Chapter 41 – The Rabbit 

Lenoa continued to glance around the room as if searching for something. This was her second time visiting Kairan’s room, the first being when they had coincidentally shared some wine.  

As before, his room was neat and devoid of any luxurious items. Although she had only visited twice, Lenoa remembered his room well.  

Perhaps it was because it had been exactly two visits—no more, no less—that such recollection was possible.  

‘Hmm? That drawer is open.’  

In the otherwise perfectly tidy room, one thing stood out. Her curiosity piqued, Lenoa approached the drawer.  

The top drawer was half-open, and on top of it sat a glass vial. The contents of the vial were about half-full.  

‘What kind of medicine is this? It looks like something the Grand Duke is taking.’  

The white powder inside the vial was a type of medicine Lenoa had never seen before.  

Lenoa, who regularly took supplements verified by the palace physicians for her health, was no stranger to medicine. She had also taken prescribed medication to recover from colds or other ailments.  

But this particular medicine didn’t seem like either a supplement or a prescription. If it had been a supplement, she might have laughed it off, but if it were prescribed medication, it could be a serious matter.  

‘Is Grand Duke Kairan unwell without my knowledge?’  

Kairan had always seemed perfectly healthy—today being an exception. He didn’t show any signs of illness and had even come to escort her nearly every day until just yesterday.  

Today, Kairan didn’t appear to be sick but rather just tired. At the very least, he seemed to have enough energy to get up.  

‘Maybe he overexerted himself after returning from an outing.’  

Lenoa decided to instruct the head chef to prepare Kairan’s favorite fish dishes generously for today’s meal.  

As she thought about this, her curiosity about the medicine began to fade. She glanced at the vial one last time.  

‘I shouldn’t touch other people’s belongings.’  

Still, since she had already touched it, she felt obligated to put it back in its place. The half-open top drawer seemed to be where the vial belonged, so she carefully placed it inside.  

“Huh?”  

Suddenly, something unusual caught her eye inside the drawer. Without thinking, Lenoa reached out her hand.  

‘A rabbit…?’  

It was a glass sculpture of a rabbit. Small enough to fit in one hand, it had a transparent surface with striking red eyes.  

It looked like the kind of toy or decorative item children might like. Lenoa herself had received many such crafts as gifts and had seen noblewomen collect them as hobbies to display in their mansions.  

Come to think of it, she might have seen something similar at the House of Earl Haim. As the glass sculpture reminded her of the cheerful Felix, she found herself recalling their past meeting.  

“Your Majesty!”  

Kairan’s shout from behind startled her, and she almost dropped the rabbit. Her trembling hands quickly placed the rabbit on top of the drawer, as if it had been there all along instead of the vial.  

When she turned around, Kairan, dressed in a black robe, was pale as he alternated his gaze between Lenoa and the rabbit.  

Having been caught not only touching the vial but also the rabbit, Lenoa felt like a thief caught red-handed by the owner while attempting to steal a prized possession.  

Of course, she had no intention of stealing, but it was undeniably rude to handle someone else’s belongings out of curiosity.  

“I-I’m sorry, Your Grace. While waiting for you, I noticed the vial out of place and tried to put it back… and then…”  

Flustered, Lenoa stammered out an apology. She couldn’t lie, nor could she brazenly deny touching the items.  

“Ah… I see. It’s fine.”  

Unexpectedly, Kairan nodded and accepted her apology without issue. Then, he took the rabbit from her hands.  

An awkward silence filled the room. To break the tension, Lenoa spoke to Kairan, who was putting the rabbit back in the drawer.  

“Why do you have that rabbit?”  

She was more curious about the rabbit’s presence than the vial’s contents.  

Kairan, six years her senior and a full-grown adult, was far beyond the age to play with such things. Moreover, he was someone completely unrelated to cute or childlike items like rabbits. It seemed absurd to think it was part of his personal taste.  

‘Why did I even ask?’  

As Lenoa began to sweat nervously in the silence, Kairan finally spoke.  

“…I received it.”  

“From whom…?”  

“If you want it, I’ll give it to you.”  

Kairan extended the rabbit toward her. Sitting upright in his palm, the rabbit seemed to stare directly at Lenoa.  

Though his response was somewhat evasive, it was clear from his behavior that the rabbit wasn’t particularly important to him. Lenoa hesitated but eventually took the rabbit into her hands.  

“T-Thank you. I’ll accept it.”  

Refusing would only worsen the atmosphere, so Lenoa decided to accept it, just as Kairan had readily accepted her apology.  

“I’ll step out for a moment while you change your clothes.”  

Holding the rabbit, Lenoa quickly left the room. Outside, Harpe appeared abruptly and greeted her, nearly causing her to drop the rabbit again.  

“Your Majesty, the Grand Duke…?”  

“He coughed a bit but will be out after changing his clothes.”  

Though the morning had been unusual, it was certain that once Kairan finished dressing, he would escort her to breakfast as usual.  

Still, returning to the room to wait for him or heading to the dining hall alone didn’t seem ideal, so she decided to wait for him here.  

