ETCHY 03

Chapter 03

As their bodies pressed together without a gap, Crescentia could feel the man’s firm body through the fabric—a chest twice as thick as hers, and his massive frame.

“Grand Duke, now—*cough!*”

“Cover your nose with this.”

Erich quickly pressed his handkerchief into Crescentia’s hand as she coughed, and moved his feet.

Thanks to his height, which stood a head taller than most people, he found the exit without difficulty. Crescentia, cradled against his broad chest, moved her feet as he guided her.

*BANG!*

“Eek!”

Just as they reached the exit through the chaos. A small statue beside Erich and Crescentia suddenly exploded. Erich swiftly shielded her head to protect her.

“Ugh…!”

Crescentia gasped at the reflexive groan the man holding her let out. She asked him to let her go, but Erich didn’t relent until the explosions had completely subsided.

“Grand Duke, your hand!”

When Erich finally released Crescentia, her face went pale.

Red blood was welling up on the back of the man’s hand. It seemed a fragment had flown when the statue exploded. Upon discovering his wound at Crescentia’s cry, he said casually.

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

“You should at least stop the bleeding!”

“Getting out of here is the priority.”

Erich dismissed Crescentia’s opinion and led her outside. Despite being wounded, his expression remained consistently calm throughout.

Even after leaving the exposition building, Erich didn’t stop walking. He led her to a car with a sleek black body, having reached a place where the commotion had faded.

“Get in. I’ll take you to the imperial palace.”

Erich opened the passenger door and gestured to Crescentia.

But she looked at the car with reluctance and didn’t readily get in. Crescentia looked back at the exposition hall with him standing before her.

“The car is safer than a carriage.”

Erich spoke again, having guessed the reason for Crescentia’s hesitation. He seemed somewhat frustrated by the princess’s distrust of automobiles.

But Crescentia had a different reason for not riding with him.

“If I go alone, my lady-in-waiting and knight will worry.”

“I can’t find them for you.”

“I’m not asking you to do that. I’m saying I’ll wait here. Grand Duke, please tend to your wound first.”

“…Understood.”

Erich looked at Crescentia as if he had something to say, then reluctantly answered.

As he boarded the car alone and started the engine, voices came from behind—Hilda and Anton calling out. They rushed over urgently, looking for Crescentia.

“Your Highness! Are you alright?”

“Your Highness!”

“Anton, Hilda! You’re safe.”

Reunited with her companions, Crescentia comforted the tearful Hilda. As she spoke with Anton and reassured Hilda, a pair of sharp golden eyes watched her back intently.

“A princess, indeed.”

Erich narrowed his eyes and muttered to himself. With a sneer on his lips, he unhesitatingly averted his gaze from Crescentia and stepped on the accelerator.

When she turned around to thank him, all that remained was a cloud of exhaust.

The annex of the imperial palace, the guest quarters for distinguished visitors, had a rose garden attached. The lush June roses bloomed abundantly throughout the garden. Crescentia was reading a book, surrounded by red roses.

But though her eyes were reading the letters, her mind was elsewhere.

Ever since returning from the exposition, one person had not left her mind.

The man who had rescued her from the chaos and then parted ways. A man whose well-being she had no way of knowing since then.

‘Is he safe? He must be fine, right?’

Crescentia’s expression remained somber as she turned the pages of the thick book.

She was curious about the Grand Duke Peter’s condition. But with no acquaintances in the empire, she had no way of hearing news of him.

Whether his injured hand was alright, whether he had made it home safely. If only someone would tell her. Or better yet, if only the Grand Duke would send word.

But the Grand Duke had sent her no message at all.

Well, that was only to be expected. Perhaps he had already forgotten her. After all, they were merely a chance encounter.

Crescentia sighed and took out a navy-blue handkerchief from her bosom. It was the item Erich had given her when the terrorism occurred.

‘I should return this too.’

Crescentia stroked the neatly laundered handkerchief and pressed her lips into a straight line. In her heart, she wanted to visit the Grand Duke herself, but she couldn’t.

She wasn’t close enough with him to visit the Grand Ducal household without an invitation, and above all, since the terrorism, her escort knight Anton had become fiercely protective of her safety.

