42. Quietly, beautifully, and harmlessly
Rumors doggedly followed Erna, even outside high society.
"That girl is the one. Why, she's the one who seduced that poisonous mushroom Prince."
It didn't take long for the word, which started from someone's mouth, to spread throughout the hospital. As the day went by, onlookers began loitering around Baroness Baden's hospital room.
“Have Prince’s eyes become damaged or something?”
Those who came to witness the legendary seductress who had successfully defeated Princess Gladys and seduced the prodigal son were met with a sense of disappointment. While certainly pretty, she was a shabby young woman, hardly worthy of being Princess Gladys's rival.
“Wasn’t she the daughter of a noble family? And what’s with all that?”
A worn-out plain dress, a sallow face, and even the tacky makeup on top of that. She was so different from the enchantress rumored everywhere, it was almost embarrassing.
“Is that girl really Erna Hardy?”
At this point, it was not surprising that such suspicions arose.
Yes, no. If that's true, then why are you here like that?
The barbed words, which were being spoken in a loud and boisterous manner, inevitably slipped through the crack in the sickroom door and reached Baroness Baden's ears.
“It’s all my fault.”
After several days of mental anguish, she came to one conclusion.
"I shouldn't have let you go then. I ruined my only granddaughter by trying to protect that house, and now I'm dead and I have no face to face your grandfather and Annette."
Tears welled up in the self-reproachful blue eyes of the Baroness of Baden. At this rate, her barely recovered body would be re-injured.
“Don’t say that, Grandmother. The Prince and I have no relationship.”
Although she had already been labeled a corrupt woman, Erna was determined to make at least one point clear. What bothered her grandmother most was the rumor that her granddaughter had ruined her life by becoming Prince Bjorn's lover.
“Are you saying that a rumor has spread throughout the country even though you are not related?”
“Grandma, you know very well that there are many bad people in the world who make up stories about other people and talk nonsense.”
“Even if it’s all just a rumor, how could you possibly get married when your reputation has been tarnished by being associated with that Prince?”
“If I don’t do things like marriage, that’s the end of it.”
Erna smiled brightly as if that was nothing.
"Just bear with it a little longer. You'll be discharged tomorrow, so let's go back to Buford together and live happily ever after like before. Then, what happened here will be nothing. Yes?"
As Erna's smile brightened, the depth in Baroness Baden's eyes deepened.
"Erna, my child. I can't be by your side forever. Didn't you learn that when you sent your grandfather away?"
“Why do you say that?”
Erna frowned and held her grandmother's thin hand tightly. As the sensation of her prominent veins and deep wrinkles became clear, her heartbeat began to accelerate.
"That's reality. So, Erna, you too must get married and start a family of your own. A family that will protect you even after we leave. Walter Hardy, that rascal, has given up on being your father, so you need to do that even more."
"Grandma."
“But since this is how we’re going to ruin our wedding, what should we do, my dear?”
The wrinkled corners of Baroness Baden's eyes turned red again.
“If I could, I would throw those vile things that corrupted you into the fires of hell.”
Like Walter Hardy, that wicked Prince, and all those foul-mouthed people.
Swallowing the words she couldn't bring herself to utter because of the minimal level of decency she had to maintain in front of her granddaughter, she glared at the hallway, which had become noisy again as onlookers gathered.
How vulgar and cruel the city really is!
As she shuddered, Erna quickly got up. At the same time, a powerful knock rang out at the door.
The moment the Prince finally knocked on the door of Baroness Baden's hospital room, the hospital director put everything down.
Now, this situation was an arrow cast from the protest, a die cast. All he could do was pray that the King would recognize his loyalty, his utmost effort to prevent a tragedy until the very end.
Guests poured in from the first light of the morning.
The surprise he'd felt at the thought of a rude man suddenly opening the door to the hospital director's office without an appointment vanished the moment he saw his face. Prince Bjorn. The man he couldn't believe his eyes was smiling at him. He didn't even think it was His Highness the Crown Prince. He would never do something like that.
'Could you tell me which room Baroness Baden is in?'
Prince Bjorn's attitude as he asked the question was elegant and polite, quite different from the situation in which he had barged in without warning.
