“Haaah, it’s cold.”
Aiden put his hands together and blew his breath.
Then he hurried his steps toward the orphanage.
The Ellie Orphanage was able to receive proper support from the Grand Duchess since the day of the charity event where Karina exposed corruption.
It moved from an old and shabby warehouse to a neat building, and the person in charge changed.
They said they were in the process of selecting a suitable person to manage the orphanage. They also continued to separately receive necessities for food, clothing, and shelter once a month, including Mitchell’s medicine.
The standard of living of the children at the orphanage had improved incomparably.
The director who had abused the children and exploited their funds was imprisoned.
Not only those who had participated in it but also many others involved in illegal activities had to pay the price for their crimes.
‘It’s all thanks to the Grand Duchess.’
Aiden smiled brightly.
Aiden wanted to do something that would be of some help to the Grand Duchess.
So, even while earning money by helping out here and there, he never missed helping out at the 'flower shop'.
Since the last time he helped distribute newspapers here and there in the alleys, he continued to help out with various tasks. For example, he would tell them about rumors going around in the back alleys, what people were interested in these days, and where new stores were opening.
Or he would go to a place the flower shop introduced him to and work there and pass on the information he had gathered there.
Then, Aiden heard the story of Karina getting caught up in a hostage situation on the street.
Shocked, Aiden ran straight to the flower shop to check if the story was true.
"Is it true?!"
Aiden shouted as he entered the room without any explanation. He was breathing heavily as if he had run at full speed.
"I told you not to barge in like this."
Hasten harassed Aiden.
"Is that important right now?"
"Oh, it is."
Ignoring Aiden who was sulking, Hasten said what he wanted to say.
“That’s not the problem!”
Aiden got angry and got angry.
“Then what’s the problem?”
Hasten asked calmly until the end.
“Oh, really!”
Selena calmed Aiden down as he tried to get wild.
“Calm down and tell me. If you say that, I won’t understand a single word you say.”
Aiden took a deep breath after hearing Selena’s words and opened his mouth again.
“I heard the Grand Duchess was taken hostage.”
Only then did Selena and Hasten realize what Aiden was talking about and exchanged glances.
It was their intention to decide who would tell Aiden.
However, Aiden felt uneasy at their behavior of exchanging glances without answering.
“Is it true?”
He stared at the two with anxious faces.
Hasten, who happened to meet Aiden’s eyes, immediately spoke.
“Yes.”
“...!”
Aiden’s eyes widened as if he was shocked and surprised.
Selena shook her head.
The explanation was too insufficient.
In the meantime, Aiden's expression turned pale.
"The Grand Duchess...!"
He was at a loss for what to do, then bit his lower lip.
"Then I should go and save her right away. What are you doing?"
Tears welled up in his eyes and he soon burst into tears.
"The Grand Duchess!!"
Aiden sank to the spot and cried out to Karina.
"...?"
Selena and Hasten couldn't understand.
If Aiden had heard the rumor, he would have heard that His Highness the Grand Duke had rescued Karina and taken her to the Grand Duke's residence for treatment.
Judging from Aiden's reaction, it was as if Karina was still being held by the escapees.
"Hey, kid, why are you crying?"
Hasten asked with a dumbfounded expression.
"I don't know, so I'm asking! I heard the Grand Duchess is being held hostage!"
Aiden shouted angrily.
Aiden was so shocked that he had only heard the part about Karina being kidnapped by escapees, and had rushed straight to the flower shop.
As a result, he had not heard the rest of the story.
Selena put her hand on her head with an embarrassed expression.
Aiden's head rang as he cried and made a fuss with his face covered in tears and snot.
“Aiden, calm down. The Grand Duchess was indeed taken hostage, but fortunately, His Highness the Grand Duke rescued her.”
“...!”
Aiden’s crying suddenly stopped at Selena’s words.
“...Really?”
“Yes. I heard that she’s currently receiving treatment at the Grand Duke’s residence and lying down.”
Aiden, who understood the situation after hearing Selena’s words, confronted Hasten.
“You should have said that earlier! I was surprised!”
“That’s right, you should have listened to what people had to say.”
Hasten snorted. Aiden growled as if he was angry.
“This old man! Were you doing that on purpose to tease me?”
“Why are you blaming me for that? And call me ‘brother’ instead of ‘uncle’.”
“Where’s your conscience?”
Aiden frowned and became serious.
“I don’t think I need to take care of that for you.”
“You really threw it away.”
“Both of you, stop it.”
Selena stopped them.
