CH 1

“I know you’re notorious for not taking on menial jobs like this. But I have something to ask of you, so I called you.”

Grand Duke Crichton said in a decrepit voice. He was the only Grand Duke of the Empire, and his voice was so weak that it was hard to believe that he held power comparable to that of an emperor.

I looked at Archduke Crichton for a moment. It was because I wondered if the Grand Duke of Crichton knew everything and called me to this place.

“What do you want me to do?”

“Find my daughter.”

There was deep regret in Grand Duke Crichton’s eyes.

As soon as I looked into his eyes, I felt it. That Grand Duke Crichton knew nothing.

“Daughter, You mean?”

“Yes. The child in this portrait is my daughter.”

I chewed my tongue carefully as I checked the portrait held out by Grand Duke Crichton.

The woman in the portrait was someone I knew well.

She was a person I could never forget, not even for a second.

I picked up the portrait with trembling hands.

“My daughter, Cornelia Crichton. It may have changed a lot in 25 years already, but I beg you. Please find my daughter.”

Cornelia Crichton.

It was a name I hadn’t heard in a while, but it wasn’t unfamiliar at all.

It was a name that had been deeply engraved in my heart for over 14 years.

Because Cornelia Crichton, the daughter Archduke Crichton was looking for, was my mother.

“As far as I know, Cornelia Crichton went missing 25 years ago… Why didn’t you try to find her sooner?”

I tried to find my composure, but my voice trembled.

Why did it have to be now?

Why, of all things… Is he trying to find her 14 years after her death?

I just couldn’t understand Grand Duke Crichton.

She was a mother who chose love among the honor and love of the family, but she wanted to be forgiven by her father.

So, she sent letters to her father asking for forgiveness several times, but never got a reply from the Duke of Crichton.

“I was trying to find her, but I couldn’t find her anywhere.”

“It’s not that you didn’t want to find her?”

“… What?”

“If not, why did you ignore your daughter’s letter?”

I couldn’t forget the moment when my mother gave up on everything while fighting the disease on the verge of death.

Do you know how much pain my mother suffered until the moment she closed her eyes?

“Letter?”

“Yes, a letter. A letter from Cornelia Crichton to you from time to time.”

Seeing the incomprehensible Grand Duke Crichton made me even angry.

How trivial it must have been to not even remember.

“I regret to inform you, Your Grace, that Cornelia Crichton is dead.”

I couldn’t help but say it, so I finally brought out the words that were shaking my heart.

At the same time, Grand Duke Crichton’s face turned pale.

“Sending, sending, and sending letters to Grand Duke Crichton asking for forgiveness! In the end, she died resentful of her father, who had no answer. Since that happened 14 years ago, I can’t accept the Grand Duke’s request.”

In fact, my mother did not resent Crichton.

Rather, she told me to forgive my grandfather, saying it was her fault.

But, Grand Duke Crichton, I have not been able to forgive you for a single moment since I learned of your existence.

“Then there would be no reason for me to stay here any longer.”

I didn’t feel the need to keep my seat any longer, so I got up.

Grand Duke Crichton got up from his seat, following me with a bewildered face.

It was a look that he didn’t understand what I was saying.

“Hey, who are you? Where is Cordelia? Is she really dead?”

It was then.

Clap, clap, clap.

The incongruous sound of applause echoed through the drawing room.

“The two of you finally met.”

Entering the drawing room was an elderly man.

It was a man in a suit that looked as expensive as Grand Duke Crichton’s.

“Daniel?”

Grand Duke Crichton seemed to know who he was.

“Daniel, why are you here…!”

“More than that… Are the greetings over?”

The man called Daniel took a cigar from his pocket and put it in his mouth.

A servant came in with Daniel and cut off the end of his cigar and lit it.

Daniel took a deep breath and exhaled.

A cloud of smoke drifted into the air as he breathed.

“I guess we haven’t greeted each other properly yet. It’s your granddaughter, why didn’t you say hello?”

“What?”

Daniel said as if he knew everything.

Grand Duke Crichton’s gaze, greatly surprised, lingered on me. I looked at Grand Duke Crichton once, then at Daniel.

I wondered how he knew about it.

“What do you mean, Daniel? Granddaughter?”

“Ah really, no matter how much I was in control of the Grand Duchy… Isn’t it too much to not recognize your own granddaughter? Isn’t that right, Mirabel?”

Even though I didn’t reveal it, Daniel knew my name.

“Who are you?”

I was ready to take out the dagger that I had hidden in my arms at any time.

I felt like something was going wrong.

“What? It’s your little Uncle. So how far were the two of you talking? Haven’t you talked about Cornelia’s letter yet?”

It was a distinctly mocking tone.

