CH 3.32

“Yes, Your Highness! Thank you.”

He was silent for a while, refused to accept what she said, and Rosé replied happily. His blue eyes flickered at her smiling face.

It felt strange. A crunching of feeling was felt inside his chest, somehow felt like he was holding onto something tightly and was numb.

“Ro…”

Upon opening his mouth without him realizing what he was doing, he heard footsteps from the outside and the door burst open. His face sank as usual at that time.

“Yo, Your Highness! How come at this late hour….”

It was none other than the nanny, who almost ran up to Flitta and was catching her breath, panting heavily. She looked around the room as if she heard the news belatedly and seeing Rosé made her eyes open so as her mouth.

‘If His Highness is here, you should have informed me right away!’

Although the nanny wasn’t explicitly scolding her, she could hear her voice in her voice and she lowered her head with a baffled expression.

At the same time, Haven looked at Rosé, whose smile had faded in an instant; no traces were found and for some reason it was distasteful.

He frowned and looked at the nanny again. Earlier she was still panting and catching her breath, but she looked like a nanny who had calmed down just right now. As he watched the scene, he opened his mouth.

“You left the child behind.”

“Ah, th, that…”

Upon hearing his words, the nanny’s face instantly turned pale. The nanny stuttered and opened her mouth as if she were finding excuses for herself. But Haven didn’t have to know those nonsense excuses.

“Where have you been?”

Haven interrupted the nanny and asked a cold question. Then the nanny rolled her eyes from side to side, squeezed the hem of her skirt lightly, then released it.

“I, uh, well, I have something to do, so I had to…”

“Was that more important than helping my child to eat dinner? Was that the reason you left my child with her maid alone?”

His voice sank into the nanny’s ears even more and the nanny’s face turned whiter. She frantically waved her hands, clarifying.

“Th, that’s not it, I went to visit Her Majesty, the Queen, and the Duchess. I’d like to ask them about their releasing of anger towards the princess.….”

“Releasing of anger?”

A chuckle was heard from Haven. But nobody but him laughed at her.

Rosé looked at him while clutching Flitta’s hand that held the hem of her skirt. Haven’s gaze on the nanny was cold.

No, the word cold was not enough. She wondered if the temperature around them had dropped. In reality, of course, that’s unlikely.

Nevertheless, because of his voice and expression, everyone felt chill slithering down their spines. It was a severe chill that seemed to freeze everything around him.

“Yo, Your Highness. I didn’t mean what I said…”

The nanny’s face turned blue from being white. It was only then that she realized how much of a mistake she had made. She trembled at the wrath of her master, then sat down on her knees.

It was an obvious mistake. Because of her habit of looking down on the Young Princess and treating her carelessly, talking about how she has lowly blood, she accidentally made a mistake in front of the Grand Duke without realizing it.

“I did something presumptuous because I was afraid that Her Highness and the Duchess would look at the Princess in a bad way, no, I was worried about that. Apparently, if the Princess hate the two grown-ups of the royal family, there will be disadvantages when she later debuts in the social world, so…”

The nanny gave her excuses in random order. In fact, all of that was just a lie. She went to visit the Queen and Duchess, but it was only for her own gain.

To get into their eyes and get a chance to enter the royal family later.

So, she slandered and ridiculed the young princess. She blamed the innocent child, saying that her low blood could not be hidden like that, and so noble people mocked her just to dispel their anger.

Then, on the way back with a shrug of her shoulders, she heard the news that the grand duke had headed to the princess’s bedroom. And she was confronted in this situation.

‘I have to get out of this situation somehow. Then he will scold his child to correct her habits…’

The nanny who was bowing her head slightly raised her gaze and glared at Rosé There was poison in her gaze.

All of this was the maid’s fault. This happened because she did not immediately inform her that the Grand Duke had arrived here.

Or perhaps it was intention to lure the nanny to this trap, no, there must be a bigger ulterior motive.

There were not one or two maids who did various tricks to get in the eyes of the Grand Duke.

‘She’s a clever bitch. Approaching the princess with her innocent face wasn’t enough, now she’s trying to impress the grand duke with the use of princess?’

Nanny pursed her lips, convinced her claims that she was right, but then she remembered something and opened her eyes wide.

