Chapter 10
Being That Cute Is a Crime
She had thought that taking a walk might ease the tightness in her chest a little, but perhaps because she had just laid bare every corner of her heart, her mood only grew heavier.
Setting aside the fact that she hadn’t even met the Grand Duke yet, she knew that if she wanted to maintain this engagement, she had to make a good impression on the imperial family. The thought that she might have angered the Empress Dowager weighed on her deeply.
She isn’t seriously ill… right?
The image of the Empress Dowager clutching her chest as if her heart hurt kept replaying in her mind.
At this rate, Anette wondered if she might end up thrown into prison for the crime of harming the Empress Dowager’s health before the Grand Duke even returned.
It wasn’t entirely unreasonable anxiety.
There had been a time when, after Anette finished her very first monster subjugation and went to report in, Bridget—upon seeing her—suddenly complained of a headache. As a result, Anette had been immediately driven out and ordered to reflect on her behavior.
Knowing that this place was different from that kingdom didn’t stop the memories from surfacing. When she recalled the king shouting while holding Bridget on his lap, a helpless sigh escaped her before she could stop it.
“Haah…”
“……?”
Had she just sighed out loud?
Startled, Anette looked around.
That was when she noticed a small figure lying sprawled out on a bench beneath a large tree not far away.
She had sensed a presence ever since entering the garden.
But since Serina had said this was a rear garden only imperial family members could enter and that no one would be here, Anette had assumed it was just a small animal.
“Eh?”
At that moment, the child—who had been letting out exaggerated sighs that didn’t suit him at all—seemed to sense her gaze and straightened up.
Golden hair distinctive of the imperial family, violet eyes reminiscent of the dawn sky and identical to the Empress’s, and a pretty face that seemed to combine the best features of both the Emperor and Empress.
As expected… he must be the Crown Prince.
She’d been told he was in class—had he skipped?
While Anette was identifying who he was, the Crown Prince, Mikhail, studied her with wary eyes before walking over on his short little legs, putting on a solemn expression.
Planting his small hands firmly on his waist and lifting his eyebrows, he demanded in what he clearly believed to be a dignified tone:
“Who are you! Who dares set foot in this rear garden, where only the imperial family may enter?!”
“…….”
“Will you not reveal your identity at once?! If you do not speak, I shall hold you accountable for your crime!”
Anette thought his way of speaking was a bit strange—but the scolding still made her flinch.
After all, she really was worried she might be blamed for harming the Empress Dowager’s health.
At the same time, a bitter smile crept onto her face.
Well, I guess that means I’ve met everyone in my future in-laws… except the actual man I’m supposed to marry.
Meanwhile, at the very moment Anette was being interrogated by Mikhail—
“Guilty! Absolutely guilty!”
The Empress Dowager, lying ill in bed, shouted with a grave expression.
“I was told she was a knight who could fell monsters in droves with a single swing of her sword, so even if she’d turned into a child, I imagined a majestic, imposing girl no ordinary boy could ever approach. But then—!”
The moment the drawing room doors opened and a doll-like, beautiful child toddled in, lifting her skirt slightly and bending her knees in a polite curtsy, the Empress Dowager nearly stopped breathing. The shock was so great she couldn’t even speak.
Those round eyes constantly darting about to observe her were like a highly alert cat, and when the tea and snacks were brought out, the way her eyes sparkled as if she’d discovered hidden treasure—she was unmistakably just a child.
“How can anyone be that cute?! Being that cute is a crime! Why didn’t you tell me she was so adorable, Empress?!”
The Empress Dowager shouted again, her expression fierce.
Charlotte, who knew all too well that the Empress Dowager always looked terrifying whenever she encountered something truly cute and lovable, inwardly shook her head and offered an excuse.
“I didn’t expect Lady Hayworth to be quite that cute either.”
She, too, considered herself a longtime admirer of Anette, but she had only ever heard heroic tales and knew little about her actual personality.
She’d heard that due to years of confinement and neglect in the Kingdom of Hayworth, Anette didn’t let people get close, and that having grown up in misfortune with monster subjugation as her entire life, she was bound to be emotionally underdeveloped.
That’s why I steeled myself not to withdraw my hand, even if I was met with a cold rejection…
Yet instead of rejection, Anette had been flustered by kindness, slowly opening her heart little by little—and watching that filled Charlotte with overwhelming emotion, to the point her throat tightened.
She realized then that the reason Anette had never allowed people close wasn’t because she pushed them away—
It was because no one had ever tried to approach her in the first place.
“Finally… a girl has appeared who will wear the dresses I’ve made!”
At that moment, still unable to get over her excitement from meeting Anette, the Empress Dowager clenched her fist.
Despite her cold, sharp appearance, she adored cute and lovely things and had spent her life making delicate children’s clothes as a hobby.
