Chapter 58

The servants’ curious gazes gathered on the Grand Duke and me. With so many pairs of eyes focused on us, it became even harder to speak up.

Accepting that there was no escape, I resolutely opened my mouth.

“Welcome back……”

My saliva immediately caught in my throat.

The Grand Duke patiently waited for me to continue. Right. This was just like a doll role-play, not real.

With my eyes tightly shut, I forced out the rest of what I needed to say.

“………Dad.”

Having finally uttered that problematic term of address, I took a deep breath. Upon hearing my words, the Grand Duke tilted his head about 5 centimeters more than before.

His silver hair rustled as it scattered across his forehead.

“I couldn’t hear you clearly.”

What did you just say, you jerk?

For a moment, I almost lost my composure and spoke my true thoughts to the Grand Duke. Did he understand the difficulty of calling the original villain Grand Duke “Dad”?

That simple term of address stirred up competing feelings of guilt within me.

‘What am I going to do later?’

After it’s revealed that I’m not the Imperial Princess, if he complains about me calling him Dad, I will never forgive him.

The Grand Duke, with a shamelessness rivaling Tristan’s, demanded again.

“I couldn’t hear you, so say it once more.”

“If I do it, the Grand Duke also has to pretend to play his role.”

“If those are the rules, then it’s right to follow them.”

“……Fine.”

Rather than prolong this, I decided to quickly satisfy him and end this doll play. After this rational calculation, I held the rabbit doll’s head and pretended to bow.

The Grand Duke played along by waving the Daebaks doll’s hand.

“Hup.”

Taking another deep breath, I raised my head and met the Grand Duke’s gaze. His eyes, which met mine, rippled with a blue light containing a faint expectation.

I shouted quickly like someone being chased.

“Welcome back! Dad!”

At my voice, which resonated throughout the garden, the servants covered their mouths and continuously expressed exclamations of admiration.

‘Is he satisfied now?’

Feeling embarrassed to see his expression, I lowered my head. At that moment, the arm of Daebak controlled by the Grand Duke gently rested on top of my head.

A warm voice like the spring breeze settled down as if it were a lie.

“Yes. I’m back.”

The resonance in the voice was so unfamiliar that I wondered if it was really the Grand Duke speaking. Could he make such a voice?

Even if it was acting, this was almost like…

I experimentally put that problematic term of address in my mouth again.

“……Dad?”

“Yes.”

Along with the readily given answer came a gently upturned mouth. The Grand Duke was smiling with a face I had never seen before.

It was too lively to dismiss as a fabricated expression. It was different from when I had asked him to smile before.

Would it be an illusion to feel affection in the way he looked at me?

‘That can’t be.’

Didn’t he see me, who had nearly died several times, as troublesome and annoying? But that gaze wasn’t looking at me as a tool for rebellion…

It was like the gaze of an ordinary parent.

Confused, I tried somehow to gather my senses. I shouldn’t hastily judge the Grand Duke’s feelings.

Desperately racking my brain, I remembered what the Grand Duke had said before.

“If you’ve never experienced love, I’ll give you love, even if it’s false.”

“……Okay.”

“If you don’t know how to enjoy good things when you receive them, I’ll personally teach you how to enjoy them. So stay alive until I want you to.”

He must be acting like a parent to keep his promise to me. Even though the answer was already clear, I deliberately chose to ignore it.

After all, I had come to understand him too.

‘It’s easier to be hated.’

Rather than hurting others, I found it easier to be hurt myself. If the Grand Duke truly saw me as a parent would, the fact that I wasn’t the Imperial Princess would leave a deep wound on him.

‘That kind of look is unfair.’

I didn’t know how much I could change the original story.

All I had decided to protect was the fate of those two children, Tristan and Lucas. Even that, I couldn’t be sure would go according to my plan.

Wanting to escape this uncomfortable situation, I tried a little trick.

“Grand Duke, I was wondering, could we change the doll play?”

“Is there a problem?”

“No, it’s just good to experience various relationships.”

“Then let’s do this.”

The Grand Duke immediately came up with a story. This relationship also smelled of mischief.

“The doll you’re holding and my doll are in a romantic relationship.”

“That doll’s name is Daebak.”

“Yes. This Daebak or whatever is angry at your doll, his lover.”

“What’s the reason for being angry?”

“Because you didn’t tell him you love him.”

Is he trying to pick a fight with me now?

With an expression that seemed impenetrable, the Grand Duke spoke of the embarrassing setting and raised the doll in his hand.

His expression was as serious as someone explaining a strategy on a battlefield.

“Now then, what should your doll say to my angry doll?”

“……”

I want to give up on everything.

I was contemplating how far I should go along with this when, somehow knowing what was happening, Tristan barged in.

“Little one. Let’s escape right now.”

He grabbed my wrist and used magic to transport us. As we were enveloped in bright light, I looked back at the Grand Duke left alone with Daebak.

