CH 17

“A pair of seven.”

The Grand Duke, who had been quietly listening to my overenthusiastic explanation, smiled lightly.

“It was a very interesting story.”

He let go of my hand with a satisfied look on his face.

“But I don’t think we need to hear more.”

“What?”

“Do you know what kind of work that I do inside the Duchy these days?”

What kind of work he does inside the mansion?

At that moment, it suddenly crossed my mind that the Grand Duke was going to go to war after the wedding.

It was to quell the southern regions where the rebellion was about to take place.

Of course, the planned expedition was canceled as Eve got murdered and he was identified as the suspect.

“War…… You are preparing for war, right?”

“That’s right. We’re urgently organizing a new unit because we’re going to the battlefield right after our wedding. I came here while finishing the paperwork for the newly formed division a while ago.”

He continued with a cold smile.

“I don’t usually gamble much, but I can’t afford to play card games, especially during times like this.”

As if saying that, he’s not usually wasting his precious time on a day like this. With an indifferent look on his face.

“But it’s something that you don’t know yet.”

Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.

Foresight will not happen in just a minute or two. It would only be proven after some time.

“Please wait for a day or even a few hours. I can assure that it will really happen ….”

I said these words while looking straight into the Grand Duke’s eyes.

“Please…. Believe me then.”

I was beginning to get worried that the foresight that I received might be wrong, but I already decided to gamble.

Because Eve really had the power to predict the future.

The Grand Duke focused his attention on me for a moment without answering. Whether my confidence and conviction had been conveyed, or whether he just thought there was no need to continue the conversation,he eventually nodded.

“Okay. I promise.”

-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚɞ ━━━━━━ ˊˎ-

(Eve’s POV)

Our conversation ended like that.

I took a step as I went back to the Imperial Palace.

I looked around to see if anyone was passing and luckily there was no one.

As I cautiously walked down the hallway, I heard footsteps following me.

I looked back as I walked, the Grand Duke who was following me stopped the moment I laid my eyes on him.

Why is this person following me?

“Why are you coming this way?”

This is the direction to the center of the Imperial Palace. If he continues to walk this path, he will find the Princess’s palace as well as the other residence of the Imperial family.

And the way out would be on the other side.

The Grand Duke replied indifferently.

“I’ll take you back to your palace.”

“If I pass on to this corridor, it’s already the Imperial Palace.”

Hearing my words, a soft smile showed at the corner of the Grand Duke’s lips.

It was a smile that was sweet and beautiful enough to be mesmerized even in the dark.

It was so beautiful that it made my heart pound for a moment, but the words that followed did not resonate with me at all.

“It is not polite to send a lady alone in the middle of the night.”

“…….”

The same person who said that he would break my neck anytime, is now talking politely to a lady.

I noticed his intentions and stopped myself from smirking.

“Are you thinking that I might go somewhere else? Or are you afraid that I might go out and meet another person?”

Even after taking out all the cards that I had and showing it to him, it seems that my behavior still seems suspicious.

I could understand that it’s that hard to believe right away, because I suddenly said those things to him.

“No it’s not like that.”

However, the Grand Duke silently denied my expectations.

“I just wanted to make sure that Her Highness returned back safely. There are a lot of dangerous people inside the Imperial Palace.”

“….”

Now that the Emperor is absent, the most dangerous person in the palace would probably the Grand Duke.

I wanted to point that out, but I refrained from doing so because I didn’t want to argue for a long time in a place like this.

“Do whatever you want then.”

Resigning to do what he wanted, I continued to walk again, but before I could take three steps ahead I was already caught by the Grand Duke.

The Grand Duke who was following me suddenly grabbed my arm and hid behind a pillar by the hallway.

Just as I was about to scream reflexively, he immediately placed a finger on my lips.

“Shh.”

I was going to ask what he was doing, when I heard calm footsteps from the end of the hallway.

The faint sound of footsteps echoed through the quiet hallway, getting louder and clearer.

Obviously someone was coming this way.

The Grand Duke wrapped his arms around my waist and went deeper into the pillar.

(T/N: Ayieee, I can’t help but hope for this ship to sail, lmao.)

(PR: same huhuhuhu TT^TT)

The cramped space between the wall and the column made it difficult for even one person to enter and stand. Suddenly, I got into the position of being embraced in the Grand Duke’s arms.