Baroness Baden.
The hospital director, recalling the name he'd casually thrown out, swallowed hard. Why on earth had this Prince come to visit Erna Hardy's maternal grandmother?
'Ah. Let me borrow this.'
While he hesitated, unsure of what to do with this, Bjorn plucked a rose from the vase on the desk. It was red, of all things. It was an ominous sign.
'You may go now.'
The Prince holding the rose smiled and gave him an order as he tried to avoid the situation.
Are he drunk?
He gave it some serious thought. Considering the Prince's usual behavior, it seemed like a reasonable assumption. But even if it was just a drunken rampage, he was the Grand Duke of Schwerin, the eldest son of the King, who was once the Crown Prince of this country.
Seeing no way out, the hospital director was forced to heed the uninvited guest's orders. Many eyes were watching. Another malicious rumor might spread. If he had to visit, he suggested, why not call the Baroness to the hospital director's office instead? His cautious advice was completely ignored.
So, in the end, this is the reality.
The hospital director, surveying the onlookers who had crowded the hallway, excited by the Prince's appearance, let out a long sigh of despair. Just then, the door opened, and a woman with a pale complexion appeared. The Prince nodded silently, signaling his departure.
“...Prince?”
Erna flinched at the sight before her eyes and took a step back. She blinked several times, hoping she hadn't seen anything, but nothing changed.
He who never came showed up in a place he shouldn't have.
While Erna was dazed, Bjorn strode into the hospital room. Baroness Baden, who was leaning against the headboard, and Madame Greve, who was standing by her side, all turned their gazes to him. Their reactions were not much different from Erna's.
Bjorn walked slowly, his gaze held by the three breathless women. The deathly silence of the hospital room made the rhythmic sound of footsteps approaching the bed stand out even more clearly.
"No way..."
Baroness Baden, who had been studying his face closely, widened her eyes. Bjorn, who had stopped her from getting up in surprise, bowed deeply in greeting, a gesture of simple elegance and leisure.
"I'm sorry for the late greeting. I apologize for causing you any inconvenience, Baroness."
A soft voice seeped into the silence of the hospital room.
Erna staggered toward Bjorn. She couldn't tell what was happening, but it seemed clear to her that this wasn't a dream.
Could it be that he came to give her the money he couldn't give her that day? Or perhaps he wanted to show pity to the poor woman?
As the thought reached that point, something like a hot lump welled up from deep within her chest.
She hated the Prince who came all the way here to pity her. Erna also hated the fact that she had no choice but to face him like this.
How could you trample on my heart so miserably in a place where my grandmother is?
No matter how much she was grateful to him, this was something she couldn't tolerate. Just never come back. Then he could leave as a benefactor, with only fond memories.
But why, to this extent...
“I would also like to apologize to Miss Hardy.”
Looking down at Erna, who was about to open her mouth, Bjorn said something completely unexpected.
Go ahead.
Erna tilted her head slightly, swallowing the words she couldn't bring herself to say.
"Sorry."
"Yes...?"
“I’m so late. I’m sorry for keeping you waiting.”
Bjorn whispered softly, the corners of his lips slightly raised in a smile. It was a captivating smile, a hint of mischief, unlike his calm, deep gaze.
Erna, completely unable to understand the enigmatic words, shrugged her shoulders warily and stepped back. It was then that her eyes fell on the rose he was holding in one hand. It was a fresh, crimson rose.
Bjorn smiled again as he watched Erna frown with a questioning look. Then he calmly knelt down on one knee before her.
“Miss Erna Hardy.”
Bjorn's voice, calling the name of the dazed woman, was unsuitable for the situation, as if he had lost his mind.
The front is getting married.
The latter leaves with the stakes held.
The moment he tossed his chip, Bjorn decided to follow whatever scenario came up. And now, he was about to follow that answer.
He knows she's not a woman who can give him any benefit.
With a humble origin and a complicated family history, and a father who was a constant source of trouble, she would never be welcomed by the royal family or high society. This meant she would struggle to fulfill the role of a proper Grand Duchess.
But that wasn't really a big problem.
