CH 1.10

~ 1.10 ~

“Her breathing is stable, Your Highness. If you had been in the water for longer, your lungs would have been full, but I’m glad the rescue was quick.”

The doctor who examined Flitta’s physical condition told Haven. Haven’s expression, who was listening to his doctor with a firm look, slightly loosened. But it wasn’t a change that anyone could notice.

“Well done, keep an eye on her. If there is any problem, let me know immediately.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

The doctor answered with a nod to Haven’s words. Haven then turned to look at Flitta, who was sleeping on the bed.

She was turning blue earlier, but as the doctor said, she seemed to be better. The usual complexion of Flitta’s face turned to normal. He flinched his hand unconsciously. But instead of reaching out and caressing the child’s cheek or holding her hand, he turned away.

The employees standing behind him stood aside. Haven was trying to get out of the bedroom when he stopped thinking and asked a question.

“Where’s the woman who saved Flitta?”

“What?”

“That woman from before. Was she not the one who saved Flitta?”

Haven looked at the employees and then at the man in charge of the official residence. Then, the man who faced the eyes of the Grand Duke’s embarrassed and avoided his eyes. Haven’s eyes narrowed at the sight.

“I should repay her for saving my daughter. Guide me to where she is right now.”

“We, well, that’s…… Yes, wait a minute and I’ll get the woman…….”

“No. I’ll go to the place where the woman is right now.”

Haven interrupted the man. However, the man hesitated and couldn’t move his body. The same was true of others. They exchanged glances and looked puzzled. Haven looked at them with a sharp stare and asked coldly.

“…… Must I repeat myself again?”

“I’m, I’m sorry!”

The man got down on his knees. Then he spoke in an apologetic tone.

“She broke into the cemetery, so she was being investigated for her intention of going inside…….”

“So, she was being questioned.”

Haven’s face turned cold. He opened his mouth at Pedwin, who was standing by the door.

“Let us find out where she is right now, Pedwin.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Pedwin bowed at the command of his lord.

* * *

Chaak.

Rosé’s cheeks are red again. Rosé closed her eyes drooping because she had no strength to straighten her head back. Then the person who just slapped her in the face grabbed her chin roughly.

“Answer me, what is your intention of breaking into the royal cemetery?”

“Well, I just… I, I heard there’s a memorial service…….”

Rosé barely opened her mouth and answered in a low voice that seemed to turn off at any moment. But that was not the answer the man wanted.

“Who sent you to hurt the princess? Huh? Who sent it? If you tell me that, I’ll let you go.”

“…… Oh, no. It was not like that.”

(TN: Ungrateful, geez. She saved her daughter but received this kind of treatment.)

Rosé shook her head with strength as if she had forced it out. The man crumpled his face at the sight and grabbed her hair again. Her face was bruised blue, and her lips cracked because she had already been slapped several times.

It wasn’t something to do with the woman who saved the Duke’s daughter. But the man didn’t care.

“You don’t have to say the name of the person who sent the princess to harm you. Just say yes to what I ask.”

Strange and unfamiliar names came out of the man’s mouth. But Rosé kept shaking her head.

Her persistent refusal distorted the man’s face. He spat.

At first, in order to avoid the responsibility of not protecting the princess safely, he tried to blame the common woman for all the crimes. In reality, on the contrary, even if this woman saved the princess, it didn’t matter. He can manipulate what occurred to the princess however he likes.

For example, this woman intentionally or accidentally dropped the princess in the water…

But things got more complicated. The man recalled the Duke of Durklen who had come to him. He asked him for the name of the woman.

He couldn’t help but know what it meant. The man has worked for the royal family for a long time and has seen the secret battle in it.

It would have been an attempt to take advantage of an accident that happened unexpectedly and defeat one of the royals seeking the ‘throne’.

There’s no one who doesn’t know that Queen Seon wants the Grand Duke.

So, to put him on the throne, she would have to eliminate others who might pose a threat. For that, the queen must have moved her family.

‘No, maybe the Grand Duke is controlling the queen from behind. Noble people smell worse anyway.’

The man sarcastically opened his mouth to Rosé again.

At that instant, the door opened.

“Hey, I told you not to come in…… Ouch! Your Highness, Your Highness!”

