I stared at him, dumbfounded in an instant.

Want to know?

Does that mean he really did imprison me before?

If I’d known this would happen, I should have hidden that rose message somehow! Maybe I really did need someone to come save me!

Just as I was about to regret everything, the Grand Duke, who had been calmly staring at me, leisurely parted his red lips.

“I’ve never done that.”

“…What?”

“Though I do plan to.”

What?!

“If you won’t listen to reason, I’ll have to confine you. What choice do I have?”

“How can you say such terrifying things as casually as announcing the dinner menu?”

“If days like today keep repeating.”

“……”

“That’s what will happen.”

After calmly finishing his words, he lightly scanned my face with an indifferent gaze before returning to his original posture.

It felt like I’d been threatened.

Or maybe persuaded…

One thing was certain. I could already vividly picture myself pounding on locked windows and wailing.

I’d have dozens of things to do behind this man’s back in the future…

Kyak!

Imagining a future so bleak it made my mouth go dry, I squeezed Odin tightly, causing him to emit an irritated cry while striking my arms repeatedly.

Maybe if I held the founder of this family hostage, the Grand Duke’s attitude would change?

“We found her, Your Highness!”

At that moment, the head guard’s voice came from across the way.

“Is that the child?”

The Grand Duke asked me.

The child who spotted us jumped up from her chair with a terrified face.

“…Yes, that’s her. But she looks scared.”

After I carefully answered so the child couldn’t hear, the Grand Duke turned his gaze to her.

The child’s appearance was shabby enough to notice at a glance that her circumstances were poor.

Her dress, visibly extended multiple times, had still been worn until it became too short, exposing her ankles and wrists.

Her shoes looked precarious, with the toes about to fall off at any moment, and the basket containing the flowers was also quite tattered.

“Since the child is frightened, could I ask her questions instead?”

“…I’ll do it.”

The Grand Duke, who had been staring at the child, slowly approached.

It would make sense that he had almost no trust in me, so he probably meant to interrogate her himself, but…

As the child’s face grew paler with each step the Grand Duke took toward her, I found myself holding my breath.

‘Hey, isn’t your dad a XX scammer?’

The large figures surrounding me in my previous life seemed to overlap with the scene before me.

When the Grand Duke’s large body suddenly blocked my view of the child, my feet moved on their own.

“Wait… please!”

Just as I rushed to stop him, his voice reached my ears.

“What’s your name?”

Bending one knee, he matched the child’s eye level and spoke in a gentle tone.

Startled by his unexpected attitude, I flinched, and he turned to look at me.

‘What.’

Seeing my expression clearly showing surprise, he mouthed the question before turning back to the child.

The child hesitated, looking at the Grand Duke with eyes that widened momentarily before finally opening her mouth.

“Brianna.”

“That’s a pretty name.”

The Grand Duke responded calmly and exhaled lightly.

“Was there anyone who troubled you or scared you on your way here?”

“Um, no…”

Brianna shook her head as she answered.

Since questioning a child on the street where many people could see might create a misunderstanding, the guards had arranged to bring the child from an office at the Danube Museum, one of the Hedegen family buildings.

“That’s good.”

“……”

“Now just answer what you know.”

“Yes… Grand Duke.”

When Brianna nodded slightly, he said “good girl” and pulled out the rose I had received from the girl earlier from his pocket.

Brianna’s eyes briefly flicked to me, perhaps recognizing the rose she had given me.

“I heard you gave this flower.”

Seeing the flower, Brianna fidgeted with her fingers anxiously.

Noticing the child’s hesitant response, he pointed to me.

“This lady here is my grand duchess. I wanted to buy more flowers because she liked the one you gave her, so I looked for you. I’m sorry if I frightened you.”

“…What?”

Brianna’s eyes widened to the point of nearly popping out as she turned her head to glance at me.

“She’s your wife?”

Though it was natural for her to react this way since she wouldn’t know I was the grand duchess, somehow it seemed like she wasn’t just surprised that I was the Grand Duke’s wife.

“Yes.”

“……”

Her surprised face looking at me again was clearly different from when she had handed me the flower in the square.

However, Brianna said nothing and just nodded her head before turning away from me.

The Grand Duke calmly continued his questioning.

“I heard you didn’t accept payment. Why?”

“……”

“Brianna?”

“Actually… someone else paid first.”

Someone else?

“They told me to give them as gifts to the ladies. That person selected several flowers and said that.”

“How kind. Who was this person?”

Brianna dropped her trembling gaze to the floor before eventually looking up at me.

For some reason, this young child seemed to keep checking my reaction. Why?

If it was because of me, I needed to reassure Brianna first.

I crouched in front of the child, hugging my knees while looking at her.

“It’s okay to tell us.”

“……”

“Really.”

