Chapter 21

The three of them arrived at the mansion much later than she had thought.

Before long, the sun had completely turned to the west.

Min-ha faced the people of the mansion who greeted them in front of the castle gate where the red sunset had set in. Knights, led by Lancelot, approached Seth and Noah, respectively, and servants came to her to greet them when they returned.

“You are back, madam.”

“Yes. Nothing special happened in the meantime, right?”

“I don’t know if there’s anything like that. You must be tired. Please go rest.”

“…Yes. Wait a minute.”

After Min-ha answered the servants’ greetings one by one, she turned around and walked towards Seth and Noah. Then, the knights who had surrounded him made their way for her to pass.

She bowed slightly to the knights and approached Seth, who was holding Noah. If he had been awake, he would have laughed out loud. Though because he was so tired today, he fell into such a deep sleep that the child couldn’t even notice the presence.

Min-ha spoke after facing Seth as she gently stroked Noah’s cheek, who was sleeping like an angel, holding the amber necklace with both small hands.

“It must be a little noisy, but he sleeps well.”

“Because he must have been exhausted.”

“Noah, sleep well. See you in my dreams.”

“….”

Then, she bowed her body to see the sleeping child, lest Noah woke up, and waved her hand lightly.

And, after saying goodbye, she raised his head and met Seth, who was gazing at her. Feeling somewhat embarrassed by his gaze, who was just staring at her quietly like that without his usual ridicule or sarcasm, Min-ha spoke to him in an awkward voice.

“Good night to you, too.”

“….”

“Excuse me?”
​​
“…Oh.”

“What is wrong with you? What, do you have something to say?”

“…No. You sleep well, too.”

“Yes, you, too.”
​​
‘Does he have something to say…?’

When Seth’s blue eyes, which were quite difficult to read his emotions, kept coming into her sight, Min-ha wiped her face with her hand for no reason. He was staring intently at her like someone who wanted to say something really important, even though all he said was just goodbye.

‘…What is this? He is making people misunderstand like this.’

Min-ha thought that somehow she was losing her stand, so she turned her body away awkwardly. She walked over to Wanda, who was waiting for her.

“Did you enjoy going out after a long time, Your Excellency?”

“No way, I didn’t go out and fight again.”

As Min-ha turned and walked away, Lancelot and Gawain, who had paved her way, came to Seth’s side and talked to him.
​​
Although they had a master-servant relationship, they shared life and death experiences with Seth for a long time, so what they said might have sounded a little rude because they are quite close.

Normally, Seth would have responded faithfully even though he was blunt, but now, he was clenching his fists, unable to take his eyes off Min-ha’s back, who was gradually moving away.

“…Your Excellency? Did something really happen outside the castle?”

Lancelot was the first to notice Seth’s condition. Like Gawain’s joke, he was wondering if his master did fight under the guise of exchanging opinions outside? It was strange to see Seth looking at Min-ha with a blunt gaze.

As he continued to watch Seth closely, he noticed a golden string protruding slightly from his hand, clenched in his fist.
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“By the way, what have you been holding in your hand for a while?”

“…I did something not like myself.”

“…Yes?”

“It’s nothing. Let’s go back to the East Annex.”

In response to Lancelot’s question, Seth made an inexplicable sound and shoved what he was holding into his arms.

Lancelot and Gawain secretly exchanged glances, looking strangely at the figure of their master walking toward the East Annex while holding Noah’s body, who was sleeping, with an indifferent expression.

“The Duke doesn’t look good. Did anything really happen outside the castle?”

“…Well, it doesn’t look like he was having an argument with the ex-Duchess.”

Rather, it seems that he was somewhat shy, and he seemed to have a slightly embarrassed expression. If they analyze it a little more in detail, it seems that Seth was a little offended.

‘…What the hell happened outside that made him like that?’

Even though he has been assisting Seth Persen for a long time, it was the first time Lancelot had seen him like that.
​​
He couldn’t shake it off.

‘I’ll have to ask him separately later when he feels a little calmer.’

Lancelot thought so as he followed Seth.

Min-ha, who returned to her room with Wanda, sat down on a soft chair with a short groaning sound.
​​
It was a sudden outing, and she walked a lot more than expected, so her body was exhausted. However, her mind was quite light… Of course, her wallet became lighter as well.