The man spoke in an irritating tone, looked back, and quickly breathed in. It was Haven who opened the door and came in. He looked down at the lying man and looked up.

A woman came into his sight. The woman was tied to a chair and in a mess. In the meantime, the moment he saw the woman beaten to the point where he couldn’t even recognize her original face, something hot went up in his heart.

It was anger.

Rather than repaying the benefactor who saved his daughter, it was natural to be angry because he made her go through this. But a thought suddenly crossed his mind, wondering if that would be all.

After losing his memory, he became like this- cold and frosty. Just as the emotion was lost with the memory. It was unbelievable that he was originally friendly and soft.

Why does he feel this intense emotion at this moment?

Haven couldn’t understand his present feelings at all. It was the same then. Even when he saw this woman on the street, hee couldn’t get her out of his head for a long time.

Stomping.

Haven approached slowly, looking at the woman tied to the chair with a calm expression on the outside despite his complicated mind. She also looked up at him.

His heart throbbed with the sight of her bloody face. The bloodstains flowing down the sides of her mouth almost caused him to be mad without realizing it. He approached the woman and opened his mouth, suppressing his incomprehensible feelings.

“Did you save my daughter?”

“……Oh, no, Pri…… How about the princess? Is she all right?”

Instead of answering Haven’s question, Rosé hurriedly asked if Flitta was okay. Her green eyes were full of concern for the child. In fact, she was in such a tough situation without being recognized for saving her child. There seemed to be no resentment against anyone.

Isn’t she a silly woman?

Haven felt like he was about to laugh. But he nodded calmly.

” She is okay because you saved my child quickly. She is sleeping comfortably right now.”

Haven told her about Flitta’s condition and thought it was strange to see him like that. She doesn’t know if what he was doing was all right, but he didn’t have to tell her in detail that the child was sleeping comfortably.

“It’s all… I’m glad, really.”

Tears flowed down from Rosé’s eyes when she heard his answer. It was tears of joy and relief, not tears of sorrow. She smiled brightly in tears. Like someone who completely forgot about her messed-up self.

But it wasn’t bad. She also thought that it was not a bad thing for him to answer unnecessarily long.

“Ahem…”

Haven coughed awkwardly and frowned when he saw that she was still tied. Then he ordered the man who was still lying down.

“Let the woman go.”

“Bu, but this woman broke into the Royal Cemetery..….”

The man raised his head and rolled his eyes. But without listening to him, Haven turned his head and ordered the escort who followed him.

“Let the woman go, Pedwin.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Pedwin quickly strode and loosened the rope that was tying Rosé’s body. The man, who was watching the scene blinked his eyes, belatedly recalled the name he had received from a man on the Durklen Street, and raised himself up thinking it was a disaster.

“You must interrogate more, Your Highness! We have to find out who ordered the princess to be harmed and who is behind it.”

“She saved my daughter. She didn’t mean to hurt my child.”

Haven looked back at the man. The sharp and cold gaze scared the man unconsciously. At the same time, he plucked up the courage and brought it up again.

“Well, but.… Even so, her status is uncertain and lowly…….”

“My daughter’s nanny.”

“… What?”

Haven’s remark made the man look absurd. Pedwin looked at the Grand Duke with a similar expression. Rosé was no different. She looked up at Haven while sitting on the chair, wondering if she had heard something wrong.

“I’ll hire you as my daughter’s maid.”

“……!”

“Of course, I can’t help it if you don’t like it.”

“Oh, no! No! I like it!”

Rosé shouted loudly, forgetting her tired physical condition due to the hard interrogation. The corner of Haven’s mouth went up very slightly.

“Well, then, I’ll take the woman.”

He turned around. And Pedwin quickly helped her. Rosé stumbled out of the interrogation room after Haven.

She saw the back of a man walking in a straight and upright position. He looked so different from a drowning mouse, no, a messier figure than her.

‘I wanted to see you in a neat way.’

Rosé closed her lips with a bitter smile. She doesn’t regret it though. Because she saved the child safely. Besides, she got a dreamy opportunity to stay near her child.

…… She doesn’t know how long that time will be.

She blinked and smiled vaguely. Then, she spoke quietly to the man walking ahead.

‘Thank you, Haven. Thank you very much.’

(TN: I am just sad…  that’s all…)