I Was Adopted by the Villain Grand Duke Who Killed My Favorite Character - Chapter 10
Gerard put the letter he was holding back into his pocket. He wasn’t sure if it was right to deliver this letter to the Grand Duke.
‘How do I handle this bomb?’
He had met the Imperial Princess’s mother on his way back from eradicating monsters in the north. It was because of the order written at the end of the directive.
[Deliver the news of the Imperial Princess’s rescue to her mother.]
‘So the Grand Duke was concerned about this too.’
The child who had been held as a slave couldn’t return home and was detained at the Grand Duke’s residence.
It was impossible not to be worried.
He regretted doubting that the Grand Duke was being immature.
According to rumors, the illegitimate Imperial Princess’s mother was living on a hill. He climbed the hill with light steps.
He was in a very good mood thanks to the pleasing order he had received for once. However, his mood, which had been sky-high, didn’t last long.
‘Did I come to the wrong place?’
Did the Imperial Princess live in a place like this?
The house he found was barely standing, as if it was a miracle it hadn’t collapsed yet. The wooden pillars were cracked, and spiders lived in the broken windows that had been left unattended.
After checking the map several times, Gerard recalled the information about the Imperial Princess’s mother.
‘Was her name Stephanie?’
A commoner woman who suddenly came to the imperial palace two years ago, claiming to have given birth to an imperial descendant. The nobles gossiped that the woman was after money.
However, what the woman demanded was only one thing.
“Please find my lost child.”
Following the claim that the child was born with the power of the imperial family, she was recognized as an Imperial Princess.
However, there was no reason for the imperial family, which already had a Crown Prince and Imperial Princesses, to search for an illegitimate Imperial Princess.
The search was only a pretense and ended quickly.
If the Grand Duke hadn’t stepped in, the Imperial Princess’s whereabouts would never have been discovered.
‘No matter how I look at it, this is the right place.’
Gerard, who had been peeking through the window, carefully knocked on the door. After a moment, a pale, slender woman opened the door and came out.
Although her impression was sharp, she was indeed a great beauty as he had heard.
Gerard cleared his throat as he looked at her red hair that cascaded down to her shoulders.
“Hello! I’ve come from the Astarote Grand Duke’s residence to deliver news about the Imperial Princess…”
“My child! My child!”
The woman grabbed Gerard’s shoulders and shook him.
She shook him so hard that even he, a knight, bit his tongue. The woman finally seemed to calm down and let go when she saw Gerard bleeding from his mouth.
To Stephanie, who had barely regained her senses, Gerard conveyed all the information he knew.
That the Imperial Princess, who had been imprisoned as an experimental slave by a dark magician, was personally rescued by the Grand Duke and was being safely protected, so there was no need to worry at all.
“But I didn’t know the Imperial Princess was so young.”
“Young?”
“Yes. She couldn’t even pronounce words well.”
A look of doubt flashed across Stephanie’s face.
Seeing the suspicion in her gray eyes, Gerard spoke up.
“Is there something wrong?”
“Let me meet the Imperial Princess.”
“That’s not possible.”
The Grand Duke had not announced the rescue of the Imperial Princess.
If it became known that Stephanie, the birth mother, had visited the Grand Duke’s residence, it could arouse suspicion from the imperial family. There was no need to unnecessarily attract the attention of the imperial family.
Gerard tried to persuade her why it was dangerous to meet the Imperial Princess.
“The Imperial Princess has been entrusted to servants with verified identities, so there’s no need to worry.”
“I’m sorry, but I need to confirm it myself.”
“I just said it’s not possible…”
“If you’re worried about being discovered, we can disguise ourselves.”
Stephanie went into the house and took out a worn-out robe for going out from the wardrobe.
“I need to meet my child.”
Gerard blocked her way as she was about to leave the house with hastily packed belongings.
“I said it’s not possible!”
“That’s just your opinion! I’m going!”
“Madam!”
Gerard, who had been trying to dissuade her, finally managed to calm her down by saying he would return after getting the Grand Duke’s permission.
“I’d appreciate that.”
As if her earlier outburst had been a lie, she saw Gerard off with a calm face. There wasn’t the slightest sign of urgency.
Gerard realized that Stephanie had been acting to get his consent. He felt a chill from the smile on her beautiful face.
‘I’ve been tricked.’
The image of the innocent and cute Imperial Princess overlapped with the fox-like woman in front of him.
Gerard reluctantly took Stephanie’s letter. Having already promised to get the Grand Duke’s permission, he had no grounds to refuse.
‘He’ll surely say no.’
However, the situation unfolded differently from Gerard’s expectations.
Upon receiving the letter, instead of immediately refusing, the Grand Duke languidly stroked his chin.
“She’s coming to see the Imperial Princess?”
“Yes. I’ll tell her it’s not possible, of course.”
“No. Tell her to come. Secretly, of course.”
Shocked by the unexpected permission, Gerard’s mouth gaped open.
The Grand Duke he knew disliked variables.
It was unlike him, who was careful in everything, to allow something that could potentially be dangerous.
