Chapter 93
The Grand Duchess’s body trembled violently.
“R… right now…!”
Our Rohen has really grown up. To speak like that in front of the Grand Duchess. To say himself that he is of the Grand Ducal bloodline. A sense of pride welled up in one corner of my heart.
“So you should’ve done better from the start. Well. It’s not like you ever intended to do well anyway. You were planning to use Aisha. How pathetic do you have to be to try to use an eight-year-old.”
“…You really take after your father—utterly… rude.”
“Yep! That’s your self-introduction, auntie.”
Rohen smirked as he busied himself teasing her. I barely managed to suppress a laugh that almost slipped out. Then I stepped forward, standing in front of the Grand Duchess.
“You get back exactly what you do to others, Grand Duchess. And you asked why I didn’t die, right? It’s because I’m special. Unlike you, I’m someone specially chosen by God.”
“What?”
I really wanted to say this.
“And unlike him, what are you? Once you’re kicked out of the position of Grand Duchess, you’re nothing. So think carefully from now on. Just as you thought I was nothing—just a child—it means I’m not merely a child either. So it’s better not to judge people simply by their status or the background they grew up in.”
Words like these wouldn’t make the Grand Duchess improve. But at the very least, it was a measure to ensure that when she spoke about me to her father, she would mention this part.
‘On the off chance, just on the off chance…’
If once again he stepped in and smoothed everything over… if the Grand Duchess wasn’t driven out, then we’d have to see what came after.
For that, I gave her a very small hint. If you’re going to provoke someone, do it properly. But you won’t be able to easily touch a child chosen by God—and since that child is protecting the twins, you won’t be able to act however you please. It was a warning.
“Then take her away.”
The Grand Duke, who had been silently listening to our exchange, nodded.
“W-wait… just a moment. You… listen to me for a second. We’re husband and wife, aren’t we? Yes? If word gets out that you treated me like this, you’ll be put in a difficult position too. So, so….”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“No… that’s….”
“What’s so important about rumors? What’s so important about other people’s gazes? I should have done this from the beginning. I was simply late. I don’t wish to speak any further, so take her away. Still, since she is the Grand Duchess, treat her with the utmost care—confine her in her own palace, in her own room.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The Grand Duke’s knights bowed their heads in unison.
“Also, imprison everyone who worked in the Grand Duchess’s palace. We will interrogate each and every one of them under torture to uncover the truth.”
“Yes.”
“Then let us go. Aisha. Rohen. Lari.”
“Yes!”
Lari clung to my arm as if she’d been waiting for this. I worried for a moment that she might have heard everything that happened today. But the child’s eyes sparkled as if she knew nothing at all, and she held onto my arm tightly.
“Big sister. You’re not going anywhere now, right? Lari is… really scared she’ll lose you. You shouldn’t do dangerous things.”
“Yeah. I won’t do dangerous things anymore.”
“You’re not answering about not going anywhere.”
At that moment, Rohen—sharper than usual today—opened his mouth as if he’d been waiting.
“That’s….”
“Just don’t do dangerous things.”
I thought he would say more, but unexpectedly, Rohen only patted my head. He seemed to have grown taller over the past few days—now more than a head taller than me—and his hands seemed to have grown bigger too.
“Uh… uh….”
“So, Aisha, are you all right?”
On the way to the Grand Duke’s chamber, he asked carefully, clearly still worried about me.
“Probably! I’m really special, so I’m fine.”
“That’s a relief, but… I’ll make sure nothing like this happens again.”
“I’m fine. I just hope the kids don’t have to go through anything difficult.”
The Grand Duke would understand that better than anyone. Unlike in the novel’s past, things somehow ended well this time thanks to my intervention, but there was no guarantee that everything would always go this smoothly. More dangerous things could happen, and there would surely be situations even the Grand Duke couldn’t protect them from.
That was why I was subtly putting pressure on him.
So that this would never happen again.
“I will try. No—I will make sure it doesn’t. Not only for my children, but for you as well….”
“Yes!”
The Grand Duke seemed to have made a deep resolve.
That was the end of it. Perhaps because of what I went through, I fell asleep the moment I returned to my room. From then on, there was no longer any separate sleeping arrangement just because I was an orphan girl or because my status was unknown. As if we were truly three siblings, the Grand Duke showed me such consideration, and a few more days passed.
