It Was Me, Not You - Chapter 23

The bed in the guest room where I stayed while I was sick was good, but it was nothing to compare with this bed.

Diana felt good again because the worries she had for a moment flew away and the fluffiness of the embrace.

As if waiting for her body to loosen up, she put down all her worries for a while and slowly closed her eyes.

***

(Grand Duke’s POV)

When the Grand Duke returned to the office from Diana’s room and sat at his desk, the door of the office opened and the butler came in.

“The etiquette training has just begun.”

“I see.”

The butler raised his head, wondering at the dull voice of the Grand Duke. Then, I could see the face of the duke crumpling his forehead as if he was thinking about something else.

“I’m reporting on your work, but you’re thinking about something else.”

Since the duke returned to the castle, the duke has been briefed on every move of Seia, and when he was briefed on the work of the duke, he stopped doing what he was doing and concentrated on it.

Suddenly, however, the butler was surprised, but he spoke carefully to the duke without showing any agitation.

“Your Highness, do you have any further questions-“

“Harron.”

Before the butler’s words were finished, the duke called him.

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“Diana’s room. Didn’t you prepare it?”

“What?”

The butler, who had guessed that he would naturally ask about Seia, looked at the duke with embarrassment at the unexpected question.

But the duke looked at the butler without saying twice.

The butler, alerted to the cool eyes of the Grand Duke, answered quickly.

“Yes, Your Grace, I have prepared it.”

“But why did you do it so poorly? You don’t have one of those common stuffed animals to call it a child’s room. One bed and one table. Isn’t it too insincere to order you to prepare a room myself?”

The Grand Duke did not like the difference between Diana’s room and Seia’s.

Of course, it wasn’t as necessary to decorate as Seia’s room, the grand princess, but it bothered him that the child was staying in a desolate room with only two dangling furniture in a large room.

And the sight of Diana sincerely saying that such a room was good stimulated his nerves even more.

I don’t understand, but the butler, who read the uncomfortable feeling of the duke related to Diana, carefully opened his mouth.

“I thought it meant that the room should be decorated with the budget that  had originally been given to Leah. I’m sorry, Your Grace.”

The butler bowed his head, curtailing his words.

When the duke heard the butler’s words, he flinched his stiff expression and narrowed his brows deeply.

It wasn’t because I was angry with the butler.

This was in the same vein as the doctor who brought the citrus medication when Diana was injured.

Neither the doctor at the time nor the current butler treated her accordingly because he did not recognize Diana as his daughter.

It is natural that an illegitimate child who has not been recognized by the family cannot use expensive herbs or spend a lot of money decorating the room.

And it was none other than the Grand Duke himself who made them behave like that.

Realizing the causal relationship, the Grand Duke’s mood hit rock bottom.

I was annoyed that they acted like that, and I was angry with myself for creating this situation, and I didn’t like myself for continuing to care about Diana, who didn’t have to care.

And if it was his usual self, he would have already found the reason for dispersing his reason and cut it coldly.

Funny, however, the Grand Duke could not shake the child out of his head, even though he knew that Diana was the cause of his confusion.

The moment when Diana held his hand tightly and cried was still clearly remembered in his head.

“Ha.”

The Grand Duke breathed a short sigh of sigh.

‘Diana, I feel like my reason is paralyzed when she’s involved.’ The duke pressed against his temple with a throbbing head.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

Something needed to be decided to admit that he cared about the child.

And the answer was already out. He can’t pretend he doesn’t know Diana.

For a moment, Leah’s face came to mind and felt guilty for Seia and Ariel, but the Grand Duke seemed unable to shake Diana no matter how hard he tried.

At least Diana that child, Leah, were not brought up by love.

I have no choice but to think that the child is keeping Ariel’s words, which she said was innocent.

It was like an excuse for myself, but if I didn’t do it like this, I was going to go crazy because of my complicated mind.

‘Until she grows up a little bit, yeah, I’ll take care of her until then, and I’ll get her out of the grand duchy.’

When he came to a conclusion, he felt a little lighter and saw the butler, who was still bowing his head.

“Harron, raise your head and it’s not your fault.”

“I’m sorry, Your Grace.”

The butler raised his head and spoke again to the air.

“Your Highness, would you like me to decorate Miss Diana’s room a little more?”

The Grand Duke nodded slowly, recalling the empty room.

“Yes, make room for your child. That’s not to say do as Seia does.”

“Yes, Your Grace. I’ll be on my way now.”

When the butler was about to turn around, the Grand Duke felt sorry and guilty for Seia, so he called the butler again.

