But the moment the Grand Duke returned and saw the wreckage everywhere, along with the shattered portrait frame of Luna and Luca lying on the floor, he panicked instantly, fearing something terrible had happened to his siblings.
And so Hazel was finally able to stay on and care for the children without any more obstacles.
With the storm behind them, Hazel returned to the Duke's estate. In his panic, the Grand Duke reflexively opened his mouth to demand loudly where the children were. To his surprise, the moment he looked down, he saw his two siblings standing right there, safe and sound.
Afterward, thanks to the knight's explanation, the Grand Duke learned that the assassins had dug an underground tunnel to sneak in. What's more, their strength had been absolutely terrifying. Built like the barbarians of the north, their kind of menace was something the Grand Duke had encountered countless times on the battlefield. For the estate's guards to have held them off at all was truly no small feat.
"You truly did something remarkable tonight."
The knight too openly admitted that everything turning out fine was entirely thanks to Hazel. If not for her, the children would likely have been kidnapped long ago. She'd used magic to transform every last blade the kidnappers carried into sausages and broccoli.
Meanwhile, in another corner, Hazel had already finished tidying everything up. She'd cleaned up the entire mess with magic, and now she was hesitating, unsure how to find the words to say goodbye to the children.
Just then, the Grand Duke suddenly appeared at the door. "I want to apologize for my rudeness earlier. It was wrong of me to say such harsh things to the very person who saved my siblings' lives."
Suddenly, he noticed the shattered window. Terrified that her secret about turning people into frogs might be exposed, Hazel rambled anxiously. "The window? I'll pay for it. I promise."
Thinking about having to part with the children soon, and on top of that having accidentally turned an intruder into a frog, turning it all over in her mind again and again, the tears just kept falling. The Grand Duke suddenly looked flustered, fumbling awkwardly, and then heard Hazel say, "Honestly, I always suspected you might be a bit paranoid. The estate's rules are so strict, even the food has to be tested for poison every time. But after hearing Luna tell that story yesterday, I finally understood."
"Have you truly never heard the rumors about how my parents died from a sudden illness? At the time, they'd been perfectly healthy, with no reason at all to suddenly die, and not a trace of poison was ever found. By the time anyone found them, they were already gone. That's why I became so extreme, so fiercely protective of my siblings. I was only seventeen back then. Even if I were assassinated one day, I had to hold on until Luca was old enough to become head of the family."
To his surprise, Hazel burst into tears. "You're still just a child yourself. That's so incredibly sad."
The Grand Duke was taken aback, wondering, am I really still considered a child? But then again, to a witch who could live for centuries, he supposed he really was still practically a child.
Even so, Hazel asked through her tears, would I still be allowed to visit the children sometime after this? Met with the Grand Duke's shake of the head, she turned away sorrowfully to leave. To her surprise, he called out and pulled her back. "What I mean is, let's sign a new contract. In order to properly care for these adorable children, would this witch, as lovely as she is well off, agree to formally become the estate's nanny?"
Hazel's eyes went wide as she stared at the contract before her. Wasn't this exactly what she'd wanted most? Without a word, Hazel took up the pen, her hand trembling. She wrote out neatly that she would raise and care for the two children with all her heart. Taking the paper back, the Grand Duke couldn't help but remark, "Who on earth draws a little heart on a contract?" Hazel babbled an explanation that it was simply because she was overjoyed, which only left him even more baffled than before.
Why did Hazel adore his siblings so much anyway?
His knight, too, shared that exact same bewilderment. He tore at his hair, unable to understand why the Grand Duke had drawn up a nanny contract in the first place, let alone why he now insisted on personally overseeing her every move himself. Not only that, he'd taken Hazel completely at her word that letting the children play in the dirt would actually boost their immune systems. This left the knight unable to help but wonder whether his master had perhaps fallen head over heels in love. He never imagined losing the chance to work alongside the nanny would leave him feeling this disappointed.
"What are you still standing there for? Get out already."
The knight muttered a curse under his breath and left.
It was then that the Grand Duke suddenly recalled the prisoners they'd just captured. The strange foreign energy radiating off them was identical to that of the crown prince's court mage. But for now, all he could do was hold his position and wait. At the moment, the number of families allied with the Duke's estate was painfully small. If he stirred up public sentiment recklessly, he risked being branded a traitor.