Lady Cinderella - Chapter 17

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Lady Cinderella, Chapter 17

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“So they’ve finally moved.”
From the moment Patricia forged the death certificate and walked into the government office, Wellington’s capable Intelligence Department had been reporting her every move directly to the Grand Duke. Her next steps were predictable enough. What truly grated on the Grand Duke’s nerves was something else entirely.
“The Lady has reportedly lost her appetite.”
She had waved away breakfast, claiming she was too tired to eat, and now Ella was openly avoiding the Grand Duke. When he casually asked what she was doing during the day, she said she was busy reading or embroidering. She had no contact with anyone to speak of, and the new clothes that had been bought for her were worn quietly, each morning, as the maids dressed her; she showed no particular interest in any of them.
“Is she eating anything at all?”
Olga shook her head. She had summoned the dressmaker the Grand Duke wanted, but since the shop was so small, it would take at least a week just to prepare. On top of that, the Grand Duke showed not the slightest intention of lifting Ella’s ban on going out.
“I suspect she’s having a hard time adjusting to a strange place. She’ll get used to it soon enough.”
That was hardly the case. Ella had said that in a year and a half, or rather, one year and five months from now, she would break off their false engagement and live out her life alone. Calaile fell into thought, unable to say anything to Olga, who knew nothing of the circumstances.
‘Should I tell her?’
Judging by how she was barely eating day by day and growing more anxious, perhaps the words he had said the other day were weighing on her. Ella had said that if she could be of no use, she would gladly leave this Grand Duke’s Residence. As it turned out, her prediction had come true: Miro’s Eagle Squadron, having successfully defended Oberon, was now bringing the spoils back toward the capital under their protection.
He had meant to speak with Ella again once the spoils arrived safely, but if he left things as they were, her health might truly come to harm. Calaile went to Ella’s door and knocked himself.
“El, it’s me.”
No matter how many times he knocked, there was no answer. He dismissed the attendants and quietly opened the door. Ella had stopped in the middle of her embroidery and was dozing, face down on the table. Calaile glanced at the cloth she was clutching tightly in her hand.
“An apron…?”
Along with the word ‘Happiness’ embroidered on it, the apron was densely covered in an assortment of motifs. A ladle, bread, fruit, a book. Though there was no real unity to them, Calaile could tell at a glance what each one was.
‘Things Ella likes.’
There was certainly a mango, which was Ella’s favorite fruit, and the book bore a design similar to the one lying open where she had left off reading. Those intricate, charming little motifs suited Ella herself perfectly, and at the very bottom of the apron, unexpectedly, words had been stitched in white thread so fine they were nearly invisible.
“We only realize what was precious after we’ve lost it?”
It was far too grand a sentence for a young girl to embroider. Yet dismissing it as the overblown self-importance of a foolish child left him uneasy, thinking back to the detached expression in that photograph. Come to think of it, he had heard she had not even been able to be at her maternal grandmother’s, Old Madam Ruth’s, deathbed.
He could not help but understand how she must feel, cut off from her family and left alone. Knowing how pitiful her situation was, he wanted her to lack for nothing, at least for as long as she stayed under his protection.
Yet Ella’s reaction had not been favorable. Seeing her look so visibly sad left Calaile unsettled as well.
‘Has she started wanting to go back to her family?’
Gently sweeping back his disheveled silver hair, Calaile set the apron aside and scooped Ella’s light body up into his arms. She had supposedly been eating poorly these past few days, and her cheeks had grown visibly thinner.
He had needed time to sort out his thoughts, and it was his own fault for neglecting her for days while fixated on how Ella’s parents might respond. If he had known she would struggle alone like this, it would have been better to tell her about Oberon’s victory right away.
A belated regret pressed heavily on Calaile’s shoulders. Just as he was about to carry the sleeping Ella properly to her bedroom and let her rest, her eyelids fluttered.
“Mm.”
“Are you awake?”
“…Your Grace, no, Cal.”
Seeing that she still looked plainly uneasy, Calaile sighed and set her down. Since he had already dismissed the attendants, there was no need to watch what others thought, so he took her hand firmly in his and asked.
“Do you want to go home, by any chance?”
The moment the words left his mouth, Ella frowned and shook her head. As long as she wasn’t trying to leave his side, that would be fine. Cal found himself oddly cheered and let out a quiet chuckle.
“I think it’s time I gave you the answer to the question you’re most curious about.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“A few days ago, there was an attack on Oberon.”
The moment the name Oberon left his lips, Ella’s golden eyes lit up. Though she was still half-asleep, she gripped the Grand Duke’s sleeve tightly and asked.
“What happened?”
“We held them off without any trouble. It was all thanks to you.”
“I’m so glad…”
While she had waited for the report, a flood of conflicting feelings had swept through her. She had been determined not to cry no matter what happened, but now she had reached her limit. The pent-up hurt of all those days burst forth, and fat tears spilled down her cheeks without mercy. When her legs gave way and she sank down helplessly, the Grand Duke caught her up in his arms.
“Careful.”
As though she meant to cry out every drop of water from her body, Ella wept and wept in the Grand Duke’s embrace. Patting her back as she sobbed, Calaile regretted his own attitude, the way he had doubted her and tested her for no reason.
‘I should have realized this sooner.’
