Special Story 5

The moment my father, who had broken through the door and the wall, entered, he rushed to me and embraced me. A sense of relief washed over me from his gentle voice, the warm embrace, and his familiar scent. I held onto him tightly and burst into loud sobs, releasing all the sadness and fear I had felt.

“Huuu-wooong. N-No, I’m not hurt… but Aiden! Waaaaah!”

Excluding the time I was a newborn baby, which I couldn’t remember, this was the first time I had cried so unrestrainedly. As I, who had never shed a tear no matter how rigorous the training, wept bitterly, the intensity of the Silver Wolf Knights who followed became fiercer.

“Heeek!”

The criminal, who was initially flustered, paled upon seeing my father’s face as he held me. This was natural, as no one in the North was unfamiliar with the face of Grand Duke Eclipse.

My father didn’t even glance his way, instead silently wiping away my tears, and then gave a meaningful look to Commander Kroel. Receiving the cue, Kroel immediately scooped up Aiden, who was sitting dazedly, and headed outside.

My father, who continued to wipe my tears, seemed immensely angry and spoke to the criminal while holding me close. It was a chilling voice I had never heard before.

“How dare you kidnap my daughter.”

“D-Daughter, you say?”

The criminal’s eyes flickered between me and my father, seemingly unable to grasp the situation even as he looked. And just at that moment, the effect of the magic potion I had drunk wore off, and my black hair slowly began to regain its original color.

The man’s eyes gradually widened.

The soft pink color, like cherry blossoms blooming in the North. The combination of the Eclipse Duke and pink hair could only mean one thing.

“Haaah!”

The man, finally grasping the situation, fell to the ground screaming. His body trembled just as much as mine had.

“P-Please spare me! We didn’t know! Truly! We had no idea she was the young Grand Duchess!”

At his voice, which pleaded as if he were the wronged party, I stopped crying and glared at him. My voice, now firm, came out of my mouth.

“You didn’t know I was the young Grand Duchess? If you had known, were you planning to kidnap another commoner instead of me?”

Anger flared up at the impudent man’s words. I was lucky that Father had saved me in time, but surely there were many more children who were not so fortunate.

“Human trafficking is illegal in the North—no, throughout the entire Empire! We will prosecute you thoroughly, making you regret ever daring to commit such an act in Eclipse territory!”

The basement fell silent the moment I finished speaking.

My father watched me with an expressionless face, but if looked closely, his eyes held a look of praise. Gently stroking my head, my father said, “My daughter is absolutely right. I will leave the rest to you.”

“Yes, Your Grace!”

After that, I couldn’t see the situation clearly, hugged tightly in my father’s arms, but one thing was certain. This group would be swiftly taken care of, and my father and mother would undoubtedly put great effort into improving Iclea’s public security after this incident.

‘And when I become the Grand Duchess, I will also…’

While holding back the tears that welled up again, my father smoothly exited the basement and got into the waiting carriage.

“Sasha!”

“Oh, Mamaaaa!”

My mother was waiting in the carriage. In the end, I couldn’t control the tears that flowed out, rendering my earlier restraint meaningless, and I cried profusely again.

“You must have been so scared. It’s okay now. My pretty daughter, your eyes will get all sore.”

I cried the entire way back in the carriage and eventually dozed off. When I opened my eyes again, I was already in my bed.

“Ooooh…”

As always, I sat up the moment I woke up, but various parts of my body ached. It was a realization of how weak I was, that I had such muscle pain even though I hadn’t been physically beaten by the kidnappers.

As I rose from the bed, my father, who had been holding documents, tossed them aside and rushed over to me. My mother, standing behind him, shook her head at my father’s action. The scattered documents were tidied by my mother’s delicate hands.

“Sasha, are you alright?”

“…Yes, I’m sorry.”

I buried my face in my hands and answered in a small voice. I thought my eyes felt heavy, and belatedly remembered they were swollen from crying so much. Crying like a baby felt quite embarrassing in retrospect.

I quietly allowed my father to stroke my head when a stern voice came from behind.

“Sasha Eclipse.”

