I Will Disappear, Grand Duke

 "The snow shows no signs of stopping. It won't be easy to go outside for a while."

 Early in the morning, the old butler, Richard, who came to deliver the business plan for next year, murmured while looking out the window.

 Fernan, who was reviewing the report, then threw his gaze out the window.

 Last night, the snow that seemed to have stopped gradually, fell again in the morning to the extent that it was piled up.

 "Yes. Last month we increased the number of workers, so we have more than enough."

 Fernan nodded and raised his quill.  The sound of paperwork being written down filled the office.

 Richard stood respectfully, waiting for him to finish his signature.  After some time had passed, Richard suddenly opened his mouth.

 "Ah, I think the Grand Duchess has woken up.”

 At that, Fernan stopped his hand and raised his head.  Through the large window on one side of the office, he could see Julia walking in the garden.

 When Fernan woke up this morning, Julia next to him was still asleep. So he was going to wake her up after working for a while.

 But in the meantime, she seemed to have woken up on her own and was going somewhere with a hasty pace.

 “Perhaps she’s on her way to the greenhouse. While Your Highness was away, she took great care of the greenhouse.”

 “…  Did she?”

 Fernan, who answered calmly, looked at Julia as she was moving away.

 Then he looked down at the paper again and hurriedly wrote his signature.

 “Send it like this. I don't think there's anything to modify.”

 “Yes, my lord.”

 As Fernan got up from his seat and was about to leave the office in a hurry, Richard, who was following, held out his jacket in his arms.

 “It’s cold outside, my lord.”

 "Ah."

 Fernan cleared his throat and picked up the jacket.  He was in such a hurry that he forgot the outerwear.

 Richard looked at his back as Fernan crossed the hallway and smiled quietly.

 It was a peaceful morning when the sun began to seep into the cold world and the snow fluttered moderately.

 Julia’s small footprints were imprinted in his eyes, which he had not yet cleared. Fernan followed the footsteps towards the greenhouse.

 Through the foggy and steaming glass windows, colorful flowers were spread out dazzlingly.

 At that moment, a low, heavy voice was heard.

 “What do you think?  This time it will definitely not wither.”

 Fernan frowned slightly.  It was the voice of a man he had never heard before.

 "Yes. As expected, soil was also a problem.”

 Then, Julia's admiring voice was heard along with it.

 Fernan slowly walked towards the source of the sound.  Then he saw two people standing at the flower bed in front of the fountain.

 An unfamiliar man was standing next to Julia.

 They continued to talk as if they could not hear anything because of the sound of the water from the fountain.

 “Oh, this is a golden rose.  It’s so beautiful that I want to plant it in the greenhouse, but I don’t know where to get it.”

 Julia held up a rose flower in her hand. It was a rose from the Imperial Palace flower garden, which she received as a congratulatory gift for the hunting festival.

 The man with a fierce expression accepted it and nodded his head.

 “Yeah, I’ll take a look.  Wow, it’s so beautiful.”

 Fernan, who had been quietly listening to the noisy conversation, couldn’t stand it and walked up to them.

 Just then, Julia, who turned her head, found him and smiled brightly.

 "Your Highness!"

Fernan, who was trying to relax his face while looking at Julia, stood next to her and looked at the man bending his back, and his face turned cold again.

 “I see the Grand Duke. Your Highness, my name is Jerome, the appointed gardener of the greenhouse.”

 Fernan didn't like Jerome’s polite way of saying hello.  While Fernan stared at the gardener coldly, Julia smiled and opened her mouth.

 “He’s a gardener who was hired recently.  He is a talented person who knows plants well and handles flowers well.”

 At those words, Fernan felt even more displeased and looked at the gardener.  The gardener, who had raised his head slightly, made eye contact with him and flinched.

 It was only when Julia felt the strange expression in his eyes, Jerome said calmly.

 “I will find out where the rose is from….”

“I can ask the gardener of the Imperial Palace myself.”

 Saying so, Fernan extended his hand to the gardener.  It meant to give him back the rose.

 The gardener, who gave him the rose, bowed his head politely again.

 Julia clapped her hands and smiled brightly.

 “I didn’t think of that. Then please.”

 Fernan nodded his head and looked at Julia calmly, then gave an order to the gardener who was still obtrusive in his sight.

 “You can leave now.”

 “Yes, yes.  Then call me back when you need me.”

 After the gardener bowed his head, he slowly left the greenhouse.

 Fernan stared at the back of the person who was leaving, and then averted his gaze.

 “Do you visit the greenhouse every morning?”

 It was a calm voice that hid a boiling inside. Julia, not knowing his heart, nodded her head brightly.

  “Yes, I want to make sure the flowers have grown well overnight.”

 “… .”

 Then it meant that she had been spending time with the gardener every morning for the weeks when he (Fernan) was away.

 Fernan gritted his teeth inwardly.

 “Come with me from now on.”

 Fernan said in a voice that was as casual as possible, and then Julia responded politely.

 "It's okay.  I know you're busy getting reports in the morning, I can't bother you with this.”

 Fernan, who was somehow impatient, spoke up.

