Chapter 31 Part 6: I, The Archduchess of Elchen

Some time before Rosa entered Cayron’s room.

“Oh, really…”

Rosa, who had returned to her room, took off the dress she was wearing.

It is a dress she favors.

A red skirt with a small ribbon on the chest, and a white blouse for everyday wear.

But she felt like she had to change.

Because it was soaked.

Sreuk-

Under the flowing silver hair, a soft white chemise was revealed.

Having taken off her clothes, Rosa fell into a dilemma.

‘The wedding night..’

She can’t help but be concerned.

She’s not unaware of the meaning that the suggestive word carries.

It’s a natural thing for a married couple, but Rosa didn’t think Cayron would seriously ask for anything.

‘Yeah. At most..’

It’s just practice.

It’s a ridiculous word.

Even the nuance of practice.

‘What kind of practice is that?’

But the other person is none other than Cayron.

Rosa has seen him since he was a child.

Moreover, she has sufficiently glimpsed his inner side in the original work.

He is cool-headed, rational, and extremely serious.

‘That’s why he showed single-minded devotion to the female lead.’

However, he lacks in unexpected areas and has a slightly different way of thinking than ordinary people.

So if Cayron says he’s practicing, it’s really just that.

Rosa is just going along with his curiosity.

[To act, you must first know the emotion.]

That was the nuance of what Cayron said.

It seems like he’s being a little spiteful.

When he didn’t know Cayron’s true identity, she betrayed their friendship and tried to use him.

She also directly provoked him.

Saying that she felt nothing.

‘Come to think of it, I didn’t feel good when I heard that either.’

Cayron has a strong ego.

His pride must have been hurt, so that must also be one of the factors in the practice.

But Rosa was almost certain.

It won’t go beyond a kiss.

Cayron has always respected her will.

‘Because we’re friends.’

Cayron is always Cayron.

Just because he’s the Second Prince, and the Archduke of Elchen.

He hasn’t changed from the Cayron she knew.

The sound of the word friend is good.

Of course, the relationship between the two was not just close friends.

‘If I had to say..’

It’s like a friendly sibling relationship.

That’s what Rosa thought.

The faint memory of the countryside villa.

The two have met there for years like childhood friends.

They saw each other grow from a boy to a young man, and from a girl to a lady.

Even so, they couldn’t see each other very often, so there was no reason to fight.

Rosa just cheered for Cayron.

At the same time, she wanted to take care of him.

‘Honestly, it feels like looking at a young sibling who just became independent..’

Of course, Cayron is not a child.

But maybe she feels that way even more because he is the protagonist of the original work.

Even before the transmigration, she cheered for the protagonists while reading the novel.

Of course, the whereabouts of the female lead, Freya, are also important, but what is important to Rosa right now is Cayron, who is right next to her.

‘I met Cayron first.’

She knows what kind of effort he has made.

So she can’t help but feel more attached.

‘Why else would I learn to ride a horse?’

Rosa is fully aware of Cayron’s hardships, and at the same time, she hopes that he will suffer less in the future.

That’s why she’s preparing for the hunting festival incident.

And finally today.

She got results.

She secretly wanted to brag about it.

‘There’s a fierce horse named Lactea. I’m quite close to that horse now!’

What kind of reaction will Cayron have?

He might slightly mock her for being happy about such a small thing.

But that’s probably not really what he means.

‘Or will he praise me unexpectedly?’

Rosa was looking forward to it.

It will be a very interesting dinner time, so Rosa was going to tell him in advance.

‘The wedding night.’

If she brings up that word during the meal, it will only make the atmosphere awkward for no reason.

‘He’s probably changed his clothes by now..’

It’s really no big deal, so she can just say it casually and come back.

“Okay.”

Rosa made up her mind.

She was going to talk to him after putting on her outer garment.

‘Just in case.’

Rosa has very good hearing.

She doesn’t know why, but it has always been that way since a long time ago.

The door connected to Cayron’s room.

She put her ear to the door and stayed for a while.

Suddenly, she was about to take her ear off the door when she heard an unexpected sound.

It was like a suppressed groan.

‘Why is that coming from Cayron’s room..?’

Rosa opened the door as if possessed.

Soon, an unbelievable sight entered her eyes.

She saw it.

Their eyes met.

Suddenly, the surrounding air became thin.

No, maybe it was just her illusion.

Rosa’s breath caught in her throat.

She couldn’t utter a single word.

Cayron’s smooth and firm upper body.

It is covered with colored scars.

Stab wounds, cut wounds, and burn wounds.

Traces of such desperate battles.

At first glance, they looked like bizarre tattoos.

Surely, to someone, it would look like the glorious wounds of a war god.

But to Rosa, it was not like that at all.

It felt like sharp thorns were stuck in her eyes and throat.

“..You.”

She couldn’t figure out what to say.

No, from the beginning, she couldn’t speak as if her throat was clogged.

