A Saint Who Was Adopted by the Grand Duke
chapter-ss15

★★★

Noah tapped his fingers on his lap at a steady pace and fixed his gaze on the desk.

“Hmm.”

Spread out on the desk was a letter from Esther.

After a while, a knock sounded and Noah, who was deep in thought, raised his head.

“I heard you were looking for me.”

“That’s right. There is something I want to ask you.”

Heid, a member of the imperial knights, entered the room hesitantly, not knowing why he had been summoned.

“I heard that you are famous among the knights for being a fool for your daughter?”

“That’s what they call it, but did you really notice my daughter? My daughter is now only 8-years-old?”

When a question about his daughter came up out of the blue, Heid stepped back in fright.

The reaction was expressing that no matter how much Noah was the crown prince, he could not give him his daughter.

“Don’t worry. I have no interest in your daughter.”

Noah was very pleased with his response and asked earnestly.

“What will you do if someone who wants to date your daughter appears?”

“I’m going to start by verifying where that bastard came from.”

Heid frowned fiercely, as if he was annoyed just thinking about it.

“Is there any way to look good then?”

“No. He will look like a thief no matter what he brings. ”

“Try to think of something. It’s very important to me.”

“Hmm… Then it would be more helpful to persuade my wife or sons rather than me.”

“Ask them to help?”

“Yes. Then I’ll be opposing it alone. If all the other family members agree, there will be nothing I can do.”

“The brothers… are not easy to fool either… Anyway, thank you.”

“Is this enough? But you really didn’t ask with my daughter in mind, did you? She is my daughter, so cute and conspicuous, those who see her just once…”

“No, no. You may go.”

Noah shook his head, wondering why he would think of an 8-year-old.

“The twins’ tastes… It’s not usually difficult. Ha.”

He knew the twins’ tastes like the back of his hand, because he had been watching them alongside Esther for years.

If there was a problem, it was that it was extremely difficult to satisfy them even if he knew their tastes.

“It’s okay with any kind of stuff.”

Still, for the slightest hope, Noah mobilized all of his connections to collect the desired items.

And exactly one week later…

A satisfied smile hung on Noah’s face as he headed toward Tersia.

★★★

“He’s waiting inside.”

Arriving at the grand ducal mansion, Noah was immediately ushered into the drawing room.

“Are you mad at me for something?”

“Am I? It couldn’t be. Please go in.”

But there was a different look in the always kind butler’s eyes.

Not only the butler, but all the other servants seemed wary of him.

‘I feel like a bad guy.’

It reminded him of Heid’s words about being a thief. He really felt like one.

Noah sighed, straightened his clothes, and slowly entered the dining room.

Inside, a single sofa was placed in the middle, and a four-person sofa was placed across from it.

Seated on the larger sofa was Deheen, the twins, and Esther.

“It’s been a while since I’ve visited. This is the first time since I went to the Berkin Kingdom.”

“I’m glad you came back safely. Please take a seat.”

Deheen’s tone was dry, and even when he looked at Noah, he was expressionless.

Noah sat down on the single-seat sofa, observing Deheen’s gaze.

With Deheen and the twins sitting before him, he felt as if he was at a hearing.

Esther was at the innermost seat.

Noah wanted to say hello, but he couldn’t turn his head away from Deheen’s stinging gaze.

“You’ve come a long way, so let’s drink some water and talk.”

The butler brought the ice-cold water he had prepared in advance on a tray and handed it to Noah.

It was the first time Noah had ever been served cold water while visiting the grand ducal family.

Noah picked up the cup with a stifled groan, thinking that the ice was their hearts.

“I’ll drink it well.”

He was told to drink, but when he tried to do so, Deheen and the twins glared at him with expressions saying ‘You’re really drinking?’

“Euk.”

Noah moistened his lips slightly and put down the cup, thinking that he would have an upset stomach even just by drinking water.

Then he straightened his posture as much as possible.

“Where do you feel uncomfortable?”

“No. It can’t be. I’m very comfortable.”

Truthfully, it was far from being comfortable. Noah felt very uncomfortable, like sitting on a thorny vine.

“Are you that comfortable? It’s a day where you can be a little uncomfortable.”

“…It’s uncomfortable.”

“Is that so. It’s my favorite sofa, but hearing that it made Your Highness uncomfortable, I’ll have to throw it away right away.”

The exchange of words continued, despite not knowing which rhythm to match.

Cold sweat broke out on Noah’s forehead as he concentrated.

“By the way, I heard that Your Highness wanted to meet me.”

“Yes, I have something to tell you.”

When Noah’s hands were sweaty, he took out his handkerchief and rubbed it against his palms.

“Dad, can I go get some dessert? It’s so empty.”

“No. You can go up to your room and rest.”

“What?”

