Her body ached, her whole body ached. She went to the cabin through the closet to find a painkiller potion and drank it first.
“Looks like I’ll live a little longer.”
The cabin was quiet. Lady and Daisy have been living with the children these days, saying they would take on the role of nanny instead of her, who took ‘sick leave’.
“I want to eat shrimp porridge.”
She muttered as she stared at the moonlit kitchen. There couldn’t be anything like shrimp in the cabin. But she thought it was in the Grand Ducal kitchen.
She went back to the Grand Duke’s bedroom and grabbed the doorknob to go out into the hallway, but she hesitated. The floor was strewn with objects that seemed to have been pushed through the cracks under the door. A sheet of parchment with a colorful picture was placed next to a paper boat and an airplane that the children must have folded.
‘Hazel, get well soon!’
It was clear that this crooked yet clear handwriting in the middle was Luna’s skill.
‘Yes, I will get well soon.’
“What?”
She flicked her fingers, moved the children’s presents to the nightstand, opened the door, and hesitated.
“What is this?”
A cloth bag hung on the doorknob outside. When she opened it, there were several glass bottles inside. A large glass jar was filled with candies that smelled like peppermint and lemon. It was like candy to eat when you have a sore throat. All other bottles were smaller than that. The identical vials of green liquid were all labeled “Healing Accelerator.” Where did they buy it from? It would be expensive to buy.
“Who left?”
There were no letters or notes inside. She thanked the giver from the bottom of her heart, moved her pockets to the bedroom, and went to the kitchen.
“Found.”
In an empty kitchen, he gathered ingredients such as shrimp, zucchini, and carrots and began to trim them. It was the moment she piled up the chopped ingredients on a corner of the cutting board and brought sesame oil from the cabin.
“Miss Hazel.”
The kitchen door burst open and a lightly dressed Grand Duke entered.
“What is a person with a cold doing here?”
It was an angry face. She pulled up the towel that covered her mouth and pointed to the pot on the countertop.
“I am hungry. Instead, I covered my mouth and nose so nobody wouldn’t catch my cold, and I washed my hands thoroughly with soap. Just in case you didn’t know, I’m also ventilating.”
As if to show it well, she moved her finger to the wide open window in the back of the kitchen, and the Grand Duke’s forehead wrinkled even more.
“You’re out of your mind.”
“Ah, you shouldn’t come closer…”
The Grand Duke came close and passed her by. While she watched blankly, he slammed the wide open window and closed it roughly enough to make a noise. Anyway, how did he know she was here? She couldn’t ask because she didn’t have a good mindset, so she just looked at him, but the Grand Duke came closer and asked, winking at Doma.
“How do you do it?”
“Yes?”
“The dish Miss Hazel wants to cook.”
“Ah… Put a spoonful of this sesame oil in a pot and stir-fry the finely chopped ingredients…”
The Grand Duke, who had been listening silently with his arms crossed, nodded his head when her explanation was over, and glanced at the door.
“I’ll bring it to you when it’s done, so go back to your bedroom right away.”
“But waking the cook at this time…”
“I’ll do it.”
“What?!”
She forgot about her sore throat and almost screamed.
“Your Highness the Grand Duke?”
“You don’t have to be embarrassed.”
“No, it’s not a burden, it’s a concern.”
The Grand Duke’s forehead, which had been straightened for a moment, crumpled again.
“No, I’m not looking down on Your Highness. Do you know how to cook? It’s a waste of material… I’m really tired and hungry right now. If you burn this, I might cry.”
The Grand Duke let out a deep sigh, loosening his eyes, which were as thin and sharp as needles.
“I know how to cook too. There are times when you have to prepare your own meals on the battlefield.”
“Ah…”
A Grand Duke who cooks. It really didn’t go well with that noble look that looks like he’s never had a drop of water on his hands.
“Come on. What is the hard man doing here? Even if you fall down like this, I have no intention of carrying it. I hate being misunderstood by the servants.”
Eventually, she couldn’t resist the urge and went up to the bedroom. Then how much time had passed?
“Yes, come in.”
It was the Grand Duke who knocked on the door and entered. He thought he’d have a maid get it, but he thought he’d bring it himself.
“Don’t get up.”
The Grand Duke told her not to get out of bed and even put the tray on her lap. From the bowl of porridge in the middle, the smell she longed for was wafting up.
“Wow, thank you so much.”
He said nothing, only nodding his head lightly. She thought he would go, but he didn’t. She watched the Grand Duke leaning against the window where the moonlight streamed in, feeling bewildered, and raised her spoon.
“It’s hot, so be careful.”
“Yes.”
She scooped up a spoonful of fragrant porridge, blew on it, and put it in her mouth. Tears welled up in her eyes as the taste she longed for spread in her mouth.
“It is delicious. You do know how to cook, you did it well.”
She smiled at the tall silhouette wrapped in silver like moonlight. She couldn’t see his face because he had his back to the light, but for some reason she thought that the Grand Duke must have raised the corner of his mouth.
“It’s a unique dish.”
“This is the dish my grandmother cooked for me when I was sick.”
“Come to think of it, I had that too. As a child, when I was sick, my mother made me soup. It’s been a while since I tasted it.”
Because she died. That person’s feelings must be the same as hers. It was a time when she felt sad looking down at the porridge that resembled but could not be the same as the one her grandmother had made.
“I must be sick.”
She laughed at the forced joke to change the heavy atmosphere and asked.
“What kind of soup was it?”
“Just plain chicken soup. Common stuff like chicken, noodles, carrots, and green peas.”
“That shouldn’t be the case, but if Your Highness gets sick someday, I’ll take care of it.”
This time, the Grand Duke seemed to be smiling.
“How are the chestnuts?”
It’s been two days since she hadn’t seen her children.
“Chestnuts…”
The Grand Duke followed her words, paused, and corrected his words.
“My younger siblings eat well, sleep well, and are well.”
They were doing fine without her. The Grand Duke added, perhaps feeling that he was becoming sullen even though it was a good thing.
“I was afraid that Miss Hazel would be upset, so to be honest, I told them that the more they get into trouble, the later the babysitter gets better. Thanks to that, for two days, the duchy is enjoying unprecedented peace. Ah, now it’s my turn to be sad.”
She couldn’t help but burst into laughter as if she had never been so gloomy.
“I had a good meal. Thank you so much.”
After emptying the porridge and putting down the spoon, the Grand Duke approached her. She thought he was going to remove the tray, but he didn’t. He was unbelievably neat for a swordsman, and his large hands, drenched in cold sweat, brushed off his hair that clung to him and touched my forehead. The other hand went to his forehead. His long fingers brushed the disheveled silver hair over his forehead. He felt her body temperature with his hand, and let out a sigh.
“You seem to have a high fever…”
“Ah, that…”
Apparently, she was fine just a moment ago, but suddenly her body felt hot. However, she couldn’t say such a thing to the Grand Duke.
—————————————————————
Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. Thank you very much for reading! 😀
For chapters in advance please support me on Ko-fi or Patreon 😉
Next post will be released on May, 20. See you then!
Want to read more?
