CH 18

“Ha ha ha! Brother, no matter how much you have a granddaughter, you shouldn’t change so suddenly. If a person suddenly changes, you die, right? People would be surprised to see my older brother, who was famous for being cold-hearted, weeping tears!”

Daniel, who had been listening to all of her conversation with Grand Duke Crichton across from her, burst into laughter. It was a sound that could sound exciting to someone who didn’t know anything, but to her, who knew all about Daniel’s plot, his laughter sounded like an uncomfortable metal sound. However, Grand Duke Crichton, who had no way of knowing Daniel’s intentions, burst into laughter at Daniel’s words.

“Come to think of it, I will see you for the first time. This is Mirabel, Cornelia’s daughter.”

First, the Grand Duke of Crichton introduced her to Daniel. Daniel’s cunningly torn eyes turned to her. Meanwhile, Grand Duke Crichton introduced Daniel to her.

“Mirabel, this is Daniel Crichton, your great-grandfather. He’s my brother too. Say hello.”

“…hello.”

First of all, she greeted Grand Duke Crichton, thinking of his face. She decided to keep an eye on him quietly as long as there was no evidence yet. Daniel, who was looking at her, raised one of his lips and opened his mouth with a smile.

“Brother, actually, Mirabelle and I aren’t meeting each other for the first time.”

“Hmm? What do you mean, Daniel? How could you be acquainted with our Mirabel?”

At Daniel’s ambiguous words, Grand Duke Crichton expressed his doubts.

“Earlier, when Grandpa arrived at the mansion, he directed Mirabel to guide her. To a kid who has only been back at the mansion for a day and doesn’t even know the way.”

It was Elliott who answered Grand Duke Crichton’s question. Elliot was sitting in his seat with an unusually serious expression on his face. And he had Daniel Crichton at the end of his gaze. Elliot’s face didn’t look very pleasant. Elliot seemed to put up with discomfort just as much as she did.

“Did something like that happen?”

Grand Duke Crichton frowned and asked Daniel. Daniel shook his head with a calm face as if he knew this would happen.

“It did. She’s too cute to be called Cornelia’s daughter, so I let her guide me once. But I remember the road better than I thought. Her cleverness resemble Cornelia.”

Seeing Daniel praise her in a relaxed tone, Grand Duke Crichton narrowed his eyes for a moment and then opened them, but did not show any action.

“It was irresponsible to have Mirabel show you the way, even as a joke. Keep in mind that Mirabelle is still a child, having only been in this mansion for one day. How scary would she be if she got lost when she hadn’t even finished adjusting yet.”

“Okay, next time I’ll be careful. Haha!”

Brian laughed lightly and passed on the words of Grand Duke Crichton.

“By the way, when is the meal served? I’m hungry because I skipped lunch today.”

Daniel exaggeratedly patted his stomach and complained of his hunger.

“Yes, we’d better eat quickly.”

When Prince Crichton raised his right hand, the waiting butler bowed his head. The butler immediately opened the door leading to the kitchen. Then servants and maids brought the trolley inside. They began placing the dishes one by one in front of the people at the table and the meal soon began.

The Grand Duke of Crichton and Daniel were exchanging many stories as they continued their meal, as if to prove that they were brothers. Among them, the biggest issue was her. Grand Duke Crichton was telling Daniel in great detail what had happened that day, as if the fact that she had come to him for the first time and grabbed him and asked for help had a deep impression on him.

“Mirabel said that to me in front of the mansion. ‘Cornelia Crichton is my mother. Help me save my mother!’ Maybe she said that.”

Grand Duke Crichton drank a lot of wine and spoke exaggeratedly to Daniel. The exact details between what she said to Crichton at the time and what Crichton remembered were different, but they made sense anyway, so she didn’t bother to correct them. Then her mother held her hand. Turning her head to check on her mother, her mother was looking at her with tears in her eyes. From the touch of her mother who moved her thumb and stroked the back of her hand, her mother’s sorry and gratitude were clearly conveyed to her. In the meantime, Daniel raised his voice in surprise when he heard the words of Grand Duke Crichton.

“Oh my God, then you mean that child came all the way from Delphi village alone? It will take three days.”

“Okay. How did you think of coming that far alone?”

Grand Duke Crichton looked at her and smiled as if he were always admirable.

