If I Were Reborn, I Wouldn’t Marry You - Chapter 13

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 14

Nanny held my hand tightly and walked at a slightly quick pace to leave the Crown Prince’s Palace.

Then, when we reached a place with few people around, she suddenly burst into laughter.

“Nanny, why are you laughing?”

When I asked with my head tilted, Nanny, who still had the lingering traces of laughter creating gentle wrinkles around her eyes, bent down to match my height.

Her warm hazel eyes looked at me with a mixture of tenderness and mischief in about an 8-to-2 ratio.

“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

“Huh? What?”

Avoiding holding hands with the Crown Prince because I didn’t want to? Or making excuses because I wanted to go home?

Since there were several things I felt guilty about, I played dumb for now.

Then Nanny winked playfully and added.

“Helping that maid earlier.”

‘Oh, that?’

The usual me, or rather me at this age, was a naive child who grew up pampered and was generally generous to others.

Even if my clothes got dirty from a maid’s mistake, I would have said ‘It’s okay! I have lots of other clothes!’ and let it slide.

Nanny, who had been watching me since I was born, seemed to notice at once that I was acting differently than usual.

“His Highness the Crown Prince has a somewhat… temperament compared to the rumors…”

And she seemed to easily guess my intention too.

Nanny, who stopped speaking in surprise, briefly watched my reaction.

When I smiled as if I hadn’t heard anything, Nanny spoke with a face that said she was dying of pride in me.

“When did you grow up like this? I can still clearly see you toddling around.”

Feeling a bit embarrassed, I just gave a sheepish smile.

Although I was adapting quite well to the life of a six-year-old naive Young Lady, my mental age was twenty-four, so it was rather awkward.

‘It feels like being praised for not being a picky eater.’

Nanny seemed to regard even this reaction of mine as part of my modesty.

“And so humble too.”

I changed the subject before Nanny’s misunderstanding deepened further.

“Nanny, I’m thirsty.”

It was such an out-of-the-blue statement that anyone could tell I was deliberately trying to change the subject.

However, given the situation, it worked rather well.

“Oh my, if you wait here for a moment, I’ll go to the Crown Prince’s Palace.”

Though it felt like she was letting it slide.

“Okay, I’ll look around here.”

I nodded with an innocent face.

“Yes, you mustn’t go far. You must stay only within this fence.”

Nanny smiled gently and headed toward the Crown Prince’s Palace.

I pretended to look at the wood grain patterns I had no interest in, then ran toward the carriage once Nanny was far enough away.

The reason I sent Nanny to the Crown Prince’s Palace wasn’t just to avoid an awkward situation.

The fence Nanny had mentioned now looked as small as the palm of my hand.

“Sorry, Nanny. But I won’t get caught!”

After retrieving the rabbit bag I had hidden beforehand, I headed straight to the Winter Garden where I had promised to meet Leonhardt.

I was in a hurry.

The place where Nanny and I had been was much closer to the Winter Garden than to the Crown Prince’s Palace.

However, Nanny was an adult and I was a child.

Considering stride length and stamina, time wasn’t abundant.

‘If I cause trouble again, Mother might make me experience convent life this time.’

For a moment, I imagined myself filling my stomach with black bread and plain water while copying scriptures until calluses formed on my soft hands.

The imagination was too vivid.

Feeling anxious, I ran looking only straight ahead like a horse wearing blinders.

Even as an adult, I wasn’t particularly athletic, but a child’s body had much less stamina.

I was soon out of breath.

“I should have exercised.”

Thinking I’d at least swing tree branches when Lester trained starting tomorrow, I ran hard.

Having arrived safely without falling, I shoved the rabbit bag under the pergola like I was throwing it.

“Success!”

Looking at the bag that went in just enough to be easily retrieved in one go, I clenched my fist in joy.

I was catching my breath before going back when someone appeared from the shade of a nearby tree.

“Miela.”

Worried that I might be startled by his sudden appearance, Leonhardt carefully called my name as he approached.

