GTMDWH | Chapter 60

1. ~Chapter 60~

The princess showed up at the duke’s estate a whole week earlier than she said she would.

And this time, the prince was with her again.

Johann left the surprise visitors with Samuel and the butler, then walked off in big strides.

“Damn it, Patrizia. Playing games with the schedule?”

He held back his irritation and went looking for Leah.

On the way, he stopped by the training grounds.

Veronica was training Raphaella and greeted him when she saw him.

“Make sure Raphaella doesn’t leave the training grounds until I come back.”

“Is something wrong?”

“The princess is here.”

There was no way he was going to let Raphaella run into her like this.

“…Don’t worry, Your Grace.”

Veronica caught on quickly.

Johann then rushed upstairs to the study where he’d heard Leah had gone.

When he got there, he saw Florian acting way too friendly with Leah.

“…That crazy bastard.”

He barely stopped himself from cursing out loud.

“Take your hand off her, Your Highness.”

“Duke!”

Leah turned her head.

“Bro, what brings you here without the princess?”

Florian asked, still holding Leah’s hand and smirking.

“I said take your hand off her.”

Johann walked over in big steps and pulled Florian’s hand away from Leah’s wrist.

“…You make it sound like I’m some kind of pervert.”

“You’re mistaken.”

Johann stepped in front of Leah, shielding her.

“So what, you into her or something?”

The moment Florian said that, something flashed in Johann’s mind—

“Are you into Leah or something?”

A man with curly, dark brown hair had asked him that.

“…”

The memory caught him off guard.

‘What was that? Who even was that guy?’

“No answer, huh?”

“…I didn’t think your ridiculous question was worth answering.”

Johann didn’t even try to hide his rudeness.

“Heh. Then why are you hiding her from me?”

Florian wasn’t offended—he just sounded amused.

To him, it was fun if the Duke liked the same woman he had his eyes on.

“I’m not hiding anything.”

“…Sure, I’ll let that slide for now. Doesn’t look like today’s the right time anyway.”

Florian gave a smug smile.

“The princess is waiting for you. You should go.”

Johann cut him off coldly.

If they wasted more time, the princess might come storming in here herself.

“Are you not leaving?”
Johann asked, holding in his impatience.

“I don’t want to get Leah in trouble, so yeah, I’ll go.”

He looked at Leah and gave her a wink.

“See you next time.”

Then he turned and walked off.

“…I’ll go with the prince, so finish what you were doing.”

“…Okay.”

Leah nodded.

Once they were both gone, she let out a long sigh in front of the study.

‘Still gives me the creeps…’

His eyes were weird, like glass, but his mouth kept smiling.

What should I do if something like this happens again?

He’s a prince—I can’t just throw a self-defense potion in his face.

She decided to talk to Johann about it later and went back into the study.

She was flipping through books when Pola came in.

“Miss Leah, the princess is gone, and the Duke is asking for you.”

Leah stretched her stiff body and went to see Yohan.

“I’d love to say this won’t happen again, but I can’t promise that.”

Johann said, rubbing his temples as she sat down across from him.

“Are you okay?”

He looked just as worn out as she felt after dealing with all that.

“I’m more worried about you and Raphaella. I think you two should go stay at the villa.”

“The villa?”

Leah didn’t like that suggestion.

“If this keeps happening, Raphaella or you might….”

“We’ll have to face it someday.”

Leah firmly disagreed.

“Especially Raphaella meeting the princess—that’s bound to happen eventually.”

Since Johann was officially engaged to the princess, it was unavoidable.

Sure, she’d avoided it today out of shock, but she couldn’t keep running forever.
Neither she nor Raphaella had done anything wrong.

She might be nervous, but she wasn’t going to act like a criminal.

‘If anything, I came first.’

“And if we go to the villa, Raphaella and the Duke might grow distant again.”

“That’s what you’re more worried about?”
Johann raised an eyebrow.

“Of course! I can take whatever insults the princess throws at me or any creepiness from the prince.”

She leaned forward as she spoke.

“…But I can’t let your bond with Raphaella fall apart again.”

“I thought things were going well between us.”

“No, there’s still a long way to go. And you know what they say—‘Out of sight, out of mind.’”

She knew Raphaella wasn’t close enough to Johann yet to be okay without her.

To Raphaella, Leah was still number one.

Johan came after.

“Ugh, the princess is bad enough, but the prince….”

Johann sighed at Leah’s stubbornness.

“Hey, about that… if I used self-defense magic on the prince, do you think he’d make a fuss?”

“…Hard to say. But if you ever need to, don’t hesitate.”

Johann thought it was a decent plan and answered after doing some mental math.

“I’ll take care of whatever comes after.”

Even if it worsened things with the empress, he didn’t care.

The emperor wouldn’t step in over something like the prince bothering a commoner.

“Okay. Hopefully I won’t have to use it.”
Leah mumbled.

“…By the way, about your friend.”

Just as she was about to leave, Johann suddenly brought something up.

“Which one? Alma?”
“No, not her.”
He shook his head.

“You mean Raul?”
“That guy… I think I saw him when we went to Mount Lorem. Curly brown hair, right?”

“Yeah, that’s him.”

Leah replied.

“Why are you asking about Raul?”

“…No reason.”

Johann dodged the question and turned away.

“Okay then. I’ll get going.”

As she walked away, Johann stared at her back, deep in thought.

‘…Did I really love you? Is that why I can’t stop thinking about you, even though I don’t remember anything?’

If those memories came back… would I regret forgetting you?

—

Meanwhile, in the carriage heading back to the palace…

“You better stay alert, sis.”

“What?”

Patrizia snapped at Florian’s annoying tone.

“The Duke of Blumhardt and that woman.”
“What woman? Why do you always talk in bits and pieces?”

“Because it’s more fun watching your reaction if I don’t tell you everything at once.”

He leaned back, resting his head on his clasped hands.

“Ugh!”
Patrizia shouted, frustrated.

“My favorite thing in this boring palace is watching you get riled up.”

Having everything he wanted in life made him bored—he craved drama.

And his sister’s temper tantrums were part of the entertainment.

“You’re so annoying. So who the hell is she?”

She wanted to slap him but held back, too curious to stop listening.

“The woman the Duke used to live with.”
Patrizia’s eyes flared up.

“When I was with her earlier, the Duke came at me with this scary look.”

Florian pointed to his eyes, making them look sharp with his fingers.

“He even pulled her behind him like he was protecting her. And he didn’t even see her for long.”

He let out a dramatic sigh.

“He did that? Wait… Did you only come with me today to see her?”

“Yeah. I fell in love at first sight.”

He smirked.

“Do you even know how many ‘first loves’ you’ve had?”

“No idea. Falling in love easily isn’t a crime, is it?”

“You’re seriously messed up. So you’re saying the Duke might actually like that low-born wench?”

She was furious, breathing heavily.

“Calm down. I don’t think he’s fallen for her completely… yet.”

“How can I calm down?! It’s bad enough I’m marrying a man who already had a woman and a kid… Now this?”

“Want me to help you?”

Florian whispered slyly.

“You?”

“You get the Duke, and I get the girl. We both win.”

He smiled, wickedly beautiful.