I Don't Need the Grand Duke's Regret - Chapter 126
Nasir, having left his office, headed towards the library.
Recently, thanks to Ricardo regaining his former vitality, Nasir’s workload had significantly decreased. This allowed him to enjoy a break like this one.
‘He needs to keep it up.’
As he walked down the corridor, Nasir rubbed his stiff shoulders. He was particularly tired after staying up late the previous night writing letters.
With the founding festival approaching, repairs to the Ragnar Bridge were still far from completion.
Consequently, Nasir had written a letter to Valerio asking for the Imperial court’s opinion on how to host the distinguished guests from Segolinde.
Although the letter was written, it was uncertain whether it could be sent, as the wind was still too strong for a courier.
‘How will the guests from Segolinde handle it?’
As Nasir looked at the rattling window, his thoughts drifted to Princess Mirabel and her son.
The scene he had just witnessed in the office made him ponder, especially about Prince Charles.
Prince Charles had been dozing off on Ricardo’s lap.
At that moment, Nasir thought he might be seeing things.
Not only was the so-called ‘mad wolf’ Grand Duke holding him, but the child was also asleep in his arms.
Was Prince Charles daring or disrespectful? It was hard to tell.
No, considering Ricardo had lowered his voice so as not to wake the sleeping child, it might not be either.
‘What kind of relationship do they have?’
Nasir delved into deep thought.
He had never seen Ricardo being tender with anyone. Even with Armilla, he had been indifferent.
If Ricardo had a child, would he act like this?
But that child had already died with Armilla.
‘If he was alive, would he be about the same age as Prince Charles?’
Nasir thought with a bitter expression.
Perhaps that was why Ricardo was so fond of Charles.
It felt strange to use ‘Ricardo Vittore’ and ‘fond’ in the same sentence, but there was no other way to describe it.
‘Prince Charles.’
As Nasir walked down the corridor, he reviewed the information he had about Prince Charles.
Prince Charles, or Charles Etienette, was the son of the Princess of Segolinde.
This prince, who had come to Renato through the crystal orb, was the cherished child of Segolinde.
That was the basic information Nasir had about Charles.
For a typical guest, this level of information might be sufficient.
However, Nasir felt the need to gather more details about Prince Charles.
Especially since Ricardo was so fond of him.
Princess Mirabel seemed to disapprove of this fact, but that was all.
She had not separated Ricardo from Charles.
To be more precise, she couldn’t ‘separate’ them.
According to Missus Catarina, there had been a commotion yesterday when the princess scolded the prince for trying to sit next to Ricardo at a meal.
The prince had clung to Ricardo, crying bitterly, causing the princess quite a bit of trouble.
Missus Catarina, who had grandchildren around Prince Charles’s age, shook her head.
‘When children of that age throw a tantrum, adults just can’t win.’
Remembering the Missus’s disapproving tone, Nasir sighed softly.
Even if he accepted Prince Charles, he was worried about Ricardo. Ricardo was just starting to regain his old self, and if he was separated from Prince Charles, would he not become a recluse again?
Ricardo had once made extreme choices. The fact that he could now smile and perform his duties normally was largely due to Charles.
But Prince Charles was royalty from Segolinde. Once this visit was over, there would be no more opportunities to meet Ricardo.
Nasir was concerned about that.
He worried that Ricardo, left alone when Charles returned to Segolinde, might lose his sanity once again.
“Ahchoo!”
Nasir heard a small sound as he walked down the corridor. He looked around, his senses on high alert.
With the Duchy almost having lost the Grand Duke, there were those eyeing Renato.
Most were dealt with by Ezio, but occasionally, some had the audacity to infiltrate the Grand Duke’s residence. Even Nasir, who had little to do with martial arts, had begun carrying a dagger.
He stealthily moved towards the source of the sound.
The noise was coming from the end of the corridor near the office.
With his hand inside his coat, Nasir tensed and pricked up his ears.
“Ahchoo!”
At a louder sound than before, Nasir blinked, his hand moving towards the dagger.
‘Wait, something’s off.’
Though the sound was suspicious, it did not seem to come from an assassin. As Nasir pulled his hand from his coat to retrieve the dagger, the sound occurred again.
“Ahchoo!”
Suddenly, someone popped out from around the corner at the end of the corridor.
Nasir’s eyes widened in surprise as he tried to identify the source of the mysterious sound.
“Prince Charles?”
Nasir was taken aback to see Charles, who was sneezing continuously.
Charles, unable to respond, kept sneezing loudly. Nasir quickly approached the sneezing prince.
“Why are you here? Where is the Master?”
“Uncle… Ah… Ah-choo!”
The child tried to explain but was interrupted by another fit of sneezing. Nasir pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to the child.
“Blow your nose here. Blow.”
“Choo.”
“Harder.”
“Ahchoo!”
“Well done.”
Nasir carefully wiped Charles’s nose and put the handkerchief back in his pocket. He looked at the still-sniffling child with a worried expression.
‘Has he caught a cold?’
Even though Ricardo had come back to his senses, Renato was still not fully restored to its previous condition.
While knights were stationed at every corner of the corridor, their presence was merely to protect Segolinde’s party from monsters.
It did not mean that Ricardo had completely managed the estate. The cold, chilly corridor was a clear sign of that.
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