Esther, who was trying to lighten the mood, blinked several times in embarrassment when she was suddenly told to go up.

“I’d like to talk to Your Highness a little bit. Man to man.”

Deheen’s solemn expression showed he was serious about what he had just said.

Since it was related to her, Esther couldn’t disregard it and sent Noah an apologetic look.

“What about Brothers?”

“We should be here.”

“All right.”

Deheen had Ben make sure Esther was back in her room before the real story began.

“Is it true that you asked Esther to be your debutante partner?”

“Yes. Not only that, but I want to be allowed to date…”

“Ahem.”

Deheen cleared his throat, interrupting Noah.

“When do you have to return?”

“It doesn’t matter. I have a lot of time. I took the whole day off.”

“Good.”

Deheen’s cold stare could kill.

“It turns out I haven’t finished my work yet. Can you wait? I don’t know how long it will take.”

“Of course. Feel free to work. I will wait for you.”

“You can just go back if you feel like it’s too long.”

This was Deheen’s test. To see how long Noah would wait.

‘I saw you often as you were growing, but you might have a hidden arrogant personality as the crown prince.’

Proud and self-centered princes usually could not stand such disregard.

“Father, please take your time. We will hang out with His Highness.”

“His Highness will be uncomfortable, so you shouldn’t stay long.”

“Yes.”

“Sure.”

Judy and Dennis exchanged glances and laughed wickedly.

★★★

30 minutes later…

Noah’s hopes for the atmosphere to improve even a little bit after Deheen’s departure were shattered.

“Are you going to keep staring at me like that?”

Noah asked in agony. It took a while, but he was finally unable to bear the silent gazes of the twins.

“We decided to talk comfortably when we are together. Do you remember?”

“Sure. Before you left for the Berkin Kingdom, I called you ‘brother’.”

“Yes, you did. Then, Brother…”

Judy got up from the sofa with a flourish and stood before Noah with a sloppy stance.

“You decided to go out with Esther without saying a word to us? How could you?!”

Judy’s aura, which had been honed over a long period of refined training, was now as threatening as Deheen’s.

When Judy made up his mind to pressure Noah, Noah sighed as he felt a sensation of being squeezed from all sides.

“I came as soon as we decided to go out with each other. Well, we decided to go out, but we haven’t even dated yet.”

“Hah, of course. How can you two go on a date without permission? And you should have tipped me off before confessing!”

Noah scoffed inwardly, roughly adjusting to Judy’s aura.

‘I’m not crazy? Why will I tell you that?’

If he had told him beforehand, he would have come along and interrupted his confession.

Dennis took the place of Judy, who was only thinking about how to roast and boil Noah.

“You should know better how precious Esther is to us since you’ve been by our side all along.”

“I know, but Esther is very important to me too.”

“How much?”

“More than my life.”

Judy and Dennis, who had not expected such an answer, exchanged glances of surprise for a couple of seconds.

“I mean, who can’t say that? There is no guarantee that you will not change your mind.”

“That’s right. What if our Esther gets hurt because of you?”

Noah jumped up from the sofa, thinking that even if he continued responding, the conversation would only continue in a circle.

“Palen, bring the box in.”

Palen, who was waiting in front of the drawing room, rushed inside with the gift prepared by Noah as a gesture of goodwill.

“Brothers, I brought you both a present. Would you like to take a look at it?”

“Are you trying to placate us with this? I don’t need it.”

“I won’t take anything you give me now.”

Even with the word ‘gift’, the twins’ reaction was cold.

They really weren’t even paying attention to the box.

“You’ll change your mind once you see it.”

However, Noah did not give in and opened the box.

“This is an iron weapon set for Judy. You know the craftsman named Geron, right? It’s one of the ten pieces he made last year. Limited edition.”

“What? Geron? Nonsense! It’s said that the set was already sold out before it was even finished, so it would never be available?”

From the moment the lid of the box was opened, Judy ran up to the box and clung to it.

“It’s really hard to find. The armor, helmet, shoes, and even the sword are all new and never used.”

“You have the sword? I gave up after asking for it for months!”

Judy’s eyes began to tremble like crazy because they weren’t things that could be obtained with a lot of money.

“And these here… are presents for Dennis. As you can tell just by looking at the titles, they are all rare old books. There is only one of each in the world, and it is prohibited to be read, so you will not be able to see it anywhere.”

“No, do these books really exist? I couldn’t find them anywhere… Unbelievable. All of them are valuable materials that cannot be overlooked.”

Dennis’ reaction was the same as Judy’s.

With a thrilled expression and glistening wide eyes, he hurriedly skimmed through the titles of the books.

Ame: Dennis… Judy…! How simpleminded can the both of you be? xD and end of special updates! See you for the normal one (in 2 days)!