It Was Me, Not You

Even though Diana left the mansion, the Grand Duke did not think about going down the stairs as if lost in thought.

Rowoon, who was quietly watching the duke from the side, opened his mouth first.

“Sir, what are you thinking? You must not be thinking of Miss Diana, are you?”

The Grand Duke, whose thoughts were broken, looked at Rowoon. Duke raised his eyebrows after reading Rowoon’s disapproving eyes.

“I should have told you. I’m going to see Dianna separately from her in the future.”

On the day that Diana was to be brought into the mansion, Rowoon came to the duke and begged the duke to tell him why he was taking the woman’s child and to return her to Leah quickly.

At the time, he couldn’t draw any conclusions about Diana, and he, too, had a conflicting mind, so he listened to Rowoon, but not now.

After organizing his thoughts, he clearly ordered Rowoon.

He said he would not put Diana in punishing Leah, and that he would provide a way for her to go out and live quietly when she grows up to a certain extent.

Of course, I didn’t think Rowoon, who was deeply angry at Leah, would accept it easily, but he wasn’t generous enough to forgive him for openly complaining like this now.

As the duke looked at Rowoon with a cold gaze as if he would not tolerate any further quarrel, Rowoon quickly lowered his gaze.

“I crossed the line. Forgive me, Your Grace.”

The Grand Duke did not say anything more, kicking his tongue at the sight of Rowoon, bowing his head deeply, and asking for forgiveness.

Because Rowoon was his loyal vassal and he understood that he couldn’t accept Diana.

“If you can’t accept Diana, pretend you don’t know. I don’t want to punish you for something related to Diana.”

“…Yes, Your Highness.”

The duke went down the stairs first, followed by Rowoon. As the duke descended into  the last steps, the butler came and bowed deeply.

“Your Highness.”

“Get up. Are these all thingd from the Eastern countries?”

The butler straightened his waist and guided the duke forward to the products.

“Yes, Your Highness. It’s the product of the Eastern Empire that the Imperial Household sent to you.”

“My brother sent me so many, I should have used a lot of mana stone to send this kind of travesty to the sorcerer.”

The north was restricted. In particular, the Teiran Mountains, which lead to the capital, were turned into harsh snow mountains that could never be crossed in winter, 

“I said I don’t need much.”

Rowoon said as he approached the duke’s side.

“Perhaps your grace didn’t receive a separate reward for this war, so maybe he was more concerned about it and sent it this way.”

“Hmm. I said you don’t want it. Since they have sent it here, I’ll have to prepare a precious gift for the first prince’s birthday soon. Rowoon, take care of it yourself.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

The Grand Duke, who identified the  goods, ordered the butler.

“Just move that white porcelain fan to my office and keep the rest in storage.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Turning to return to the office, the Grand Duke looked at where the maids were standing and stopped walking.

“Are those clothes Seia’s?”

When asked by the Grand Duke, Rowoon and the butler’s eyes turned to the clothes that the maids were holding.

The butler answered the Grand Duke’s question with a smooth smile.

“Yes, Madame of the capital Salon is specially designed for her highness.”

The only clothes in the empire specially designed.

It was also handmade by Madame of the most famous salon in the capital.

Although the Madame did not have the status of a high aristocrat, her fame and skills were sufficient to receive the treatment of a high aristocratic class.

Therefore, it was rare for Madame to make clothes herself, if not for the royal family.

However, if Madame’s making and sending so many of Seia’s clothes is known to the outside world, it will raise the status of the Grand  princess and show that the Grand  princess has power comparable to the royal family.

When pride hung on the butler’s face, the duke’s lips moved.

“Send some of those clothes to Diana.”

“…How… “

Give out clothes to Diana, an illegitimate child, that will honor the Grand princess, not just ordinary clothes.

The faces of not only the butler but also all the maids of the Grand Duke’s house who listened to the Grand Duke’s words were stained with embarrassment.

This dress can only be worn by a Grand Princess.

Not only did it harm the honor of the princess, but it could also reduce the status of the Grand Duke.

Although the butler had sympathy for Diana, who was younger, could not be compared to the precious Grand Princess , so the butler could not answer the duke’s command right away and blurted out the end of his speech.

Then, the gaze of the duke turned to the butler.

“Harron, why is there no answer?”

When the butler, who was biting his lips, was about to bow his head, Rowoon let out a small sigh and opened his mouth.

“Your Grace, these clothes are the only ones in the Empire made for the Grand Princess. It was also made by Madame herself. Your Majesty, don’t you know that the only clothes Madame makes by herself are the clothes of the imperial family.”

The duke’s face, had raised his eyebrows slightly, hardened.

It was because he understood what Rowoon was saying.

