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Chapter 56

Min-ha, with a blank expression on her face, gently placed her hand on her cheek where Seth’s lips had touched before smiling softly.

Seeing the two of them like that, Pompa, who sighed heavily with her heartbroken face, gestured to the maids. She then approached Min-ha and tapped her on the shoulder.

“Then, let’s dress up again.”

“…I’m sorry, because of me.”

“You don’t have to apologize. And, why is this happening because of you? It’s all because of His Grace.”

“….”

“His Highness… No, Master Seth had been like that since childhood. He’s determined and stubborn, and he will never bend until the request is fulfilled… Ha. After being knighted and becoming the Duke, he didn’t do that anymore, though.”

“…Haha. Was he?”

“Yes, huu… Now, raise her arms, please. Your Excellency is waiting outside, so I’ll finish it quickly.”

“Yes. I see.”

Min-ha giggled lowly as she watched Pompa, who groaned and quickly took off her corset and pannier.

Even though she felt sorry for Pompa, who had to work twice, in fact, her body and mind were so light that it seemed like she could fly away.

It felt good to take off the clothes that had been tightening her whole body, but above all, she liked Seth’s heart for telling her that she was the most important, and that he refrained from all the responsibilities that she was afraid of.

She was glad that the cold-blooded man, who did not seem to care at all on the surface of others’ thoughts, was benevolent to her and showed convenience.

‘…Oh, I am glad that I told him everything honestly and conveyed my feelings for him.’

Min-ha thought so and helped Pompa take off her clothes and got dressed again.

‘I cannot wait to go out the door and see him…’

After a while.

Seth greeted her with a friendly smile, who was now dressed naturally after loosening the tight corset that made it difficult to breathe and took the pannier that had inflated her like a balloon.

He uttered softly, stroking Min-ha’s braided blonde hair.

“Perhaps, because your expression is bright though you’re prettier than before. Your hair as well.”

“Originally, I asked them just to braid it normally. Although it didn’t look very good, so Mrs. Pompa braided it with flowers and jewels together, so my hair is a thousand pounds.”

“Should I ask them to take this out, too?”

“If you ask her to take this out, too, Mrs. Pompa will probably cry. This is all right… and, I like it quite a bit.”

“Yes. If you like it, I like it as well.”

After Seth finished his words, he politely raised her hand and kissed the back of it gently. Min-ha then grabbed his hand, which was holding hers, once tightly before naturally lowering it.

“Brother, sister-in-law!”

At that moment, Noah, wearing the same black uniform as Seth with his hair neatly brushed back, ran to the place where Seth and her stood from the end of the hallway, accompanied by Lancelot and Gawin.

Hearing him, Min-ha stretched out her arms toward the child, who ran through the hallway. At the same time, Noah ran to her and hugged her legs with his arms while gazing up at her with twinkling eyes. She burst into laughter at those cute eyes and spoke as she stroked his cheek with one hand.

“What’s wrong, Noah? Do I have something on my face”

“No!”

“But, why are you staring at me like that?”

“Because sister-in-law is so pretty!”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah! You are especially—even more, really, really pretty today! You look like an angel who came down from heaven…!”

In response to her question, Noah expressed his pure admiration and praise.

Min-ha was so happy that her heart was filled with the child’s pure praise. She held the little child hanging from her skirt in a flash before kissing his cheek loudly.

Rubbing her face against the soft cheek, she said,

“Our prince is very, very handsome, too! So cute!”

“Hehe. Really?”

“Yes! The most in the world!”

“Sister-in-law, too!”

‘Aww, he is so cute…!’

Min-ha kissed cute Noah on the cheek, who said pretty things whenever his mouth opened.

When her lips were about the move to the child again, she glanced back, startled by Seth’s hand, which blocked Noah’s face. With his stretched-out arms and a dissatisfied expression, he took his brother from Min-ha’s arms and hugged him instead.

“…Sometimes, it seems that you like Noah more than me.”

“Oh, are you jealous now?”

“Am I not supposed to do that?”

It was different from his usual appearance, so she asked a question to make fun of him a little. However, she was speechless as soon as the answer came out of his mouth as if it was natural.

‘…Was this person originally like this?’

It was strange to see Seth, who was so cold that even a drop of blood would not come out even if you stabbed him, honestly express his feelings to her like that. Still, it was not bad to think that his change was because he loved her.

…No, it was actually pretty good.

Min-ha gazed at Seth, who was talking to Noah with a serious face, fluttering involuntarily.

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“Noah.”

“Yes, brother.”