“Why are you fighting with the kid?”
Selena said something to Hasten.
Hasten pretended not to hear.
Selena thought that Aiden was the same.
“Aiden. As I said before, the Grand Duchess is safe.”
“Then can I go see her?”
Aiden asked after hesitating for a moment.
“That would be difficult. I haven’t heard that she’s awake yet.”
At those words, Aiden’s expression grew worried again.
“Still, I heard that the treatment went well, so let’s wait for the Grand Duchess to wake up.”
Selena reassured Aiden.
“Yes.”
Aiden nodded.
There was nothing he could do but wait, as she said.
“I’ll tell her that you’re very worried.”
“No. I’m not that worried. I’m just worried about my siblings.”
Aiden must have forgotten that he had cried earlier, so he awkwardly made up the excuse about his siblings.
Hasten snorted at that as if he had found something to tease him about again.
“Oh, what else?”
Aiden grumbled, his mouth twisted.
“You...”
Selena poked Hasten’s side with her elbow as he tried to tease Aiden again.
“Ugh!”
It was a childish remark, telling him to stop.
Hasten understood right away and rubbed his poked side, making a regretful expression.
Selena smiled at Aiden and said,
“The Grand Duchess will visit the orphanage when she recovers and gets better, so you should go back and wait.”
“Yes. I understand.”
Aiden replied with a relieved expression.
That night.
The fireplace light was softly illuminating the dark room.
The room was filled with warm air from the generous burning of firewood.
However, the room was quiet as if no one was there.
The dark shadow cast by the fireplace seemed to be stuck in one spot, not leaving.
He carefully placed his finger under the nose of the person lying on the bed.
It was an action to check if she was breathing.
When he felt her breathing, he felt relieved and checked Karina’s complexion again to check her condition.
It was an action that Jeremiah repeated every hour.
Then, at one moment, Karina’s eyelashes fluttered.
After a while, Karina regained consciousness and lifted her heavy eyelids.
“...”
When she opened her eyes, she saw a familiar ceiling shape through her blurry vision.
‘Oh, this looks like my room...’
Before Karina could fully come to her senses, she heard a voice.
“Karina! Are you awake?”
“...?”
It was the voice of someone who should never have been heard here.
For a moment, Karina thought she had misheard.
Karina frowned.
When her vision returned to a certain extent, she saw someone’s figure.
White skin, a straight forehead, clear features, a sharp jawline, and red lips.
A man with pitch-black hair and eyes that contrasted with hers was looking down at her with a dark expression.
He had a statuesque face, and his expression was full of worry and concern.
'...Jeremiah?'
A strange expression appeared on her face as if she couldn't believe it.
Karina wondered if this was a dream.
If it was an unfortunate dream from the past, she had already seen enough and didn’t want to see anymore, but it seemed like the dream wasn’t over yet.
‘What is it this time?’
She was tired and fed up.
But soon, she began to wonder.
The dream she had actually experienced in the past. The fact that Jeremiah was next to her while lying down was something that had never happened in Karina’s memory.
“Karina.”
Karina’s thoughts were broken by the voice she heard once again.
‘Did you just call me Karina?’
Karina’s eyes tightened.
The memory she had seen in her dream came back to her.
The image of him saying that he had never allowed her to call him by his name overlapped with the image before her eyes.
Karina wanted to say the same thing to him.
She wanted to speak, but her throat was so tight that she could only open her mouth and not hear a sound.
Jeremiah opened his mouth as if he knew that Karina was trying to speak.
“Don’t push yourself too hard.”
Karina just turned her eyes and looked at the water bottle.
Her throat was so dry.
Strangely, Jeremiah seemed to understand what she wanted and poured water into the cup. When Karina tried to get up to receive the cup, Jeremiah shook his head.
“You shouldn’t move freely yet. The wound on your neck hasn’t completely healed.”
Jeremiah said that and took a teaspoon from the table.
He scooped up some water with the teaspoon and poured it into Karina’s mouth.
“The doctor said that when you wake up, you would look for water. He told me to scoop up some water with a teaspoon because if you drank it wrong, it could cause indigestion.”
“...”
She understood why he did this.
However, she didn’t understand why Jeremiah was doing it himself.
Nevertheless, her throat was too dry to refuse.
“I don’t feel like it, but I have to drink some water.”
Karina eagerly drank the water Jeremiah gave her. She could vividly feel the water going down her throat.
After drinking some of the water, she finally felt a little better.
Her throat, which had been soaked and parched, felt relieved.
'It doesn't seem to be a dream.'
