Chapter 41 Part 4: The Calm Before the Storm

After the conversation with Cayron.

Roald intended to go to his room to rest from the journey.

But after taking off his coat, he remembered something he had forgotten.

[After the conversation, come to my room.]

Rosa’s words.

Chuckle-

Roald smiled.

Because he could see through her cute intentions.

She must be curious about his opinion of her husband.

‘Since the conversation just ended a while ago..’

Roald immediately prepared to go to Rosa’s room.

Head Butler Hamel guided him.

“She usually reads at this time.”

After dinner, Rosa usually reads during her spare time.

‘She always liked books.’

It wasn’t strange at all.

Roald stopped in front of the door.

Knock knock-

He knocked on the door, but there was no answer.

Tilting his head, Roald knocked once more after a moment.

Knock knock-

It was the same this time.

The firmly closed door showed no sign of opening.

Normally, there would have been some kind of answer.

She usually reads at this time, and it was Rosa who told him to come to her room first.

‘Could it be.. that something happened?’

Suddenly, a memory from the past flashed through Roald’s mind.

It had happened once before.

At that time, Rosa had collapsed in her room.

‘If it’s like that again this time…’

In the end, Roald opened the door with a nervous expression.

Then, he couldn’t help but be flustered by the scene that came into his view.

Just before Roald opened the door.

Rosa and Cayron.

The two were lost in a kiss, oblivious to the world.

Their breaths are conveyed to each other’s mouths.

Soft flesh mixes gently.

The air around them heated up, and it felt like the sensation of their bodies touching was disappearing.

Cayron bent his head and savored Rosa’s lips.

Her pink lips glistened with saliva.

The tip of her small nose turned red.

Her soft silver eyelashes trembled.

Her rapid breathing, the heated air, their body fluids mixing with their breaths.

All of it was so stimulating.

They must not have heard.

Thud-

So when the door opened.

It was as if time had frozen in the room.

Roald blinked his eyes in confusion.

“..Rosa?”

That’s right.

Standing by the door was her flustered older brother.

Where did she find such strength?

Rosa pushed Cayron away firmly.

Cayron was literally pushed away slightly, but Rosa was busy quickly fixing her appearance.

Her hair was a mess, and her white blouse was slightly undone.

“Uh.. what’s wrong?”

She answered awkwardly.

Only then did she remember what she had told Roald.

Cayron also coughed.

Ahem-

Not a handmaiden, but Rosa’s older brother.

Roald had seen his younger sister, whom he had only thought of as young, in a passionate love affair.

Of course, Cayron, the party involved, couldn’t help but feel awkward.

At first, Roald had a stunned expression, then he awkwardly cleared his throat.

“Uh.. um.”

Rosa couldn’t meet his gaze.

Finally, when Roald was about to say something.

“It’s a misunderstanding! Roald.”

Rosa exclaimed.

She seemed so flustered that she didn’t know what she was saying.

With a flushed face, she clenched her fists and was at a loss for what to do.

Rather, Roald ended up smiling.

“No. Sorry for interrupting.”

What is there to misunderstand?

They were a newlywed couple.

He was just awkward and, at the same time, found his disheveled sister cute.

“Then. Have a good time, you two.”

Leaving behind those strange words, Roald closed the door.

It was as if time had stopped.

“What is this..”

With a flushed face.

Rosa lowered her head, filled with belated mortification and embarrassment.

The awkward air filled the room.

The heated atmosphere cooled down.

“Wh-what do I do..?”

Rosa spoke first, avoiding his gaze.

Cayron chuckled silently.

Rosa, with her head down, awkwardly fidgeted with her fingers.

‘Crazy..’

What had she been doing until just now?

She had been helplessly swept away again.

‘And of all people, Roald saw that scene.’

Rosa wanted to hide in a mouse hole.

Her face was burning.

She didn’t know why she was so embarrassed.

“Well, what of it.”

Cayron seemed unfazed.

“How will I face my brother now?”

Cayron said.

“Just face him normally.”

“..It’s not possible.”

Almost a whimpering expression.

Cayron found that Rosa cute.

“It’s something that can happen between a married couple.”

‘Who’s fault is this?’

Rosa glared at him.

It seemed like Cayron didn’t know how embarrassed she was right now.

Almost out of childish defiance, Rosa said.

“We’re not. A real couple.”

Cayron’s expression stiffened.

“Ah, sorry.”

Rosa immediately apologized.

