The only person who looked happy in this carriage was the Grand Duke. He continued to smile, as if he was happy that he could finally get out of the role of only being a bridesmaid in someone else’s relationship and be able to repay him for his salting.
‘Cute…’
They say if anything starts to look cute, it’s over. It’s a big deal. She scratched her cheek, which was itching for no reason, and then lowered her hand. As soon as she placed it on his lap, the Grand Duke took her hand and clasped it as if he had been waiting. Then, out of habit, she gently brushed the back of his hand with her thumb. Now, her cheeks were hot rather than itchy. The Pope, who was watching them in silence, nudged Sir Daniel in the side with his elbow. The Pope gestured at them, opened his hand wide, and tapped the center of his palm ostentatiously. Sir Daniel smiled vaguely and folded his hands carefully.
‘That couple is cute too.’
Those two people were lovers. She had no idea. So far, every time the four of them met, only Sir Daniel was particularly stiff, so she wondered if he was not very close to the Pope.
But it turns out that they were so close that they pretended not to be friends. It’s a pity. A relationship that couldn’t last forever and must be kept a secret. While thinking about that, she stared at Sir Daniel and their eyes met. He quickly averted his eyes from her and his face turned red.
‘Is it awkward to express affection because it’s in front of me?’
To be honest, she didn’t know what to do if the Grand Duke said or did something strange to her in front of Sir Daniel.
‘Hmm… How can we make this awkward atmosphere friendly?’
As she was pondering over and over again, she remembered a game she often played when riding in a carriage with the three brothers and sisters of the Grand Duke’s family.
“We’re bored. How about trying that?”
“Huh?”
“Take turns completing a fairy tale.”
While the Grand Duke was explaining things to the two people who looked at her with puzzled eyes, she looked for a suitable fairy tale.
“What should I do?”
While she was thinking about it, the Grand Duke made a suggestion.
“Cinderella?”
“Are you going to end up sending me to a police station as soon as I start this time?”
The Grand Duke grinned as if he had been caught.
“Should I use a fairy tale that already exists?”
When the Pope asked with interest, she shook her head.
“No, not really.”
At that moment, the Pope raised one corner of her mouth and smiled. She guessed it’s an illusion that it looked sinister, right?
“Then can I start with it?”
“Yes-yes.”
“I don’t think that’s a very good idea…”
Beside her, the Grand Duke narrowed his eyes and glared at the Pope, muttering.
“Once upon a time, a couple had a lot of worries.”
“Don’t you usually say where you live next to Once Upon a Time?”
The Pope pretended not to hear even when the Grand Duke tried to argue with her.
“It was because of my only son.”
“Three sentences each, Giselle. Do not forget.”
“When my son grew up, he said he would marry a rabbit doll, and the whole mansion begged him to turn him into a human, demanding that he leave.”
Sir Daniel, who was sitting across from her, covered his mouth. Was he laughing now? But why did the Grand Duke suddenly clutch his forehead and make a groaning sound?
“That was when I was three years old. Three years old. Why do you keep talking about things I don’t even remember? God, such a childish person is your messenger. This is a great loss for the empire and a rare mistake in human history…”
Ah, it was the Grand Duke’s story.
“Cute.”
“Okay?”
The Grand Duke looked at her from under the hand on his forehead, and raised the corners of his mouth.
“That?”
The Pope looked in disbelief.
“Don’t worry, Hazel. His relationship with Toto is already over.”
“That’s so sad. I feel sorry for Toto.”
“It’s fine. Because Toto changed his name and met a new man.”
“Yes?”
“Lulu.”
“Ah…”
Lulu was originally the Grand Duke’s favorite doll. So cute. It was so cute that she couldn’t help but smile when she imagined that the man who was now the size of a brown bear was once a baby so small that Lulu’s feet dragged on the floor.
‘No, wait. Then I put his fiancé in his brother’s arms…’
Oh, no. This was a fairytale! Following her grandmother’s example, she enjoyed watching dramas and her brain, which had been trained in that area, wrote the most extreme scenarios at will.
“Cute. So cute.”
She memorized the word cute like a magic spell. The Grand Duke, who had no idea that she was trying to erase the drama in her head, blushed slightly and cleared his throat.
“Hmm, it’s my turn. That nobleman had a vicious cousin…”
Now, as the Grand Duke begins to expose the Pope’s shameful past, the carriage becomes a crucible of confusion. As Sir Daniel and she watched the two cousins exposing each other’s dark history in front of their respective lovers, they suddenly formed a common ground that they had never found before.