“Daniel, how do you know about the letters?”

Grand Duke Crichton frowned and asked Daniel.

Daniel shrugged his shoulders and came over to sit on the sofa.

“How do I know? I know because I stole the letter. It was a very heartfelt letter. If my brother had seen that, he would have brought Cornelia back to her mansion.”

Daniel took another deep breath and continued.

“But that’s not going to happen, because she’s very much in the way of my control of this house, and as you know, Cornelia was the fiancée of the Emperor, who was the crown prince at the time. How lucky I was that she left the mansion blinded by love.”

After hearing Daniel’s words, the rough situation was drawn.

And, surprisingly, I felt that the core that had been piled up in my heart all this time was released only now.

Grand Duke Crichton hadn’t received a letter from her mother at all.

That fact relieved me.

My mother’s trust was not betrayed in the end.

And on the other hand, thinking about how much my mother has suffered because of that Daniel who existed in front of me made me angry.

Grand Duke Crichton was looking at me with disbelief.

“Why are you revealing that now?”

I narrowed my eyes and glared at Daniel.

Daniel nodded as if guessing she would ask that question.

“Because your lives end today.”

As soon as Daniel spoke, the soldiers rushed into the drawing room.

Then, at the same time, they drew their swords.

I also took out the dagger I had hidden at the same time they pulled out the sword.

“Oh, Mirabel. It’s a pointless struggle. Just die in peace. Then the pain will be less.”

After Daniel finished speaking, he gestured in our direction.

With that as a signal, the soldiers began to close the distance.

I had Grand Duke Crichton behind me. I thrust my dagger forward.

I was checking the distance that was narrowing in all directions, but I couldn’t deny Daniel’s words.

It was pointless.

I couldn’t defeat the soldiers rushing into the room alone.

I would have run away if I was alone, but I couldn’t do that now.

“Oh, baby, you don’t have to fight for me. Leave me alone and hide.”

Grand Duke Crichton’s voice trembled.

Since I had my back on him, I couldn’t tell what kind of expression he was making.

I took a small deep breath as I stopped Grand Duke Crichton from stepping forward past me.

“Duke Crichton, tell me one thing.”

“Baby, please!”

“Cornelia… Did you really love my mother?”

“She was like my life. I’ve never hated that child in my life.”

“That’s enough.”

After I finished speaking, I swung a dagger at the soldiers who were just around the corner.

* * *

“… rabel.”

My body felt heavy, as if I was sinking into the water.

“Mirabel.”

My mother’s voice, which I wanted to hear until I cried, called me.

At that moment, with the feeling of my body floating in the air, I heard a voice calling me once again.

“Mirabel!”

“!”

I opened my eyes with a sudden sensation like a firecracker exploding.

A familiar ceiling and a nostalgic face came into my eyes first.

“…mom?”

I saw my mother in front of me.

“Are you real, mom?”

“Really?”

I couldn’t deny what was in front of me, so I just burst into tears.

“Of course, it’s real. Did you have a bad dream?”

My mother gently brushed the hair on my forehead and looked down at me with worried eyes.’

It is said that there is eternal happiness at the end of death, but it seemed that now was the moment.

I held her for a long time and cried.

I held my mom for a long time and cried.

Just like a lost child looking for their mother, I held my mother in my arms and cried for a long time.

My mom didn’t ask me anything.

She just patted me on the back until I stopped crying.

When I buried my face in my mother’s arms, the smell of grass lingered at the tip of my nose.

It was the smell of my mother, whom I thought I would never smell again.

I let go of my mother only after I couldn’t cry anymore.

“Are you okay?”

Mom asked as she wiped the tears from my face.

She held my mother’s hand and rubbed my cheek with her hand

“Yes, I’m fine.”

It is real.

It’s really my mother.

The fear that it might be a fantasy that would disappear in an instant, but my mother is real.

How the hell did this happen?

I lowered my gaze in wonder.

And only then did I understand how I have my mother in front of me.

“What’s this?”

A small, delicate hand came into my view, like a child’s.

No, it wasn’t like that.

This small hand that moves according to my will is definitely my hand.

Oh my god.

I took a deep breath and looked around.

I needed a mirror to understand the current situation.

After looking around, I noticed a small, blurry mirror hanging in the living room.

I hurriedly approached the mirror and looked at my face.

What was reflected in the mirror was a young girl about 10 years old.

And that figure matched my childhood self.

“No way.”

She raised her small hand and touched her face.

The young me in the mirror reflected what I was doing.

This just proves that the child in the mirror is definitely me.

“Mom, how old am I right now?”

This can’t be true, but I asked my mom, holding the assumption that it might be possible.

My mother replied with a smile.

“How old are you? You just turned nine yesterday.”