Chapter 28

Chapter 28

I grabbed the flower that sprouted next to me from the floor in my room and broke it off the stem.

The pink petals were soft and the floral scent was sweet. It was just like a real flower.

“Let’s go to my room first. You must have been very surprised, so sleep next to me today.”

The Grand Duke picked me up and hugged me in his arms while throwing a glance at the knights.

Then, as if surprised, I heard a shout.

“You’ve never let the two of us stay in your room before.”

“To think you would pretend to be so kind.”

I deliberately leaned more into the embrace of the Grand Duke, who was openly friendly only to me.

His heart was beating pretty quickly. As if because of my crisis or my abilities, regardless of the reason I was surprised at his reaction.

It didn’t take long for us to reach the Grand Duke’s room.

I didn’t know until now, but the Grand Duke seemed to have purposely chosen my room to be one of the ones located near his and my brothers’.

So if anything happens to me, I can run to them right away.

‘That’s why I was able to get help quickly again today.’

I laughed little because I was thankful for his quiet consideration.

The Grand Duke looked at me, smiling, as if I was strange, and put me on his bed.

“It’s fluffy.”

The Grand Duke’s bed was much wider than the one in my room.

It looked like it was a dark, solid-looking material, but unexpectedly, when I climbed onto the bed, it swallowed me in its plushness.

‘Too big.’

I couldn’t figure out where to lay, so I sat quietly on the edge of the bed.

The Grand Duke’s room was much bigger than my room. It would be the best room in this mansion, so it’s normal that it’s huge.

It was a room decorated with shades of dark green and mahogany.

On the wall to the right side of the bed, there was a portrait. The lady in the painting was very beautiful and she had silver hair and blue eyes that were shining like jewels.

‘Is it the Grand Duke’s wife? Or his mother?’

Whatever the case, I know it is very important so I shouldn’t touch it.

A tidy and impersonal room like this suits the personality of the Grand Duke.

If I fall asleep and wake up alone in a room like this, it would be very strange if I wasn’t lonely.

“All done. I’ll do it myself, so you can leave now.”

The Grand Duke took off his clothes after sending his servant out.

Surprised, my eyes widened because of the Grand Duke who took off his clothes without warning.

“What, what are you doing?”

I stuttered when I asked, the Grand Duke laughed in response.

“I’m going to sleep.”

The Grand Duke didn’t seem to care whether he was fully clothed or not.

He wore a purple robe that had been laying on the table, he walked away for a moment, leaving me alone.

Then the Grand Duke came to the bed, wearing the thin and silky robe after picking something up from the table.

“What is that?”

“Book.”

He showed me the book.

It was the fairy tale book about the wizard that he had read to me before I went to sleep in my room.

“I already read it earlier but you fell asleep before the end. I will read the rest now.”

The wizard with the cute expression on the cover seemed to be laughing with a teasing expression.

I nodded, alternating between looking at the book and the Grand Duke a few times.

“Why are you sitting so uncomfortably?”

The Grand Duke lied on the other side of the bed and patted the empty space next to him.

“Here.”

He spread the blanket wide as if beckoning me to come into his arms.

I glanced at the open blanket and jumped up and made my way over. The bed was much cozier now.

“Hehe.”

The Grand Duke propped my head up on his arm so I could read along in the book. When I felt the comfort of his strong and protective arms, I couldn’t help but smile.

“The wizard and the puppy ran through the flower garden and met a large lion.”

“Ugh!”

“The lion said to the wizard, ’Mage, if you don’t give up the puppy… ‘And let go of it.”

The voice of the Grand Duke was quieter than usual. There was a cool and refreshing scent coming from his arms.

‘It’s a cool scent, but why does it feel warm?’

Does the Grand Duke also think I’m comforting?

“The wizard shouted to the lion, ‘We should get along!’ Then the lion started shedding tears.”

“A lion is crying?”

“Yes. The lion cried sadly while saying, ‘But my Grandma is so lonely.’ ”

The grandmother who picked up the baby lion and raised it well was lonesome. The end of the story was that the wizard, puppy, lion, and grandmother all live together happily.

“Why was the wizard a wizard? He didn’t do anything special and just lived with the grandmother in peace anyway.”

I complained about the poor writing. That made the Grand Duke grin, then he threw the storybook next to the bed and muttered.

“But the Grandma will be happy and not lonely. Just like me.”

I was speechless because of those unexpected words from the Grand Duke. Quickly after his declaration, his face turned red.

‘The Grand Duke is happy!’

Somehow, the inside of my chest felt stuffy and it made me squirm.

I turned around, buried my face in the pillow, and shook my legs.

However, I heard the grand duke’s laughter and turned over to look at him again.

“Strange.”

The Grand Duke muttered, pinching my cheek lightly. Even though he called me strange, I didn’t feel unhappy at all.

‘I can tell what you really meant by the cheerful look in your eyes.’

I studied the face of the Grand Duke.

His face, half-shaded by the light, his content eyes were gazing happily into mine.

