The person who rescued her from the chaos and shock of the office was Sir Daniel. When it was time for the knights’ training, the Grand Duke had no choice but to head to the training hall and make a request to her.
“Don’t go anywhere.”
He kept looking back and saying the same thing, as if he thought she was going to suddenly disappear. He added that she should take time to think about it now and talk about it carefully later. She was also confused by the unexpected marriage proposal, so she needed time to think. But the more she sat there, the more confused she became, so she started organizing the things in my bedroom.
“Hello.”
“Hello, Miss Hazel.”
She greeted the guard standing in front of the library and went inside. There was no one in the library. Luca was training with the knights, and Luna was taking painting classes in the studio. On a large table in the middle of the library, the books she had moved here from her room were piled up like a tower. There were so many books that she had collected without reading them.
“Let’s see. The storybooks are on the second floor.”
She sorted the books by location on the shelves and put them in their respective places one by one. It was a time when she was collecting books about holy power and putting them on her bookshelf.
“Oh!”
She touched it incorrectly and the pile of books collapsed. As she was picking them up one by one, she stopped.
A book was open.
It was an old book that Luna once lent her about the relationship between the sacred power and magical power.
“The Grand Duke’s residence might be a dangerous place for Hazel, as there are three people with holy powers.”
She gave it to her to read because she was worried about her, but she was so busy with work that she never opened it. But now there was no need to read it. She just thought it was like that… The tragic ending of lovers with hostile powers of holy and magical power. The title of the expanded section caught her eye.
“Uh…? Ah…”
Out of curiosity, she read the book without realizing it. The more she read, the more her curiosity turned into shock and her mind went blank.
“…Good.”
She closed the book and raised the corners of her mouth. Now that she knew this, she no longer needed to organize her confused thoughts. And if this was the case, even the Grand Duke would give up his mind.
“Hazel!”
“Where’s Hazel?”
It was time to move this book back to her bedroom. She heard children’s voices calling her from the hallway outside the library.
“Are you here?”
There was a sound of Luna asking the guard outside, and the door flew open.
“Hazel!”
As soon as she got down to the first floor, children came running and clung to her.
“Hazel, are you leaving us?”
“Where! You can’t go!”
It seemed like they heard it from the Grand Duke. Each chestnut grabbed one of her arms. She felt like a criminal being taken away by the police.
“You are now at an age where you don’t need a nanny.”
“We don’t need a nanny, but we need Hazel.”
She stroked Luca’s head as he made cute noises.
“Luca, Luna. I will always be by your side.”
The Grand Duke and the chestnuts. She couldn’t even dream of moving because she saw these people. She eventually gave up the idea of leaving the cabin.
“I won’t break the connection between the nanny’s closet and my cabin, so come visit anytime. You can see it just by going through one door.”
“No. I’m not asking you to stay by my side like that.”
Uncharacteristically for Luna, she complained.
“My brother is in a daze.”
Luca sighed deeply.
“He almost fell off his horse?”
“Omg!”
She was about to go to the training ground right away, but the kids caught her.
“It’s fine. He didn’t fall.”
“Look at this. Hazel is worried about my brother too.”
“Of course…”
“He was in a daze after failing to propose last night…”
“What?”
When he said they were going for a walk last night, he actually meant to propose.
“I feel different and dazed now.”
“I feel like I’ve lost the whole world. I feel sorry for you, brother.”
“This is my first time seeing my brother do that. When Hazel was sick, I thought that if something went wrong, my brother would be ruined forever, but that’s exactly what he looks like now.”
“…”
Those words touched a part of her heart.
“How hard did my brother prepare for the marriage proposal?”
It was even more poignant to hear that Luna had been mobilized to choose a ring that she liked and that the date and location were carefully chosen.
“But right now, my brother is frustrated because he couldn’t prepare anything and just proposed to you in a haphazard manner.”
“Hazel likes him too. So, you’ve been dating for several months now.”
Most of that time they were fake lovers, and it wasn’t long before they became real lovers. But she couldn’t say that to the children. If she knew it would be like this, she wouldn’t have started. In the Grand Duke’s eyes, it might seem like she was really playing with him.
Luna asked her as she stood in the same place and reflected on the same thing over and over again.
“Then why do you say you don’t want to get married? I don’t understand.”
“You know very well that a Grand Duke’s marriage cannot be accomplished with one’s heart alone.”
She sat side by side on the sofa with the children and explained to them step by step why the Grand Duke should not marry her.