What Bjorn desired from his second wife wasn't immense national interest or fame. He simply hoped she would fill the Grand Duchess's shoes and bring peace to his life, and this woman perfectly suited that role.
He knows that even if she doesn't give him any benefit, she won't cause him any harm either.
Of course, like Gladys, she might be hiding thorns behind her kind and innocent face. But even so, this feeble woman's thorns could never deeply pierce him. That was all that mattered.
All Bjorn wanted was for Erna to live like the harmony he had created with his own hands. Quietly. Beautifully and harmlessly.
“Miss Erna Hardy, will you marry me?”
Bjorn slowly held out the flower to Erna, who was now trembling and unable to breathe properly.
Erna opened her eyes, which she had tightly shut as if denying reality. But Bjorn was still there before her, kneeling on one knee.
The Prince is proposing.
The fact that she had barely grasped made Erna's mind even more dazed. Her vision began to spin, but she could clearly see her grandmother's face, weeping with emotion.
How can this be?
Erna looked at Bjorn with questions in her eyes.
How could he possibly love a woman who is nothing?
Her doubts gradually began to turn to resentment, but Bjorn remained calm and consistently smiled. As if to say he already knew the answer.
Erna reached out a trembling hand toward the rose. She had to push it away. It was absurd. But the moment her fingertips touched the stem, Bjorn's words came to mind, causing Erna to hesitate.
Sorry.
The gentle whispers consumed her fading consciousness.
Even though it was a shameless apology that didn't even feel a shred of remorse, she was glad he came. It was so late, but he came anyway.
At that moment, when she couldn't stand herself anymore, Erna lost consciousness, clutching the rose of his proposal tightly.
Bjorn instinctively picked up Erna, who was collapsing. Baroness Baden's screams for a doctor echoed through the room, and the door burst open, and the hospital director rushed in. The onlookers, their eyes glued to the unfolding events, also watched.
Prince Bjorn proposed to the young lady of the Hardy family.
The shocking news, which began in the wards of the Royal Hospital, spread like wildfire throughout the city. It also included news that Erna Hardy had fainted from joy.
The romance novel Letzen loved came to an end. It was a tragic ending, with the villain triumphing.
Rumors doggedly followed Erna, even outside high society.
"That girl is the one. Why, she's the one who seduced that poisonous mushroom Prince."
It didn't take long for the word, which started from someone's mouth, to spread throughout the hospital. As the day went by, onlookers began loitering around Baroness Baden's hospital room.
“Have Prince’s eyes become damaged or something?”
Those who came to witness the legendary seductress who had successfully defeated Princess Gladys and seduced the prodigal son were met with a sense of disappointment. While certainly pretty, she was a shabby young woman, hardly worthy of being Princess Gladys's rival.
“Wasn’t she the daughter of a noble family? And what’s with all that?”
A worn-out plain dress, a sallow face, and even the tacky makeup on top of that. She was so different from the enchantress rumored everywhere, it was almost embarrassing.
“Is that girl really Erna Hardy?”
At this point, it was not surprising that such suspicions arose.
Yes, no. If that's true, then why are you here like that?
The barbed words, which were being spoken in a loud and boisterous manner, inevitably slipped through the crack in the sickroom door and reached Baroness Baden's ears.
“It’s all my fault.”
After several days of mental anguish, she came to one conclusion.
"I shouldn't have let you go then. I ruined my only granddaughter by trying to protect that house, and now I'm dead and I have no face to face your grandfather and Annette."
Tears welled up in the self-reproachful blue eyes of the Baroness of Baden. At this rate, her barely recovered body would be re-injured.
“Don’t say that, Grandmother. The Prince and I have no relationship.”
Although she had already been labeled a corrupt woman, Erna was determined to make at least one point clear. What bothered her grandmother most was the rumor that her granddaughter had ruined her life by becoming Prince Bjorn's lover.
“Are you saying that a rumor has spread throughout the country even though you are not related?”
“Grandma, you know very well that there are many bad people in the world who make up stories about other people and talk nonsense.”
“Even if it’s all just a rumor, how could you possibly get married when your reputation has been tarnished by being associated with that Prince?”
“If I don’t do things like marriage, that’s the end of it.”
Erna smiled brightly as if that was nothing.
