Grand Duke’s Beloved Granddaughter

She was escorted by Elliot and headed to the Grand Duke Crichton’s banquet hall. At the corner of the street, some nobles recognized Elliot and pretended to know him. They tried to show interest in her as well, being escorted by Elliot, but they eventually gave up as Elliot blocked them like an iron wall.

She thought it might be okay to say hello in advance since they would be meeting at the banquet hall anyway, but Elliot briefly advised, saying that it wasn’t inside the banquet hall, and it would be more difficult to get inside if they dealt with it from outside. Certainly, she hadn’t arrived at the ballroom, but she didn’t think she would be able to get into the ballroom on time if she was greeted by everyone else.

Finally, they arrived at the entrance of the banquet hall. The servant looked at her and Elliot and bowed politely.

“Young master and little miss. Shall I make a statement?”

“Do it.”

Elliot answered the servant’s question, and she responded with a nod of her head. The servant immediately opened the entrance to the banquet hall and shouted loudly.

“Hold Prince Elliot Crichton! Come on, Princess Mirabell Crichton!”

A voice rang out in the banquet hall announcing their position. She slowly entered the banquet hall with Elliot. Inside the banquet hall, she saw Brian and his mother. The two were watching their position with happy faces. Since many people had already arrived, she expected the hall to be chaotic, but strangely, no one spoke while they descended the stairs.

It was after the orchestra had also stopped playing. As she carefully descended the stairs in silence and attention, she began to hear little whispers. Then, singly or in groups, they began to approach them.

“You are the daughter of Princess Cornelia, whom I have only heard about. It’s such an honor to meet you. I am Countess Margarita Lepone.”

“Nice to meet you, Countess Lepone. This is Mirabel Crichton.”

People greeted her with friendly faces. She greeted her according to the manners she had learned. Then other people started introducing themselves to her without order. 

The introduction went on for a long time. A lot of people who wanted to establish a relationship with the Crichton family had gathered, and she was distracted just by saying hello to them. Rather, participating in the monster subjugation team and wielding a sword like crazy was more familiar and comfortable for her. Even entering the mercenary corps was a hassle and avoided it, so it was embarrassing because she wasn’t used to being surrounded by people. Some people got lucky by offering to introduce me to children my age or nieces and nephews, but in fact, there were so many people making such offers that she couldn’t remember who was introducing whom.

It was a time when she was being greeted by a Viscount she didn’t know for a while.

“Hold on, Grand Duke Alexander Crichton! Take Daniel Crichton!”

The sound announcing Grand Duke Crichton’s position rang. Grand Duke Crichton and Daniel entered the banquet hall together. Grand Duke Crichton spotted her surrounded by people and beckoned to her. It seemed to mean to come closer.

“Mirabel, go to the Grand Duke.”

Elliot told her as she hesitated and couldn’t bear to go.

“His Excellency is trying to introduce you to people. The main characters of today’s banquet are you and your aunt. I should go and say hello.”

Elliot urged her on.

“Then I’ll go.”

“Huh. Do well.”

With Eliot’s support, she broke through the crowd and approached the Duke of Crichton. As she stood in front of Prince Crichton, Prince Crichton held out his hand to her.

“Baby, won’t you hold my hand?”

Big, clumsy hands. But it was a hand that was always kind to her.

“Yes, Grandpa.”

She smiled happily and took Grand Duke Crichton’s hand. He smiled with satisfaction. Even her mother, who was far away, came between Prince Crichton and her.

“Would you like to hold hands with your mother?”

Her mother also reached out to her. She smiled bashfully and held her mother’s hand with her other hand. She soon made her way to the podium in the banquet hall, accompanied by the Grand Duke Crichton and her mother on either side.

Every time they walked, they could feel people’s eyes focusing on them. When she finally stood on the podium, Grand Duke Crichton opened his mouth, looking at the banquet hall.

“Thank you all for coming to the ball.”

After a moment of his speech, Grand Duke Crichton looked at her mother affectionately. Her mother also smiled softly at Prince Crichton.

“This, as you know, is my beloved daughter, Cornelia Crichton.”

