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nThe stylish and neatly decorated bedroom had a large glass window on one wall.

nThrough the clear window, Astelle saw a landscape of a garden full of flowers.

n“But why are you so late? What happened?”

n“That…”

nAstelle looked at her grandfather’s anxious face and explained the circumstances.

nThe Marquis was surprised to hear Astelle said.

n“Were you sick?”

nTheor replied quickly to those words.

n“Aunt Astelle doesn’t hurt anymore, Grandpa.”

n“Don’t worry. It healed quickly in the early stages and it was all healed.”

nAstelle tells the story of her work at the hunting lodge and her recovery from illness.

nAfter hearing Astelle’s explanation, the Marquis wrapped around Astelle’s hand with a sad expression.

n“Poorly… it must have been difficult in an unfamiliar place with the little one.”

nAstelle smiled at the familiar warmth.

nTheor said, lifting his head in the arms of his grandfather.

n“Grandpa, I have a puppy!”

n“A puppy? Where did you bring it from?”

n“It is a gift from His Majesty.”

nThe Marquis turned his dismayed glance to Astelle.

nAstelle quickly explained.

n“Theor went to the hunting lodge and His Majesty gave him one as a gift.”

nFirst of all, she said so briefly.

nI didn’t have enough time to explain the long backstage of the hunting lodge, and I wasn’t even talking about it in front of Theor. Astelle thought.

nThe Marquis had understood what Astelle’s meant and patted Theor again.

n“If you got it from that villa, it would be a hunting dog. Our Theor is too young to learn to hunt.”

n“I hate hunting, the bear is dead.”

nAstelle smiled slightly and looked at the two.

nWhen she met her grandfather, a feeling of relief came.

nIt was a feeling that her whole body was relieved of tension.

nIt wasn’t safe yet, but just getting here was half of it. She was relieved.

n“I heard about the former empress’ will, and that man cares for you two.”

nThe Marquis gave Theor a slightly complicated look.

nKaizen’s grandmother, the former empress dowager lost her parents at a young age and was taken to the imperial palace and became an empress.

nShe was the heiress of the wide southern manor.

nShe was in order to legally bind the southern estates to the imperial family.

nKaizen’s grandfather, Emperor Gilbert locked up the young empress in the imperial palace in order to prevent his wife to reclaim her estate at a later date, preventing her from learning properly.

nThe empress was naive without knowing her world status because she had lived that way all her life.

nShe also had difficulty managing the imperial palace, so Astelle frequently visited the empress and helped her.

nShe really loved Astelle, who helped her with the imperial palace work instead of her deceased daughter-in-law.

n‘When Astelle got divorced, she cried so much.’

nEven though Astelle was in ousting position, she said goodbye to her and felt sorry for leaving.

n“But it’s all over now. I’ll take a few days here and ask His Majesty for permission to send grandfather and Theor back home first.”

n“Yes, if you do that, you won’t have to worry about it.”

n‘I need his permission.’

nWhether she likes it or not, she has to get Kaizen’s permission so that she can return Theor.

nShe thought that from now on, she had to soothe Kaizen. When the opportunity comes, she can ask to send Theor back.

nFortunately, Kaizen was a friendly enemy to Theor, and he was trying to do his own good to Astelle.

nShe thinks of Kaizen, who had been good to Theor.

n‘Everything will be fine.’

nAstelle was convinced that everything would be fine.

nEven her maternal grandfather, who was only listening to her, nodded his head.

n“Come to think of it, there is another person here waiting for you.”

n“Huh?”

nDid anyone wait?

nWho?

nAt that moment, the door opened with a click.

nAs she turned her head, a brunette woman in a maid uniform was entering the room.

nShe was a calm-looking young maid with dark brown hair and maroon eyes.

nShe was crying and approached Astelle.

n“Miss…”

nAstelle was surprised and woke up from her seat.

nAnd she approached her own maid, whom she met again after six years.

n“Hannah?”

n* * *

nHannah was Astelle’s maid.

nDaughters of aristocratic families have a maid of similar age since childhood.

nThe maid who grew up together befriended the lady she served, and later become a maid who supports her lady by her side.

nLater, after the lady gets married, she goes to the lady’s husband’s mansion and works as the hostess’ chief maid.

nShe was Hannah to Astelle.

n“Hannah, how are you…?”

