HCYPBTKIRWO Chapter 7

“Lulu.”

It was a brown, dirty rabbit doll.

“Where is your master?”

The other party, of course, did not answer.

'He would have a nightmare without Lulu.'

Luca, who never took this doll off his body, ran away from it. Elliot couldn't believe it.

Would it make sense for the five and seven-year-old to leave the house on their own? They even broke through his strict guards.

However, there was no sign of kidnapping and no ransom demand.

‘Where the hell are you…’

He put out a big bounty and distributed flyers all over the empire, but there were no reports that anyone had seen a girl with black hair or a boy with silver hair.

It's a rare appearance, but why?

In addition, there was no way that Luna, who knows how to read his name and knows the residence of the duke, has missed the flyers that he was looking for her.

'No way…'

There was no limit to the terrible imagination.

'No.'

Every day was hell. Soft food felt as rough as grains of sand, and even closing his eyes for a moment felt like a sin because of his fatigue.

Will hell last another day? If the end of this hell is not eternal hell...

While roughly rubbing his face. Someone from outside knocked on the door and shouted.

"Your Excellency!"

"What's going on?"

“We got a pretty credible report a while ago.”

“Report right away.”

“Has black hair, and the same eyes as the Grand Duke…”

Elliot's eyes became clearer as he heard a story of a woman who said she was doing clothes shopping in a village near the Black Forest.

"The witch definitely called the children Luna and Luca."

He couldn't hear more.

“Summon the knights immediately.”

Elliot gave instructions to his subordinate, spurred from his seat and stood up.

***

'Ah… Today was a good day.'

After returning home, feeding the children dinner, and organizing the shopping, it was already time for bed.

'In the past, days were too long...’

I was lying on the sofa and closing my heavy eyelids when I heard a squeaking sound. When I looked up, I saw Luca standing near the bedroom door and rubbing her eyes.

“You need to rest.”

After taking him to the bathroom and washing his hands, I put him back on the bed. But somehow, as soon as I closed my eyes, I heard a squeaking sound again.

"Why? Are you thirsty this time?”

Luca walked over to me, shaking his head, and climbed onto the sofa.

I buried myself deep on the sofa, making a place for Luca to sit. When I asked if he was going to sit down, Luca laid down on my arm.

"Why? Are you scared?"

Instead of answering, Luca crouched down and buried his face in my shoulder.

"You have a sister."

“Sister is sleeping.”

“Your sister is not sleeping.”

A slurred voice was heard from behind the door, and Luna walked over to this side.

“What are you doing here? Sleep on the bed instead of the sofa”

Luna, who was complaining like a princess, said she had no dignity, and tried to come up on the sofa.

Was she scared too? No matter how mature you are, a child is still a child.

It was impossible for the three of us to sleep on this cramped sofa. Eventually, I moved to the bed, but the three of us had to sleep together.

Still, the warmth felt by my side made me feel cozy. I'm sleepy. The children kept chatting like they were on a picnic without sleeping.

Luca held out his index finger to me. On his way back, he accidentally caught a chestnut and was pricked.

Thanks to the analgesic potion and ointment, he won't be sick anymore, but Luca has been begging me all evening to blow on his small cut.

Seriously, it's the age to be fooled.

I blew his fingers like Luca instructed, then patted his head. Soon, the squeaking ceased, and the sound of breathing in a deep sleep was heard.

When I looked the other way, purple eyes were staring at me. After a moment's hesitation as I stretched out my arm, Luna slowly rested her head on my arm.

I asked, patting her small body.

"Have you gone through troubles with your brother?"

Although she was only seven years old, she acted like an adult, but this kid is too old to be fooled.

Does she still suffer from the compulsion to be an adult?

“If it were me, I would have cried quickly because I didn’t have a house to cover the rain and the wind, no food to eat, and no adults to protect me.”

Luna whispered softly.

“…It was more terrifying than I thought.”

Now you are revealing your childish inner feelings. My eyes swelled up.

“Nevertheless, it’s amazing that you and your brother have come all the way here while protecting yourself.”

“…Thanks."