When the Archduke of Crichton introduced her mother, her mother bowed her head in greeting. Then people applauded in unison.

“And here is this little lady, my granddaughter, Mirabel Crichton, whom I will love more than my life.”

She also bowed politely in accordance with the timing of the introduction of Grand Duke Crichton. As with her mother, when she said hello, applause poured in. Worried that she had broken the rules, she looked up and saw the Duke of Crichton and her mother looking at her happily. It didn’t look like she did anything wrong.

“Cornelia will be alright, but Mirabel is still not good at many things, so she hopes you will understand. Then thank you again for coming to Cornelia and Mirabel’s return ball. Enjoy what we have prepared for you.”

“Congratulations, Grand Duke!”

“You must be really happy that the Princess and the Little Princess are back!”

After the opening speech of Grand Duke Crichton, people handed over congratulatory words one by one. After hearing enough words of congratulations, she took her mother’s hand and came down to the center of the banquet hall. In the meantime, the surroundings of Grand Duke Crichton were filled with people. She laughed bitterly at the people flocking to Prince Crichton, just as he had done to her.

Grand Duke Crichton seemed accustomed to this, and as if he remembered all the faces of those who approached him, he greeted them and began to talk. Just when she wondered if anyone else would come, an unexpected guest arrived at the banquet hall.

“Hold on to Her Majesty, Empress Marianne Castro! Take up His Highness, Crown Prince Adrian Castro!”

The banquet hall became quiet at the name of the next guest. The door opened, and soon Her Majesty the Empress and the Crown Prince began to enter. Her Majesty Empress Marianne was as beautiful and elegant as she had met before. And Adrian, who was next to Empress Marianne, was looking around with a blunt face from a young age. Since he was two years younger than her, he would be seven years old now, but he didn’t seem to be very impressed even when he came to a place with a lot of people.

Adrian looked around and spotted her. Adrian, who was still young, took Her Majesty’s hand and began to approach her and her mother.

“Your Majesty the Empress, Your Highness the Crown Prince. How have you been?”

Her mother greeted Her Majesty and her Adrian first.

“Hello, Her Majesty the Empress, Her Highness the Crown Prince.”

She followed her mother in greeting, and Her Majesty put her hand down, touched her cheek, and then took her hand back.

“Nice to meet you again, Mirabel.”

After the gentle touch, Her Majesty Empress Marianne smiled at her mother.

“How have you been, too?”

“I really didn’t know you would come. It must have been a difficult step, but I am very grateful.”

“It’s a banquet for you and your daughter, how could I miss it?”

After watching the conversation between her mother and Her Majesty, she turned her attention to Adrian. Adrian was watching her closely as if he had something to say.

“Do you have anything to say?”

When she asked without being able to overcome her doubts, Adrian opened his mouth with his eyebrows furrowed.

“I’m sorry I surprised you last time. I will apologize.”

He was apologizing, but it wasn’t a tone of reflection. She didn’t really think that Adrian back then did anything wrong to her. He bumped into her, but it was Adrian who fell. Besides, the reason why Adrian came to the drawing room at that time was understandable from her point of view. Adrian wanted to punish her mother after seeing Her Majesty, who had suffered a lot. He must have thought that doing so was for Her Majesty’s sake. It was an idea for a child of that age. And as a result, Her Majesty and her mother ended up having an affair, which made it even better.

“It’s okay, Your Highness the Crown Prince. Thank you for your apology.”

As she answered him with a smile, Adrian stared at her. His ruby-red eyes felt a bit burdensome, but she looked at them with nothing to avoid.

Then Adrien held out his hand abruptly.

“Then do you want to be my friend?”

“Friend?”

It was such a sudden proposal that she opened her eyes wide. She could hear the laughter of her mother and Her Majesty the Empress, who were watching them from the side.

She hesitated for a moment and checked his hand. He was asking for a handshake with a hand smaller than mine. She reached out and took his small hand.

Adrian then waved his hand up and down.

“Then we will be friends from today. Understand?”

“Yes, I do.”

When she answered Adrian’s words, he smiled broadly. His innocent-looking smile was cute.