Karina, who had regained consciousness after wiping her throat, asked what she was curious about.
"You. Why are you here?"
"..."
Jeremiah did not open his mouth easily even when she asked.
'What, you were speaking so well earlier.'
Karina thought to herself grumpily.
"Why did you do that?"
"...?"
She couldn't understand what he meant by his sudden question.
When Karina didn't know what was going on, Jeremiah asked again.
"I'm asking why you did such a dangerous thing."
"..."
"Were you really trying to die?"
Hearing that, memories from before she lost consciousness and collapsed came back to her one by one.
'I was definitely caught by the escapees and was trying to escape...'
The memories became clearer.
And she realized why Jeremiah had asked her that.
It was because of the reckless behavior she had when she was caught by the escapees and demanded that the hostages be released.
Karina put her hand on the neck she had stabbed.
The wounded area was wrapped tightly with something like a bandage.
“Is your life that light?”
Jeremiah’s voice sounded angry as he asked.
“Why are you asking that?”
Karina felt displeased.
However, when she saw his dark expression, she suddenly had an absurd thought.
'Could he possibly be worried about me?'
But she quickly shook that thought off.
'There’s no way. He wouldn’t care whether I die or not.'
In the past, Jeremiah had already abandoned Karina.
Instead, he had personally taken the initiative to refer her to the nobles’ court and sentenced her to death.
“You said you never liked me for a single moment.”
Karina recalled the last words she had heard him say.
Those words were deeply embedded in Karina’s heart like a thorn that would not fall out.
A corner of her heart ached as if the misery and despair she had felt at that time had been learned.
It was because she had seen past memories in her dreams.
Karina let that moment pass indifferently. She tried to shake off her distracting thoughts and answered.
“It’s not that I take my life lightly.”
“Then?”
“I felt like everyone there would die if I didn’t do that.”
To be more precise, it would be more accurate to say, ‘If I didn’t do that, I, the Grand Duchess who didn’t have the protection of the Grand Duke’s family, would definitely die.’
It was something she did because she wanted to live.
‘That’s right. Now that I think about it, Mikhail came and saved me.’
Every time she was in danger, Mikhail showed up and saved her. She was so grateful to him.
“Where’s Mikhail?”
“...!”
Jeremiah’s expression hardened at Karina’s question.
Then he hurried his steps toward the orphanage.
The Ellie Orphanage was able to receive proper support from the Grand Duchess since the day of the charity event where Karina exposed corruption.
It moved from an old and shabby warehouse to a neat building, and the person in charge changed.
They said they were in the process of selecting a suitable person to manage the orphanage. They also continued to separately receive necessities for food, clothing, and shelter once a month, including Mitchell’s medicine.
The standard of living of the children at the orphanage had improved incomparably.
The director who had abused the children and exploited their funds was imprisoned.
Not only those who had participated in it but also many others involved in illegal activities had to pay the price for their crimes.
‘It’s all thanks to the Grand Duchess.’
Aiden smiled brightly.
Aiden wanted to do something that would be of some help to the Grand Duchess.
So, even while earning money by helping out here and there, he never missed helping out at the 'flower shop'.
Since the last time he helped distribute newspapers here and there in the alleys, he continued to help out with various tasks. For example, he would tell them about rumors going around in the back alleys, what people were interested in these days, and where new stores were opening.
Or he would go to a place the flower shop introduced him to and work there and pass on the information he had gathered there.
Then, Aiden heard the story of Karina getting caught up in a hostage situation on the street.
Shocked, Aiden ran straight to the flower shop to check if the story was true.
"Is it true?!"
Aiden shouted as he entered the room without any explanation. He was breathing heavily as if he had run at full speed.
"I told you not to barge in like this."
Hasten harassed Aiden.
"Is that important right now?"
"Oh, it is."
Ignoring Aiden who was sulking, Hasten said what he wanted to say.
“That’s not the problem!”
Aiden got angry and got angry.
“Then what’s the problem?”
Hasten asked calmly until the end.
“Oh, really!”
Selena calmed Aiden down as he tried to get wild.
“Calm down and tell me. If you say that, I won’t understand a single word you say.”
Aiden took a deep breath after hearing Selena’s words and opened his mouth again.
“I heard the Grand Duchess was taken hostage.”
Only then did Selena and Hasten realize what Aiden was talking about and exchanged glances.
It was their intention to decide who would tell Aiden.
However, Aiden felt uneasy at their behavior of exchanging glances without answering.
“Is it true?”
He stared at the two with anxious faces.
