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Chapter 6
It had already been a week since I entered the Grand Duke’s mansion.
Right now, I was outside for an afternoon walk because Mia kept urging me.
She said staying inside the room all the time would only make me weaker.
Even the nanny who raised me for thirteen years was not this bothersome.
In many ways, she was a very strange woman.
“Your Highness is much smaller than others your age.
Proper exercise is good for your health.”
“My health is my own business.”
“Of course, of course.”
There she goes again.
Whenever I spoke coldly or showed irritation, Mia would calmly brush it off like that.
For some reason, seeing her attitude made the fighting spirit inside me suddenly fade.
She must act like this with Carlos too.
It didn’t seem like a mistake to feel that Mia was secretly the real power of this mansion.
“This garden is quite nice, isn’t it?
A walk is the best way to refresh your mood.”
I was too tired to complain anymore, so I just nodded indifferently.
The weather is unnecessarily nice.
I learned this only after coming here—the Grand Duke’s mansion was not covered in darkness all year.
Seen in the sunlight, the estate looked old but surprisingly normal.
Turning such a beautiful mansion into something like a haunted house was almost a talent.
“…What is this flower bed?”
While walking, I suddenly stopped at the sight before me and asked.
Unlike the other gardens, this place was filled entirely with blooming white roses.
Soft light shimmered around them, and thousands of flowers were full of life.
At a glance, it looked less like flowers and more like a field of pure white snow.
Mia, who had been following behind me, smiled proudly.
“Your Highness seems to like this flower bed too?”
“It’s not the season for roses to bloom yet.”
“You have sharp eyes.
Yes, this place is maintained by the master’s magic.”
“The Grand Duke’s magic?”
Even standing still caused him pain that shortened his life,
yet he was wasting magic on a flower bed?
That cold-blooded man?
When I turned without hiding my curiosity, Mia smiled bitterly.
“These are all flowers for our young lady.”
…Young lady?
Did she mean the Grand Duke’s daughter?
Seeing my expression, Mia continued carefully.
She said that when the lady was still in her mother’s womb,
the Duchess dreamed of a field filled with pure white roses.
In the Duchess’s homeland, Verba,
they believed giving a white rose to a child would bring happiness.
After hearing that story,
the Grand Duke personally brought back a cart full of roses
and planted them one by one himself.
Mia stopped speaking when our eyes met.
“Oh dear, I talked too much.
There are hardly any guests, so my tongue loosened without thinking.”
I could not say anything.
That Grand Duke…
bringing an entire cart of roses for his daughter—
I couldn’t imagine it at all.
Even after the Duchess’s death,
he neglected the rest of the mansion
but still cared for this garden.
The young master also visited this place often.
For some reason, her gentle voice pressed heavily beneath my chest.
I reached out and touched a nearby petal.
Fresh moisture clung to it.
My throat felt strangely wet.
He could barely take care of his own body—
so why this flower garden?
I swallowed and spoke in a deliberately firm voice.
“…I heard the Grand Duke’s daughter died long ago.”
It was an accident that shook the capital.
The carriage heading toward the Duchess’s homeland
fell off a cliff and shattered.
The Duchess died horribly on the spot,
and the only daughter disappeared.
The Grand Duke searched for months with all his forces
but never found her.
Realistically, a two-year-old baby surviving alone was impossible.
Unless wild beasts had eaten even the body.
Yes… that should have been the truth.
The idea that the daughter had lived until now
and returned here on her own—
It was almost laughable.
Especially while wearing the shell of a half-blood imperial princess.
If not for the emperor,
this chance would never have existed.
The strong scent of flowers rushed in.
I felt suffocated.
I quickly turned my head and walked fast.
“…Forget it.
It’s not a story I care about.”
How long had I crossed the garden like that?
Suddenly, something blocked my path,
and a shadow fell over me.
“You seem to be living quite comfortably.”
Carlos stood there in a poet shirt,
his messy hair untouched, looking down at me.
“…Grand Duke?”
“Is it so surprising to meet me in my own house?”
Even though we lived under the same roof,
he rarely showed his face.
More precisely,
it was obvious he found me unpleasant—
as if, without the refined stones,
he would cut off my head at any moment.
It’s impressive he’s holding back.
Maybe because of the roses I saw earlier,
my stomach churned while facing him.
I quietly looked up at him and answered,
“Thanks to you.”
“It’s good at least one of us is comfortable.”
After a brief silent standoff,
Carlos turned his body.
“Follow me. I have something to give you.”
* * *
“Take it.”
Inside the second-floor office,
Carlos held out a necklace in a small box.
A thin platinum chain
with a pendant the size of a fingernail.
“What is this?”
“An artifact.
It can temporarily change your eye and hair color.”
He spoke dryly.
“Until we officially form a sponsorship,
there’s no need for outsiders to know
the princess is staying in the Grand Duke’s territory.”
He rubbed his temple tiredly.
I picked up the necklace in a daze.
Even after receiving so many refined stones,
he still looked exhausted…
Yet he wasted magic on something like this.
“…Thank you.”
The moment I wore the necklace,
my eyes and hair instantly turned ordinary brown.
After looking me over, Carlos said,
“It would be better to keep wearing it inside the mansion too.
Your original appearance is extremely irritating.”
My hand froze on the pendant.
…Irritating.
Of course I understood what he meant.
A princess with the exact same eyes and hair
as his missing daughter.
Even before my regression,
he disliked looking at my face.
Meeting me inside this mansion
could never be pleasant.
After a long moment,
I hid the necklace inside my collar and spoke calmly.
“I understand.
I’ll keep wearing it.
It’s not difficult,
and as an uninvited guest,
I should at least be considerate.”
Only then did his expression soften slightly.
“The documents will be finished within this week.
Once the guardianship papers reach the temple,
even the imperial family won’t be able to interfere.
Until then, don’t do anything foolish and keep yourself safe.”
I repeated his words in my mind for a long time.
Then I spoke.
“In that case… I have one request.”