“…Sniff.”

She was full of gold coins up until the morning. Although now, she touched her waist, which had no pockets left.

“Madam, would you like to postpone the sewing class that you were scheduled to take today until tomorrow?”

At the same time, Wanda said to Min-ha, who thought she would have to fasten her belt for a while.

At that, she hurriedly shook her head and answered in a loud voice.

“No! I’ll do it now!”

“Yes, then I’ll prepare it right away.”

Wanda smiled softly and went into the small storage next to her room to get the sewing tools. Meanwhile, Min-ha brought a chair for Wanda to sit at the table.

To be honest, she couldn’t concentrate on sewing at all after coming back from a day out like this. Of course, spending money like that was something inevitable, though it was quite a lot of money… so, shouldn’t she work hard again?

Besides, Seth Persen… A while ago, that man secretly gave her a hint like that, so she needed to work harder.

‘Of course, it’s already too late.’

At that moment, she remembered Seth, who had said it was already too late while making an uncomfortable expression in secret.

She knew very well that ‘Minase Persen’ had hurt him a lot, but on the other side of her heart, she wanted him to see her as ‘Kim Min-ha.’ She wondered if Seth would change his mind a bit if she showed her hard work. However, she couldn’t see any gaps.

‘… What’s the point of being handsome when you’re going to frown at me like that all the time.’

As she recalled Seth’s expressionless face she had seen earlier, Min-ha wrinkled her face without realizing it.
​​
“…Madam?”
​​
“….”

“Madam!”

“Huh?! Yes?”

“What are you thinking so deeply about? You don’t even pretend to hear me.”

“…Oh, I’m sorry.”

‘Seth Persen, is it because I was thinking too much about that man…’

Min-ha was startled by Wanda’s loud voice and answered aloud without realizing it.

Wanda peered at her appearance and said, putting down the basket she was holding to one side as if she was worried about her not being able to do it.

“When you are very tired, taking a break is one way.”

“…No, it’s not like that.”

“Then, do you have any concerns?”

“…Eh? Ah, what is my concern? There’s nothing like that.”

Min-ha answered awkwardly, avoiding Wanda’s gaze, which seemed to pierce the depths of her heart.

‘…How can I say that I am concerned about the attitude of the man who only sees me as Minase Persen, not as myself…?’

Then, she smiled more casually on purpose as though hiding her heart. Because of that, Wanda immediately took a deep breath and replied.

“All right. Please tell me when you feel like it.”

“…Thank you, Wanda.”

“….”

“Okay then, let’s start the class! You said you were teaching embroidery today, right?”

“Yes, we will practice this design today.”

‘If I stay still like this, I would want to turn my attention elsewhere because I keep getting nervous as if there is a thorn in the corner of my heart.’

When Min-ha actively picked up the needle and thread, Wanda also went to her side without saying a word and showed her demonstration first.

“Wow…”

Her eyes lit up as she marveled at how small flowers were embroidered as colorful threads moved on the white cloth held in Wanda’s hand.

Min-ha, who had been concentrating on Wanda’s fingertips and watching her needles move, spoke, inserting a needle into the fabric as Wanda finished embroidering her flowers.

“I’ll try as well!”

“Yes. Just do it like how I did it a little while ago.”

With Wanda’s support, Min-ha started embroidering on the white fabric. However, the colorful flowers that were made so easily and beautifully at Wanda’s fingertips turned into monster creatures with large, crooked circles at her fingertips.

Looking at it, she held out something like a barely embroidered flower to Wanda and opened her mouth slowly.

“Uh, what do you think? I embroidered flowers…”

“…How is this a flower?”
​​
This is the first time she has seen such a unique flower with different sizes of petals one by one. When Wanda, who suddenly became her teacher, instead of the master-servant relationship, gave a cold-hearted evaluation, Min-ha smiled awkwardly.

“… I’m sorry. I was confident in sewing, but embroidery is rather difficult.”

“No. You’ve done a great job, considering it was your first time.”

“Really?”

“Yes, it’s true. Madam has a talent. If you practice a little bit more, you will do better than me.”

“…Thank you, Wanda. I’ll work really hard.”

Min-ha said as she grabbed Wanda’s hand, who encouraged her, tightly.