Chapter 75
Nina asked in puzzlement.
“What do you mean?”
“Hm…? Ah, sorry. It’s just that you’re so kind and cute, Nina. Rabi said you were his daughter, but who could possibly believe that?”
Cheshire shamelessly spouted such nonsense with a straight face.
Of course, Nina wasn’t going to just let that slide.
“That’s a lie.”
“A lie?”
“Uncle Rabi would rather quit smoking than say something like that.”
Her reply was so firm it even sounded a little resentful. Cheshire blinked at her in surprise.
“You know what quitting smoking means?”
“Of course, it means giving up cigarettes.”
“Wow, Nina, you’re much smarter than your age.”
“…Not really.”
Nina grew a little shy and lowered her gaze.
Cheshire stifled a chuckle before continuing.
“You must really like Rabi, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“That lucky bastard. How much do you like him?”
“Um, as much as the sky and the ground?”
After answering, Nina blushed.
She had been about to say “more than anyone in the world,” but felt too embarrassed, so she changed her words. Yet this new phrasing somehow sounded even more childish.
“Uncle Rabi doesn’t like me that much though.”
Embarrassed, Nina added gloomily. Cheshire gave her a strange look.
“But you still like him as much as the sky and the ground, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then if anyone messes with Rabi, that would be a huge problem.”
“Yeah, because I promised I’d protect him.”
“How far are you willing to go for revenge?”
The sudden question left Nina blinking in confusion.
Cheshire, too, looked startled and covered his mouth with the back of his hand.
The words had slipped out completely on their own—like his tongue had moved without his permission.
What on earth was that just now?
Both the speaker and the listener stared at each other blankly. Finally, Nina broke the silence.
“Mister? Just now…”
“Nina.”
“Yeah?”
Sensing something strange in the atmosphere, Nina swallowed hard.
Cheshire slowly lowered his hand from his mouth and spoke softly.
“Do you like parfaits?”
…What kind of random question was that?
It was absurd, but Nina instinctively nodded.
“I do.”
“Really? Then next time, let’s go eat parfaits together.”
Cheshire’s eyes curved kindly.
Nina’s lips parted slightly.
It was a tempting offer, but she wasn’t sure if she should accept so easily.
She did want to know more about Cheshire personally, but still…
As if reading her thoughts, Cheshire added gently:
“I’ll come to where you are, Nina. That way, there won’t be any problem.”
“Really? Is that okay?”
“Of course. Then it’s a date, right?”
A date.
The word sounded secretive somehow, which she liked. So Nina gave a small, secretive nod.
“Yeah, a date.”
Cheshire patted her lightly on the head, then straightened his posture.
When Nina returned to the skating rink, she was met with an unexpected sight.
“…Huh?”
Not far away, Charlotte and Katya were sitting side by side on the ground.
Alarmed, Nina quickly rushed over, and Katya looked up with a sour expression.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“Ah, we fell while practicing…”
“I want to go home.”
Charlotte suddenly blurted.
Nina blinked.
“Why so suddenly? Are you hurt?”
Charlotte shook her head.
Her lips were pouting, and she clearly seemed upset.
“No. I just… want to go home.”
“Well… alright. I’ll ask someone to escort you back.”
Just as Nina was about to turn away—
“Without Uncle Rabi around, I feel uneasy. I want Uncle Dite to take me back.”
At that, Nina felt a little baffled.
It wasn’t about the fact that bodyguards often acted as escorts. The thing was, Charlotte had insisted on coming along in the first place.
So why was she suddenly feeling uneasy now?
Katya looked just as dumbfounded.
Maybe she’s just in a bad mood after falling down?
“Okay, I’ll ask the guards to contact him.”
Charlotte didn’t say “please” or “thank you.”
Was she always like this?
Trying to shake off the uncomfortable feeling rising inside her, Nina turned away.
* * *
The Palace of Spring, traditionally given to the crown princess of the Atreid royal family, was located in the safest part of the imperial grounds.
Since daughters were rare in the bloodline, the place had often been repurposed for other uses.
For example, during the Cerny family incident, the young Cerny sisters had taken refuge here for years.
Because of that, Rabián, despite not having any sisters, knew the Palace of Spring quite well—its double-edged nature included.
Safety and isolation are two sides of the same coin.
When he had first planned Nina’s kidnapping, he had considered that an advantage. Still, he never imagined he would find himself stepping inside this place again in his lifetime.
After all, what kind of kidnapper would boldly stroll into his hostage’s house?
Standing a short distance from the wall, Rabián smoked one cigarette after another while observing the servants coming and going through the back door.
They were busily carrying food into the otherwise empty palace.
Very few people within the palace knew about Nina’s disappearance.
If the crown princess’s palace had been left completely inactive during a banquet, it would surely have raised suspicion.
“Living the easy life, aren’t they.”
Flicking away his cigarette butt, Rabián strode forward. At that moment, a rookie guard who had been eyeing him suspiciously rushed over and shouted:
“Hey, you can’t just throw cigarette butts here—!”
“You clean it up.”
“Huh? Wait, hold on! Hey, stop right there! You!”
Without even looking back, Rabián marched straight through the back door of the princess’s palace.
The rookie yelled after him desperately.
“Stop right there! Who do you think you are?! Do you know where this is?! Hey, someone arrest that guy!”
But the guards of the princess’s palace didn’t budge.
They only looked at the poor rookie with pity, as if watching someone truly unfortunate.
Moments later, the captain of the guard—who had been waiting at the main entrance, expecting Rabián to arrive there—came rushing over in a panic.
“Lord Rabián, why are you coming from that side… Wait, what on earth are you doing?!”
“…What?”
Realizing far too late what he had done, the rookie turned deathly pale, like a walking corpse.
But Rabián showed no interest in the guard who had insulted him.
“Nothing’s changed at all, huh.”
Glancing around the back garden, he muttered to himself.
“Lord Rabián?”
“It looks exactly the same as the last time I saw it.”
He then strode toward the path leading to the front courtyard.
The well-kept trail, the greenhouse garden blooming with spring flowers year-round, the fox-fountain of his sister—
At least on the outside, nothing was different from the last time he remembered.
Back then, Anna had been nineteen years old.
When Rabián stepped out of the greenhouse, the guards waiting at the entrance stared at him blankly.
They must have wondered what he was doing.
He brushed his hands off and said casually:
“Hey, how old did you say the crown princess was?”
“Six years old, sir—”
“Really…? Then why aren’t there any toys or playgrounds for kids around here?”
“That’s…”
The guards exchanged awkward glances.
Their faces said clearly: Why are you asking us that?
“Hmm.”
One guard captain cautiously tried again:
“Um, Lord Rabián, this is a non-smoking area…”
Rabián, lighting another cigarette, replied without hesitation:
“So what? It’s not like the kid’s here right now.”
“…That’s true. Well then, would you like to head inside? The maids are waiting.”
Rabián nodded, exhaling a long plume of smoke, then pointed at the guards with his finger.
“But seriously—what are those guys even doing here?”