“Harron.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“The other day, Seia said she wanted a pony, but find out which pony is of great descent and give it to Seia as a gift as soon as possible. And I’ll have dinner with Seia tonight, so make sure to prepare carefully.”

“Yes, sir. Your Highness.”

The butler left the office with a small smile on his face referring to the grand princess. 

The Grand Duke, who sat alone in the office after the butler left, recalled Seia’s appearance in Diana’s room earlier.

 “I’m sure she didn’t like Diana.”

Pretending not to, she spoke to Diana and smiled at her, but the Grand Duke was not the one to be fooled by the lies of a mere ten-year-old child.

Maybe it was Seia who pushed her when she fell

Of course, Seia was not angry with the child for doing so.

The Enemy Grand Princess and Diana the illegitimate child.

In noble family, there was no house where the deficit cared for and cared for the birth.

From the standpoint of the deficit, the existence of illegitimate children has always been uncomfortable and disgraceful.

If Seia and Diana were really on good terms, that would have been even more strange.

In the first place the butler said Diana had rarely come to the house, so she would not have met Seia much.

So even though the Grand Duke knew everything, he did not say anything to Seia in the room earlier.

But I was a little surprised inside. Seia telling lies casually and the child’s eyes that despise Diana.

Because she’s a lot different than the child he’s ever seen.

“Does Ariel’s gentle personality not resemble each other?”

The Grand Duke shook his head, kicking his tongue at himself, in a sense of incompatibility toward Seia, who suddenly came up again.

“No wonder Seia hates Diana.”

I was expecting that, so I think Seia didn’t know that Diana was staying in the guest room, so she kept her mouth completely silent.

But now that thought this was a little rough, the Grand Duke rebuked himself, saying it was not like his father.

Since Seia will be under considerable stress from Diana’s work, the Grand Duke vowed to pay more attention to Seia in the future.

I definitely made that resolution, but what comes to mind for a moment is Diana, who had fallen.

“Sigh.”

The Grand Duke frowned. It made him uncomfortable to hurt another child who must have already been hurt by Leah’s

But that didn’t alert Seia.

“…That’s something she has to put up with.”

Seia and Diana. Of course, I had no choice but to choose Seia. The Grand Duke shook Diana’s faint image in his head and looked down at the papers.

***

(Diana’s POV)

“Well…”

The sun shone on Diana’s face over the window. Diana slowly opened her eyes as she rubbed her face against the pillow.

“Oh…”

I stared vacantly at the ceiling on such a peaceful morning. When I stayed in the guest room, I was not so calm because of the maid who came to check my physical condition every hour.

No cold, no sharp voice from Leah, silent morning.

In addition, it is well past ten o’clock at present.

When she lived in a hut, she slept in, which she would never dream of, and Diana realized that she had really left the hut.

“If I can stay like this, I think I can endure Seia’s bullying as much as I want.”

Diana procrastinated a bit more on the bed, enjoying the soft touch of the quilt.

How long have I been doing that? Diana’s stomach rumbled.

“I’m hungry.”

It was worth it because it was way past breakfast. Diana wriggled out of bed and pulled a string beside the bed.

Shortly afterwards, a knock on Diana’s door rang.

“Come on in.”

The door opened and a maid came in and lowered her head.

“You called, miss.”

“Yes, I want you to bring me breakfast.”

“Yes, I see.”

As the maid left the room, Diana got out of bed and looked out the window. At the end of winter, the sky looked clear and the sun looked warm as if proving that spring was coming.

Diana looked down from the sky and paused at the serene appearance of the garden.

“That’s the garden that the Grand Duchess cherished.”

I once heard what the maids were saying. The story of the garden where the Grand Duchess took care of herself.

Come to think of it… I thought I heard that the Grand Duchess was a water wizard.

“Yes, it certainly was.”

From the spirit that protects the imperial family to the stories related to magic in this world, I remembered it because it always made her heart pound.

The Grand duchess was a wizard, so the garden was especially beautiful than the other aristocratic gardens.It was like that.

Diana’s visible garden now was only the withered flowers with their heads down.

Strangely, the look made her heart ache, and Diana turned her eyes and looked elsewhere.

“Is that the promenade?”

[T/N:a place for strolling]

I noticed a road made between the bushes.

As I was looking at the road connected to the small forest of the duchy, I heard a knock on the door again.

“Come on in.”

The door opened and the maid came in with a silver tray. The maid quickly put the dishes on the table. Diana walked from the window to the table, attracted by the savory smell of bread.