He smiled slightly and waved his hand toward me.

“Come back before it gets late.”

“Okay.”

I was startled by my own response, overwhelmed by that gentle atmosphere. The expression warmed by a spring breeze was imprinted in my mind.

Perhaps I had been thinking about him wrongly.

***

“Grand Princess, what are you doing?”

“Thinking.”

Right after Tristan took me and ran away, Lucas came chasing after us, resulting in a chaotic day. Now I needed to rest, but thoughts were tangled in my head, making it impossible to sleep.

‘Which one is the truth?’

Through various experiences, I had realized that the Grand Duke was a kinder person than in the original story. However, even so, I didn’t think of him as a ‘good’ person.

The information from the original story that remained in my mind contributed to that judgment.

[Yurian cared about the well-being of the Imperial Princess he had placed on the throne. However, that was because the illegitimate Imperial Princess needed to be alive as a tool. The emotions the Imperial Princess might feel upon seeing the corpse of an imperial family member were not worth his consideration.]

In the original story, he was indifferent as long as the Imperial Princess was alive, but now he cares about my feelings. It was too much kindness to be just for keeping me alive.

‘They said he was the worst villain.’

Because I had read the narrative of the original story, I wasn’t surprised by Luke’s confession.

“His Grace the Grand Duke will take the heads of all those with imperial blood.”

Rather, hearing those words reassured me.

It helped alleviate the guilt of deceiving the Grand Duke. But what if, like Lucas, the Grand Duke was also different from his portrayal in the original story?

If this trend continued, there was a possibility that even the protagonist, Saint Hela, might not be the righteous person I thought she was.

“No, that can’t be.”

The original story had been everything I relied on through hundreds of rebirths. If all of that was a lie, what should I believe in?

What about my initial goal of ending this endless life?

Even if it was wrong, I had no choice but to believe in the original story. Perhaps wanting to live a little longer was the cause of all these worries.

Juno’s dying wish for me to be happy was constraining my thinking.

“I was seriously mistaken. Happiness isn’t what’s important.”

“That actually is important.”

Startled by the immediate response from right beside me, I hunched my shoulders.

A dark shadow fell over my head. A man who had been bending over straightened up and spoke with a grin.

“Are we acquainted?”

How could I not have noticed someone approaching while lost in thought?

Platinum blonde hair covering the nape of his neck, eyes reminiscent of lush greenery, and a handsome appearance impossible to forget once seen.

The man exuded a refreshing atmosphere like clean water.

“You, you…!”

“It’s been a while. I wonder if the book I found for you last time was useful.”

There was someone who had tricked me in the library, claiming to find me a book but giving me trash instead. With my mouth hanging open, unable to close it, I pointed at him, and the man personally folded my finger down.

“There. Such behavior is against etiquette. Please be careful.”

“Etiquette?”

“Yes. I am Viscount Heishar Lute, who will be your etiquette teacher until the ball. Please call me Heishar comfortably.”

The man who had introduced himself neatly bowed.

I looked at Sen with eyes demanding an explanation. Unfortunately, everything the man said was true.

Sen introduced the man to me and added:

“He’s a teacher the Grand Duke went to great lengths to bring from outside. He came briefly to greet you.”

“My skills aren’t extraordinary, but I’ll do my best.”

Why do strange things keep happening whenever education issues are involved? The memory of staying up guarding my drawer because of this man was vivid.

I couldn’t even explain how dangerous this man was.

“Sen, I’m sorry, but I actually don’t need a teacher.”

“I understand you don’t want to be educated, but the ball is an important event.”

“No, really.”

“Heishar will teach you in a way that’s not boring.”

As if responding to those words, Heishar smiled kindly.

‘I really don’t need it!’

Having lived dozens of lives, how could I not know ball etiquette?

I was about to demonstrate etiquette to Sen, but decided to hold back for now. If possible, it would be better to resolve this by speaking with the man privately.

‘That would cause less friction.’

Being extremely generous, I could refrain from questioning the man about giving me an inappropriate book in the library. The problem would arise if the book he gave and this man’s ideology were related.

In that case, the man would be dangerous just by existing.

‘I’ll talk to him during the next lesson.’

I could demonstrate perfect etiquette in front of the man and persuade him to resign voluntarily. Despite my dissatisfied gaze, the man maintained his gentleness.

Heishar and the maids exchanged pleasant conversation.

“Then I look forward to working with you.”

“Is there anything we should prepare for you?”

“Since etiquette lessons require close communication with the subject, please ensure we are alone during lessons.”

“Yes, we’ll do that.”

A faint anxiety similar to what I felt with Gerard briefly passed through me.

If I explain well, nothing bad will happen.

Deciding not to think too deeply about it, I shook my head. I was already worried about Lucas and Tristan, who wouldn’t listen, and now a new concern had been added.