At the familiar voice, I turned toward where the sound came from and asked in puzzlement.

“Huh, why are you here already? I told you to come after noon.”

Leonhardt looked flustered and closed his mouth tightly with a sullen expression.

‘He must have forgotten.’

Although Leonhardt wasn’t under house arrest, nothing good would come from leaving the Separate Palace.

Besides, if we had missed each other, he would have had to come out twice for nothing.

“Still, it’s fortunate. That we ran into each other just right.”

I said while still breathing heavily.

Only then did a faint smile appear on Leonhardt’s lips.

“Ah, I’m tired.”

Since my breathing wasn’t returning to normal easily, I leaned against the pergola’s pillar.

“Are you okay?”

Leonhardt, who came closer as if to support me, asked carefully.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

I smiled and gently pushed away Leonhardt’s arm that was reaching toward me.

I felt more comfortable leaning against the tree than relying on a child barely over one meter tall.

Leonhardt, who had hesitated for a moment, stepped back and clenched and unclenched his fist for no reason.

He seemed embarrassed about being rejected by me.

‘I’m not fully adapted to being smaller.’

Of course, from my perspective, it was a natural choice, so I didn’t mind.

Rather, with some distance between us, I could see Leonhardt’s appearance.

When I met him last time, he looked rather grubby, but his condition had improved quite a bit.

His hair, which had hung down long enough to cover his eyes, was properly trimmed, and his clothes looked new too.

Though I thought even the servants’ children would wear better clothes than that.

“When I saw you last time, I wondered if your hair was originally gray.”

At my joking words, Leonhardt’s earlobes turned slightly red.

“That was because the room was dark…!”

I continued speaking before Leonhardt could get upset.

“Mother’s efforts paid off. You look much better than before.”

Leonhardt smiled shyly as if he had received a compliment and thanked me.

“Thank you.”

Then he lightly bit his lower lip before releasing it and looked directly into my eyes as he spoke.

“Actually, since you said to come after noon, I thought you might come and go before then, so I waited.”

“Did you have something to say?”

I asked while glancing sideways at the Crown Prince’s Palace visible through the neglected, bare trees.

“Yeah, last time, when I asked why you were meeting Prince…”

At that moment, I saw Nanny coming out of the Crown Prince’s Palace.

“Leon, I think I need to go back now. Is it urgent?”

Perhaps because I was in a hurry, my words came out sharper than intended, and Leonhardt looked deflated.

“No, it’s not urgent.”

“Then contact me tonight. I brought plenty of magic stones.”

“Yeah.”

Leonhardt nodded obediently.

“Then I’m going!”

Leaving only a one-sided farewell, I started running even more earnestly than when I came.

Leonhardt’s gaze followed me for a long time from behind.

Was it because I didn’t have the rather heavy rabbit bag?

I was barely able to arrive before Nanny.

“I’m alive.”

Having exhausted my stamina, I plopped down on the grass.

Huff, huff, thanks to earnestly catching my breath, I was no longer panting when Nanny arrived.

However, breathing wasn’t the only problem.

“Oh my, Young Lady. Your face is red.”

Nanny, who appeared a few minutes later, was startled and kept fanning me with her hand.

“I guess it’s because I was on the sunny side.”

I answered, trying not to show any signs of panic.

“I should bring a parasol next time. Let’s go back quickly. When we return to the manor, I’ll grate some potatoes and put them on your face. Oh, and here’s some water.”

Nanny, who had been rattling off various worried comments, belatedly handed me the glass of water she was holding.

“Thank you.”

Perhaps because I had done exercise I wasn’t used to, the water with lemon slices floating in it tasted sweet.

I drank all the water in the glass at once.

“You must have been very thirsty.”

“Mm-hmm.”

And that night, after returning to the manor, I fell into a deep sleep from early evening while doing a potato face pack.

Even though the toy communication device hidden in my pillow flashed more than ten times.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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