There was no reason to apologize, but the expression she saw on Cayron’s face made her feel like she had to.

His tightly closed lips looked as if he were hurt.

Of course, it’s an undeniable fact.

They are not a real couple.

It’s just a one-year contract marriage.

‘But..’

Cayron’s words aren’t wrong either.

At least everyone thinks the two are real lovers.

“Come here. Rosa.”

Suddenly, Rosa hesitated at those words.

She had already come to her senses.

Suddenly, everything felt confusing.

Cayron, who always approaches her like this, and herself, who can’t refuse him.

It’s strange.

‘This kind of relationship..’

It was hard to define.

What is Cayron to her?

And what is she to Cayron?

The two are childhood friends, and a couple formed by a contract.

Certainly, for the past few years, they belonged to one of those categories.

‘But..’

Now it seems like it’s neither.

There’s a feeling that’s still suspended on a vague boundary between denial and affirmation.

But she somehow felt reluctant to come to that conclusion.

She didn’t know why.

Cayron instinctively sensed it.

That Rosa is slowly realizing it.

She likes him.

She just doesn’t know it yet.

He was sure of that fact on the night of the Lantern Festival.

Then and today.

Rosa didn’t refuse him.

Effectively, a rabbit that has fully entered the trap.

“It’s late. Wash up and go to sleep.”

When he was about to return to his room, Rosa unconsciously grabbed the hem of his clothes.

“..Why. Are you always.”

‘Making me confused.’

The way he treats her like a real lover, like a beloved woman.

She’s afraid that she might really feel that way.

Whether it’s acting, curiosity, or really sincerity.

Now she can’t even tell those things apart anymore.

‘But..’

If she utters these next words.

Then something will really become irreversible.

She doesn’t know if that’s the right thing to do yet.

She can’t predict what consequences her words will bring.

“No. It’s nothing.”

In the end, Rosa swallowed her words.

For now, she decided not to think too deeply about it.

Chuckle-

Cayron laughed as if it were nothing.

Then he came up to her again and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

“Good night. Rosa.”

The door connecting the two rooms closes.

Rosa stood there blankly for a long time, then collapsed onto her bed.

Why.

More than the embarrassment of the earlier situation, her heart fluttered at the kiss Cayron just gave her.

It was difficult.

Very much so.

The next day.

It’s still a blue-soaked sky.

A carriage was standing in front of the main gate of the inner castle at such an early hour.

Roald and Mary.

The two are having a conversation in front of the carriage door.

“Really?! Oh my.”

Look at Mary’s excited reaction.

Even without listening closely, it was obvious what they were talking about.

“Ah. I should have seen it too.”

Such a sound.

Rosa’s face, approaching them, gradually turned red.

“Stop it.”

She stood in front of the two.

Roald and Mary had smiles on their faces.

“Did you sleep well? Rosa.”

“Your face is radiant. Miss.”

She knows they’re doing it on purpose, and it makes her even more annoyed.

“Roald. You have to knock before entering.”

At Rosa’s words, Roald smiled and answered.

“I did. Rosa. It’s just that two people couldn’t hear it.”

That’s what mortifies Rosa the most.

Her hearing is very sensitive.

Normally, she wouldn’t have missed even a small sound.

‘But..’

Last night, to the extent that she missed the sound of the door being knocked.

It means that she was immersed in the act.

Roald has an expression that says he understands everything.

“It’s okay. It happens.”

How surprised he must have been.

To him, Rosa is just his cute younger sister.

But to see that his sister has become a woman.

He had just witnessed it with his own eyes yesterday.

‘Well..’

It was a really strange feeling.

‘She’s really grown up. She’s all grown up. Rosa.’

As an older brother, he just felt strangely proud, and he was glad that his sister’s partner was a trustworthy man.

Still, he was flustered by the intensity, to be honest.

‘They really love each other to death.’

It’s true that he felt a sense of satisfaction.

“Why. You said you didn’t like him.”

Roald said as if teasing.

“That’s..”

Rosa couldn’t deny it.

It was before the Triumphal Banquet.

When asked if she liked her childhood friend, Rosa had clearly denied it.

[It’s not like that.]

But.

Something was changing.

Even in the midst of confusion, it’s hard to deny that fact.

“I never said I didn’t like him in the first place.”

At Rosa’s words, Mary chimed in for no reason.

“That’s right. Miss liked him from the beginning.”

“Mary-!”