She’d dressed both her sons and even her grandson Mikhail in clothes she’d made herself, but every time she looked at the girls’ dresses neatly stacked in her dressing room with no owner to wear them, she’d felt a deep sense of regret.
Yet as Empress Dowager, she couldn’t simply grow close to unrelated noble girls, so she’d waited endlessly for the birth of a granddaughter.
And now, such a miracle had happened!
That a perfectly healthy adult had turned into a child wasn’t exactly normal—but after a lifetime of living with men who possessed all kinds of powers, from her father-in-law to her husband, her elder son, and her younger son, Anette’s physical change didn’t feel all that shocking.
Besides, with her eldest son’s ability, everything would be fine—and even if not, her second son would never just leave Anette be.
As the Empress Dowager finally thought of her second son, Grand Duke Harzent, the corners of her lips lifted.
“That said, Cardin seems to have fallen for his own scheme. It looks like he went off on a subjugation ahead of schedule, planning to stay holed up in the castle for a while after bringing in a new bride….”
Despite the regretful tone, the Empress Dowager smiled with a refreshed expression, as if she’d eliminated an enemy.
She resolved that when Cardin eventually received the news, she would tell him everything—from the moment Anette first entered and greeted them, to how she’d eaten snacks in a flurry of excitement—without leaving out a single detail.
Especially how she’d shyly offered a cookie at the end, an act so adorable it felt like it could blow the entire imperial palace apart.
“But still… isn’t she far too thin?”
The Empress Dowager said disapprovingly, recalling Anette’s frail body despite how much she ate.
Even if her mind was twenty-four, a child ought to be plump!
“Empress, let’s have tea again tomorrow after lunch. We’ll make her nice and chubby. Shiny and well-fed!”
Whispering slyly like a witch about to eat a child, the Empress Dowager abruptly threw off her covers and stood up, declaring that she needed to alter the dress she’d made to fit Anette’s body and send it over by tomorrow.
At that same moment—
The knights of House Harzent were in the midst of a subjugation in the border forest known as the “Swamp of Monsters.”
Though it was still midday, the forest was shrouded in darkness as if night had already fallen, and with rain pouring down, an eerie atmosphere naturally settled in.
Crash—!
Lightning split the sky.
As the red eyes of a hidden monster flashed and it let out a threatening sound, a man in a black mask kicked off from the rain-soaked ground and charged forward.
Moments later—
Thud.
With a heavy sound, the monster collapsed to the ground, its head and body severed.
From the man’s sword—still steady after the strike—rose a vivid black aura.
As the entire knight order looked on in awe, the vice-captain standing behind him, Morton Fairen, spoke.
“Your Highness, with this, things should stay quiet for a month or two.”
They had set out earlier than the scheduled subjugation and pushed deep into the forest to eliminate the monsters.
But the Grand Duke himself, who had accomplished this feat, merely furrowed the only part of his face visible beneath the mask.
“Only a month or two…”
“GRAAAAND DUUUUKE—!”
At that moment, a reckless voice rang through the forest, breaking the quiet broken only by rain.
“Which lunatic is that—”
One knight muttered in alarm.
Among monsters, there were species highly sensitive to sound, and charging through the Swamp of Monsters while yelling like that was practically a death wish.
The identity of the lunatic was revealed quickly.
It was the Grand Duke’s aide, Samuel.
“YOOOOOUR HIGHNEEEEESS!”
A classic desk-bound bureaucrat with little talent for riding, Samuel came barreling toward them at great speed, barely clinging to his horse in an unsteady posture.
“Neigh—!”
When he yanked the reins in panic, the horse reared, flailing its front legs before finally settling back onto the ground.
“Whoa—! I almost died!”
Nearly plastered to the saddle, Samuel gasped for breath before spotting the Grand Duke he’d been desperately calling for and hurriedly dismounting.
“Your Highness!”
“Have you decided to spare me some effort, my loyal Samuel, by drawing the monsters’ attention for me?”
Hearing the sarcasm—suggesting he was deliberately trying to lure monsters—Samuel let out an awkward laugh.
The Grand Duke asked coolly:
“So. What could be important enough for you to risk your life running here?”
The coldness in his voice made it sound as though, if this wasn’t urgent news like the outbreak of war, Samuel might actually lose his life.
There was still killing intent lingering in the Grand Duke’s eyes from the recent battle.
“P-Please don’t look at me like you’re about to carve me up. I’m not a monster!”
You’re not actually the kind of vicious man who cuts down people indiscriminately, like the rumors say… right?
Even though Samuel himself had spread those rumors at the Grand Duke’s command, his words came out lacking conviction.
“Get to the point.”
Snapped back to reality by the curt response, Samuel hurriedly pulled something from his coat.
“A message came from the imperial palace. They said it’s urgent—”
Before Samuel could finish speaking, the letter was already in the Grand Duke’s hand.
Moments later, the blue eyes beneath the mask shook violently.
