CH 2.16

Flitta was whimpering, with her tears welling up. She didn’t even know that her father had come, and she was just helplessly looking at Rosé.

“Ha, Haven… how did you get in here…”

But Haven couldn’t keep looking at his child. Due to the former Queen, who approached him and talked to him. He took his eyes off of Flitta and looked at her.

“I’m not in a place where I shouldn’t be. This is definitely the lodging where I am staying.”

“Oh, of course I didn’t mean to say anything to you. Just, I.… Um, I was shocked to see you all of a sudden.”

The former Queen, Isabella, was flustered and quickly blinked her eyes. She tried to guess when Haven had been here.

Isabella chewed her red lips carefully, wondering if he had heard everything she said, displaying a nervous expression. It was because she was worried about giving Flitta embarrassment by talking about blood.

‘Why did I run into you in this place…!’

Isabella frowned in annoyance. Then she glanced at Flitta, then shifted her gaze to glare at the green-eyed maid.

After all, it was all because of that maid.

It wasn’t the first time she scolded Flitta in the absence of Haven. At such times, Flitta’s nanny took notice of her and scolded the child again afterward, but she, like that maid now, took her child’s side and kept her eyes open in front of her.

‘I didn’t like how she looked. Why does she have the same green eyes as that child?’

Isabella glared at the maid, then looked away from her. Flitta whimpered, looked back and forth between her and Haven, and saw her stealthily holding the maid’s hand.

‘Anyway, this low bloodline….’

She muttered to herself. No matter how much she pretended to be nice to Flitta in front of Haven’s eyes, she never came close to Flitta like that. Far from holding her hand, she always hid behind her nanny, so what more needs to be said.

‘Looks like lowly things are attracted to each other.’

Isabella raised the corners of her mouth in a silent sarcasm. She then put on a concerned look on her face, and she continued her words.

“By the way, Flitta seems to follow her maid too much, which worries me. As you can see.”

Isabella deliberately turned her gaze to Flitta and her maid. Haven followed her gaze and saw them. Flitta and her maid were holding hands, then his body flinched at the same time. It looked like two squirrels. How to say, a mother squirrel and baby squirrel…

‘What? Squirrel?’

Haven laughed at the idea that came to him unconsciously. But, as if he had misinterpreted the figure at will, Isabella nodded her head with her triumphant expression on her face.

“Haven, I knew you would think so too. Flitta, let go of her hand and come here.”

Isabella spoke to Flitta in a kind tone, slightly frowning her. But Flitta flinched even more at her words, and she grabbed Rosé’s hand even harder.

“Flitta, you should act like a princess.”

“… Uungg.”

Flitta’s eyes trembled anxiously. Rosé felt the hand of the child holding her hand tremble and leaned slightly towards her child.

“Princess.”

“…”

Flitta raised her head at the voice of Rosé calling her. Rosé made eye contact with the child and smiled softly.

She said that she didn’t have to be afraid.

That it was okay, so she can go.

Rosé was able to convey those words with just her eyes. Flitta looked into Rosé’s eyes and took a deep breath before she turned her head again to the Queen. A scary big Auntie, and her cold-looking dad were looking at her. She almost cried at those gazes, but she managed to hold it in.

For Rosé’s sake.

The child took courage from the warmth transmitted through Rosé’s hands and opened her mouth.

“She hit Rosé.”

“…!”

Isabella’s eyes widened at Flitta’s words. At the same time, Haven’s brow furrowed. Isabella pursed her lips, unable to shake off her embarrassment, then forced herself into a smile.

“Flitta, what are you talking about all of a sudden? Now, will you let go of the maid’s hand and come over to me? What if someone sees…

“… But that woman over there hit my maid earlier.”

Flitta pointed her hand at the middle-aged woman standing behind Isabella. Even as the child’s fingertips trembled, she did not go all the way down. The face of the middle-aged woman, her maid of honor, turned pale at the child’s behavior.

“Pr, princess. There seems to be a misunderstanding…”

The lady-in-waiting stuttered and grabbed the hem of her dress. After Isabella looked back at her and frowned, she looked back at Haven. Haven’s face remained calm despite the child’s words.

She did, though it would be more absurd to say that Rosé had laid her hand on her lady-in-waiting.

“Yes. Flitta, you misunderstood.”

