I Don’t Need the Grand Duke’s Regret - Chapter 146

Armilla must have been desperate for the slightest favor. It was painful to feel that way again.

“If there’s anything I can do for you, just let me know.”

“There’s nothing.”

Mirabel replied, shaking her head with a bitter smile. Nasir frowned at her refusal.

“But—”

“I’ll be leaving again as soon as the Grand Duke recovers. Please let me do so quietly.”

Like someone who was never here.

Mirabel added softly, placing her second finger to her lips. Nasir looked at her with a mixture of emotions before slowly nodding.

* * *

“Sophie, today no too?”

At Charles’s desperate question, Sophie looked troubled.

As soon as they arrived at the mansion, Mirabel had awakened Charles from his sleep spell. After realizing they had returned to Renato, Charles was delighted and insisted on going to see Uncle Wolf right away.

Mirabel and Sophie had to work hard to dissuade the innocent child, knowing how shocked he would be at the sight of the bloodied Ricardo.

Every day since, Charles wanted to see Ricardo. However, since Ricardo had not yet awakened, they could not bring Charles to him. Sophie consoled Charles with a heavy heart.

“Yes, the Grand Duke seems to have a pretty bad cold. You’ll have to hold off on seeing him for now. It would be a big deal if you caught it too. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”

“Yeah…”

Charles reluctantly replied, pouting his lower lip.

Uncle Wolf had told Charles that a cold was the scariest illness he knew.

When one caught a cold, they had a high fever and kept getting a runny nose and coughing. It was a terrible illness that prevented one from going outside to play.

So, Charles had no choice but to suppress his desire to see Uncle Wolf.

“Would you like me to read you a storybook instead? How about the tale of the Apple Princess? Or maybe the story of the Red Forest?”

“No…”

Charles weakly shook his head. Even the usual fun with building blocks or storybooks didn’t seem entertaining at all.

Being cooped up in the room without being able to go outside felt stifling.

“Mommy? Mommy busy today again?”

Charles looked up with wide eyes, gazing at Sophie. Seeing the child’s sparkling gaze made her sigh.

It seemed she would need to bring Mirabel. However, it felt awkward to leave Charles alone in the room.

“Well, that is…”

Just as Sophie hesitated to respond, Charles exclaimed suddenly.

“Wow!”

Sophie turned her gaze to where Charles was looking and was taken aback by what she saw.

“Princess?”

Sophie gasped at the sight of Mirabel, who had appeared just in time. Accompanied by Luce, Mirabel smiled at her reaction.

“Why are you so surprised?”

“Well, just now, the prince said he wanted to see you.”

“Is that so?”

Mirabel bent down to hear Sophie’s explanation, opening her arms for Charles. The child, eyes sparkling, scampered over and jumped into her arms.

Charles beamed with joy, rubbing his face against Mirabel.

“Mommy!”

“That’s right, Charles. Have you been playing nicely with Sophie?”

Mirabel warmly asked as she hugged Charles, who nodded and wrapped his arms around her neck.

Even though they had met earlier that morning, seeing the affectionate pair made Sophie clasp her hands together.

Strangely, watching Mirabel and Charles together made her heart ache. At the same time, she felt that no one could intrude upon their bond.

In reality, that was the case.

Although people from the Segolinde royal family, including Ophelia, Asil, and Louise, doted on Charles, the child only looked for his mother.

The royal family assumed Charles’s unusual attachment stemmed from Mirabel’s limited use of a nanny.

Since the child spent an overwhelming amount of time with his mother, he was uncomfortable around others.

However, after coming to Renato, Sophie learned that this hypothesis was incorrect.

It was because of the Grand Duke.

Charles had first met the Grand Duke here in Renato.

Yet, he was very fond of the Grand Duke. Calling him ‘Uncle Wolf’ Charles would run after him, and the Grand Duke treated him warmly in return.

When he lifted the child and gave him a piggyback ride, he looked almost like a father caring for his son.

So perhaps that’s why…

Charles had developed an attachment to Renato.

Sophie was quite surprised by Charles’s reaction when Mirabel announced her intention to leave Renato.

It was unexpected that the child, who always wanted to be with his mother, would stand up for the Grand Duke and block her way.

Perhaps during his time in Renato, Charles had sensed a bond with his father through the Grand Duke.

He might have seen an imaginary father reflected in the Grand Duke, who shared the same dark hair as him.

Sophie frowned at the vague thought that emerged.

That couldn’t be the case.

Charles was likely drawn to the Grand Duke because he was unlike the laid-back and warm adults of Segolinde, with a wild, predatory energy that fascinated him.

“Mommy brought Charles his favorite chocolate cookies. Here, open wide.”

“Ah!”

Sophie smiled as she watched Charles munch on the chocolate cookie. He took a bite and offered a piece to his mother.

“Mommy too, aah.”

“Ah.”

Mirabel smiled brightly after taking a bite of the cookie Charles offered. The look of pride on Charles’s face when his mother ate his cookie was adorable.

Even though there were plenty of cookies that Luce had brought, it seemed the two of them didn’t care about that at all.

Sophie smiled warmly at them.

They were such a loving pair. Therefore, the interest Charles showed towards the Grand Duke was likely just a fleeting curiosity. After all, he was a curious child.

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