My Male Lead Is The Northern Black-Haired Grand Duke - Chapter 2

Translator and Editor: Bunny and Tea

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Chapter 2 – Born As The Grand Duke Of The North’s Friend (1)

If you were a Korean citizen, wouldn’t you have thought like this at least once?

‘Alas, why did our ancestors settle in a land that was hot in summer and cold in winter!’

Thanks to this, we need clothes as much as four more times, because when you get used to the heat, the cold comes, and when you get used to the cold, it gets hot. But today, I admired my ancestors’ sense of preoccupation with real estate. Compared to this, Korea is the best place.

‘I mean, why is so much snow pouring in a place where people live?’

I stared blankly out the window. The blizzard was unusual.

‘The window is small. It means that it’s not that unusual to snow like that.’

And in the world of romance-fantasy, where is this desolate land that snows? The north.

‘Don’t tell me, even the Grand Duke of the North will appear?’

The Grand Duke of the North naturally came to my mind when I thought of a gloomy castle in the desolate North. He usually had the role of antagonizing the Crown Prince in romance novels, who is like the ray of sunshine.

‘There’s a high probability that his finances aren’t that good, he is blunt and brusque to beat monsters, and he is strong.’

A family with only honor.

‘Probably not.’

It looks like I was reincarnated as a passing extra 1, not a Princess nor an Imperial Princess, but what if that extra 1 was living here in the North?

‘This is messed up, really messed up. This life is irrevocably messed up. I died as soon as I got my Master’s degree and secured a job. What is this?’

So God, please tell me this is not the North.

I prayed so earnestly as I hung on my mother’s shoulder and sucked my thumb hard.

At that moment, step, can the sound of footsteps resonate so clearly in a castle made of hard stone?

“Eut.”

Mom took a small breath and tightened the hand holding me. I raised my head stiffly on the contrary.

‘Who on earth was it?’

My mother was holding me tight, so I had to turn my head painfully to see the person behind my back. I put all my strength into my body and looked around.

‘Heok.’

And the moment I looked over there, I could see why my mother was shaking so much.

‘How in the world is there such a man black as a crow?’

The man was very large, like a bear. His black and stiff hair half covered his white and sharp face. Loneliness filled his squinting eyes.

‘No way, no way.’

No, I think I can roughly guess who he is just by looking at his figure. I was able to confirm that my guess was correct through the trembling voice of my mother.

“Greetings to Your Grace the Grand Duke.”

‘The Grand Duke!’

That’s right! That man was the cliché of a romance-fantasy, the Black-Haired Grand Duke of the North!

‘So I really became an extra 1 living in the North.’

No, why are tears flowing from my eyes?

‘How good it is to be an extra in the South where it is warm, the water is good, and there are many things to eat.’

That moment I was dreaming a dream impossible for me to achieve as the Grand Duke’s piercing gaze was directed at me.

‘Huh?’

Why are you looking at me like that, Grand Duke?

I blinked my eyes and looked at the Grand Duke. My mother raised her head as he stared at me unmoving with his eyes so cold there was no feeling of warmth in them.

Frowning, Mom asked, “Excuse me, why are you….”

“Nothing.” His icy gaze was still on me as he spoke with his own mouth. He spoke in a heavy voice, “She didn’t avoid my eyes.”

“Abu?”

I widened my eyes at his unexpected words.

‘I should have avoided it!’

I felt slightly elated as I looked at him. Like the feeling, ‘Awesome, I really met the Black-Haired Grand Duke of the North in real life’.

‘But it seems that everyone avoids his eyes. After all, it would be burdensome to be looked at by him!’

I didn’t feel much pressure as I felt so amazed looking at the person from the book, but I felt like I should avoid him at all costs if I met him on the street.

The Grand Duke’s gaze fixed on my face for a little longer, then turned to my mother who hurriedly hugged me.

A dry voice called out my mother’s name.

“Judy….”

‘Oh?’

I blinked when the Grand Duke called her.

‘How does His Grace know the name of a servant?’

Moreover, my mother’s reaction to him was unusual. Burdened by the Grand Duke’s gaze, my mother bowed her head. But the words he uttered were very stiff.

“You shouldn’t call my name.”

“That is how I feel.”

“Still, you can’t do that. It’s against the rules.”

“…”

The Grand Duke didn’t shout at my mother like ‘How dare you teach me!’ but he just shut his mouth. A long silence ensued between the two of them. Anyone could see that there was some strange story between them.

‘What’s going on with them?’

Of course, as a spectator, I just wanted to eat crunchy popcorn.

The Grand Duke of the North opened his mouth after a little silence. He spoke drily with a voice that didn’t show any emotion at all.

“Aren’t you Setz’s nanny? What are you doing here now?”

“That….”

Mom’s small body bent at the Grand Duke’s question. Her fear was evident in her trembling fingers.

‘Why is she so afraid?’

I tilted my head. The Grand Duke’s dark gaze turned from my mother’s fingers to my white cheeks.

He then asked in a heavy voice, “Is it because of this child?”

“…”

Mom couldn’t answer and stiffened like ice. It was then that I realized the situation.

‘It’s all because of me.’

There must have been some kind of relationship between the Grand Duke and my mom. Even so, he made my mother the nanny of his child.

‘But my mother left work because of me.’