Whenever Crescentia brought up wanting to go out for some air, Anton would become stern. Saying that one never knew when or where another terrorist attack might occur.

It was fortunate that this week’s ball was being held within the imperial palace. Otherwise, she would have had to argue with him about attending.

Crescentia had already raised quite a fuss to attend that ball. When she announced that she would postpone her return and attend the ball, her mother, Queen Sheila, expressed reluctance.

But Crescentia couldn’t leave the empire like this. She wanted to see the Grand Duke just one more time, by any means.

‘Will I be able to meet him again?’

Crescentia sighed deeply. It was uncertain whether the Grand Duke would attend the ball. So there was no knowing whether she could see him before returning home.

Perhaps that meeting had been their first and last.

Once she returned to Regina, there would be even less chance of meeting him. Having had an accident while abroad, her mother would not permit another trip to the empire.

Just today, hadn’t she received a letter urging her to return immediately after the ball?

“Is the book not interesting?”

Crescentia, who had been turning pages mechanically, looked up at the voice that came along with the sound of footsteps on the grass.

“…Your Majesty?”

At the unexpected visitor, she tucked away the handkerchief and rose from her seat.

The Emperor, who appeared with attendants in tow, was bathed entirely in gold. Golden hair and golden eyes. With an appearance befitting one born with the destiny to rule the empire, her knees bent naturally.

“Your Imperial Majesty.”

Crescentia spoke respectfully and offered a formal greeting to the golden man. The Emperor, receiving her greeting, smiled broadly.

“I heard you encountered a terrible incident at the exposition. I felt I should apologize in person, so I came to see you.”

David Hughes von Fritz, Emperor of the Empire.

He had recently ascended the throne, carrying on the will of the late emperor who had passed from plague.

Though he was the second son, second in line to the throne, he had won the political struggle against his older half-brother, the Crown Prince, and was welcomed by all.

The new Emperor encouraged the empire’s industrialization with youthful vigor and drive.

Thus, the empire achieved reform before any other nation on the continent, and industrialization was being recorded as Emperor David’s great achievement.

“Please sit comfortably, Princess.”

David said amiably and sat down first. At his gesture, the attendants guarding the surroundings silently withdrew.

David, dressed in comfortable loungewear, smoothed his sleeves and continued.

“You must have been very frightened that day. I should have come right away, but I’ve only now arrived after handling the aftermath. Have you seen a physician?”

“No, I’m fine. Thank you for your concern.”

Crescentia sat down as the Emperor indicated and answered politely. David was the leader of the vast empire, but he was still a young man in his late twenties.

Because of that, the sight of the two of them sitting face to face seemed to suit each other like a pair of lovers.

But Crescentia herself felt suffocated by the pressure of having a private audience with the Emperor of the empire.

She clasped her hands tightly and opened her mouth with a trembling heart.

“…Actually, the Grand Duke Peter helped me. Thanks to him, I was able to escape safely.”

“Erich did?”

The Emperor showed interest at Crescentia’s cautious revelation. She studied David’s expression, worried she might have committed some diplomatic faux pas. After all, she didn’t know what kind of relationship the Emperor and the Grand Duke Peter had.

If they were political rivals, Crescentia would have stepped on a landmine. But she was worried about the Grand Duke’s safety and had no choice but to take the risk.

Fortunately, the Emperor’s reaction seemed closer to interest than displeasure.

“That fellow helping someone else. How unusual.”

The Emperor muttered as if to himself. At his offhand remark, Crescentia’s heart fluttered slightly. She gently lifted her eyes and spoke shyly.

“He even got hurt protecting me, you know.”

“Ah, so that’s what the bandages were for. I wondered where he’d gotten so clumsily injured. So it was from saving Your Highness.”

“Bandages? Was the Grand Duke badly injured?”

Crescentia’s eyes widened at the Emperor’s answer. She unconsciously leaned toward David and asked urgently.

Her transparent innocence, with her thoughts clearly reflected, made David’s cheeks twitch before he spoke.

“Ask him yourself. At the ball.”