“…I will become an obstacle when the truth is revealed. And the Grand Duchy also needs strong allies…”
Except for what she saw in the book a little while ago. However, the whole time they were listening to her, the children had expressions like the Grand Duke when asking, ‘What’s wrong with that?’
“It’s fine. We’ve done well without allies so far.”
“That’s right.”
‘That’s not all, guys.’
“So when can I see my nephew?”
They couldn’t see it. Before she could send them to the bedroom, they casted a bitter look at the book she was holding in her arms. After barely getting the kids off to their next class, she returned to the nanny’s bedroom. Now that she had emptied the bookshelf, it was time to empty the closet. The room had three large closets. Except for the one connected to the hut, the two places were filled with clothes that had been received from the Grand Duke’s family.
She decided to pack my luggage last. All she had to do was snap her fingers and send them to the cabin. She needed to gather only the items belonging to the Grand Duchy that she didn’t know where to send them to and put them in a bag. If she handed it over to Lady Balea like this, she would sort it out for her.
‘This is the dress I wore to my first prom.’
Memories filled with each piece of clothing and each pair of shoes came to mind. While rummaging through the drawers, she found a pair of gloves that the Grand Duke had once given her as a gift. Her hands were cold. He wished he could hold them all the time, but since he couldn’t, he gave it to her to wear.
‘Should I have this?’
It’s a personal gift, so she could keep it.
As she separated her humble belongings from the GrandDuke’s expensive belongings, the gap between them became even more apparent. Their relationship wasn’t meant to be from the beginning, but she came this far because she was greedy.
[What are you doing?]
It was time to take out the clothes one by one, fold them neatly, and then place them neatly into the large luggage bag. Lady and Daisy asked as they came from the cabin into the bedroom through the wide open closet door.
[What are you doing?]
“Spring cleaning.”
[It’s been a while since spring came, but now, tsk tsk.]
They still didn’t know that she submitted her resignation. They were about to tell him that they no longer lived in the Grand Duke’s house.
Someone knocked on the door behind her.
“Yes?”
As soon as she answered, the door opened and the Grand Duke’s face appeared through the gap. She quickly turned her head and pretended to be busy folding her clothes. She heard footsteps coming from behind and then stopped. She still didn’t turn her head. She wondered if he was going to say something he had said in his office again, but the Grand Duke didn’t say anything. There was no sound, as if it had evaporated into the air. While pretending to be busy folding clothes, she became so absorbed that she even forgot that the Grand Duke was in the same room.
“It’s done…”
As soon as she turned around with the clothes to put in her bag, she was speechless. The Grand Duke was sitting in the middle of his luggage. Like a cat and a dog sitting in different corners of the bag. As soon as her eyes met his, he opened the box in his hand as if he had been waiting.
“Now, wait!”
“Hazel, marry me.”
The moment the ring in the box sparkled brightly in the spring sunlight, Lady and Daisy sat up and their eyes sparkled as brightly as the ring.
[It’s finally here!]
[Wow, wow, wow, what, what!]
Lady’s ears perked up and Daisy’s tail wagged.
[After all, it’s something to live for a long time. I saw you getting married, sob.]
Lady took it a step further and acted like her grandmother upon hearing the news of her grandchild’s marriage.
“Your Highness, what are you doing?”
“Don’t leave what’s yours.”
He tried to fold his long legs and put them in the bag, but failed and grinned. He was sitting on the bag asking her to take him too.
“This is an item to be returned to the Grand Duchy.”
At that moment, the Grand Duke quickly stood up like a runner who received the starting signal. Even when she tried to laugh, she sighed.
[Wait, where is Hazel going?]
Lady looked at her and the Grand Duke with puzzled eyes, and asked:
[Where are you going? Go to the cabin.]
[What, did you quit?]
[Huh.]
[What about marriage?]
[I won’t do it.]
[Hey, why don’t you do it?]
Daisy’s tail suddenly stopped and drooped down.
[Are you full? No matter how greedy you are, this is a great place! Oh my, forest friends! I live with this foolish thing as my master!]
She was going crazy because of these guys.
[It’s beef jerky!]
[It’s cheese jerky!]
She threw the beef jerky far into the closet, and the two of them ran into the cabin as if they were next to her and bellowed.
“Phew…”
It’s still too early to feel relieved. When she closed the closet door and turned around, the Grand Duke was standing in front of her. Still holding the ring box.
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
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