My Dear Grand Duke on a Leash - Chapter 30

Chapter 15.2 — The dog, the lark and the Princess (15)

Even if he appeared without a sound, he had an intimidating and dominant presence that pierced the air. Perhaps it might have been even more so because he was wearing the uniform of a Helios officer, unlike the other gentlemen in tailcoats.

The people he talked with weren’t aristocrats. They were in the lower tier of box seats, seats that only the bourgeois, the affluent middle class, could afford.

“Sister. Why is the Grand Duke with the bourgeois? They even look like journalists… Aren’t those gentlemen who work for the press office of Sir* Saint-Cyr?”
[ T/N: Here, the author used the title ‘공의’ for Saint-Cyr, which is shortened from duke (공작). However, in chapter 3.2, it was mentioned that Bea was going to marry a ‘commoner,’ so it doesn’t make sense that his title would be duke, that’s why I’m putting his title as ‘sir’ for now until there’s more information about him, and I’ll update his title again! ]

‘…Somehow, he never really looks back at this place. At least he could look back at it in the sense of saying hello, couldn’t he? Did he decide not to say hello after telling me not to approach him at all?’

“Riette. Do you, by any chance, have a, um… a heart for Grand Duke Acheron?”

“Uh?”

Riette lowered her opera glasses with a gasp. She trembled at Bea’s worried gaze and avoided her sister’s eyes.

“You can’t.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t know about anyone else but not the Grand Duke of Acheron. Ah, because of my marriage, I couldn’t pay too much attention to you. I should’ve kept you away from him.”

Her sister’s insistence, even leaning over to take her hand, visibly flustered her. She’d never been so reluctant to anyone before.

Riette rolled her big eyes.

“Rather than the Grand Duke, you should consider His Highness Narkissis. We’ve known each other for a long time, and he’s been quite fond of you after all these years. He’ll become the Crown Prince in a year, so even if you choose to go to Helios, it will be easy for you to adapt…”

Just in time, vocal music announcing the start of the opera was heard. Bea, who was about to speak impulsively, bit her mouth hesitantly. It wasn’t very appropriate to have a conversation because the actors in the audience began a group chorus.

“We’d better draw the curtains. This is a very important story.”

“Then, everyone will know we aren’t watching the opera, and there will be disgraceful articles about those actors. How hard they must have worked to prepare for today!”

“Sister has heard something about the women of Acheron. More important than that, of course, is the Grand Duke…”

Lowering her voice to a whisper, Bea glanced at the audience below. When she saw dozens of opera glasses pointed at her and her sister, she eventually rang the bell lightly enough so that the servant outside the door to hear.

“….”

The servant, who should’ve been waiting outside the door like a shadow, didn’t enter.

Riette glanced around at the doorway, puzzled.

Her sister was prone to sudden collapses from a young age, so there were always a couple of doctors and servants on standby everywhere, as they were trained to respond within three seconds after the call bell rang.

“Sister, don’t move. Stay right there. I’ll check and come back.”

Sometimes, you just have to trust her intuition, especially when you keep going through unimaginable things like these days. Stepping up to the entrance, as Riette grabbed the doorknob, the door swung open abruptly and forcefully.

“Kyaak!”

“Riette!”

Looking at her sister worriedly, Bea half rose to her feet.

A large hand grabbed and pulled Riette, who almost stumbled backwards. As her body fell forward, she was buried in someone’s firm embrace. Like the trees in an autumn forest, the dry, light scent struck her before she recognized the black uniform and medals, silvery buttons. As soon as she laid her hand on his chest, which was as wide and hard as a rock, Riette knew who he was.

It was Grand Duke Acheron.

He looked a little out of breath, as if he had been running.

“Grand Duke? How did you suddenly—”

“Princess, you need to escape quickly.

He grabbed her shoulders, gently but urgently, and gazed down at her. His uncharacteristically nervous expression and tone set off warning lights in Riette’s head. She reflexively pushed him away and looked back at her sister.

“Sister! Hurry this way…”

“I’ll guide you. Please step out of here quickly!”

“Ah!”

He tugged on her wrist and pushed her out the door, and in a blink of an eye, the landscape changed to a hallway. As she straightened her staggering body, Riette turned around to the doorway, and soon after, Bea was pushed out.

This time, as if Cain had pushed her with more force, Bea bounced out as if she had been thrown out.

“Sister!”

She hastily supported her sister’s leaning body.

Since Bea was half a foot taller than her, she had to clench her teeth and brace her legs to keep themselves from falling. Bea’s shawl fluttered once in the air as if it were about to attack her as Riette embraced her.

Bang!

There was an explosion from beyond the box seat curtain.

“Kyaaak…!”

Vibrations shook the corridors and screams from the audience exploded throughout the opera house. The smell of gunpowder exploded like a tidal wave through the cracks in the closed door.

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