Chapter 45.1

He returned back to normal and looked at me as he took a step closer.

“More than that, Bebe, you’re very pretty.”

“Is it okay?”

“It’s not just okay. It’s very pretty. Compared to anyone else, you can beat anyone.”

“I look pretty.”

It was nice to hear that I looked pretty, but it was embarrassing to hear it from two people constantly.

I passed the two of them and ran out of the dressing room after I tried to diffuse my reddened cheeks.

At that moment, the Grand Duke stopped Allen, who had been following around like someone who just thought of something.

“More than that, Allen, I didn’t know you were coming.”

“Yeah, Dad! She’s my little sister. If I don’t take care of her, who’s going to take care of her? But why did you come?”

“…Because she’s my daughter…”

The Grand Duke, who was still speechless, reached out to me as I stood still.

“Then everything seems to be ready, so let’s go now.”

At that moment, Allen hastily squeezed between Dad and me.

“I will go too!”

“Allen, are you going to the political meeting too?”

“I can’t?”

“It’s not that. But after participating a few times, it’s quite strange that you said you wanted to come, Allen.”

“Because I will protect Bebe, so don’t worry, Dad, go on.”

Then Allen grabbed my hand that I raised to grab my dad’s hand.

“Bebe, doesn’t it feel better to hold your brother’s hand?”

“Huh?”

“No. You better hold my hand.”

If it was Allen, I could understand his way of thinking, but the Grand Duke… he was being weird.

“Dad, do you want to walk hand in hand with me?”

“Rather than wanting to go hand in hand… I’m doing this for you, because there is no one who will protect you like me.”

Listening to him again, he wasn’t  wrong.

I glanced at the two of them for a moment, then nodded.

“Oh my!  You don’t have to, just hold hands!”

“Huh?”

“Ah.”

“Because I have two hands!”

But contrary to what I thought was a perfect solution, Dad and Allen only showed strange expressions.

“If you don’t like it, I won’t hold both of your hands. It would be more comfortable to hold Cecilia’s hand and go.”

After I said that, they both took my hand at the same time.

“No. I’d rather go like this.”

“That’s right. Let’s go like this, Bebe.”

Then I came out of the room with the two men, who had made a dramatic compromise.

My heart was racing, but thanks to the two of them, the tension was much better than before.

If I went like this, I even feel like I’m going to have a safe day today.

However, my life has not always been so easy.

Just when I left the room and turned to the conference hall, I ran into Harris, who was coming in front of the Grand Duke’s room. As if she had lost all the world, Harris looked at me with a firm expression on his face, the Grand Duke and Allen alternately.

“Dad…!”

Harris, who was muttering like a person unable to control her emotions, spit out a sad voice. On the other hand, the Grand Duke’s reaction was bittersweet.

“Ah. Hey, what are you doing here?”

…It was then

“….Dad, are you going today?”

For a moment, it was terrifying.

I had expected that Harris would be different in front of the Grand Duke, but never imagined it would be this much. She made a voice like that as if she had become someone else.

Allen just looked at Harris as dryly as someone who had seen her like that often.

‘You are a lovely princess… but I am not lovable.’

This made me look like a hindrance.

Unusually, Harris resembled the Grand Duke; a brother and sister who look just like Allen.

Rather, it was awkward to see me holding the hands of two men because I was the ugly duckling among the beautiful black swans. No matter how I decorated myself, I was worse than Harris.

‘If only I had black hair… No, it’s me. I like myself.’

So now it’s your turn to let it go. I was about to let go of his hand to send the Grand Duke to Harris, but, looking at Harris with a dry expression, he squeezed my hand tighter.

“Right.”

Just in case, the more I tried to remove my hand, the more the Grand Duke refused to let go of my hand.

I looked up at him in surprise, but there was no change in his expression.

‘Why won’t you let go? Harris will misunderstand…’

Again, Harris came towards us, her hands trembling.

“I… Who is going to take my hand?”

“There’s also Lexit, but it’s okay to come alone, no matter where you are.”

“…But I’m afraid of going there alone, Dad.”

“If you’re scared, you don’t have to come.”