Annette thought the Dowager Empress and Empress might not have seen the situation clearly due to the obscured view, but Charlotte had seen the large shadow of the falling tree and the quick leap of a figure.

“We owe a great debt to the princess.”

Having heard a brief explanation of the situation from her son, Lucius also expressed his gratitude.

“Mikhail, you should thank her too.”

“Thank you.”

Mikhail, having calmed down a bit, bowed with a more respectful demeanor than before. After seeing how his parents treated Annette and realizing the potential accident, he genuinely felt grateful.

“It was nothing. I just did what needed to be done.”

Annette modestly declined the imperial family’s sincere thanks. And she thought,

‘If you really want to thank me, could you please get rid of this person…’

Cardin, still standing next to Annette, was intently staring at her. Cold sweat ran down Annette’s back.

‘Why isn’t he saying anything?’

She wished he would just ask what happened.

But he didn’t. Instead, it seemed like he was waiting for her to say something, making her increasingly uncomfortable.

‘Surely he can’t be angry… No, that can’t be.’

Yet, strangely, the Duke seemed displeased. Even behind the mask, she could sense it.

Annette couldn’t bear the awkward atmosphere and tried to naturally change the subject.

“But why did you… earlier…”

“Ah, I really can’t take this anymore.”

Cardin abruptly broke his silence with a chilly remark.

“…….”

The air froze in an instant.
Despite sensing that Mikhail realized he was the cause of the strange phenomenon, Annette couldn’t continue her sentence and closed her mouth.

She felt that the Duke seemed angry, but she didn’t believe she was the reason.

There was no reason for it. The incident in the garden wasn’t her fault; it was the Dowager Empress who had first suggested the walk.

‘Could it be a problem that I intervened on my own?’

But as the Empress had said, a major accident was about to happen. She had to step in, and the outcome wasn’t bad.

Why was he angry when even the Emperor thanked her for her kindness?

Confused, Annette clenched her fist, prompting Cardin to sigh deeply once more.

That sigh suddenly made her feel unfairly treated.

‘I did my best, why is he behaving like this? Not even a word of praise…’

Annette, pouting without realizing, stopped abruptly.

‘Did my mind become childish because my body became young?’ She felt silly.

But understanding her naivety intellectually didn’t mean she could control her feelings.

Unable to dispel her feelings of injustice and hurt, she was about to look away when she abruptly stopped.

As if sensing her intention, Cardin abruptly grabbed her hand.

His touch was gentle, but the sudden contact startled her.

Her heart pounded wildly.

In a daze, Cardin, now kneeling on one knee, matched her gaze and said,

“You’re bleeding.”

Not even realizing it hurt…

Only then did Annette notice the bandage on her left hand, holding the dagger, was stained red.

It seems the wound reopened because of the recent events.

“Didn’t you say it was for self-defense? Why does it seem to cause you more harm than good?”

Cardin gently unclenched Annette’s fist, removed the dagger, and spoke.

“I know it was unavoidable just now… but it’s really upsetting.”

At his words, Annette almost asked ‘Why?’ out of reflex.

But she restrained herself, sensing that this question might corner her further.

She apologized vaguely.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

…And then belatedly remembered that the Duke was very persistent.

If he had dissected every one of her words before, he certainly wouldn’t accept such an ambiguous apology now.

She should’ve asked him directly why he was being so nice to her, Annette thought, biting her lip.