“Hazel.”
She quickly tried to decline before the Grand Duke got down on his knees again.
“Thank you, Your Highness, but…”
“Do you need more time to think?”
“No, my feelings will not change over time.”
Maybe she couldn’t resist the persuasion of this man and children and shamelessly changed her mind. If only she hadn’t read that book. It was sad, but it was also fortunate that she found out why they could never get married before she threw the marriage proposal away.
He looked at her blankly, unable to believe what she was saying. As the silence continued, the Grand Duke’s expression darkened. She felt like she was going to cry as she was facing the saddest expression she had ever seen, so she turned around and pretended to fold her clothes.
“I came here as a nanny. My original mission was to solve the children’s picky eating habits, protect them from assassination threats, and improve my relationship with His Highness. Since I have achieved it all…”
“Okay, now that we’ve achieved everything, it’s time for us to get the happy ending we deserve.”
“No. They leave when they applaud.”
There was silence for a moment, and then the Grand Duke asked in a pained voice.
“Leaving while applauding… Was our relationship just a stage for a play to you?”
Those words left her dazed, as if her head had been hit with a hammer. She didn’t realize that this cliché could be cruel to some people.
“It’s a never-ending road for me. I’m holding your hand and continuing to walk while receiving applause. But to you, it was just one of those passing stages?”
“That can’t be possible!”
To her, he was also someone she didn’t want to leave behind as a passing relationship. As soon as she turned around and saw his hurt face, she couldn’t hold back her tears. Why did it become like this? When she found out that he was planning to marry her, she was shocked but also excited. She thought there was a final stop on this road where she had to stop alone. But the other person wanted to keep walking together. No matter how difficult the road became because of her, she endured it.
“I also hope that my relationship with Your Highness will never end.”
Spending the rest of your life with the man you love. She would have a real family too. It was cruel to be so excited at the thought of continuing to walk, but then suddenly lose ground under your feet and you could no longer walk.
“Hazel, look at this. You want me too.”
Avoiding the Grand Duke who was trying to comfort her, she picked up a thick book from the table next to the bed.
“If I marry Your Highness, there will never be a need for a nanny at the Grand Duke’s residence.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Look at this, huh.”
She tried not to cry, but she calmly refused and tried to hold out the book. Her rejection was just as messed up as his proposal.
“I cannot be a mother to your children.”
The Grand Duke’s face turned ashen as he read the passage she handed him.
<The tragic ending of lovers with hostile powers of holy and magical power>
Since ancient times, it had been extremely rare for someone with sacred and magical powers to achieve a sacred union. Even if something like that happened, the ending wasn’t good. The reason they met a tragic ending wasn’t just because they were in a forbidden relationship… Another reason for the tragic ending was the descendants. It was said that children couldn’t be born between a man and a woman who each have holy and magical powers. Holy power and magical power were powers that couldn’t be mixed harmoniously and destroyed each other. Seeds of life with such power were not only difficult to mix together, but even if they were mixed, they were destroyed.
“Didn’t you know?”
When she asked the Grand Duke while watching his reaction, he couldn’t take his eyes off the book and nodded, saying he didn’t know.
“I knew this for the first time too.”
Those with holy powers and those with magical powers were generally hostile and did not often marry, so this fact did not seem to be widely known.
No child could be born between them.
This was the decisive reason why she could not marry the Grand Duke, for whom producing an heir was the greatest obligation of marriage. The Grand Duke would know well how important that duty was. Because he was a man who lived for his family.
“So you knew we couldn’t do it, right?”
She wiped away her tears and tried to smile. She knew how he felt, so she said ‘let’s stop at this point and support each other’s future from afar’, but it seemed like the Grand Duke couldn’t give up easily.
“Then the successor to the Grand Duke’s family can be Luca.”
“Luca said he wanted to become a paladin.”
They didn’t want to force the child to sacrifice his dreams because of them.
“I just need to be able to make Luna his successor. She just needs to revive the feminine heritance law.”