But there was no time for panic. The sound of footsteps in the hallway was getting closer and I had to stay still.

After a while, someone’s figure was reflected in the window next to the pillar.

It was a young man in a well-groomed knightly uniform.

The moment I saw the color of his hair, I took a deep breath.

Silver like the moonlight.

Beautiful silver hair, free from any impurities, shone like the Milky Way in the dark hallway.

As soon as I saw that unusual hair color, I recognized the man’s identity.

This man is Mikhail Sheldon.

He is the deputy commander of the Imperial Knights of the Albion Empire and the original male protagonist of this novel.

-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚɞ ━━━━━━ ˊˎ-

(Eve’s POV)

‘Why is he here?’

I met the male protagonist at an unexpected moment.

After all, Mikhail was the deputy commander of the Imperial Knights, he was always guarding the inside of the Imperial Palace.

Even so, how can we be this unlucky.

I just can’t believe that I’ll be meeting the male lead in this kind of situation.

‘I haven’t even met him once in the five days I’ve been in the Imperial Palace.’

I was praying for him to just pass by, but Mikhail, who was walking this way, suddenly stopped.

Then he looked at where we were and shouted, perhaps feeling our presence in the dark.

“You there, who are you?”

When no one answered back, Mikhail quickly drew his sword. The dark blue blade of the moonlight left a long shadow on the hallway wall.

The shadow was slowly approaching us.

‘What should we do about this?’

This was in the middle of the hallway. There was nowhere to hide except for the pillars where we were hiding.

The Grand Duke pulled me closer, who was also troubled by our situation.

As soon as he touched his hard chest, I heard a low voice in my ears.

“Princess, please close your eyes for a moment.”

At first, I couldn’t understand what that meant.

It was only when I saw the Grand Duke’s right hand go toward his left sleeve that I understood what he meant.

Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.

After reading the original story, I knew for sure. The fact that a dagger that he had for self-defense has always been hidden in the left sleeve of the Grand Duke.

I screamed softly, as I stopped him.

“No!”

He’s going to kill Mikhail!

I held the Grand Duke’s wrist tightly with both hands. What if he managed to kill the Male lead? What will happen to the story?

Even in the dark shadows, the Grand Duke’s forehead was clearly visible.

Then I heard footsteps right next to me.

When I turned around, Mikhail, who heard my voice, ran and stood with his sword pointed at us.

“Your Grace, what are you doing in a place like this……”

As he approached us while looking at the Grand Duke, he belatedly noticed my presence and opened his eyes wide.

“I greet you, Your Highness the Princess.”

Mikhail hurriedly put the sword in and bent over at me.

Before I could answer, I heard a calm voice from behind me.

“Sir Sheldon. Since you managed to interfere with our secret meeting, shouldn’t you  apologize for that first?”

‘Huh? Interrupting what?’

Mikhail’s green eyes shook slightly at the indifferent rebuke by the Grand Duke. A slight redness was visible on his smooth skin.

“I apologize. Your Highness.”

“Oh, no…”

This isn’t like a secret meeting.

I closed my mouth when I almost denied it, it would seem less suspicious to say it’s a secret meeting.

“Sir Sheldon.”

I quickly stepped forward before the Grand Duke made any more strange movements.

“I want you to keep it a secret that you saw us here today.”

I don’t think that this person will go around and gossip about seeing the Princess and the Grand Duke secretly dating, but it’s better to make it clear.

I said, as I looked straight at Mikhail’s well-groomed face.

“If you keep this a secret, I will keep the secret of the third brick as well.”

Mikhail looked at me with shocking eyes.

The stone wall on the left side of the North Library. The third brick in the middle of the wall.

Unlike other stones, the brick can be pulled out with one hand.

Mikhail and Sorel secretly exchanged letters through it.

It’s not a love letter because they’re not officially dating yet.

Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.

It was just a letter that wrote down every little thing that happened inside the Imperial palace.

‘Mikhail used to comfort Sorel when he confided about difficult things while adjusting to life in the Imperial Palace. He told her about the hardships that he had when he first became a knight.’

The two exchange secret letters like this and gradually build a friendship.

Still, it wasn’t just everyday chatter.

In the meantime, Mikhail helped Sorel by exchanging information in that way whenever an incident occurred.

Of course, this is a secret that should have been known to Sorel and Mikhail only.