My Dear Grand Duke on a Leash - Chapter 13

Chapter 7.1 — Princess Wedding (11)

“I’ll take my leave now, then. I hope you rest well.”

As she glanced at the cage lying on the floor, a gloss shone from the dented golden cage in front of the ivory door.

‘Ah. He’s only going to come up to the hallway.’

Well, that was normal though. No matter how good his manners were, foreign nobles couldn’t enter the princess’ bedroom. Still…

When Riette raised her gaze, she saw a blank expression like a distant stone wall, like the crowd passing by the streetlights lined up on the boulevard, their expressionless faces.

He was like that all the way up to the bedroom. She was the only one talking while he only occasionally replied, ‘I see,’ ‘Is that so?’ and ‘Yes,’ with these three answers to infinity and completely cutting off the conversation.

‘No. I’ve come all the way here, but I can’t send him back without having a proper conversation…!’

“Would you like to have a cup of tea before going back? Coincidentally, among the items that came as a gift from my sister, there are many flavorful teas. I’ll take care of it myself. I-I’m good at brewing teas!”

“As for bringing the cage into the bedroom, it’d be better to instruct the reliable ladies-in-waiting since you said you’re moving it secretly.”

“Still, you brought this heavy thing here, but as a princess, I couldn’t just send you without any treatment. Come in, okay? Of all the teas that the Grand Duke will ever drink, I think this will be the most delicious.”

“It was the right thing to do. I don’t prefer tea, so I’ll just accept your offer with gratitude. Then.”

Bowing his head, Cain politely stepped back. It seemed as if he would never go into her bedroom, even if she laid on the floor crying and making a fuss.

“….”

As expected, Riette let out a deep sigh as she watched his back move away at a tremendous speed.

‘Look at him, Your Highness Narkissis. Did it look like someone like that would marry me? Even more so until sister’s wedding… within a week?’

Realizing she needed to set up a strategy, she glanced down at the dented cage.

‘First, let’s start with the cage since I can’t keep standing here.’

Riette grabbed the doorknob, but as she moved her hand, the burnt skin rubbed against the cloth glove and felt burning.

“Ah! It still hurts more than I thought…”

Frowning, she entered the room and supported the door with her back against it. The weight of the wooden door was quite heavy, so a groaning sound leaked out without realizing it.

‘Euu, this is heavy.’

….

‘The cage… it’s farther away than I thought?’

What should she do?

‘Feet. Stretch out my feet first…’

As she thought so, Riette, with her whole body braced against the bedroom door with her back, raised her toes toward the cage and whimpered. The tip of her shoes, embroidered with silver thread, barely touched the wire mesh of the cage.

Considering the angle of the door opening, that was the closest distance. If she pulled a little bit, her hand would touch it.

‘Just a little more.’

“…I’ll hold it for you.”

“Kyaak!”

Startled by the sudden low voice, her center of gravity titled. And as the weight that she had been supporting was abruptly disturbed, the heavy door pushed Riette forward.

‘Oh, no. I’m going to fall…!’

Thud.

The door stopped.

Cain grabbed the door with one hand and blocked it. However…

“Uuuht!”

Ta, thud!

As she fell straight forward, she was lying face down like a puppy with her hands on the floor, and the marble hallway tiles came into her vision.

Meanwhile, it was the door that Cain held onto, not Riette, who had fallen.

“….”

Because her palms absorbed the impact of the fall, her elbows and shoulders tingled as if she was shocked by electricity.

“It… hurts…”

Tears were welling in her big eyes.

˚ ·: * ✧ * :· ˚

“…I’m terribly sorry.”

A huge shadow engulfed Riette, who was sitting on the bed. It was the shadow of Cain as he approached with an emergency box and a stool exclusively for the royal family doctor in another hand.

Cain wished he could’ve gotten out of the Princess’ Palace without paying attention to what had happened as usual.

It was a disaster that occurred after he glanced back to see what was going on.

Instead of calling a lady-in-waiting, she struggled with her small body as he tried to ignore the sight of Riette whining and holding the door with her tiny body. Nevertheless, Cain couldn’t even take a few steps and eventually turned his steps back.

He thought holding the door for her would be fine and even planned to push the cage in without entering her bedroom…

But…

There was a sense of frustration between his brows, which were just like wooden stones. It was a face that was feeling guilty.

“No. Is it because you think that you’re the Grand Duke, so you can’t touch my body? It’s okay because you did your best to keep your manners, but mistakes happened.”

“Even if I did my best, it doesn’t change the fact that I’ve made a mistake.”

“Isn’t that too harsh? I’ll forgive you, so the Grand Duke shouldn’t apologize, either. The end!”

Cain, who had been staring at her blankly unknowingly, soon lowered his head in silence and focused on getting medical scissors out of the first aid kit. So thanks to that, Riette was able to relax and glanced at him.

Seeing him up close, what could she say…

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