 “It doesn’t bother me.  Even small things are fine, so tell me anything first.  Just like a while ago, when we have the information we need.”

 Julia tilted her head as she looked at him with a rather long speech.

 Still, she gently nodded her head.

 “Yes, I will.”

 At that moment, Fernan, who relaxed his expression, exhaled a long breath. Then he glanced at the table in the middle of the greenhouse.

 “Would you like to eat here?”

 "I’d like that."

 Julia, who readily answered, smiled brightly.  With her smile in her eyes, Fernan erased the presence of the annoying gardener.

 However, the gardener's presence disturbed Fernan's plantings for quite some time after that.

.

.

.

 “This is a flower called aurora.  It is characterized by a strange color.  If you decorate it in the living room or banquet room, it will create a glamorous yet subtle atmosphere.”

 The gentle voice of the gardener continued, and Julia nodded her head as she looked at the picture of the flower pointed to by the gardener.

 “I would like to plant this in a flower bed, too.  Can we get seedlings in winter?”

 "Yes. There is a flower garden that I know well, and there must be quite a few seedlings there.”

 It was the sight Fernan saw every morning when he followed Julia to the greenhouse.

 Julia went around the greenhouse with that gardener and checked the flowers in the flower bed one by one.  Along the way, she had a close, face-to-face conversation with the gardener, and occasionally laughed.  It was also very lovely.

 After that, she has studied plants like this every day.

 Yes, every morning….

 “Oh, and this herb is……”

Standing next to Julia, the gardener leaned down to turn the page.

 The moment the distance between the two of them narrowed, there was the sound of something sharply breaking.

 It was a teacup in Fernan's hand.

 Taking her gaze away from the book, Julia looked at the shattered teacup in Fernan's hand.

 Surprised, she jumped up from her seat.

 "Your Highness!"

 Even when he smashed the teacup with his bare hands, Fernan had an expressionless face as if he didn't know what had happened.

 However, pieces of broken glass had pierced his palm, red blood began to drip.

 Julia took her handkerchief out of her pocket and shouted to the gardener.

 "Go and call the doctor!"

 "Yes, yes!"

 The gardener, who was in shock, ran out of the greenhouse in a hurry.

 Julia hurriedly grabbed Fernan's hand and checked it. The hard palms were messed up with large and small pieces of glass embedded. 

 “Ah, what should I do….  Your Highness, are you okay?”

 Julia looked at him with a face that looked like she was about to cry.  Fernan, who had just come to his senses, grabbed her wrist and pulled it away.

 “It’s okay, don’t touch it.”

In the meantime, Fernan, who was worried that Julia’s hand would be injured, stood up.

  Then he led her to a place where there were no shards of broken glass.

 “How did you and the teacup…..”

Julia looked at the shattered teacup with an incomprehensible face.

 It wasn't broken by falling to the floor, it was broken by his grip.

 I wondered how it was possible, but considering Fernan’s usual strength, it didn't seem like it would be too difficult.  But why did he break it?

 Julia thought frantically and looked at his hand again.  When she saw his blood-stained hand, all the thoughts she had ran away.

 While she was upset and weeping, Jerome finally ran into the greenhouse with the doctor.

 “Your Highness, please show me your hand.”

 The attending physician hurriedly came and checked Fernan’s wound. The attending physician moved, saying that the gaping skin might need to be sewn up.

 When Fernan returned to the castle like that, the workers were rolling their feet as if they heard the news that he was injured.

 It seemed that the gardener had called the attending physician very loudly. Fernan sent them all away as if he was annoyed and headed to the parlor.

 “There will be some pain.”

 The attending physician warned, and he pulled out a treatment tool.  Julia watched anxiously as the affected area was sterilized and then stitched.

 “Don’t look, Julia.”

 Fernan, who had completely regained his composure, muttered.

 However, Julia shook her head and stayed until the end.

 “Fortunately, the wound is not deep, but it will be good for your recovery to refrain from using your hand for a while.”

 The attending physician who had completed the treatment skillfully said politely.  Fernan nodded his head in response.  After the doctor left, there was a moment of silence in the parlor.

 Julia had her head bowed with an upset face. Fernan, who was looking at her like that, spoke first.

 "I’m okay. It’s not a big deal.”

 “You say that every time.”

Intercepting his words, Julia let out her sigh.

 “Why did you break the teacup?”

 Throughout his treatment, Julia thought. There was no way the teacup could have broken itself.

The only thing she could think of was that Fernan broke it with force.

 In the end, he deliberately injured his body again. He even made a promise to her that he would never harm himself recklessly again.

 “I couldn’t control my power.”

 Fernan looked at her face as he replied in a lump, but Julia did not give in and asked.

 “Why couldn’t you control your power?”

 “…  ”

 Fernan turned his gaze slightly, contemplating his answer.

 To be honest, it was long.  For the past few days, his nerves were scratched like crazy as he watched Julia sticking with the gardener, and then when he saw the man getting closer to Julia, he lost it.

 Of course, he didn't want to tell her his foolish jealousy.

 “…Is it because of Jerome?"

However, Julia asked a question that caught him off guard.