“Instead, let me do the adult’s work and you can become a seven-year-old child.”

While I stroked her hair, Luna, who had been quiet enough for me to think she was sleeping, carefully opened her mouth again.

"Hazel."

"Yes?"

“…Can we live with Hazel all the time?”

"Of course."

Once again, tears welled up. Is there anyone who wants to stay by my side?

Hah, it's lonely. This was my habit.

But I haven’t been able to say that since these kids appeared in my life. Because there has been no room for loneliness.

“I also want to live with you like this.”

I kissed the foreheads of the children in my arms and prayed to the moon outside the window.

‘Please let the three of us live happily like this.’

I hoped the children's father wouldn't come to find them forever.

It may have been too much to ask for one more wish.

Because the next day, he came over.

***

“Are you the children’s father?”

As soon as I asked, his purple eyes fluttered. His sharp jaw lit up faintly as he clenched his teeth.

'There must be a reason why the little ones look like dolls.'

Even in a country that doesn't care much about men's looks, I couldn't help but admire how handsome the face in front of me was.

He was clearly in the hut, but the man's silver hair shimmered as if he had received the bright sunlight.

His face looked as if the best craftsman of the time had smoothed it out of flawless white marble.

If it weren't for the trembling silver eyelashes and the lips tinged with blood, I would have thought it was a piece of art.

'What?'

Even his distorted face is handsome...

"Ah!"

The tip of the long sword the man was holding came close to my neck.

“Witch Hazel will be executed for kidnapping.”

Kidnapping! It can be misunderstood, but shouldn't he at least give me a chance to explain it through a fair trial?

The man voluntarily gave a summary judgment and swung his sword up. In the sunlight pouring in through his window, the silver blade gleamed dazzlingly.

'Dangerous, really. Is that man insane for doing bad things in front of children?'

He flicked his fingers up. It was the moment I was about to use magic to exchange the sword in the man's hand for the chicken outside the window.

"Brother, no!"

Luna, who had been caught by the soldier standing behind the man, ran out and spread her arms out in front of me.

‘He’s your brother, not your father?’

I thought he was too young to be a father.

“Luna, get out of here now.”

“Duke!"

'The duke? Ugh!'

Then, I realized. The silver hair, sculptural appearance. Even at a glance, the eagle crest engraved on the man's clothing was an expensive attire.

'Is that man the Archduke?'

I immediately cast a bewildered look at Luna, who was standing in front of me, and at Luca, who was crying about being caught by the soldiers.

'No, why are the missing children of the duke here?'

It was not easy to believe that the little ones who had spent a week with me were the princess and young master of the duke.

But on the other hand, the doubts piled up in layers disappeared like snow melted in the sunlight with that one fact.

They didn’t know where the mushrooms came from, they never worked in the fields, and they never baked a cake.

That's because they’re childrens of a noble family.

'Oh, I was completely mistaken.'

While I was dazed by that vain realization, Luna was dragged by her brother's hand.

“Let go!”

“Luna, listen to me.”

But Luna could not give up, so she clung to the archduke's hand with the sword.

“If you execute her, I will starve! For the rest of my life!"

The man's eyes fluttered at Luna's threat.

“Then exile…”

“Then I won’t eat carrots!”

“You don’t normally eat.”

Luca, who finally pushed the soldier away, ran up to her, and clung to the man's leg.

"Now stay!"

“I’ll only eat what Hazel gives me.”

"What?"

The man's eyes fluttered more violently than before. As if in disbelief, he took turns looking at me and the children, then narrowed his eyes when he saw the carrots lying on the chopping board.

“What did you do to my siblings?”

Again, the sharp purple tip of the sword headed towards my neck.

'What are you doing? I have corrected their unhealthy eating habits, but how does the Archduke give thanks in this way?'

I kept my sharp gaze fixed on the man and gently pushed my body back so as not to be stabbed by the sword.

But the man thought I was about to run away, so he immediately tilted his sharp blade and put it close to my neck.

'Well… Is it faster for me to change this to a chicken, or for that man to slice my throat?'

I got goosebumps at the thought that I might really die.