“Are you happy?”

“Yes, I am quite happy. I wish I had done this before.”

At the Grand Duke’s words, I turned up the corners of my lips and asked.

“Then should I go get my brothers to come?”

At my words, the Grand Duke frowned in an instant.

“No.”

“Don’t you want to have a sleepover with my big brothers too?”

“In the past. If you had been brought here earlier, when you were a baby, I would have thought about it and done it maybe.”

Perhaps at the thought of sleeping with his energetic sons, the Grand Duke frowned and shook his head.

“When I was a baby… “

It would be much better if Grand Duke was my real father.

I stopped talking, blinked my eyes, and snuggled into the arms of the Grand Duke.

“I’m really happy right now.”

I shook all of the worries out of my head. I was happy and that was good enough for me now.

If Grand Duke had found me earlier, chances are high that he wouldn’t have noticed me at all.

If the Grand Duke hadn’t chosen our orphanage, we wouldn’t have met, especially if I hadn’t tried so hard to escape.

‘Now is much, much better than my future if I had never met the Grand Duke.’

The original Shuelina, who only knew the cruelty of the director, never had the chance to be held in comforting arms like these.

She never learned about the happiness that comes from being loved by someone.

The Grand Duke doesn’t know how difficult it really was for us to meet.

“In the orphanage.”

“Yes?”

“If you had met your original dad in the orphanage, what would be the first thing you would do?”

At the Grand Duke’s question, I still pondered.

If I meet my dad…

“Hold me tight. Pat me until I fall asleep.”

I whispered, rubbing my head on the chest of the Grand Duke.

I hugged the Grand Duke tightly, while he was stroking my back as I requested. Then he patted me until I finally went to sleep.

“Good night.”

Before I fell asleep, I heard a friendly voice whispering, hugging me tightly, putting my head on his arm that was acting as my pillow.

***

‘It’s the Grand Duke.’

When I woke up the next morning, the Grand Duke stayed in bed and waited for me to wake up. I was worried that his arm that supported my head all night would be in pain.

‘Since the Grand Duke is busy, he is supposed to go to work really early!’

I looked at the small window that was visible when I peeked behind the Grand Duke who was still laying down.

Light was pouring in from the window. The sun had already risen long ago.

The Grand Duke seemed to only sleep for a short period of time usually.

He woke up very early in the morning and fell asleep very late in the evening.

I had heard the physician Baden muttering about that topic several times while examining me, saying he was worried about the health of the Grand Duke.

Originally, by this time he would have gotten up, washed up quickly, and gone straight to the office.

It seemed like today was an exception.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes… ”

I tried to ask why I was still in bed.

But as soon as I looked into the eyes of the Grand Duke, I could understand why he had been waiting for me to wake up.

‘I’m embarrassed… and happy.’

You look at me with such adoring eyes first thing in the morning.

After receiving cold, judging eyes for such a long time that when I received such a sweet, honey-like gaze, my heart was elated and thrilled.

“Are you ready to wash up and go out?”

“Yes.”

I hurried along as the Grand Duke led me to clean myself up.

He helped me wash my hands and brush my teeth.

“I can do it awone… ”(I can do it alone…)

“No. I want to do this.”

“Eiyi.”

I was shy and tried to do it alone. However, the Grand Duke held on tightly to the brush and did not let go.

I didn’t want to waste the bubbles on the toothbrush. In the end, I accepted the cautious hand that was brushing my teeth.

He wasn’t as delicate as the maids. It seems like he wanted to make sure my teeth were cleaned well and wasn’t sure how much strength to use, but I was happy

“Our Lady is very loved!”

After I was finished up in the room, the Grand Duke left me with Lucy, and I told her all about staying over in his room.

When Lucy said that as she changed my clothes, I realized that she was right.

‘I guess that’s what I liked so I was happy rather than being embarrassed about it.’

I thought I would be ashamed that someone helped me. Instead, I was fond of the attention he was paying to me.

It feels like he is my real dad. Even though I was a baby, now, I know about the kindness and care that I did not receive properly.

‘I’m really glad that I can have it now.’

When I was a baby, I couldn’t do a lot to keep my body healthy.

I read that in the original work, Shuelina couldn’t eat enough proper food, so she cried often.

Even if I was more mature inside, when I first came here it was still difficult for me because Shuelina had already gained the hate of the director by the time I started possessing this body, so my buttocks were often sore. I was really lucky that I didn’t possess this body any later in the story.

When I read that part of the book, I didn’t really realize how sad her life was.

Nobody took care of her, so Shuelina had no choice but to learn how to do things by herself.

“Grand Duke.”

“Hmm?”

“It’s nothing.”

The Grand Duke picked me up, who had finished getting completely ready and headed to the dining room.

I was held in his arms and when I called him without hesitation, he became extremely happy.

‘I am a loved child now too!’

In the past, I didn’t know how happy it can be to have a family who really loves you.

Until I arrived at the dining room with the Grand Duke, I just laughed joyfully.

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