Chapter 64
“…….”
Haven stood in front of the annex, quietly gazing at the second-floor bedroom. Darkness had fallen, but it was still too early for bedtime, so the light in the bedroom shone brightly.
It was a strange sight. Even though lights were on throughout the main building, the light spilling from the bedroom window of the annex seemed so warm and cozy. Warmer, even, than his own bedroom. Unlike his bedroom, which had never once felt welcoming.
“How absurd. The child is sick, and yet here I am, a father, lost in such pointless thoughts.”
He let out a short, bitter laugh at his own sentimentality and then returned his gaze, full of concern, to the annex’s bedroom.
It had only been the first day. The anxiety he had tried to ignore suddenly rose in his chest.
He clenched his fists tightly. He feared whether Flita could overcome her illness and return healthy. He tried not to show it in front of the child, tried to appear calm before the other members of the Grand Duke’s household, but he was nothing more than a father with a sick child.
Alone in his worry.
With no one to share this fear.
“She must be doing well… Rose is there with her. If there’s any problem, she’ll somehow alert someone outside.”
Haven muttered to himself, trying to calm his anxiety. Then he turned back toward the mansion. No one was supposed to approach the annex, and it would be terrible if someone saw him lurking here.
He could not bear to bear the disgrace of being the origin of the Dunphers’ illness spreading from the Grand Duke’s household.
He remembered the royal family in an uproar over the news from Middlepion. Even the late queen, who had always troubled him, had sent letters advising her absence from the palace for the time being.
Haven chuckled again. The news had thrown the entire capital into chaos. Royals and nobles who had heard it first locked their doors or suddenly left for the countryside. In just one day.
Looking back at the whirlwind of the day, he impulsively turned his steps toward the annex once more.
He knew he shouldn’t go in.
But… he wanted, even for a single moment, to secretly see the child who even the proudest royals and nobles feared so much.
To see how she was. How her day had gone.
If her health was improving.
It was a reckless decision, but once he made it, he didn’t hesitate. Haven quietly slipped into the annex, careful enough that not even the sound of the door opening could be heard.
The hallway inside was dark and silent. Unlike the warm glow from the bedroom window, the hallway seemed to radiate a chill. Haven walked along it with a wry smile.
It was only natural. How could a place with just a child and a maid feel warm and cozy? The building wasn’t large, but not so small that two people couldn’t live there comfortably.
‘Perhaps the child cried at first, feeling uneasy in an unfamiliar place.’
Haven imagined the child, frightened by the quiet, shedding tears. Already sick, it must have been terrifying. And thinking she would have to continue living like this indefinitely, without end, must have been utterly disheartening.
‘…I hope she’s not crying even now in the bedroom.’
A shadow of worry fell over Haven’s face. He almost wanted to slap himself for thinking the bedroom looked “warm and cozy” from outside.
Burdened by self-reproach and concern for the child, Haven moved forward until he reached Flita’s bedroom. He couldn’t turn back now; he wanted to see the child too much.
‘I just hope she isn’t crying…’
Then, he heard it. The clear, joyful laughter of the child from inside the bedroom. Haven’s eyes widened. He stood at the bedroom door, hand on the doorknob.
“—Today was so much fun, Rose!”
Flita’s excited voice spilled out. And Rose’s gentle laughter followed.
“—Did you enjoy it?”
“Yeah! Spreading syrup on pastries was fun, and… also making bread earlier! Let’s do it again tomorrow! I’ll help!”
‘What…?’
Haven’s expression faltered. He must have misheard something.
‘The child… made bread…?’
His brows furrowed. At the same time, his gaze grew sharp. Why would a child who needed rest and medicine be doing such a thing? It was something she shouldn’t have done even when healthy.
How could a princess—no, a noble child—do such menial work?
“—I kneaded the dough too, so the bread tasted even better.”
“Really?”
“Yeah! And I felt like I became an amazing person!”
While Haven was dumbfounded, Flita’s voice brimmed with pride. His brows narrowed.
‘…An amazing person?’
“—An amazing person?”
Rose seemed to share his confusion. Flita answered immediately.
“—The nanny told me not to do anything. Not just her, but everyone. They just said to stay still like a proper princess. Rose, can’t I just live like this instead of being a princess? Living like a doll is no fun.”
“……!”
Haven’s blue eyes shook. His hand, hovering over the doorknob, retreated. As he stepped back in confusion, he heard Flita speak again.
“—But today I did all sorts of things. I even cracked an egg for the first time! I can do a lot of things! I’m not stupid, right?”
“Of course, Princess.”
Haven reached for the doorknob again. He carefully opened the door. Before him, Flita and Rose sat side by side on the bed, chatting.
He didn’t feel the need to scold the maid for daring to sit on the bed with the princess. And, given that his child had done such things, what could surprise him more?
…Besides, because of this, the child was smiling so brightly.
Feeling proud of becoming “an amazing person.”
A faint smile touched Haven’s lips as he peered through the slightly opened door. It was ridiculous, yet the child had clearly been cooking with Rose in the kitchen. Perhaps “cooking” was more like playing and causing trouble.
Such behavior was unheard of even for ordinary nobles. He should scold the maid severely for allowing it.
Yet Haven chuckled softly, his gaze fixed on the child.
Half of her face was hidden behind a handkerchief, making it hard to see her exact expression, yet she didn’t look unwell. In fact, she looked even brighter and livelier than when at the mansion.
Just like any ordinary child.
Like the rowdy, mud-splattered children in the village.
“Our child should be the leader of the alley gang.”
“What? A girl?”
“Oh, ‘a girl?’ That’s sexist, madam.”
Haven remembered the playful banter, the laughter, and the slender hand patting a baby’s head.
“Hmm…”
Haven suddenly felt a headache and held his head, leaning against the wall next to the door.
‘Perhaps…’
If the voices he heard were memories of the past, then the scene he was secretly witnessing could have been himself, Flita’s biological mother, and Flita—all three of them.
Not noble at all, not refined.
Yet it wouldn’t have been bad. Initially, he had been shocked and angry at the child’s words, but seeing her so happy, imagining her covered in flour with her mother, laughing joyfully…
“Ah….”
Haven let out a soft sound. At the same time, Flita’s voice came from inside.
“—Rose, where are you going? I want to come too!”
“No, Princess. I just heard some noise outside. Wait a moment.”
Haven quickly hid in the adjacent room. After a moment, Rose’s gentle voice continued.
“Oh, the door was slightly open. That’s probably why I heard something.”
Haven leaned against the door, closing his eyes. He heard the sound of little feet stepping outside the bedroom.
“—Could it be… Dad?”
Flita’s voice made Haven open his eyes. Rose chuckled softly and asked calmly,
“Do you want to see His Highness?”
“Mm… I was just wondering if Dad might have come. It’s okay. Rose said it should just be the two of us. I haven’t forgotten.”
Flita brightened, hiding her disappointment. Haven suppressed the urge to step out and open the door.
After a while, it seemed Rose and Flita returned to the bedroom, their movements fading. Haven exhaled deeply and stepped out into the hallway.
The light from the bedroom grew dim, as if preparing for sleep.
Having confirmed the child was well, it was time to return.
Yet Haven lingered in front of the bedroom door, unmoving. Until the moon peeked through the window, his solitary watch continuing, until it drifted away beyond the sky.