“Will that happen?”
This was a system that was abolished to prevent Luna from becoming the next Grand Duke and the Grand Duke from becoming Emperor. There was no way the Emperor would restore it. Still, the Grand Duke, who could not give up and continued to suggest ways to solve the issue of succession to the Grand Duke’s family that would arise if he married her, suddenly looked at her with a gloomy expression.
“But you are more important than the heir…”
He could not continue his speech for long.
“Yes? Me?”
“If you marry me, you’ll have to give up the child you love so much.”
The man who had been searching for a way with his head quickly found himself at a dead end. Then he suddenly grabbed her and made a suggestion.
“You said your dream is to open an orphanage when you quit your job. I will open an orphanage at the Grand Duke’s residence.”
“Your Highness.”
“Or if you really want to have our child, you can have another man’s child…”
“What are you talking about!”
Adult fairy tales were good, but last-minute fairy tales were definitely not okay!
“Ha, what kind of crazy thing are you talking about?”
The Grand Duke covered his face and groaned.
“No matter what you say now, I’m just forcing you to give up what you like for me.”
“That’s just it.”
However, she also ended up saying ‘just for me’. She couldn’t force that man to give up his duties as the head of the family and his happiness as a father just for her.
“Then I will never see children who look like you and me?”
He looked at her with sad eyes and held her hand.
“There must be a way. Let’s find it together.”
She didn’t refuse that either.
“Then you must accept my marriage proposal then.”
She raised the corners of her mouth with an effort. They looked at each other and smiled, but soon the smile turned gloomy. He might be thinking the same thing as her.
‘But if there is no way, then…’
If they asked what’s going on, they would get each other in trouble. So they couldn’t talk and just looked at each other.
“Anyway, the definitive conclusion is…”
The Grand Duke suddenly broke the silence, rolled his eyes and smiled.
“You mean you want to marry me.”
“…”
Oh no, everything got caught.
* * *
As she closed my eyes in the shaking carriage, she naturally remembered what happened that day and her face got hot.
On the day of the messy exchange of proposals and rejections, the Grand Duke seemed happy just to confirm that she wanted to marry him. The first kiss was a passionate one. And the last one was as hot as always… Anyway, she felt asleep from exhaustion and when she woke up, something amazing had happened. All the luggage she had packed was back in its place.
She quit her job, but the move was eventually postponed. Also the breakup, of course.
Over the next month, the Grand Duke inquired with the Vatican and then with the Wizard’s Academy to know if there was any way for a man and woman with holy and magical powers to have a child together. But there was no sharp solution on either side.
‘I should also look through the books in the imperial palace library.’
Actually, it’s a pity, but she could give up on the child. However, it would be unacceptable for the Grand Duchy to give up its successor. For a man who had sacrificed everything for his family, this meant destroying what he had worked so hard to build.
She closed her eyes and followed these thoughts, but then she opened them in surprise. It was because something warm and soft suddenly touched her lips. When she looked at him with his eyes wide open, the Grand Duke was looking down at her and grinning.
“I told you I’ll kiss you when you pout.”
“Well, that’s the nanny’s work rules!”
Not long after returning from victory, the Grand Duke added absurd rules to her work regulations without permission.
-Pouting your lips is considered to be asking your employer to kiss you.
There was no such thing as tyranny by an unscrupulous employer.
“I’m not a nanny anymore?”
Still, everyone treated her the same way as before. She also often forgot that she was not a nanny. Even though he had hired a tutor, she took care of the children as she was accustomed to. There was no public position or obligation left for her now. All that remained was her private status as the Grand Duke’s lover.
‘But why did they invite me to the imperial palace?’
They were now on their way to the imperial palace at the Emperor’s invitation. He said that he had called the Grand Duke to celebrate his birthday privately with his family, and since the invitee was an invitee, it seemed like there was a dark plan. But why did he invite her, who was not even family?
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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 December, 9.
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