The Grand Duke continued to stare at my mother who couldn’t answer. It seemed that my mother would be greatly upset at this rate, so I clenched my fluffy fists and shouted.

“Mama pui!” (Don’t bully Mom!)

“…?”

But if there was one thing I hadn’t thought of, it was that my tongue, still a baby, was fatally short.

‘Ugh, I shouted to scare him, but he wasn’t scared at all!’

On the contrary, it even sounded as if I was giggling. The Grand Duke’s bleak gaze instantly turned toward me again. An unknown emotion flashed in his grayish blue eyes.

“What is she talking about now?”

I looked at her with an expression hoping that she would convey my will properly, but she was more than embarrassed and bowed down to the Grand Duke.

“I– I have no idea. Lots of her words are meaningless at this age.”

“…”

The Grand Duke bit his mouth tightly at my mother’s words. I knew he still had a lot to say, but he looked at me again and walked away.

‘What? Are you just going like this?’

I looked at the back of the dumbfounded Grand Duke as he walked away while murmuring to himself. Mom hurriedly lowered herself.

“Come on, Minnelli.”

The hand that wrapped around the back of my head was trembling. I tilted my head.

‘He doesn’t look like a bad person though.’

I sucked my thumb and watched his broad back getting farther away.

‘Is that man really a person like the Grand Duke of the North in the novel?’

Having no parents, nor siblings, or achieving his love.

‘Ey, no way.’

I put my forehead on my mother’s shoulder. Even though I had only raised my head for a while, I quickly got tired.

‘We’ll see if I am right about the cliché.’

I’m just going to suck my thumb, suck, suck.

“You must never cry. Understand?”

“Hmm.”

Will there be any reason for a baby to cry if its stomach is full and its back is warm? I just stared at the door while sucking on my thumb.

‘Show me that precious face.’

Because I met Mister Grand Duke of the North earlier, who I felt was a person full of stories, my heart was even more excited to meet his son.

‘Is this the sub-male lead of the story? Am I looking at the sub-male-lead’s past?’

Since I’ve already entered this fantasy world, I wanted to meet the main character, male lead, and even the sub-male lead! The speed of sucking my thumb increased as I felt more intense excitement.

‘Just what on earth does he look like?’

I’m sure he will be as handsome as him if he resembles Mister – with black hair and deep eyes.

‘A wounded man who only gently smiles at his woman.’

Just imagining it made me happy. I stared at the slowly opening door. The first thing I saw through the door was a small bed.

‘A cradle?’

The curtains swayed as the wind came in through the slightly open window. And the cradle over there was swaying gently.

“Heavens! The window was open!”

My mother was startled and dropped me to the floor. She then ran and closed the window. Snowflakes had already entered through the cracks of the open window whirling in the air even after the wind had gone.

“What would I do if Young Master catches a cold? I should have properly looked at the window.” Mom cried as she muttered to herself.

I shook my head.

‘Well, if the Young Master is sick, of course my mother, who is his nanny, will be in very big trouble.’

The cold air crept up my legs from the floor where my mother had put me down. I shivered.

‘Ugh, it’s too cold for a child to live.’

Hot ondol is the best at times like this.

(T/N: Ondol (also known as goodle or banggoodle) is an underfloor heating system that has kept traditional houses in Korea warm for thousands of years.)

‘What happened to the heating system here?’

I looked around the room, with a heart to raise the temperature slightly if there was a boiler heating surface. Then I opened my mouth wide.

‘Wow, it is comparable to my room.’

First of all, it wasn’t comparable with its size. It was a spacious room where running around like a ball would not be a problem. Additionally, each piece of furniture was of high quality with its rounded edges.

‘Although it is really bleak here.’

But still, saying it in a blunt way, it has a nice view and it wasn’t too bad to think of it as a modern interior design.

‘The poor Northern Palace is this big. This is indeed a fantasy world.’

I shook my head and lifted my butt. I was planning to explore the room a little more, but at that moment,

“H, huwaaaa….”

A hollow cry echoed. I pricked my ears like a bunny.

‘A baby’s cries!?’

There are only two babies in this room, but I am not crying. Then who is the baby crying now!!

“Abu!”

‘Just what on earth did he look like? Is it really the black-haired Grand Duke of the North who resembles his father?’

I looked at the cradle with my eyes twinkling. However, the sound of crying was weak.

“Huwaaah! Uwaaaaahh!”

There’s no way the Black-Haired Grand Duke of the North will be this chick from when he was young. But still, hearing that weak cry made me feel relieved.

‘Don’t you need to cry a little manlier! Or hold back your tears! Or doesn’t know how to cry at all!’

I thought so to myself as I recalled the childhood of the black-haired Grand Duke of the North in my own way.

“Aigoo, Young Master. Your cheeks are completely frozen.”

My mother clicked her tongue and picked up the baby from the cradle. Without blinking, I drooled and stared at him.

‘Just what do you look like! What!’

Badump, badump, my heart was pounding. I thought I was going to die of heart failure before I even got to see the baby’s face.

“Uwaaah.”

How many seconds have passed? The lion cub will be shown to the world by my mother!!

“Heook!”

It was lovely enough to cause heart failure!

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(T/N: Let me squeal right here on how the ML was just so cuuute [internal screams that will probably break your eardrums])

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