“May I ask why?”
“She’s a clever woman. If she had written that she wanted to see the child, I would have refused, but she wrote something else.”
“What do you mean…”
“She says the child we rescued might not be the Imperial Princess.”
A sneer formed on the Grand Duke’s cold face.
Instinctively backing away a few steps at the briefly revealed fierce aura, Gerard suddenly recalled Stephanie’s unsettling reaction.
The Grand Duke seemed to think she was simply provoking him to see the child.
His instinct as a knight whispered that there was something that shouldn’t be overlooked. But the momentary doubt was erased by the voice of the Imperial Princess who had clung to his coat hem and mumbled.
“I like it. That room. It’s not dark and it’s clean.”
Unnecessary suspicion would only bring trouble.
Right now, he was only worried about the Imperial Princess with lifeless eyes that resembled his dead sister. Gerard asked the Grand Duke, who had started looking at documents again.
“By the way, where is the Imperial Princess?”
“In my room.”
“Pardon?”
Calmly pushing up his work glasses, the Grand Duke said in a low voice.
“I said, she’s in my room.”
***
After comforting the crying maids, their loyalty reached its peak. The close care, so different from before, was mentally exhausting.
‘It wasn’t like this before.’
Especially Sen, the black-haired maid who had become my fervent follower, was the most troublesome. Sen led the other maids in their overprotectiveness.
I rubbed my eyes due to the overwhelming fatigue.
“Oh! You yawned!”
Sen rushed over and placed a soft pillow under my head. A moment later, Sen came in with her arms full of black fabric.
‘It’s blackout curtains.’
As Sen hung blackout curtains on every window, the maids were forced to stop what they were doing, but no one complained.
Rather…
“Darkness alone won’t make you sleepy! Someone quickly bring a sleep doll!”
“Just any doll won’t do! It needs to be soft and huggable!”
“We need a softer blanket than a doll. What if the Grand Princess’s back gets sore!”
In an instant, I was wearing a sleep mask and hat, with a fluffy blanket wrapped around my body.
As the maids competed to bring items, cushions, various dolls, and sleep-aiding scented candles piled up on top of the blanket.
I groaned under the weight of all the sleep aids pressing down on me.
“Di… disappear (Save me).”
Seeing me flailing my arms with all my might, Sen’s face turned pale.
“The Grand Princess told the puppy doll to disappear. I told you she’d be a cat person!”
No, that’s not it.
To think such a crazy party was happening every hour, every minute, every second. The maids’ excessive enthusiasm and over-service were wearing me out.
Of course, unlike my tired mind, my physical condition was improving rapidly.
“The Grand Princess put her hand on her cheek!”
“Bring lotion right away!”
Sen’s body tilted forward as she ran across the room with lotion. Someone caught Sen just before she fell to the floor.
Tall enough that I had to crane my neck to see, with cotton candy-like pink hair.
Seeing Gerard’s face after a long time, I shouted as if I’d found a savior.
“Gerard!”
“Yes, Grand Princess. Have you been well?”
I shot him a look asking him to stop the maids. Gerard scratched the back of his head as he approached and knelt on one knee.
His lips curved into a gentle smile.
“Yes, I know what the Grand Princess is trying to say.”
Gerard opened the large box he had brought and showed me its contents.
“I’ve brought the items you requested.”
“…”
“You’re speechless with joy. I’m glad I took the time to choose these while walking around town.”
Inside the box were colorful origami papers and a thick book.
『The Great Encyclopedia of Origami』
Only then did I remember asking Gerard to prepare paper before. At the time, I had intended to write a will on the paper, but…
The palm-sized, colorful origami papers were definitely not for writing a will.
Gerard took out a sheet of origami paper and folded an adorable pink rabbit.
The maids watching Gerard and me from behind came forward, making a fuss.
“Oh my! Did you want to do origami?”
“We’ll help you.”
“When it comes to origami, you can’t leave out this Sen.”
The enthusiastic maids rolled up their sleeves and each took a sheet of origami paper from the box.
So what. It’s just origami.
I watched the maids folding paper diligently with indifferent eyes. However, the maids’ origami skills exceeded my imagination.
“Look at this, Grand Princess. It’s the Keshard Palace made of paper!”
“I’ve made the Mint Chera de Roches fountain too.”
I trembled at the intricate origami works that looked like real fountains and palaces. I couldn’t help but cheer at the appearance that was hard to believe was made of paper.
Excited by my joy, the maids created all sorts of things, looking as if they would use up all the origami paper.
When the room was filled with all kinds of origami works like a museum, the Grand Duke entered the room.
“What is all this?”
After surveying the room as if assessing the situation, he ordered in a cold voice.
“Clean this up imme…”
Throw away these amazing things?
I couldn’t let these artistic origami works be destroyed. I quickly ran to the Grand Duke and held out the first thing I saw nearby.
“This is a gift for Grand Duke.”
The maids’ eyes flashed with shock.
And for good reason, what I had handed to the Grand Duke was a piece of origami paper I had used earlier to wipe my runny nose.