“She is a brave kid, heir of the blood of the Crichton family.”

To put it mildly, it was more about her determination to never lose her mother in vain, rather than her courage. To her at the age of 10, her mother was everything in the world. She didn’t want to experience the pain of the world abandoning her and dying a second time. Her departure as one of those decisions served as an opportunity to cure her mother’s illness. The fact that she had a disease that could be cured with money made her even more heartbroken.

“I know. When I grow up, I’m going to be a very good Crichton man. With that amount of distribution, I don’t think it would be bad to become the head of the family who will lead the Grand Duchy in the future.”

Daniel said without spitting in his mouth. While it was Daniel himself who coveted the position of head of the Grand Duchy of Crichton more than anyone else, he pretended not to be greedy himself, putting on his mask.

“That’s good too. Of course, we’ll have to judge the exact qualifications later, but Mirabel is great.”

Grand Duke Crichton burst into laughter, his face red from drunkenness. It was the first time in the short time she had met him that the Grand Duke Crichton had laughed so happily. She quietly sipped her grape juice and looked back and forth between Grand Duke Crichton and Daniel.

Grand Duke Crichton seemed to have a lot of trust in Daniel. Anyway, to the Grand Duke of Crichton, Daniel was a blood relative of his contemporaries, so it was only natural. That’s why he didn’t notice that Daniel was slowly eating away at the Crichton family.

Even though her mother had sent letters of apology to the Duke of Crichton over the years, not a single letter was delivered to the Duke of Crichton, suggesting that Daniel’s henchmen had been immersed somewhere in the mansion since a very long time ago. With that in mind, catching him wouldn’t be too difficult. She would just have to look for hired people who have worked at this mansion for a certain period of time or longer.

“It really can’t be a slope, brother. Cornelia and Cornelia’s daughter, whom you hadn’t heard from since leaving home, have returned. Besides, all of this is Mirabel’s effort!”

“Yes. It can’t get any better than this.”

“Then brother, how about throwing a ball for Cornelia and Mirabel? Also to let the social world know about Cornelia’s return.”

“A ball?”

At Daniel’s suggestion, Grand Duke Crichton muttered intriguingly.

“Yeah, that would be a good way. But before that, we should ask Cornelia and Mirabel for their opinions. I will never do anything my daughter hates. I don’t want to lose my beloved daughter anymore. Besides, I have such a pretty granddaughter.”

“Father…”

Her mother called Prince Crichton in a low voice. Grand Duke Crichton smiled and opened his mouth to them, as if telling them not to worry.

“Yes, Cornelia. What do you think? I will support what you want to do from now on.”

Her mom looked at her for a moment. She seemed a bit hesitant.

“I’m fine, but Mirabel is taking me a little. Apparently, our Belle isn’t used to things like this yet, and above all, she has a very tender heart…”

Her mother’s voice conveyed her concern and affection for her. Like Prince Crichton, her mother seemed to be in a hurry to decide for her. She couldn’t tell exactly what her mother was hesitating about, but she could guess. If it was known that her mom and she were back, there would be people who would congratulate the return, but on the contrary, there would be people who would talk wildly behind their backs. Maybe she didn’t even know that her mother was worried that she would be hurt by people like that. If that was the case, it didn’t really matter. If she had a personality that was swayed by the words of others, she would not have been able to live as a mercenary.

“Mom, I want to go to a ball.”

Blinking her eyes pretending not to know anything, she said to her mother. And her mother raised her hand and stroked her cheek.

“Are you really okay? Mommy is a little worried.”

“I’m okay. So you don’t have to worry.”

She deliberately responded courageously. It was in the hopes of helping her mother in her decision.

“Yes, Mirabelle says so, but she might as well go to the ball. This will all be an experience for Mirabel. And rumors that you’ve returned must have already spread throughout the capital, but if you don’t see your face once, you don’t know what kind of rumors will spread. And it can affect Mirabel as well as you.”

Daniel added to her mother. She couldn’t understand why he was so eager to welcome her mother and me to the ball, but he looked like he wanted her mother to attend the ball, so she just glanced at Daniel for a moment and didn’t say anything. In the end, her hesitant mother nodded her head and confirmed Grand Duke Crichton.

“Then I think it would be all right to throw a prom.”