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[T/N: The kid here is a “he” and not a “she”. I am really sorry for the mis-translation in the whole last chapter. I got confused mainly because in Korean Language they don’t use pronouns much and also Grace was continuously referring to him as “Child” or “Kid” which is neutral. In this chapter I got to know that it’s a “he”. I have corrected the previous chapter. I am sorry again.(´；ω；｀)]
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“Child.”
“Yes..?”
“From now onwards, if someone tells you that nonsense, you hear it with one ear and take it out with the other. Do you understand?”
“…..Take it out?”
“Yes, don’t pay attention to other people’s ramblings . They just need someone to vent their anger. That’s why they are saying whatever they want.”
“…But…”
“The curse would be on the wicked who have committed crimes. No one would curse a nice, cute, innocent child like you. If anyone dares to say that, tell me about it. I’ll teach them a lesson.”
“…Really?”
“Of course! With that, I’ll also pet you every day.”
The child had a puzzled look on his face at first but after hearing Grace’s kind words, he smiled. Grace also smiled at the child who was beaming enough to crumple the black mask he was wearing.
“Oh my, you’re cuter when you smile. That’s cool!”
“….The lady is pretty, too. You look like an angel.”
“Oh, really? Thank you. It’s an honor.”
With Grace smiling at her, the child then lowered his guard and took a step forward towards Grace.
Grace, unable to stand the lovely figure, reached out her arms and hugged the child tightly. Then the child, who was startled, burst into a small laugh and hugged Grace with his small, skinny arms.
Grace patted the child on the back. Then went and sat down on a nearby bench. Grace put the child on her lap.
“Why are you covering your pretty face with long bangs? And I’ve been curious for a while, why are you wearing this mask?”
She asked, sweeping his long hair with her hands.
‘Is wearing a mask a trend of Felix’s Castle?’
Grace has often seen many ridiculous fashion trends by aristocrats, so she thought it was the same for this child, and swept up half of his face to remove the hair with her hands.
“….Ah!”
And at that moment Grace uttered a shrieking exclamation at the sight of the child’s blue right eye.
She stared at the red-eye on the left and the blue eye on the right…reminding her of that person, the devilish odd eyes that misled her.
‘…the Duke of Felix.’
The man with whom she had a heartless political marriage just yesterday. The child in front of her had eyes just like him.
‘Then this is Prince Leon Felix, the ‘cursed sibling’ of the ‘Monster Duke’.’
‘Why didn’t I notice this earlier? The child’s left red eye that was exposed was exactly the same as his.’
Grace continued staring at the child, Leon, with dazed eyes, accusing herself of being stupid for not realising it earlier.
Child Leon’s eyes had the power to mislead people as if they were not human. Just like Arthur’s. Grace couldn’t take her eyes off the strange odd eye.
Leon then glanced at her, and soon recalled a familiar look on her face and began to cry. He hurriedly covered his eyes with his small hands.
“Don’t, don’t hate me.”
“…What? No. I don’t hate you. Why would I hate you? Huh? Don’t cry.”
Grace was embarrassed by Leon’s crying with his eyes covered.
“Leon!”
Across the garden, Arthur was rushing along with the knights, calling Leon’s name.
Arthur, who turned his head and looked around for Leon’s figure and voice, soon made eye contact with Grace, who sat on the bench.
Arthur, who looked at Grace with a slight surprise, soon looked at Leon, who was sitting on her lap crying.
Then Arthur, who walked quickly towards Grace, hugged Leon as if to take him away from her.
“…What do you think you are doing?”
“What?”
“Did you forget the conditions I put forward? I’m sure I told you, you could do anything but two things: interfere with Felix Castle’s internal affairs and not abuse Leon.”
“…ha.”
“Is it because of Leon’s necklace?”
Grace burst into a peal of sarcastic laughter at Arthur’s snarling words..
Then, she lifted herself off the bench, glaring back at Arthur.
“Why does the story of the necklace come from there? And what you just said, sounds like I bullied Leon?”
“Isn’t that so?”
“No!”
Grace sharply denied Arthur’s retort.
“Then why was Leon crying?”
He asked while looking suspiciously at her.
“I don’t know…. I just patted his head because he was cute and pretty, but he covered his eyes and cried. He told me not to hate him.”
“….Have you seen the eyes?”
Arthur’s gaze on Grace grew steeper as she spoke. After she was done, he snorted, with a look on his face as if everything was now convincing.