Perhaps sensing her thoughts, Harpe quickly fetched a chair from the servants’ quarters. Lenoa smiled awkwardly as she sat down.  

“Lord Harpe, you’re quick on your feet.”  

“Haha… My father taught me both exercise and swordsmanship.”  

His father referred to his adoptive father, the former commander of the knight order. Harpe seemed to have a close relationship with him.  

—Clunk.  

Before long, Kairan emerged from his room, dressed as usual in a black Justaucorps. His gaze first landed on Lenoa, seated in the chair, before shifting to Harpe, who was standing close to her and chatting.  

Seeing this, Kairan felt the lingering effects of the sleeping medicine once more.  

‘How dare this guy, in my absence!’  

Kairan grabbed Lenoa’s hand without hesitation, glaring briefly at Harpe before addressing her.  

“I shall escort you.”  

Lenoa was momentarily annoyed by Kairan’s rudeness, but not wanting to cause a scene so early in the morning, she silently accepted. Besides, she was starting to feel hungry.  

Harpe didn’t follow them. Since the meal was for the two of them alone, he wouldn’t have been able to join anyway, but Lenoa felt relieved nonetheless.  

When they reached the first floor, they saw a green-haired maid cleaning the windows. Noticing that it wasn’t Rosetta, Lenoa asked the maid to take the rabbit to her room.  

‘If I had run into Rosetta, it would have been a disaster.’  

Though Kairan had already been punished and the results conveyed to Rosetta, he was still feeling the sting of that punishment. Rosetta might have even found it amusing.  

Even though the matter was resolved, Rosetta still found Kairan unpleasant, so there was no reason for them to cross paths.  

When Rosetta had first heard of Kairan’s punishment, she had said it was fine, but her expression had betrayed her true feelings.  

‘She must have been really upset.’  

Lenoa murmured words only she could hear as she walked toward the dining hall with Kairan.

During breakfast, Kairan, still groggy from sleep, had little appetite and barely touched even his favorite fish dishes. Lenoa, worried about him, also found herself unable to eat properly, despite not wearing a corset except for events or formal meetings since her debutante.  

Even so, after breakfast, Kairan did not forget to escort Lenoa back to her room.  

After seeing her off, Kairan ascended to the fourth floor, letting out a deep sigh.  

‘I shouldn’t have slept in. I’ve caused unnecessary trouble for Lady Lenoa.’  

He had nearly forgotten to escort her to breakfast and couldn’t even eat properly. For the first time, his disrupted routine felt like a great humiliation.  

‘It’s all because of that guy.’  

Yes, it was all because of that Harpe fellow. Ever since Harpe had voluntarily appeared and offered to serve him, Kairan had been under immense stress. But since he couldn’t recklessly dismiss him, he had to find a way to make him leave on his own.  

As soon as he stepped into the fourth-floor hallway, he spotted a face he hated to see. Harpe, noticing Kairan, approached him with a bright smile and quick steps.  

“Your Grace, you’ve returned.”  

Harpe’s cheerful expression, as if he had been waiting for Kairan all along, made Kairan want to punch him. But he restrained himself.  

“Come to my office.”  

At this first command that sounded like a proper order, Harpe’s face lit up even more.  

‘If only I could…’  

Kairan kept his gaze fixed on the documents on his office desk as he spoke indifferently.  

“How much do you want?”  

“Pardon?”  

“How much will it take? The cost of your departure.”  

Even though his ducal house had fallen from grace, Kairan was still quite wealthy. To him, the secretary’s position was merely a pastime.  

He could afford to pay Harpe whatever amount he asked for. After all, there was a saying:  ‘There’s nothing money can’t buy.’  

Although Kairan couldn’t quite guess Harpe’s true intentions, he was certain there was a financial aspect to it. He planned to exploit this angle.  

‘There’s nothing money can’t buy. Come to think of it, that’s not entirely true…’  

Kairan had proof to the contrary—a story of his own. It was about Lenoa.  

‘Princess, please accept this. It’s my gift to you.’  

From the day he first met Lenoa, Kairan had gone out at least twice a week to visit various jewelry shops. He purchased expensive accessories and jewels that women would adore and personally delivered them to Lenoa in secret. He wanted to see her happy face upon receiving his gifts.  

At first, Lenoa awkwardly thanked him and reluctantly accepted the gifts. But when the number of gifts became too many to count, Lenoa finally said:  

‘You keep giving me these, and it’s becoming a burden… This will be the last one. From now on, I’ll only accept your feelings.’  

Since that day, Kairan had been unable to bring himself to give her any more gifts. After all, she had never seemed genuinely happy to receive them. Perhaps this was her way of reaching her limit.  

‘Maybe a person’s heart is something money can’t buy.’  

What couldn’t be bought with money wasn’t the countless rabbit figurines and decorations he had secretly ordered servants to purchase to relieve his stress, but rather a person’s heart.  

“I did not enter the palace for money, Your Grace.” 

Harpe replied.  

This thought seemed to apply to the man standing before him as well.