‘Wait a minute. Well then, I shouldn’t be doing this here, I should inform Her Highness, the Queen…’

“That was an excuse.”

At that moment, Haven’s voice was heard which made the nanny’s thoughts stopped. The nanny bowed her head, then she looked up at him.

Haven pressed down on the bridge of his nose, frowning tiredly. Indeed, he was getting tired of hearing the nanny’s continuous excuses.

“Stop and go out. It’s late at night, so my child needs to sleep.”

“I have to watch the Princess’s bed…”

The nanny opened her mouth as she hobbled up. Then Haven smiled at her and looked at her as if he was looking at something ridiculous. It was still a cold gaze.

“Well, I think a maid could do that. Maybe that was the reason why you were away.”

“…”

The nanny’s face blushed like that of someone who got insulted by him. But Haven looked at the nanny with a nonchalant expression, and then chinned her. He meant to gt out.

“Then… I shall head out now, Your Highness.”

The nanny barely opened her mouth to answer, and then she politely bowed her back. Yet rather than being greeted by the nanny, he turned away from her and when the nanny noticed that he ignored her, she closed her mouth and left. She, of course, did not forget to glare Rosé in the meantime.

After the nanny left, the room was silent. Rosé looked at him quietly while holding Flitta’s hand. It was understandable that he was displeased that the child’s nanny did not know her place. She felt the same way whenever the nanny treated her child with disrespect and neglect.

The difference is that he can get angry with his nanny like this while she herself can’t do anything about it.

… Somehow she was shabby herself.

But at the same time, she felt fortunate. Even if she leaves someday, Haven will protect their child…

Rosé hurriedly lowered her head while her eyes got blurry. She pressed her lips together and suppressed her rising emotions.

“Let’s drink tea later.”

Just then, Haven broke the silence and spoke gently. Rosé finally came to her senses and raised her head. Come to think of it, she was about to prepare a teatime for Haven and Flitta. She opened her mouth in haste.

“Ah! I will prepare right now…”

“No, that’s okay.”

But Haven cut her off. Then he cast his gaze on Flitta.

“The child seems sleepy too.”

“I-I’m fine!”

When Flitta heard him, she immediately exclaimed in a loud voice. Flitta rubbed her hands around her drowsy eyes and sprinted to the table, making it look like she was not a timid child.

“Would you like some tea? I’ll drink Cocoa, Rosé!”

Flitta tumbled up to her feet as if impatiently, looking back and forth between Rosé and Haven. She could feel the child’s desperate heart that she couldn’t miss her first teatime with her father.

“… Your Highness.”

Rosé also looked back at Haven with a desperate heart. He narrowed his brows and let out a sigh. He shrugged his shoulders with a sigh seeing that Flitta was not the only one looking at him, but only Rosé.

“… Milk is good for children with honey.”

“…!”

His words were like permission. Realizing this, Rosé and Flitta’s faces brightened at the same time.

* * *

“He has definitely changed, not to mention his gaze toward her. His attitude toward his daughter….”

The former queen, Isabella, was lying on the bed and jumped up to sit up and chew her lips. A look of annoyance crossed her face.

“What happened? It’s only been a month, no, less than a month.”

The last time she saw him was at a memorial service. It was too short for him to change that much.

But a change has occurred.

Haven and Flitta’s relationship as father-daughter pair.

“But, no way, I did things to….”

Isabella muttered nervously to herself, chewing her lips again. Her mouth went twisted.

It was never a pleasant thing to get closer to have them have a closer relationship. No, it would rather get in the way. She doesn’t know if the child follows him. It was more so when she get scared just seeing him. This was especially true whenever Flitta sees her, she became frightened.

So, as soon as she received a report that the two seemed to have gotten closer recently, she hurriedly visited the Grand Duke to check with her own eyes. She was in disbelief even after receiving the report from the person she planted there.

However, the actual appearance of the father and daughter was definitely closer than at the memorial service. Of course, since she saw them briefly during a dinner party, she could say that it was rather a misunderstanding.

From the fact that he didn’t want the child to meet them in the first place…

“This is all because of the Duchess. Yes, that’s clear Haven wouldn’t have known that Duchess Ferrante hated him.”