Hasten, who happened to meet Aiden’s eyes, immediately spoke.
“Yes.”
“...!”
Aiden’s eyes widened as if he was shocked and surprised.
Selena shook her head.
The explanation was too insufficient.
In the meantime, Aiden's expression turned pale.
"The Grand Duchess...!"
He was at a loss for what to do, then bit his lower lip.
"Then I should go and save her right away. What are you doing?"
Tears welled up in his eyes and he soon burst into tears.
"The Grand Duchess!!"
Aiden sank to the spot and cried out to Karina.
"...?"
Selena and Hasten couldn't understand.
If Aiden had heard the rumor, he would have heard that His Highness the Grand Duke had rescued Karina and taken her to the Grand Duke's residence for treatment.
Judging from Aiden's reaction, it was as if Karina was still being held by the escapees.
"Hey, kid, why are you crying?"
Hasten asked with a dumbfounded expression.
"I don't know, so I'm asking! I heard the Grand Duchess is being held hostage!"
Aiden shouted angrily.
Aiden was so shocked that he had only heard the part about Karina being kidnapped by escapees, and had rushed straight to the flower shop.
As a result, he had not heard the rest of the story.
Selena put her hand on her head with an embarrassed expression.
Aiden's head rang as he cried and made a fuss with his face covered in tears and snot.
“Aiden, calm down. The Grand Duchess was indeed taken hostage, but fortunately, His Highness the Grand Duke rescued her.”
“...!”
Aiden’s crying suddenly stopped at Selena’s words.
“...Really?”
“Yes. I heard that she’s currently receiving treatment at the Grand Duke’s residence and lying down.”
Aiden, who understood the situation after hearing Selena’s words, confronted Hasten.
“You should have said that earlier! I was surprised!”
“That’s right, you should have listened to what people had to say.”
Hasten snorted. Aiden growled as if he was angry.
“This old man! Were you doing that on purpose to tease me?”
“Why are you blaming me for that? And call me ‘brother’ instead of ‘uncle’.”
“Where’s your conscience?”
Aiden frowned and became serious.
“I don’t think I need to take care of that for you.”
“You really threw it away.”
“Both of you, stop it.”
Selena stopped them.
“Why are you fighting with the kid?”
Selena said something to Hasten.
Hasten pretended not to hear.
Selena thought that Aiden was the same.
“Aiden. As I said before, the Grand Duchess is safe.”
“Then can I go see her?”
Aiden asked after hesitating for a moment.
“That would be difficult. I haven’t heard that she’s awake yet.”
At those words, Aiden’s expression grew worried again.
“Still, I heard that the treatment went well, so let’s wait for the Grand Duchess to wake up.”
Selena reassured Aiden.
“Yes.”
Aiden nodded.
There was nothing he could do but wait, as she said.
“I’ll tell her that you’re very worried.”
“No. I’m not that worried. I’m just worried about my siblings.”
Aiden must have forgotten that he had cried earlier, so he awkwardly made up the excuse about his siblings.
Hasten snorted at that as if he had found something to tease him about again.
“Oh, what else?”
Aiden grumbled, his mouth twisted.
“You...”
Selena poked Hasten’s side with her elbow as he tried to tease Aiden again.
“Ugh!”
It was a childish remark, telling him to stop.
Hasten understood right away and rubbed his poked side, making a regretful expression.
Selena smiled at Aiden and said,
“The Grand Duchess will visit the orphanage when she recovers and gets better, so you should go back and wait.”
“Yes. I understand.”
Aiden replied with a relieved expression.
***
That night.
The fireplace light was softly illuminating the dark room.
The room was filled with warm air from the generous burning of firewood.
However, the room was quiet as if no one was there.
The dark shadow cast by the fireplace seemed to be stuck in one spot, not leaving.
He carefully placed his finger under the nose of the person lying on the bed.
It was an action to check if she was breathing.
When he felt her breathing, he felt relieved and checked Karina’s complexion again to check her condition.
It was an action that Jeremiah repeated every hour.
Then, at one moment, Karina’s eyelashes fluttered.
After a while, Karina regained consciousness and lifted her heavy eyelids.
“...”
When she opened her eyes, she saw a familiar ceiling shape through her blurry vision.
‘Oh, this looks like my room...’
Before Karina could fully come to her senses, she heard a voice.
“Karina! Are you awake?”
“...?”
It was the voice of someone who should never have been heard here.
For a moment, Karina thought she had misheard.
Karina frowned.
When her vision returned to a certain extent, she saw someone’s figure.