With the expected date passing and no word from him, she must have been unable to bring it up herself, her heart slowly wearing away alone. With no one to rely on, Ella’s stepmother was now openly forging her death certificate and setting her sights on the trust fund. Her plea to be rescued from her family had not been a lie. Nor had she been trying to stab him in the back. Yet because he had dragged his feet, wanting to investigate more thoroughly and speak only once he was certain, Ella had been made to suffer.
“So, you won’t send me away now, will you?”
“Why would I ever send away my beloved fiancée?”
Softly pressing his lips to her tear-brimmed eyes, Calaile lowered himself to meet her gaze. At the very least, until she came of age, he needed to provide a proper shelter to protect her.
“If you keep saying things like that, I’ll be truly embarrassed.”
“Why not? Thanks to you, I won’t be scolded by His Majesty anymore. I’m truly grateful.”
“I’m glad if I was of help.”
At her bashful, flushed blush of joy, Calaile’s heart stirred. As though she had truly set down a long-held worry, Ella did not push away his hand as it freely toyed with her hair. Was it only his imagination that her lips, still marked with traces of tears, looked so unusually red? Calaile’s thumb rested cautiously upon Ella’s lips.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you in advance.”
“I’m fine.”
“You haven’t been eating properly these days, and I hear you’ve been under a great deal of stress.”
Olga seemed to have reported something, but Ella pretended not to notice and gave a bright smile. She had no idea how plainly her forced smile showed, nor how obviously she avoided people’s eyes whenever she pretended nothing was wrong.
“I just wasn’t hungry.”
“I’ll let you go out soon. For security reasons, though, we need to keep the fact that you’re my fiancée under wraps for now. Once these troublesome matters are settled, I plan to formally present you to His Majesty first.”
“To His Majesty… in person?”
The mention of the Emperor piqued Ella’s interest. Calaile deliberately put on a pitiful face and drew out her sympathy.
“Just as you said, His Majesty doesn’t like me. Whatever woman would want to marry a man like this? He’ll no doubt summon me right away and grill me on every detail.”
Ella, who had been unable to say a word a moment ago, now stopped crying and burst out laughing at the sight of him admitting it so readily. Even before Ella had returned to this point in time, the rumor that the Emperor was obstructing the Grand Duke’s marriage had been quite well known, at least among military officials. Ella had heard it by chance while coming and going through the Imperial Palace Library.
Only then did she realize it. The facts Ella remembered were, at least at this point in time, either not openly known or, more likely, not facts that had been clearly established.
‘In that case…’
Fate was never a gentle force. Instead of giving Ella a chance to begin her life once more, it took away the life of her maternal grandmother, the one person she had been able to lean on first.
The more Ella altered the future that had unfolded before, the further the future would stray from what she expected. Just as the shape of one puzzle piece changes the shape of every piece that fits against it, could every action she takes now become the foundation for future events no one can foresee?
The Grand Duke still had many hardships ahead of him. Beyond the two great wars, the Third Prince Faction’s scrutiny was no small matter either. They had managed to resolve this matter of the spoils and stave off the immediate crisis, but if this turn of events left the future beyond prediction, how would the Grand Duke respond?
A sudden unease rose within her. Leaning against the Grand Duke’s warm chest, Ella hesitated for a moment before lifting her eyes to his face. His eyes were bluer than the clear sky.
“Honestly, I’ve been uneasy. It’s only my guess, so I’m not confident I can keep matching things up like this going forward.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Still, I’ll do my very best.”
“If you work so hard that you ruin your health, I’ll be in trouble, Ell.”
The door opened, and the Grand Duke pressed a gentle kiss to Ella’s cheek, as if to make a show for everyone present. Even knowing it was an act, she could not help her heart fluttering.
Ella was gradually growing accustomed to his touch. When his tender warmth met her skin, her frozen heart felt as though it were beginning to thaw. The chilly atmosphere that had lingered between them for several days gave way to a reconciliatory mood, and Olga and the other maids were delighted as well. The Grand Duke, who had brought out the lady who had claimed she wasn’t hungry, headed straight for the dining room.
“You’ve gotten so thin just because I didn’t keep an eye on you for a few days. It upsets me, you know.”
“Then you should have told me sooner.”
“What?”
Ella, now that her mood had finally softened, pouted primly, and the Grand Duke could not help but laugh out loud. He gave her cheek a playful little squeeze, and Ella’s red lips moved with unusual chatter. Somehow, his eyes kept drifting to nothing but her lips.
Throughout the meal, Calaile could not focus on the food and kept staring at nothing but Ella’s lips. It was good that they had made up, and he was pleased that once this trouble was resolved, she would even be allowed to go out. Still, he was watching her so relentlessly that Ella grew awkwardly self-conscious and found herself in an utterly uncomfortable position.
“Do I have something on my mouth?”
“No, nothing at all.”
Still, with her mind at ease, Ella savored the delicious food. Now that she had been granted permission to go out, her thinking changed. It was good to enjoy things while you can. Even if she ended up alone again, if she could remain good friends with the Grand Duke, that would not be so bad.
His behavior looked no different from someone kissing a child on the cheek because she was cute. So if they could keep going like this, then even if the day came when they had to part, perhaps they could still be like close older brother and younger sister.
‘Right now, His Grace the Grand Duke simply dotes on me like a younger sister.’

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