nHannah cried and she replied.

n“When I heard the news that the young lady was coming here, I asked the butler to be allowed to work here.”

nWhen Astelle became empress and entered the imperial palace, Hannah also received the qualifications as a maid of the imperial palace, and she entered the imperial palace together.

nHowever, Astelle was forced to leave the imperial palace and broke her ties with everything in the capital.

nBut Hannah still wanted to serve Astelle.

n‘I don’t need a maid anymore. I’m sorry Hannah.’

nTo be honest, she didn’t think she could afford to give Hannah a salary.

nHannah said she didn’t need money or anything like that, but Astelle didn’t want to trouble her young and prosperous maid.

nAt that time she didn’t even know that she was pregnant.

nShe went into the forest alone and thought to live alone.

nShe couldn’t even attract Hannah to such a life.

n‘You are qualified to work in the imperial palace. Don’t throw that opportunity away and live for yourself.’

nHannah is the daughter of a poor rural aristocrat, she lost her parents when childhood.

nWhen she returns to the duke’s mansion, she will be doing chores because she now has no lady to served.

nIf she worked as a maid of the imperial palace, she could have earned a higher salary than from the duke’s mansion and could have a good marriage.

nAstelle soothed her and sent her into the imperial palace.

nShe did not see her after that.

nHannah, lifting her dark brown hair neatly and wearing the headdresses of a maid, hasn’t changed much from six years ago.

nHannah wiped her tears away.

n“After Lady Astelle leaving, I worked as a maid in the Emperor’s palace.”

nAstelle nodded her head as looked at a senior maid’s clothes on her.

nIt seems that the Emperor looked closely at Astelle’s maid, Hannah.

nHannah looked back at marquis and spoke to him.

n“I didn’t know that you were with the Marquis, because Master Fritz sent a letter to the Marquis asking where you were. But, the Marquis gave him the answer that he didn’t know where Lady Astelle was.”

n“I asked him that way.”

nHer brother, Fritz, wrote several letters to the Marquis’ mansion looking for Astelle.

nAstelle didn’t want to contact her brother, so she asked her grandfather to answer that she wasn’t there.

n“His Majesty has found the lady and was coming to this castle together, so I ran as quickly as possible.”

nAstelle took Hannah’s hand.

nShe’s not Astelle’s maid anymore, so she doesn’t have to come here.

nBut she was grateful for her feelings for coming here.

nLooking interestingly at the two, Theor who still attached to his grandfather approached this way.

nAstelle took Theor’s shoulder and introduced him to Hannah.

n“Hannah, this is Theor.”

n“I heard from the Marquis. Master Sigmund’s…”

nAs long as Hannah has been with Astelle since she was young, she was also familiar with Sigmund.

nSigmund had a quiet and sincere character and was kind to the maids and attendants.

nHannah looked at Theor with a sad sympathy gaze.

nFortunately, Hannah didn’t even suspect the birth of Theor at all.

nShe only thinks that he is Sigmund’s descendant and feels sorry for him.

nSigmund’s death, who was young and sincere, left a great shock to those close to him.

nAt the death of her cousin, whom she had been close to, Astelle felt great sadness and loss.

nShe had no choice but to think of her cousin’s face because she borrowed her cousin’s name for Theor.

nHannah bent her knees to aligned with Theor’s eye level and greeted him.

n“Good morning, Young Master Theor. This is Hannah.”

nTheor observed Hannah with a curious eye.

nAstelle stroked Theor’s head.

n“Theor, you have to say hello to Hannah.”

n“Hello, Hannah.”

nTheor carefully greeted her.

n“You are very cute, Young Master. I’ll bring you some delicious cookies.”

n“Huh!”

nTheor nodded his head saying he liked it.

nAstelle looked at them and smiled a little.

n“Lady Astelle, aren’t you tired of coming a long way? I will prepare a hot tea.”

n“Thanks, Hannah.”

n* * *

nUpon arriving at Denz Castle, Kaizen headed to his office without any time to take his break.

nSince it is a very gorgeous castle, the rooms of the castle were decorated as well as the imperial palace.

nCompared to the emperor’s office in the imperial palace, it was not inferior.

nAs soon as he arrived at the castle, Kaizen took care of the overdue work.

nThanks to him, Vellian couldn’t even rest, and he followed him into the office.

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