‘It’s cold.’
It felt like something thick like blood but cold like ice was running through her body. It was a time when she was shivering in the cold.
‘Uh?’
A strange sensation bloomed in the pit of the stomach. It was as if something that had been drying up and dying inside was filled with water and revived.
‘It’s hot.’
In the next moment, her body suddenly became hot.
‘Hot. Is it under the quilt? I want to go out.’
The moment she thought so, her eyes lit up.
‘What?’
Something completely unexpected was blocking her eyes. After blinking a few times, the image became clear. It was as she first guessed. That’s a shirt, and what’s showing through it is the man’s stocky chest. A man’s chest?
She raised her head and met the Grand Duke’s eyes.
“What are you doing now…”
“No, because you are cold.”
The Grand Duke who was holding her fell away like a man burned before she could finish her words. Getting out of bed was an instant.
“I swear I didn’t do anything I couldn’t show Luna and Luca.”
The face of the man who gave her an explanation she didn’t even ask for was red.
‘I’m still cold.’
She didn’t mean to go. As soon as the Grand Duke’s body fell apart, her body trembled. It wasn’t until Luna came that she realized that it was because of the flower of the Spirit Plant.
“Huh…”
As soon as Luca heard that she had woken up, he came running. He clung to her and started whimpering.
“Sorry.”
“No. It was an accident.”
“I will never use my holy power on Hazel again. My older brother taught me how to do it.”
“Ah…”
She realized in that moment the Grand Duke must have revealed his holy power to the children as well.
“Stand up, Luca.”
Now that she was awake, the Grand Duke, who she thought went to work, has returned. He had a tray in his hand.
“What is a grown boy doing in the lady’s bed?”
“Okay. That position is my older brother’s.”
“Yes.”
The Grand Duke condescendingly agreed to what Luna tried to tease. Just a little while ago, when she was asked what she was doing, he ran out in a hurry.
“It’s hot, so be careful.”
Luca got up and put the tray on my lap. The savory porridge was steaming from the soup bowl in his middle.
‘Are you killing shrimp?’
Even if it wasn’t, it was a car that was hungry. She scooped out a large spoonful of porridge with shrimp and vegetables and blew it on to cool it down. The Grand Duke, who was watching her, suddenly lowered his head. Soon, hot lips touched her cheeks. When his lips parted, she covered the place with her hand. Her whole body was still cold, but only the place where his lips touched was hot. She was saddened by the disappearance of the heat. The atmosphere tickled when the children left to prepare dessert for her. She made a light joke to the Grand Duke, who stared at her with hot and heavy eyes.
“Are you glad I’m alive?”
“Yes.”
After a moment of silence, the Grand Duke answered in a deep voice.
“If I die, I will have to find a babysitter again. How dark must have been before my eyes.”
“It’s not like that.”
He furrowed his brow.
“His Highness’s unrealistic face, who is handsome even when angry. I missed you so much.”
His face, handsome even when angry, quickly became handsome even when he lost his temper. She smiled and put the spoon in her mouth.
‘Why?’
This time, her heart was gone. Shrimp porridge tastes just like the one her grandmother cooked.
‘Come to think of it, it seems that I dreamed of my grandmother…’
* * *
The bomb exploded before Hazel’s joy in waking was over. Elliot was busy with the business of pecking at it like a flock of ferocious birds. The past three months have not been this busy. Of course, it may not be because he, who has come all this time, did not make things on his own while watching Elliot’s notice.
“Thank you, Daniel.”
The benefactor who gave Elliot full time to care for Hazel has just walked into his office with a new job bomb.
“I was able to endure it thanks to you taking care of the work. How should I repay you?”
“It’s a debt that can’t be repaid even if you sell all of the Grand Duke, so wake up early from the dream of paying off your debt.”
Saying thank you was embarrassing, so acting bluntly on purpose was really Daniel-like. Elliot smiled briefly and looked up to face his friend.
“Sir Daniel, do you know that Luca’s dreams have changed?”
“With what?”
“He wants to become a paladin.”
Daniel nodded his head without changing his expression as if he wasn’t surprised.
“It is a loss to His Highness and the Empire to not become a paladin even with a fairly good level of cleansing power.”
“So it is.”
Elliot slowly got to the point.
“As soon as Hazel recovers her strength, we are going to the Vatican, but the captain of the guards must follow, of course, right?”
At that moment, Daniel’s expression changed. An excuse to meet the pope. He will be the most valuable reward for Daniel.
* * *
“And…”
As she poked her head out of the carriage, she was amazed. When she heard the word Vatican, she thought of the Vatican, where she went on a package tour with her grandmother before entering college.