Cayron’s eyes sank.

He quickly put on a black shirt next to the chair.

“You should knock before entering.”

He says with a cold face as he buttons up.

Little by little, Rosa’s feet moved.

“..Show me.”

Her eyes were wide open.

But that was all she could barely say.

Before she knew it, Rosa was in front of Cayron.

“Show me.”

“”

“No.”

Two pairs of red eyes clashed.

“Just now, you..”

Rosa didn’t know.

But her voice was trembling slightly.

To her, Cayron answered as if it were no big deal.

“A scar from a war is nothing. I don’t particularly want to show it to anyone.”

“It’s not..just one.”

She clearly heard a groan, as if he was forcibly enduring the pain just now.

“It’s none of your business.”

Cayron said with an unfamiliar expression.

A cold, chilly expression.

The expression of a ruler that seems to cut.

In the two red eyes staring at her, there was a sense of caution as if she shouldn’t object.

Has he always been like this to most other people?

But that fact was not important to Rosa right now.

Cayron deliberately spoke coldly and tried to leave the room.

He couldn’t bear to chase out Rosa, who had a shocked expression, so he planned to leave instead.

So he didn’t expect it at all.

Rip-

Surprisingly, that Rosa would tear his clothes.

“You..!”

Where did she get such strength?

Rosa tore his clothes with her thin arms.

Cayron grabbed her wrist, but a few buttons had already come undone.

His upper body was revealed.

“I..”

Rosa only mouthed the words.

“This..”

It was the same after that.

Rosa couldn’t continue her words at all.

Instead, her gaze is fixed on his upper body.

As if her heart was breaking, as if she had lost something precious.

Or as if she was out of breath after learning a truth she had never known before.

“What is, this..?”

Rosa looked up at him.

Cayron silently released Rosa’s wrist, and at the same time, her arm fell limply towards the ground.

Rosa, who was scanning each scar with her eyes.

She unknowingly stepped back more and more.

While thinking that she knew enough about Cayron’s hardships.

Realizing her own excessive arrogance.

She thought she knew enough.

That Cayron is making an effort.

He is her friend and the protagonist of this world.

As such, everything is perfect, but he also shows that he is making an effort.

If you watch him, he’s just admirable.

Countless remaining scars.

Traces of past pain.

The victory banquet, and the Archduke of Elchen.

The truth hidden behind that splendid success that no one would have known.

Unlike the pure white arm, the deeply colored shoulder blade.

Rosa understood for the first time today what it meant to have one’s head turn white.

Even when she first came into this world.

And even when Cayron revealed his true identity.

It certainly wasn’t to this extent.

Her head was so hot.

It was difficult to breathe.

Whether she is standing on the ground now, or lying down.

Or if she’s dreaming.

Everything is just confusing.

In her ruby-like eyes, only Cayron’s scars were filled.

‘I..’

She didn’t know at all.

She had no idea that Cayron was living such a life.

No, she actually knew.

But after seeing it with her own eyes, she has no choice but to admit it.

‘I really..’

I didn’t know anything.

How much it must have hurt.

And how painful it must have been.

Even a small cut from a piece of paper hurts for half a day.

Rosa touched Cayron’s scars without realizing it.

Bumpy scars.

It’s not just because of the muscles.

Her breath caught in her throat, her chest felt so tight.

Why does she feel this much emotion?

She hasn’t done anything wrong.

Just because they’re friends.

Because she didn’t know, even though they were friends.

She didn’t know what kind of battles Cayron was fighting, but she had thought too peacefully.

She didn’t know anything.

She realized that she was arrogant.

“Why are you crying..?”

Only after hearing Cayron’s low voice.

Only then did Rosa realize.

The stream that flowed down had already flowed down her slender jawline.

‘Oh.. why..’

“Why are you crying?”

That was what Rosa wanted to say.

Since becoming possessed, she has never cried once.

A man cries only three times.

It wasn’t because of that learned prejudice.

She wasn’t a man anymore, and she just didn’t have tears from the beginning.

‘But, why..?’

Rosa blinked.

Silent tears flowed over her cheeks.

The many scars on Cayron’s body, those indelible marks, hurt Rosa.

‘If I had known his true identity sooner, I could have helped him suffer a little less.’

No, Rosa knows.

‘I might not have been able to stop him anyway.’

The feeling of helplessness from a long time ago comes to mind.

The feeling that still remains somewhere in her.

Rosa had been struggling for a long time.

There was nothing special about being possessed.

Just because she’s an extra.

There wasn’t much she could do.

She might have been trying to turn a blind eye.

Still, if you look deep into your heart.

She couldn’t escape.

From that thought.

Rosa was more scared than she thought.

But it was a momentary possession.

She fell into a strange world alone.

Not a novel, not a movie, not anything.

A very confusing and heterogeneous reality.

So how could there be no fear?

There were times when she tore her hair out every night.

But only in this situation.