"Just bear with it a little longer. You'll be discharged tomorrow, so let's go back to Buford together and live happily ever after like before. Then, what happened here will be nothing. Yes?"
As Erna's smile brightened, the depth in Baroness Baden's eyes deepened.
"Erna, my child. I can't be by your side forever. Didn't you learn that when you sent your grandfather away?"
“Why do you say that?”
Erna frowned and held her grandmother's thin hand tightly. As the sensation of her prominent veins and deep wrinkles became clear, her heartbeat began to accelerate.
"That's reality. So, Erna, you too must get married and start a family of your own. A family that will protect you even after we leave. Walter Hardy, that rascal, has given up on being your father, so you need to do that even more."
"Grandma."
“But since this is how we’re going to ruin our wedding, what should we do, my dear?”
The wrinkled corners of Baroness Baden's eyes turned red again.
“If I could, I would throw those vile things that corrupted you into the fires of hell.”
Like Walter Hardy, that wicked Prince, and all those foul-mouthed people.
Swallowing the words she couldn't bring herself to utter because of the minimal level of decency she had to maintain in front of her granddaughter, she glared at the hallway, which had become noisy again as onlookers gathered.
How vulgar and cruel the city really is!
As she shuddered, Erna quickly got up. At the same time, a powerful knock rang out at the door.
***
The moment the Prince finally knocked on the door of Baroness Baden's hospital room, the hospital director put everything down.
Now, this situation was an arrow cast from the protest, a die cast. All he could do was pray that the King would recognize his loyalty, his utmost effort to prevent a tragedy until the very end.
Guests poured in from the first light of the morning.
The surprise he'd felt at the thought of a rude man suddenly opening the door to the hospital director's office without an appointment vanished the moment he saw his face. Prince Bjorn. The man he couldn't believe his eyes was smiling at him. He didn't even think it was His Highness the Crown Prince. He would never do something like that.
'Could you tell me which room Baroness Baden is in?'
Prince Bjorn's attitude as he asked the question was elegant and polite, quite different from the situation in which he had barged in without warning.
Baroness Baden.
The hospital director, recalling the name he'd casually thrown out, swallowed hard. Why on earth had this Prince come to visit Erna Hardy's maternal grandmother?
'Ah. Let me borrow this.'
While he hesitated, unsure of what to do with this, Bjorn plucked a rose from the vase on the desk. It was red, of all things. It was an ominous sign.
'You may go now.'
The Prince holding the rose smiled and gave him an order as he tried to avoid the situation.
Are he drunk?
He gave it some serious thought. Considering the Prince's usual behavior, it seemed like a reasonable assumption. But even if it was just a drunken rampage, he was the Grand Duke of Schwerin, the eldest son of the King, who was once the Crown Prince of this country.
Seeing no way out, the hospital director was forced to heed the uninvited guest's orders. Many eyes were watching. Another malicious rumor might spread. If he had to visit, he suggested, why not call the Baroness to the hospital director's office instead? His cautious advice was completely ignored.
So, in the end, this is the reality.
The hospital director, surveying the onlookers who had crowded the hallway, excited by the Prince's appearance, let out a long sigh of despair. Just then, the door opened, and a woman with a pale complexion appeared. The Prince nodded silently, signaling his departure.
“...Prince?”
Erna flinched at the sight before her eyes and took a step back. She blinked several times, hoping she hadn't seen anything, but nothing changed.
He who never came showed up in a place he shouldn't have.
While Erna was dazed, Bjorn strode into the hospital room. Baroness Baden, who was leaning against the headboard, and Madame Greve, who was standing by her side, all turned their gazes to him. Their reactions were not much different from Erna's.
Bjorn walked slowly, his gaze held by the three breathless women. The deathly silence of the hospital room made the rhythmic sound of footsteps approaching the bed stand out even more clearly.
"No way..."
Baroness Baden, who had been studying his face closely, widened her eyes. Bjorn, who had stopped her from getting up in surprise, bowed deeply in greeting, a gesture of simple elegance and leisure.
"I'm sorry for the late greeting. I apologize for causing you any inconvenience, Baroness."
A soft voice seeped into the silence of the hospital room.