‘Wow, but this…’
The Vatican, located on top of a high mountain, was beyond imagination. The pure white buildings and walls that seemed to float on the clouds shimmered brilliantly in the sunlight. In terms of the East, it was like a palace where immortals lived. After passing through the city wall, the carriage ran endlessly along the white stone road, went around the huge plaza, and stopped in front of the magnificent temple inside. Priests in white priestly robes were standing there.
“His Holiness is waiting for the members of the Blaine family.”
As soon as they got off the wagon, they entered the temple as guided by the priests without even looking around. Not only outside, but also inside, huge pillars continued endlessly. After following a long corridor, they were able to meet the Pope in the audience room.
“It’s been a while, everyone.”
She used to be a young woman whom she saw on New Year’s Day. At that time, she was told that she was going to meet the Pope in the Islands, so she imagined her white grandfather, who was older and had white eyebrows like in her previous life, and how embarrassed she was to see the beauty in her early twenties.
“Your Holiness, have you been well?”
Standing on a high podium, the Pope solemnly received the Grand Duke’s greeting with only his eyes, then slowly turned his gaze to the hero of the day.
“I heard that Grand Prince Lucas Blaine came to take a test for his holy power and join the Order of the Holy Knights?”
Hearing that, she could see Luca getting nervous and shrugging his shoulders.
‘It’s fine. Just as practiced! My older brother, who has experience, even held a mock test several times.’
She lightly patted Luca on the back to mean not to be scared.
“Yes, that’s right. I came here eagerly hoping that I could serve God by following His Holiness’s guidance.”
Only then did Luca’s loud reply resound in the audience room. The Pope laughed softly. At that moment, she felt like a woman in her 20s. It seemed cute that her cousin, whom she had only seen as a child, acted like an adult.
“It’s a good mood. I wish you good results today.”
After that, Luca and the priests went out of the audience room to receive inspections and tests. Unfortunately, they couldn’t attend.
“There are two people who are first in the Vatican.”
The Pope looked at Luna and her and said, then got off the podium and headed for the door.
“It’s a rare opportunity, so why don’t we look around while we wait?”
Unfortunately, the Pope volunteered as a guide. He heard about the story and history directly from the pope and visited the holy relics and sacred paintings. It was an opportunity money couldn’t buy.
“Wow, how did you draw all of that?”
Looking at the fresco on the ceiling, it was a time when he remembered the moment of admiring it while looking up at it in the Vatican with his grandmother.
“Miss Hazel.”
“Yes?”
The Pope spoke directly to her.
“I heard about the accident when Luca manifested his holy power. I was worried, but I’m glad you overcame it well.”
“Thanks to His Highness the Grand Duke and everyone in the Grand Duchy.”
The Pope smiled gracefully and turned her gaze to the Grand Duke standing next to her. Her strange smile changed subtly. Playfully.
“Anyway, it seems the Grand Duke hasn’t overcome it yet.”
These were the words the Grand Duke had put up around me like an eggshell.
“The Vatican is full of people with holy power.”
Then, from the moment she set foot in the Vatican, she put a barrier on her. Also, fearing that she would touch the barrier while moving and get burned, she kept her eyes wide open and controlled the barrier according to her movements. A person who used holy power to protect an unholy existence. God might be angry. The Paladins here seemed to know that Sir Daniel had put up a barrier. Everyone knows he was a paladin. Only the pope, who knew that the Grand Duke had holy power, correctly noticed the owner of this shield.
“At this rate, the Grand Duke will collapse from exhaustion before Miss Hazel.”
The Grand Duke did not flinch even when the pope teased him. At the height of overprotection, only his face heats up. After waking up, she was incredibly overprotective.
“No. It hasn’t been long since I got better from my cold.”
At first, she thought she was dying because she couldn’t even go out and even open the window while saying these things. Even after receiving confirmation from the doctor that there was nothing wrong with her physical condition, when she took a walk in the garden, the three of them clung to her so much that she couldn’t even walk.
“You need to use a parasol.”
“No, Luna. The doctor said you should get out in the sun.”
“But it’s windy.”
“Brother, then let’s go to our greenhouse.”
“Hmm, good idea. You can bask in the sun without being hit by the wind.”
In the end, there was no freedom even when I gave up on the walk and sat at the tea table because of the disturbers called guardians.
“I’ll give you plenty of rides.”
“Stop it, Luca. Hazel doesn’t drink sugar in his tea.”
“But to regain the weight you lost, you have to eat a lot of sweets.”
“Excuse me…”
“Huh, Hazel?”
“I’m glad I lost weight.”
“No!”
When the three of them looked back at her at the same time and shouted, she felt an eerie aura of obsession.
—————————————————————
Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on September, 16.
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They already started with the obsession
They are never going to let her go.