Just at this moment.

Rosa feels guilty.

That blind and slimy emotion made her breath catch in her throat.

“..Ah.”

Cayron moved his finger.

And the silent flow

“Don’t cry.”

He carefully wiped away the tears.

Because he knew this would happen.

He reflects on his carelessness.

But quite venally, he feels joy in a corner of his heart.

‘Because you cry like this for me.’

All these scars are wounds he got to meet you.

“I’m fine.”

Cayron said with a confident tone.

Rosa looked up at him with reddened eyes.

“No matter how big the wound is, it heals again. It’s almost a curse-like blessing to me.”

Originally, he thought of it as a curse.

Because that’s what everyone said in the rumors that spread.

‘The reason I started to think of it as a blessing..’

It must have been after meeting Rosa.

Thanks to that mysterious ability, Cayron was able to overcome the threshold of death several times and meet Rosa.

“Even the wound I got today. It’s already healed.”

Rosa knew that too.

“..But.. it hurts..”

Cayron was silent at those words.

What hurts him is his heart that started beating at Rosa’s words just now.

It’s beating so hard that he’s worried that the sound will be heard.

The perceptive handmaidens didn’t knock on the door.

Hamel, who probably noticed the atmosphere between the two, must have also postponed dinner.

The sunset had completely set, and instead, the soft moonlight entered through the window.

In the dark room without a light, Rosa was crying in front of him.

She blinked.

She tried to stop the tears, but it didn’t seem to work as she thought.

She just moved her small hands, not knowing what to do.

“No, why..”

As if she herself didn’t know why she was crying.

She was wiping away the flowing tears with an awkward and clumsy look.

Cayron silently looked at Rosa.

“Shall I make it stop?”

At those words, a watery gaze comes.

Cayron didn’t wait for an answer.

It started with a light kiss.

Cayron pulled Rosa into his arms.

Rosa couldn’t push him away.

Because her head was fuzzy and her body had no strength.

A firm arm supported her slender waist.

A kiss that seemed to comfort the other person fell on the soft pink lips.

Cold, dry lips.

But paradoxically, it was hot.

It was a kiss that seemed to caress.

The faint sensibility of the early evening was felt.

At least at this time, Rosa couldn’t think of anything.

The warmth embraced in the wide arms.

Her head became fuzzy at the touch of the hot lips.

Cayron slowly began to open her lips.

Rosa unknowingly accepted him.

Whether it was because of the learned experience, or perhaps because she really needed comfort.

More careful than the previous two times.

Their hot breaths began to intertwine.

“..Mmm.”

The lips make a wet sound.

Flesh was gently stirring inside her mouth.

Cayron supported Rosa’s small head with his large palm.

Their breaths mixed with each other like a comfort and a sigh.

Rosa couldn’t come to her senses.

She just seemed to be consumed by the atmosphere, and she even slightly clung to Cayron.

“Haa-“

When their lips parted, a sigh-like breath came out.

Cayron silently pulled her arm and sat her on the bed next to him.

The tears had already stopped, but her cheeks were flushed red.

Only then did Rosa start to come to her senses a little.

But Cayron didn’t give her a break.

“Wait..”

The words after that were swallowed.

Like a sailboat swaying in a storm.

Rosa was helplessly swept away by Cayron.

Cayron put one knee on the bed and supported his body with the other hand.

The rich silver hair was scattered on the bed.

Rosa was almost half-lying down.

Cayron never stopped kissing Rosa.

Instead, he opened the window wide so that the cool evening breeze could enter.

Half-raising Rosa’s body, he sat on the bed as it is.

And he pulled her and placed her on his lap.

It could be seen as a dangerous position.

Of course, Rosa was not aware of it.

Instead, she was held in Cayron’s arms and only let out a hot, short breath.

Her expression was disturbed by various emotions.

“..Cayron. Now.”

Cayron covered her mouth.

She must have been trying to say that she was okay now.

He knows without having to hear it.

He knows that much.

But he was a little more greedy.

Rosa, who is weak to the atmosphere, doesn’t run away even if he pushes.

The wandering arms were placed on his shoulders.

Neither embracing his neck nor not.

A very clumsy position.

But it was enough to kiss.

The soft moonlight of the winter evening shone on the two.

The shadow of a huge oak tree was cast on the window like a background.

The leaves of the tree, which are always there, do not fall even in the cold season.

Instead, they inevitably shed their leaves one by one in the winter wind.

Even a long-lived tree has such a stubbornness.

He didn’t expect Rosa to give her heart in an instant.

‘But..’

Cayron wanted it.

Like the wind, he slowly opened Rosa’s lips.

“Hnng-“

The two breaths begin to mix again.

Slow and shallow.

Somewhat clumsy.

But the warmth of the touching lips was warmer than the cool air of the winter evening.

The two shared a kiss for a long time.

The next day.

Rosa fell ill in bed.

It was the first time in almost a month.