“I feel so sorry for Miss Hazel that I don’t know what to do.”
“You must have gone through a lot of hardships. Would you like some popcorn?”
“Thank you.”
They watched an exposé called fairytale and shared popcorn that she made at home. By the time they arrived at Killen Castle, Billund’s former royal capital, the sun had already set. They just ate and went to the bedroom without even looking around the castle.
“Good night.”
As she waved her hand in front of the bedroom assigned to her, the Grand Duke glanced at Billund’s maids waiting in the hallway and asked:
“Shouldn’t we make sure the bedroom is safe first?”
“Hasn’t the Royal Guard already confirmed everything?”
“But just in case…”
“Hey, I’m a witch.”
Sheflicked her fingers like he was swinging a sword.
“Okay? Then… good night.”
When she entered the room, she saw a fire burning in the fireplace on one side of the bedroom. Even in the middle of summer, the nights here were chilly, so heating was needed. Steam was rising from the wooden bathtub between the fireplace and the bed. As she was about to take off her clothes, she stopped.
“But just in case…”
Surely there’s someone hiding here? Until a few months ago, this was an enemy country. She became anxious, opened the closet, looked around, and stopped again.
‘Ah, did you say it because the maids here were listening? Do you need an excuse to come into the bedroom?’
She was worried for no reason. As she was staring at the bathtub, a sudden thought occurred to her and she wrapped her arms around her body.
‘Oh, no. It’s still a little… I’m so embarrassed!’
The room was bright because of the fireplace.
‘Let’s wash alone first.’
She took a bath and put on her pajamas and a cape. She opened the door and looked out into the hallway, and the maid standing in front greeted her and asked.
“Is there anything you need?”
“No. I just can’t sleep so I’m going to take a walk.”
The maid looked puzzled, as if asking if she was going for a walk on this chilly, dark night, but she didn’t follow. The guards tried to do that.
“No. You know she’s a witch.”
Actually, combat magic was terrible. ‘Ho ho ho.’ Of course, she only said that to herself. She walked alone through a hallway lined with torches. In fact, it was difficult to say that she was alone. The guards were deployed more closely in the hallway than in the Grand Duke’s residence.
“Miss Hazel, where are you going?”
“I can’t sleep so I want to do some sightseeing.”
“Are you okay alone?”
“Yes-yes. I’m okay.”
The Grand Duke’s bedroom was quite a walk from here. This place was also hit hard by the war, so there were not many rooms with intact windows and walls, so the bedrooms were arranged sparsely like this. There were too many eyes on the way.
‘This way everyone will see me entering the Grand Duke’s bedroom.’
At the Grand Duke’s residence, it was easy to avoid eye contact because all you had to do was open the door and cross the hallway.
‘It’s a shame this cloak isn’t an invisibility cloak.’
It was when she was going down the stairs, adjusting her cloak.
“Hazel.”
Someone whispered in her ear. The moment she was startled, an invisible hand covered her mouth.
“I’m Giselle.”
Oh, right. The Pope said she knew how to use that kind of magic.
“You’re on your way to Elliot, right? We’re going in the same direction, so let’s go together.”
The Pope withdrew her hand from her mouth and crossed her arms. At that moment, the Pope appeared before her eyes.
“Can you see me? Now Hazel is no longer visible to others.”
They tiptoed down the stairs like thieves and walked down a hallway where guards were lingering. As she rounded the corner in front of the Grand Duke’s bedroom, the Pope released the magic spell on her. Because there was no one in the hallway.
“Thank you.”
“What. Then have a nice night.”
After the greeting was heard, no sound was heard. The Pope probably went to Sir Daniel. Good night? At that moment, her face became hot. What was she doing now? She was once again embarrassed by the fact that she had carried out an undercover operation, avoiding guards in the middle of the night, to hide in her lover’s bedroom. But after coming this far, there was no way to go back. She walked to the bedroom and grabbed the doorknob. By the way, it’s okay because the Grand Duke’s house was quite safe, but that’s not the case here. Why weren’t there guards in front of the Grand Duke’s bedroom? Could it be that the Grand Duke was not in the bedroom? Only after carefully opening the door did she realize why there were no guards.
“I’m here? Why are you so late?”
The Grand Duke, who was lying on his bed, rolled his eyes and smiled, and spread his arms as if he was waiting.
—————————————————————
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 tomorrow.
Want to read more?