Since she seemed to be gauging my reaction before speaking, I reached out and gently stroked Brianna’s hair.

Brianna’s delicate brown eyes grew larger and trembled.

“Can you tell us what this person looked like, what they were wearing, anything you remember?”

When I asked with a gentle smile, Brianna looked back and forth between me and the Grand Duke with eyes as muted as water-soaked stars.

“What did they look like? Were they an adult woman like me? Or tall like the Grand Duke?”

“They were tall too.”

I involuntarily flinched at Brianna’s answer.

“But not as tall as the Grand Duke.”

Brianna looked up at the empty space for a moment, as if searching her memory, encouraged by my expression that it was okay to continue.

“And… they were a handsome gentleman like the Grand Duke.”

A cold glint flashed through the Grand Duke’s bluish eyes.

“A gentleman…”

“Yes, a gentleman.”

“I see.”

For a moment my heart sank, but in a flash so brief it felt like an illusion, he gave the child a generous smile as if nothing had happened.

“Go on.”

Yet in that brief moment, I could clearly feel a chilling coldness.

I stroked my goosebump-covered arms and looked at Brianna again.

Some man had sent a message written on a flower petal saying he would come to save me.

Who could it be?

“But he wasn’t as handsome as the Grand Duke. Well, he was handsome too… but I don’t think anyone could be as handsome as the Grand Duke.”

They say children can see appearances more objectively, and that seems to be true.

Considering she said this even while frightened.

“Could you tell me more details about what clothes he wore, what his hair was like?”

When I carefully asked to learn more, tears suddenly welled up in Brianna’s eyes.

She was definitely watching my reactions and being cautious.

“I don’t… really know.”

“It’s okay. I’m not asking to get angry at you or blame you.”

Thinking the child might be crying because she felt I was pressing her too hard, I quickly changed the subject.

“Isn’t it hard selling flowers? Is your home close to here? What about school?”

“What? Oh… My home is very close. Selling flowers is good for me. My siblings are waiting. If I sell a lot, I can earn money and buy food for dinner. I go to school in the morning. From lunchtime, I sell things like flowers or vegetables. My mother just had another baby, and she can’t move because she has to take care of the infant, so I’m doing this instead.”

She’s a child breadwinner!

I had lived full of complaints because I hated having my father take away every penny I earned, but this child was growing up so beautifully despite even having siblings to care for.

I wanted to give her something out of admiration, but I needed to have something to give.

I didn’t even have money…

“Ah?”

Come to think of it, I had hairpins!

Feeling my hair, I found several pins inserted.

When I was preparing to go out this morning, I noticed that all the accessories on the dressing table looked too shabby to be considered the grand duchess’s. Still, being a noble lady’s items, they had a couple of pearls or rubies embedded in them.

This should be enough to give to Brianna.

“Your hair is messy, Brianna.”

After combing Brianna’s stray hair with my fingers, I removed one pearl hairpin and attached it to her tidied hair.

“This way your hair won’t fall down until you get home.”

The child’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“I, I shouldn’t wear something so precious! The hairpin will get dirty. I’ll take it off right away.”

“It’s okay. It’s a reward for the beautiful flower. I have too many, so I don’t really need it. So Brianna, you can do whatever you want with it. You can even sell it if you like.”

I could feel the Grand Duke’s gaze on my skin, but I pretended not to notice and smiled brightly.

I briefly worried what if he had bought it for me, but even if that were the case, the Grand Duke seemed to have a kind disposition toward children, so he would probably let this pass.

“But…”

“In return, if you remember anything more about the person who bought the flowers, tell me anytime. I’m really curious. Okay?”

Brianna, who had been standing in a daze, suddenly grabbed my dress slightly.

The child, who had been at a loss for what to do, looked at me and the Grand Duke before moving her small, cute lips.

“Um, they were wearing black clothes. Their hair was black too.”

“Is this person a regular visitor to Mertid Square?”

“N-no! They… I’d never seen them before. I don’t think they come here often.”

I was about to nod when I suddenly noticed light emanating from the child’s basket. Could it be?

“Brianna. I like the flowers so much, could I buy some more?”

“Take them all!”

Brianna hastily handed her basket to me.

I thought the light might be coming from the flowers, but it was coming from the very bottom of the basket.

When I looked through the flowers, I saw a book that was a bit worn but seemed to have been carefully maintained.

“There’s a book here?”

“Ah…! That’s my school book…”

“…May I take a look at the book? I’d like to see what they teach in schools these days.”

Thanking Brianna, who nodded her head, I opened the child’s book.

The letters transformed into coins that emitted light.

[Lea Azanie has acquired 25 ‘Redemption Coins’.]

What?

[The little girl, Brianna, moved by your efforts, told a lie for you.]