White skin, a straight forehead, clear features, a sharp jawline, and red lips.
A man with pitch-black hair and eyes that contrasted with hers was looking down at her with a dark expression.
He had a statuesque face, and his expression was full of worry and concern.
'...Jeremiah?'
A strange expression appeared on her face as if she couldn't believe it.
Karina wondered if this was a dream.
If it was an unfortunate dream from the past, she had already seen enough and didn’t want to see anymore, but it seemed like the dream wasn’t over yet.
‘What is it this time?’
She was tired and fed up.
But soon, she began to wonder.
The dream she had actually experienced in the past. The fact that Jeremiah was next to her while lying down was something that had never happened in Karina’s memory.
“Karina.”
Karina’s thoughts were broken by the voice she heard once again.
‘Did you just call me Karina?’
Karina’s eyes tightened.
The memory she had seen in her dream came back to her.
The image of him saying that he had never allowed her to call him by his name overlapped with the image before her eyes.
Karina wanted to say the same thing to him.
She wanted to speak, but her throat was so tight that she could only open her mouth and not hear a sound.
Jeremiah opened his mouth as if he knew that Karina was trying to speak.
“Don’t push yourself too hard.”
Karina just turned her eyes and looked at the water bottle.
Her throat was so dry.
Strangely, Jeremiah seemed to understand what she wanted and poured water into the cup. When Karina tried to get up to receive the cup, Jeremiah shook his head.
“You shouldn’t move freely yet. The wound on your neck hasn’t completely healed.”
Jeremiah said that and took a teaspoon from the table.
He scooped up some water with the teaspoon and poured it into Karina’s mouth.
“The doctor said that when you wake up, you would look for water. He told me to scoop up some water with a teaspoon because if you drank it wrong, it could cause indigestion.”
“...”
She understood why he did this.
However, she didn’t understand why Jeremiah was doing it himself.
Nevertheless, her throat was too dry to refuse.
“I don’t feel like it, but I have to drink some water.”
Karina eagerly drank the water Jeremiah gave her. She could vividly feel the water going down her throat.
After drinking some of the water, she finally felt a little better.
Her throat, which had been soaked and parched, felt relieved.
'It doesn't seem to be a dream.'
Karina, who had regained consciousness after wiping her throat, asked what she was curious about.
"You. Why are you here?"
"..."
Jeremiah did not open his mouth easily even when she asked.
'What, you were speaking so well earlier.'
Karina thought to herself grumpily.
"Why did you do that?"
"...?"
She couldn't understand what he meant by his sudden question.
When Karina didn't know what was going on, Jeremiah asked again.
"I'm asking why you did such a dangerous thing."
"..."
"Were you really trying to die?"
Hearing that, memories from before she lost consciousness and collapsed came back to her one by one.
'I was definitely caught by the escapees and was trying to escape...'
The memories became clearer.
And she realized why Jeremiah had asked her that.
It was because of the reckless behavior she had when she was caught by the escapees and demanded that the hostages be released.
Karina put her hand on the neck she had stabbed.
The wounded area was wrapped tightly with something like a bandage.
“Is your life that light?”
Jeremiah’s voice sounded angry as he asked.
“Why are you asking that?”
Karina felt displeased.
However, when she saw his dark expression, she suddenly had an absurd thought.
'Could he possibly be worried about me?'
But she quickly shook that thought off.
'There’s no way. He wouldn’t care whether I die or not.'
In the past, Jeremiah had already abandoned Karina.
Instead, he had personally taken the initiative to refer her to the nobles’ court and sentenced her to death.
“You said you never liked me for a single moment.”
Karina recalled the last words she had heard him say.
Those words were deeply embedded in Karina’s heart like a thorn that would not fall out.
A corner of her heart ached as if the misery and despair she had felt at that time had been learned.
It was because she had seen past memories in her dreams.
Karina let that moment pass indifferently. She tried to shake off her distracting thoughts and answered.
“It’s not that I take my life lightly.”
“Then?”
“I felt like everyone there would die if I didn’t do that.”
To be more precise, it would be more accurate to say, ‘If I didn’t do that, I, the Grand Duchess who didn’t have the protection of the Grand Duke’s family, would definitely die.’
It was something she did because she wanted to live.
‘That’s right. Now that I think about it, Mikhail came and saved me.’
Every time she was in danger, Mikhail showed up and saved her. She was so grateful to him.
“Where’s Mikhail?”
“...!”
Jeremiah’s expression hardened at Karina’s question.
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