It wasn’t true at all, but Rosa looked at Cayron, who was approaching, to check his reaction.

Fortunately, it seems that Cayron didn’t hear.

Instead, he naturally stood next to her.

His usual neat black formal attire.

But somehow he looked even more handsome.

Cayron held Rosa’s hand and said to Roald.

“It’s a shame that you’re leaving so soon.”

Roald smiled and responded.

“There will be another time to see each other. There’s still plenty of time.”

Mary also added.

“I’ll visit again someday. Your Highness the Archduke. And Miss Rosa. It was a short but enjoyable time.”

“Thanks to you, I’m also relieved. I’ll tell Father the news well.”

At the end, Roald’s gaze turned to the two people’s clasped hands.

“Be happy. Rosa.”

“I’ll miss you. Miss.”

Eventually, she let go of Cayron’s hand for a moment.

“I’ll miss you too. Both of you.”

The two are Rosa’s few connections in this world.

They were truly precious people.

After hugging each other like that.

The two got into the carriage one after another.

“I’ll write!”

Rosa waved her hand.

The carriage slowly slid down the road.

The lively Mary was waving her arm.

After a while.

As the castle disappeared from view, she sat down on the soft seat and spoke.

“I’m so glad that she’s doing well.”

“Yes. She looked happy.”

While such a conversation was taking place inside the carriage.

Rosa and Cayron, holding hands, entered the inner castle again.

It was back to peaceful everyday life.

Rosa was still devoted to horseback riding.

Now she could ride a horse quite skillfully.

She can even ride the foal, Ron, without any help.

The feisty steed, Lactea, was strangely docile to Rosa.

A few more flowers were planted in the greenhouse.

Probably in a few months, the flowers will be in full bloom.

Meanwhile, preparations were in full swing at the Archduke’s family in Arnad.

Because the hunting festival was really not far away.

In the training ground, cheers and sighs erupted alternately.

“These are the people who will participate in this hunting festival.”

The selected knights checked their equipment, and the excluded knights licked their lips in disappointment.

Rosa was in the Archduke’s library.

The library, located inside the inner castle, boasted a vast number of books.

“Ugh-“

As she groans stood on her tiptoes, a shadow suddenly fell over her.

Cayron pulled out the book very easily.

And he handed it to Rosa with an indifferent expression.

“Here.”

His hand looked very large.

These days, she feels the difference in these small details.

Cayron is taller than her, has bigger hands.

Everything is big and sturdy.

“..Thank you.”

Rosa’s voice was barely audible.

Because she was flustered and felt a strange feeling at the same time.

A tower piled up next to her.

All records related to the hunting festival.

Cayron is secretly proud of Rosa.

He just watches Rosa read.

In the soft sunlight.

She is really beautiful as she concentrates on reading.

She turns the pages with that fairy-like, innocent figure.

Suddenly, when Cayron grabs her slender hand.

Maybe it’s because of the sunlight.

Or maybe it’s because she was interrupted while reading.

Rosa’s face is slightly flushed.

“..Don’t do this. Cayron.”

Half awkward, half pleading.

“Why..?”

When Cayron asked so shamelessly.

Rosa turns her head and stammers.

“It’s, it’s hot. Did you finish work already?”

And she wriggles her small hand to pull it out.

Her earlobe was faintly red.

The two have been like this these days.

Rosa somehow avoids him, but not outright.

Rather, Cayron kept approaching her.

Soon, the relationship between the two will face a change in some way.

That fact seemed quite self-evident.

It was around that time that the new handmaiden candidates were narrowed down, and then the candidates were reduced to one.

Golden wavy hair that reaches her waist, jade-colored eyes that seem to contain wisdom.

Delicate features.

Her body curves were quite full in every way, while her waist and limbs were unbelievably slender.

She was tall, almost the same height as an average man, a typical beauty of the North.

“Get in. Miss. It’s not far to the Archduke’s family.”

The woman looks at the clear blue sky.

And she thinks of the grace that saved her family.

She has a lively yet strong impression.

“Let’s go.”

As if cheering herself on.

She clenched her fist once and got into the carriage.

A white hawk gliding down a cliff.

It is the symbol of the Ruslanche family.

A family that was once almost taken over by a harsh hand, but ironically maintained its lineage thanks to the prince of the Empire.

The family’s flag fluttered over the carriage.

The new handmaiden of the Archduke’s family, Freya Ruslanche, just departed for Arnad.