“Now I know why Leon cried with his eyes covered.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“When you saw the child’s eyes, were you staring into them in silence? And then, like a person whose eyes met a monster, did you avoid his eyes as if you were scared?”
“…….!”
“That day, like when you met my eyes at the wedding.”
Arthur said, staring at Grace with cold, sunken eyes. Grace looked down in his eyes and then in his arms, and when she saw Leon, her heart sank.
‘At that moment, did I think of that?’
Looking back at herself for a moment, Grace soon shook her head.
No. Unlike Arthur’s eyes, which seemed frightening, the child’s held a mysterious trance as if possessed.
Yes, it was.
Grace looked at Arthur with confidence in herself and said.
“…okay, I’ll be honest with you if you say so. Yes, I was a little scared when I first saw your eyes. However, the child… Leon’s eyes weren’t scary at all.”
“Stop lying to me.”
“I’m not lying.”
Grace was frustrated and denied Arthur’s conclusion that her words were a lie. Arthur then laughed at her with a deflating sound and said to her.
“There were a few people who said that. Nevertheless, those who were afraid of my eyes, without exception, soon became afraid to look at Leon’s eyes, and hurled harsh words at him.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because if something ‘strange’ happens to them, anyone would have done so without exception.”
“……….!”
Arthur’s eyes, staring straight at Grace, were deeply sunken.
As if she knew all about what was to come in his deep red and blue eyes, Grace felt goosebumps all over her body again.
Arthur glanced at Grace, who had frozen for a moment, with a wry smile on his face and said.
“Why? Are you scared?”
“…… ”
“Even if you don’t answer me, I can tell just by the look on your face. Stay away from Leon from now on.”
“…Ha, Duke, I’m sorry about the vague fear that I’ve never experienced before. However, I don’t understand why you shouldn’t approach it blindly. Shouldn’t we meet more often and bump into each other to get rid of my fears?”
Grace protested in frustration at Arthur’s appearance, who seemed to have a strong misperception.
“Can you say that even if something really scary or frightening happens to you?”
Arthur replied, looking at her with a calm look as if the cold anger had subsided long ago. Nevertheless, his reply only made Grace more agitated.
“What?”
“All the women who have been associated with me have blamed Leon for the misfortune that came upon them without exception…. Well, it’s not that I don’t understand. Everyone wants to blame others when they have unexpected misfortunes.”
“………..”
“I’m fine. It’s not like I haven’t experienced people who change their minds like that. However, I don’t want him to experience that again.”
“But Duke, I….”
“I’m afraid you’ll shake Leon’s heart with your half-hearted sympathy and pity like the rest of them, and then push him away with a cold stare.”
“……….”
“Excuse me, then. Now go back to your bedroom and rest.”
Arthur, who calmly warned Grace, turned around without hesitation.
Arthur tightly clasped Leon in his arms, turned coldly and Grace glared at his back as he walked away. Right then, she wanted to say no to him.
Unlike her instincts, she didn’t move her body carelessly. As he said, if she found “him” in Leon’s eyes, and if something really bizarre happened to her, she was not sure that she would not be alarmed.
Grace gave a wry smile.
“………!”
Then, her eyes met with Leon, who was in Arthur’s arms.
Grace put her arms around Arthur’s neck and she stared deliberately in the eyes of the child staring at her with round odd eyes.
[T/N: I am a little confused about this line. This is the translation the other translators whom I took help from also got. Like, Arthur was walking away (in kind of anger) and if someone walks away (in kind of anger) and then another person whom he was kind of angry upon suddenly comes and hugs him to stop, shouldn’t he say something and also there isn’t anything written like Arthur stopped or something…so….(•‿•)]
As she said a while ago, it was to test whether she would fall into vague fear even when she saw the child’s eyes.
‘It’s not scary.’
Now in front of her, instead of the odd eye that doesn’t seem human, she only saw the eyes of a tender child who was afraid that she might hate him.
Grace smiled gently at Leon, who was rather shy. Then, she reached out her hand gently and shook it toward Leon, smiling so that only the child could understand it.
“Goodbye, Leon, see you tomorrow.”
One character, one letter. Again and again.
Leon’s eyes were wide open as she greeted him with her mouth wide open to make it easier to understand. Soon Leon smiled broadly like a blooming flower and waved at Grace.
‘Ah, you’re really cute.’
Grace thought so and waved until Leon was no longer seen.
ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ
Stay safe and healthy along with your loved ones. And have a good day!
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Stay tuned for more.
~Dazzel.D~