“…”

Called by my full name, I instinctively flinched, trying to hide in my father’s arms. But the person who had just been stroking my head was already standing a distance away, looking at me with apologetic eyes.

‘How could he!’

When I stared at him with a shocked expression, my father slightly averted his gaze.

“Who are you looking at?”

“…”

Sure enough, the true power of the Eclipse Grand Ducal Family lay with my mother.

After that, I had to endure the stormy sermon in its entirety. Everything I did was wrong, so I couldn’t even mention that I was just following the words ‘Sasha, do everything you want to do!’ and could only say ‘I’m sorry.’

“Do you know how worried Mama was? You weren’t there, so Papa broke two doorknobs.”

Yet, miraculously, amidst the sermon, I increasingly felt my parents’ worry, concern, and love, which lightened my heart. When I finally cracked a bashful smile, my mother sighed deeply and said,

“Haa. Don’t ever worry Mama and Papa like this again.”

“Yes.”

I obediently nodded at the concluding remark, when something suddenly came to mind.

“Oh, right! What about Aiden?”

“Aiden?”

“The boy who was kidnapped with me! He was hurt quite badly because of me…”

“Ah, that child is fine. He only had a minor cut on his forehead and wasn’t seriously injured. He’s staying in the annex now after receiving treatment.”

“Phew…”

A sigh of relief escaped me naturally. As I patted my chest and looked up again, my mother’s eyes were shining with a somewhat burdensome intensity. It must be because Aiden was a boy my age. I quickly and cleverly changed the subject.

“Wh-What happened to my birthday banquet?”

“We’ve decided to hold it again tomorrow. This time, only family and close acquaintances will remain, so don’t run away.”

“Understood. Ah! Then, could you please invite Aiden to the banquet tomorrow? I haven’t properly thanked him yet.”

My mother and father, who nodded at my request, didn’t seem inclined to look at their documents any further and came to lie down on either side of me in the bed. I lay on my side, sandwiched between them, and grasped one of my father’s and one of my mother’s hands. A cozy and happy feeling poured over me like drowsiness.

Before drifting off to sleep again, I said, “Mama, Papa.”

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

A faint, soft laugh.

“We love you too. Our daughter.”

Feeling their genuine love, I fell back asleep.

Inside the hall, where a soft melody flowed.

It was more modest than the banquet prepared the day before, but the hall was filled with family and acquaintances who loved me.

And.

“Sa-Sasha?”

“Welcome, Aiden. Wait, no. Young Count Aiden Dylan.”

Aiden, whom I thought was a commoner, turned out to be a noble’s son who had skipped my birthday banquet to see the festival. I chuckled, finding it funny that we had both run away from home and been kidnapped.

Aiden stared at me, his eyes wide, unable to hide his surprised face.

‘Is he surprised because my hair color is different from yesterday? Or because I’m the young Grand Duchess?’

Perhaps both.

Expecting this, I waited for his reply, but I blinked at his subsequent response.

“You look really pretty today, Sasha…”

“Huh?”

Aiden spoke in admiration, unable to take his eyes off me, as if he were truly captivated. It was a compliment I had heard countless times, yet I felt somehow shy. I felt my cheeks slightly warm and quickly adjusted my posture to hide my expression. I had to say what I needed to say.

Gently holding the hem of my dress with both hands, I curtsied elegantly and said,

“Thank you for your help yesterday, Young Count Dylan.”

“Huh? Oh! Yes! I’m glad we’re both safe! And just call me Aiden.”

“Pfft, alright. Aiden. You can call me Sasha, too.”

The adults around us, who heard our conversation, all looked our way with heartwarming expressions. I felt a little embarrassed, but I decided not to worry about such gazes anymore.

Just yesterday, I thought it might be okay for me to have one friend. Of course, Aiden was also noisy and his manners were terrible, like the young gentlemen who had been deleted from my list, but…

“Mama said it’s over once you find them cute.”

“What’s over?”

“I don’t know!”

<The End>

That’s the end of Chacha and Nine’s story, everyone! I wasn’t expecting the special stories to be like this but I found them to be cute haha. I hope you guys enjoyed this book. I’ll see you in the next one!