It seemed as though he didn’t want to say anything else until everything was over; there was nothing we could hear.
Instead, for safety reasons, we stayed in the Grand Duke’s chamber until everything was resolved, and the children gradually began studying. I taught them the general subjects, but for things I couldn’t teach—like swordsmanship or etiquette—separate instructors were assigned.
And I was still doing the Grand Duchess’s work.
“Don’t I not have to do this anymore now?”
“What are you talking about?”
“This. Wasn’t all of this just for showing the Grand Duchess?”
“That was how it started, but now it’s convenient. And you seem quite good at the work.”
“Isn’t it a bit much to leave this to a child?”
I was asking seriously. Entrusting such matters to a child was far beyond what would normally be acceptable. That was why I asked—but the Grand Duke answered firmly.
“Not at all. If you have the ability, what does age matter?”
“Ah.”
“And you’re quite good at it. Ah—are you saying this because you don’t want to do it?”
“It’s more like….”
“If you don’t want to do it… hmm. Then I’ll give you proper compensation for your labor. I’ll pay you a salary. Would that be all right?”
With him going that far, I couldn’t think of any other reason to refuse.
“All right. You don’t have to pay me. Just being allowed to stay here is more than enough compensation.”
I hastily added that, worried he might think I was the kind of person who would do anything for money. But the Grand Duke shook his head.
“If someone works, it’s only natural to give proper compensation. So don’t think like that.”
His large hand patted my head. He had always been an unusually sensitive person—someone who clearly had no interest in other humans besides himself. That was why this side of him felt so strange.
He looked comfortable, and kind. He seemed like a slightly different person. As if he had found emotions he’d lost, and like a child fumbling because he didn’t know how to express them.
“Thank you for the praise.”
“Praise?”
“This.”
I pointed at the hand patting my head.
“Ah, this is… just because you did well.”
“That’s praise. Children like this kind of thing—the warmth you feel when skin touches skin, and the positive emotions conveyed through it.”
“Would Lari and Rohen like it too?”
“Of course.”
It still seemed like his thoughts were entirely focused on how to get along with the twins.
“Don’t worry. The children have opened their hearts a lot now. You’ve been doing well so far, so just keep doing what you’re doing.”
“…Thank you. Thanks to you, I really feel like I’ve grown closer to the children. Rohen is… little by little, he’s starting to talk to me about this and that….”
The way the Grand Duke acted toward us in front of the Grand Duchess became yet another reason to trust him.
‘If things continue like this… if it stays this way… then the children won’t grow up badly, right?’
The past and the present were clearly different. The twins who faced a miserable future in the novel—but now, everything was completely different. The Grand Duke genuinely cherished the children, and the Grand Duchess had fallen from power.
‘It’ll really be… okay.’
It would be okay because I was here. I’d even told the Grand Duchess that the temple stood behind the children. So nothing would happen.
That was when—
With a loud bang, the door flew open.
“Y-you can’t do this. This is the Grand Duke’s chamber.”
“Let go of me!”
However, the person who opened the door wasn’t immediately visible. It seemed they’d managed to open it, but were being stopped from entering the room.
“Who is it?”
The Grand Duke, clearly displeased, looked toward the door. Only then did the person being restrained by the attendants enter the room.
“Father!”
It was Ron.
“Why have you come?”
“Father, you’re being far too cruel to Mother!”
It seemed he had only just heard about his mother, and Ron’s face looked deeply wounded. Of course, no matter how he looked, he didn’t seem pitiful. From the start, Ron had looked down on the twins, and he was the fundamental cause of the hardships they would face later.
“What do you mean?”
“What exactly did Mother do so wrong?”
Sitting beside the Grand Duke and looking over the unwanted Grand Ducal documents, I felt like I was sitting on a bed of thorns. Why did I have to be this deeply involved in this family’s affairs?
‘But there aren’t many places where I can learn as much as I can here….’
“She committed countless wrongs. So withdraw, Ron. I did not permit you to enter this chamber like this. I’ll overlook today’s rudeness, but….”
“What wrongs? What exactly did she do that she’s facing being driven out?”
“She endangered my children.”
“Aren’t I your child too?”
“What?”
“I am also your child, Father. Isn’t taking my mother away from me also putting me in danger?”
At those words, the Grand Duke began to laugh like a madman.
“Just like your mother… you’re insane. You.”