“It’s good to show affection to your sister-in-law, but make sure to save the kiss on the lips for the young girl you’ll marry in the future.”

“Why, brother? I want to marry my sister-in-law when I grow up?”

“…What?”

“Oh, my!”

Oh, my. Oh, my…

After hearing Noah’s words, she covered her mouth with both hands.

‘Oh, my gosh. The child’s words were so cute and lovely.’

Hearing those words, she couldn’t hold back her heart. Min-ha kissed Noah’s forehead, who was held by Seth, and said with a loud voice.

“Really? I’m so happy, Noah!”

“Hehe.”

“…You.”

“Why?”

“Are you doing this on purpose?”

Seth wrinkled his eyebrows and took a step back while holding Noah. He stared at her with a dissatisfied expression and asked bluntly.

At that, she replied with a smile at him, who was now openly jealous.

“Yes. I like it when you’re jealous.”

“…I didn’t know you liked it.”

“Why did you want to get revenge?”

“Revenge?”

“I didn’t tell you then, though when you told me that you had loosened other ladies’ corsets last time… I pretended not to be, but it was so annoying.

“…Oh.”

Min-ha bit her lower lip, thinking about that moment as she spoke her words.

At that time, the moment she heard those words, even before she realized her feelings, her irritation was intense. At the same time, it was an added bonus that she began to imagine strangely what had happened between Seth and the other woman in her mind at the time.

Even though Seth said that as a knight, it was just what he had to do, she was annoyed.

Unlike Min-ha, who continued her words with her expression crinkled as she recalled that time, Seth’s expression gradually loosened as he heard those words.

He gazed at her with honey dripping eyes. Before Min-ha knew it, he narrowed the distance and stood closer to her.

“…Hmmm!”

Min-ha and Seth, who stood in the hallway like that and fell into their own world, eventually turned their heads to the sound of coughing from the side. There, from a distance of three steps away, he could see Lancelot, who turned his head and glanced down, and Gawin, standing with his fists covering his mouth.

‘Euaak…!’

Flushing her cheeks, Min-ha fell slightly from his side. Meanwhile, Seth glanced at Gawin, who had coughed a while ago.

Feeling the gaze of his master, he spoke with a smirk.

“I know you two get along well, though let’s do it in moderation. Do you want your unmatched subordinates to live in shame?”

“If you are unhappy, you should have a wedding soon then. I’ll gladly serve as the groomsman.”

“Oh, how dare I make the Commander my groomsman? Besides, I’ve no desire to get married right now. I haven’t met my woman of fate yet.”

“For a man waiting for a woman of fate, it seems that he’d spread too many rumors.”

“Oh, is that so? Sir Gawin, you must be very popular.”

Min-ha, who had been listening to their quarreling conversation, heard interesting words and sneaked into the conversation.

At her question, Seth laughed as if he remembered something, and Lancelot made a tired expression. In particular, Lancelot shook his head like there must have been a lot of things piling up.

“…Rather than popularity, Sir Gawin’s a man who doesn’t stop people from coming and doesn’t catch people who go.”

“Well, that’s why I’ve got the most dating experience among the knights. Even though Lancelot and Bediviel are the ones who are really popular with women, those two are probably hard to approach.”

“Oh, really? You were a playboy then, Sir Gawin.”

“Well, that’s right.”

“What do you mean playboy, Commander? Say I have a lot of dating experience. Don’t I have to meet a lot to know who my destiny is? …But, by the way, Commander.”

“Hm?”

“When did you speak casually to the Duchess?”

“…Oh.”

“Since when have you two made such progress? And, without my knowledge…?”

‘…Ah, it was a mistake. I made a mistake because I felt comfortable talking leisurely when we are together, and I forgot to talk respectfully when others are here.’

While Min-ha covered her mouth with her hand at his words, Seth let out a brief sigh as if he had only noticed it then.

“Huumm…”

As he observed his couple master with meaningful eyes, Lancelot reached out and hit him in the back of the head.

At that, he immediately jumped up, grabbed his head, and shouted.

“Argh! Sir Lancelot, what is this…!”

“You’re always lacking in many words, though have you forgotten your example as a knight? In moderation, disrespectful. It doesn’t matter if you’re inside Persen Castle, but if you act like that even inside Loengram Castle, the Master’s prestige will be undermined.”

“…Ugh. I’m sorry, Master. Forgive me for my words.”

At Lancelot’s prompt, Gawin apologized with a timid expression on his face. Seeing that, Seth accepted the apology with a nod.

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