As a member of the imperial family, the Grand Duke’s clothes also forgot their specialty and meaning for Madame to make herself.

As soon as I saw the clothes, I thought of Diana’s words that she didn’t have any clothes, so I couldn’t care about other things.

‘No, you didn’t care.’

I can’t believe that I almost humiliated my only daughter because I care about Diana.

Looking at Rowoon’s expression as he was speaking, the Grand Duke glanced unreservedly from the colorful clothes the maids were holding.

“I made a slip of the tongue. Haron, move those clothes to Seia’s room. And buy some of Diana’s clothes at the salon on the estate.”

“Yes, sir, sir.”

Only then did the butler’s face and the maids’ faces change, but the duke still couldn’t untie his stiff face and left the lobby.

***

“The weather is nice.”

The winter wind was still fierce, but today the wind was dying down and the sun was out.

The trail was full of warmth from the sun rather than the coldness of winter because the sunlight was pouring out without any shade.

Feeling better, I smiled and stepped forward.

“How I wish I could be so peaceful until I leave here.”

I wasn’t sure how long I could stay here.

I don’t know what he’s thinking now, but no one knows when his mind will change.

It would not be strange if the order was issued tomorrow.

Even if the Grand Duke’s mind did not change, there was Seia in the Grand Duke’s house.

Seia hates me.

Even if Seia’s defeat was tolerable, Seia would grow up with Diana, who was year-old, but she could not keep Diana here forever.

But I wish I could live in the Great duchy until I’m 15.

The coming-of-age ceremony was 16 years old, but 15 was still old enough to save small things even if they went out.

You may be kicked out of this place at any time, so you have to learn more than now to go out to live alone.

Diana was ten years old, but she didn’t know anything about the empire, about this grand duchy.

“But to do that, I need to be able to read a book…”

Diana doesn’t know how to read.

I had to read books to learn and know whether it was an empire or something, but I couldn’t even start because I didn’t know how to write.

Diana narrowed her brows in a huge difficulty that she encountered before she even started.

“How do you learn to write?”

It was impossible to learn to write alone. It might be possible if you were a genius, but you’re not a genius.

However, I couldn’t ask the Grand Duke to add a teacher because I wanted to learn how to write. Just in case you think I’m being bold.

“First of all… let’s see if there’s a book to learn how to write on your own.”

I wondered if it was possible to learn writing while reading a book alone, but I decided to try anything for now.

The butler said I could go around the Grand Duchy at will. There would be a study, so it would be better to look for books there.

“But can I go into the study?”

The study could have been the personal space of the Grand Duke. Whenever she tried to do something, Diana sighed a little at the problems that were blocked.

If I were a little older, I would have gone out and found the library.

However, it was dangerous for a child like Diana to leave the castle recklessly.

Even so, I don’t know have any close servants within the Grand Duchy, and now that Kunta has gone down to her hometown, there is no one to ask for help.

“Ah… Shall I ask Edwin a favor?”

If it was Edwin, she would be able to learn a lot because he knew a lot about writing.

Diana, whose expression brightened for a moment, remembered that he was a knight of the Grand Duke.

If he can teach me how to write, we will have to see each other often, but it wouldn’t be a good idea to spread the word about Edwin and I being close in the castle.

‘Not Edwin.’

When I was looking at my small hand and thinking about what to do, a noisy sound came from somewhere.

“What is it?”

Diana stepped cautiously towards the sound.

As I left the trail and went to the back of the thick forest, I could hear the humming voice clearly.

“Where are you staring straight at when you’re stealing my stuff?”

“I can’t believe how such a bad girl came into the Grand Duchy, when I thought she was a thief who stole Marie’s stuff.”

“Let’s  talk to the butler. She’ll be beaten and kicked out. “

What do you mean?

Diana looked hard at the maid’s back. And when I turned my eyes slightly, I saw a scarlet-haired maid sitting in front of the maids.

The scarlet-haired maid, who looked young, seemed to have been pushed down by someone.

The little maid looked at the maids and shouted, glaring at the scarlet eyes that were identical to my hair.

“I didn’t steal it! I’ve never even seen Marie’s necklace! And all of a sudden, it’s a necklace that you guys searched for and found!”

“What’s the point of that? It’s important that my necklace came out of your bag!”

“It was a bag I had never opened since I entered the castle. Ask Harin, who is sharing the room with me, because I didn’t even touch the bag!”

“My, why do I have to ask?  After all, my necklace came out of your bag, so I’m done!  Before you get beaten by the butler for nothing, you know how to get out of the castle!”

I could feel the voice of a maid named Marie trembling slightly.

She could barely hear it, but she could tell that the circumstances of the theft claimed by that maid, Marie, were quite clumsy.