Isabella encouraged Haven with her nonchalant response. She opened her mouth with a bit of confidence. Then she looked up at Haven and continued her words.

“The maid taking care of the princess doesn’t know her manners, so my lady-in-waiting scolded her a little. It seems that Flitta misunderstood the scene. Surely you didn’t misunderstand, did you?”

“…”

Instead of answering, Haven turned his eyes to Rosé. Rosé looked at Flitta with a puzzled expression and was at a loss for what to do.

His gaze moved to her cheek. As if it was true that she had been hit as the child said, she could see red handprints left on Rosé’s cheeks. Perhaps after a night, there would leave a blue bruise.

Moreover, he could say that the scene he witnessed was an extension of that. Haven recalled the image of the lady-in-waiting trying to swing her hand at Rosé. And the figure of Flitta, who was crying next to her.

“What rudeness did you commit?”

Haven’s cold voice turned to Rosé. Rosé stopped looking at Flitta and turned her head to him. His blue eyes were looking straight at her.

“I was wondering how much of a disrespect was committed to the lady-in-law to blame my maid, not even her own subordinates.”

“Ah! Haven!”

Isabella glared at her lady-in-waiting with a puzzled expression. The lady-in-waiting also realized her mistake and bowed her head.

Whatever she was, Rosé was a maid belonging to the Grand Duke’s residence. It was entirely up to the grand duke to scold or punish her. No matter how much she was the Head maid of the palace, her actions earlier were clearly overstepping her authority.

“Your Highness, Grand Duke. I made a mistake. I just thought that as a maid serving her princess, she should be more polite, it is for the sake of the Princess.”

“I did not ask the baroness. I asked my daughter’s maid.”

Haven responded coldly to the woman, then looked back at Rosé. She also looked at him with a puzzled expression and then bit her lips.

It was kind of sad. She didn’t know if it was because she realized again that the distance between her and himself was far away than she imagined.

‘My daughter’s maid.’

It was so natural, and it was a rare opportunity given to her, but nevertheless, the words that came out of Haven’s mouth made his heart throb.

Rosé swallowed her bitter smile and looked straight at him. His blue eyes were still fixed on her.

“For now, may I take the princess to her bedroom?”

“…?”

The words returned from Rosé were not an answer to Haven’s question. He narrowed his brow and looked at her. At the same time, Flitta clung to her as if she was buried in the hem of Rosé skirt.

“The princess injured her leg, so she needs to be treated.”

“What? You hurt her leg?”

Haven’s expression hardened. He took his gaze away from Rosé and looked at Flitta. Flitta grabbed the hem of Rosé’s skirt and glanced behind her, and when her eyes met his, she flinched like a child who had done something wrong.

“Are you hurt, Flitta?”

“… A little bit.”

Flitta hesitated for a moment, then she replied a beat late to him. Then she hid her face in the hem of Rosé’s skirt again. His face contorted as he tried to ask more. Rosé, who saw this, patted Flitta’s shoulder and continued her words instead.

“The princess fell and hurt her knee. It wasn’t that she was seriously injured, but I was afraid that it would leave her scars…”

Rosé’s voice trembled as if she was afraid of what she would say about the child. She didn’t even pay attention to the fact that her cheeks were swollen red.

There was a difference in Haven’s eyes as she was looking at her. However, he quickly nodded his head with a cool face as usual.

“Then I will have to treat her. Take the child and go in.”

“Thank you, Your Highness…”

“Haven! We haven’t finished talking yet….”

Isabella couldn’t find a chance to intervene in the situation, but she quickly opened her mouth before they departed. He looked back at her with his cold gaze.

“My child is injured. Is there anything more important than that?”

“…!”

Isabella’s expression hardened. She couldn’t answer his words, but she struggled to open her mouth in a calm tone.

“I didn’t know that Flitta was hurt. Had I known, I would have acted quickly. …I’ll take my maid with me and go on our way.”

If it was possible to hurt someone with a human gaze, Rosé by now would have been torn to pieces in front of Isabella. As much as that, Isabella’s gaze at Rosé was extremely sharp.

But Rosé lowered her head calmly and turned around with Flitta. The Queen Seon’s gaze on the back of her head stung.

… Because of that, Rosé didn’t even notice that Haven’s gaze was also fixed on her.