Erna staggered toward Bjorn. She couldn't tell what was happening, but it seemed clear to her that this wasn't a dream.
Could it be that he came to give her the money he couldn't give her that day? Or perhaps he wanted to show pity to the poor woman?
As the thought reached that point, something like a hot lump welled up from deep within her chest.
She hated the Prince who came all the way here to pity her. Erna also hated the fact that she had no choice but to face him like this.
How could you trample on my heart so miserably in a place where my grandmother is?
No matter how much she was grateful to him, this was something she couldn't tolerate. Just never come back. Then he could leave as a benefactor, with only fond memories.
But why, to this extent...
“I would also like to apologize to Miss Hardy.”
Looking down at Erna, who was about to open her mouth, Bjorn said something completely unexpected.
Go ahead.
Erna tilted her head slightly, swallowing the words she couldn't bring herself to say.
"Sorry."
"Yes...?"
“I’m so late. I’m sorry for keeping you waiting.”
Bjorn whispered softly, the corners of his lips slightly raised in a smile. It was a captivating smile, a hint of mischief, unlike his calm, deep gaze.
Erna, completely unable to understand the enigmatic words, shrugged her shoulders warily and stepped back. It was then that her eyes fell on the rose he was holding in one hand. It was a fresh, crimson rose.
Bjorn smiled again as he watched Erna frown with a questioning look. Then he calmly knelt down on one knee before her.
“Miss Erna Hardy.”
Bjorn's voice, calling the name of the dazed woman, was unsuitable for the situation, as if he had lost his mind.
The front is getting married.
The latter leaves with the stakes held.
The moment he tossed his chip, Bjorn decided to follow whatever scenario came up. And now, he was about to follow that answer.
He knows she's not a woman who can give him any benefit.
With a humble origin and a complicated family history, and a father who was a constant source of trouble, she would never be welcomed by the royal family or high society. This meant she would struggle to fulfill the role of a proper Grand Duchess.
But that wasn't really a big problem.
What Bjorn desired from his second wife wasn't immense national interest or fame. He simply hoped she would fill the Grand Duchess's shoes and bring peace to his life, and this woman perfectly suited that role.
He knows that even if she doesn't give him any benefit, she won't cause him any harm either.
Of course, like Gladys, she might be hiding thorns behind her kind and innocent face. But even so, this feeble woman's thorns could never deeply pierce him. That was all that mattered.
All Bjorn wanted was for Erna to live like the harmony he had created with his own hands. Quietly. Beautifully and harmlessly.
“Miss Erna Hardy, will you marry me?”
Bjorn slowly held out the flower to Erna, who was now trembling and unable to breathe properly.
Erna opened her eyes, which she had tightly shut as if denying reality. But Bjorn was still there before her, kneeling on one knee.
The Prince is proposing.
The fact that she had barely grasped made Erna's mind even more dazed. Her vision began to spin, but she could clearly see her grandmother's face, weeping with emotion.
How can this be?
Erna looked at Bjorn with questions in her eyes.
How could he possibly love a woman who is nothing?
Her doubts gradually began to turn to resentment, but Bjorn remained calm and consistently smiled. As if to say he already knew the answer.
Erna reached out a trembling hand toward the rose. She had to push it away. It was absurd. But the moment her fingertips touched the stem, Bjorn's words came to mind, causing Erna to hesitate.
Sorry.
The gentle whispers consumed her fading consciousness.
Even though it was a shameless apology that didn't even feel a shred of remorse, she was glad he came. It was so late, but he came anyway.
At that moment, when she couldn't stand herself anymore, Erna lost consciousness, clutching the rose of his proposal tightly.
Bjorn instinctively picked up Erna, who was collapsing. Baroness Baden's screams for a doctor echoed through the room, and the door burst open, and the hospital director rushed in. The onlookers, their eyes glued to the unfolding events, also watched.
Prince Bjorn proposed to the young lady of the Hardy family.
The shocking news, which began in the wards of the Royal Hospital, spread like wildfire throughout the city. It also included news that Erna Hardy had fainted from joy.
The romance novel Letzen loved came to an end. It was a tragic ending, with the villain triumphing.
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