Chapter 60 Part 4: At the Hill of the Festival

“…”

Louis was extremely nervous.

But his words just now were completely sincere.

His angel, his light.

His beautiful benefactor, Rosa Anencia.

Of course, she was now the Archduchess of Elchen.

He knew she was already married.

But wouldn’t it be alright to express his feelings in this way?

Louis wasn’t afraid at all.

He revered Rosa from the bottom of his heart, at least to that extent.

He was filled with respect and love for her.

There was also a sliver of hope based on his shallow knowledge.

Perhaps the Archduchess would recognize his feelings and give him a chance.

He had heard that arranged marriages among nobles were often not smooth.

Coincidentally, the news Louis remembered was that the Archduchess was recuperating at a monastery.

‘So even if she looks fine on the outside, who knows how she feels inside…’

The director next to him had a dumbfounded expression.

But Louis just clenched his fist.

‘It doesn’t really matter anyway.’

On the surface, it was just a normal expression of gratitude.

The silence that had fallen over the audience was surely due to interest, not shock.

The atmosphere was buzzing.

And the Archduke rose from his seat.

He could tell at a glance.

The Archduke was very young.

But his dignity was extraordinary.

‘He’s from a completely different world than me…’

That was what Louis automatically realized.

A seemingly cold demeanor of a ruler, confidence exuding from his entire being.

He had an expressionless face, yet there was a sense of ease about him.

He could see the flustered Archduchess next to him.

She didn’t seem to know why the Archduke had stood up.

Then, the Archduke spoke.

“It was quite an excellent play. I believe it was a play that befitted the purpose of the Founder’s Festival, a play that everyone could enjoy.”

It was an unexpected compliment for Louis.

“…Thank you.”

“You said your name was Louis?”

“Yes.”

As Louis answered hesitantly, the Archduke continued.

“My consort, Rosa, told me. She said she was happy to see the boy she had kindly sponsored grow up so well. She said it was like watching a well-grown younger brother.”

Rosa next to him was startled.

‘What? When did I?’

Caron had no interest in Louis whatsoever.

Naturally, she had no memory of saying such a thing.

“So I was also looking forward to it. I’m glad to see the fruit of my consort’s kind sponsorship.”

As the Archduke finished speaking, applause gradually spread throughout the audience.

There was no room for misunderstanding now.

There was only the Archduchess who had extended pure goodwill, and the boy who hadn’t forgotten that goodwill.

Clap-clap-

Starting with Caron, everyone stood up and began to clap.

“You must have been sponsoring him for a long time.”

“She’s so kind-hearted.”

Most of the voices were praising Rosa.

The atmosphere in the square became warm.

“What is it, Caron?”

Rosa nudged Caron, bewildered.

A smile bloomed on his face.

“I didn’t know you would care this much.”

She thought Caron had stepped in.

For Louis, the boy she had sponsored.

He didn’t really need to step in.

‘Louis’s word choice was a bit off…’

Angel, light, and all that.

But artists often chose words like that.

‘So it’s strange for people to misunderstand.’

Caron could clearly see Rosa’s thoughts.

‘Honestly…’

He had to give it to her for being so oblivious.

An absurd chuckle escaped him.

Louis looked at the two with a dazed expression.

But he was soon surrounded by his colleagues.

“Hey, congratulations!”

“Congratulations, Louis. On your debut.”

And he was hoisted into the air.

His debut was a success.

Dinner followed immediately.

The entire theater troupe was invited to the inner castle hall.

The exhibition had ended, and a small banquet hall had been set up in its place.

Delicious food was laid out in abundance.

The soft light of the chandeliers added to the visual feast.

The hall, with a capacity of a hundred seats, was filled to the brim.

Rosa and Louis were seated quite close to each other.

The two Archducal couple sat at the head table.

The director of the theater troupe and Louis sat right next to them.

Louis was honestly blinded.

‘I knew she was beautiful, but…?’

The Archduchess he faced now felt like a fairy.

A truly pure and innocent beauty.

Her fine silver hair flowed down her shoulders like a wave.

Her delicate features were all in perfect harmony.

Her moist, light pink lips, her flushed cheeks.

“It’s been a while, Louis.”

Even her clear, pure voice.

His benefactor was indeed an angel.

Louis couldn’t meet her eyes.

Rosa was slightly puzzled but was inwardly surprised to see how much Louis had changed.

Louis had changed drastically.

He had become much more mature.

Louis, who had now become a young man.

‘Do men grow this much in half a year?’

It was now a distant memory.

Before her transmigration, she had been so busy that she hadn’t even noticed the passage of time.

The dinner atmosphere was lively.

Mostly, there were praises for Rosa.

“If I may ask, how did you come to sponsor Louis…?”

It was a question from the director of the theater troupe, Melaphis.

He had discovered Louis by chance at the playwriting school and was amazed by his talent.

The fact that Louis was from an underprivileged background, but was able to receive an education through someone’s sponsorship.

Knowing these two facts, he admired the benefactor’s insight.

Rosa pondered the question for a moment.

‘Clearly…’

Her initial motives were not so pure.

But this much was true.

“I’ve always been interested in that area.”

She had once been an orphan without parents. As such, Rosa was very interested in social causes.

She had saved up Navi since she was young because she wanted to do a large-scale donation project someday.

“There could also be vocational schools.”

“Vocational schools…?”

“Literally, providing free education to children from low-income families. The children who grow up that way can then give back their talents to society.”

She was different from most nobles, who were busy enjoying their privileges.

It wasn’t that no one had ever thought of such a thing.

They simply didn’t have the power to make it happen.

But, even more so.

Everyone present listened intently.

The person speaking now was the Archduchess.

Someone who might one day become the Empress.

Caron listened quietly and then took Rosa’s hand.

To be precise, he gently covered her small hand, which was on the table, with his.

“Everything will be as my consort wishes. When the time comes, it will surely be so.”

It was almost a declaration.

“Caron.”

Rosa looked at Caron.

She was grateful for his response. It felt like he respected her thoughts.

The two might not have known it, but the atmosphere between them was such that others couldn’t intrude.

The two naturally cared for each other.

The consort never let the Archduke’s plate remain empty, and she even tore pieces of meat for him.

Their usual behavior was evident.

The Archduke occasionally moved his hand to embrace the consort’s shoulder, or held her small hand with one hand and stroked it with the other.

He often leaned in close as if whispering, and whenever he did, the consort would blush, embarrassed.

It was clear that they were affectionate. And it was mutual.

“…”

Louis was at a loss for words.

He realized how absurd and presumptuous his thoughts had been.

The boy’s beautiful benefactor, Rosa Anencia, was clearly in love.

Because of that love, her very existence seemed to shine.

Thump-

Someone tapped Louis on the shoulder.

“Cheer up.”

The look in their eyes was full of understanding.

‘You knew it wouldn’t work out from the start.’

But the boy’s first love.

That tender and youthful feeling had been nipped in the bud.

Ah, Rosa Anencia.

She was still his light and angel.

But Louis realized.

That light was already in someone else’s hands.

It was a mature response.

He probably thought so.

‘You greenhorn.’

Caron was inwardly satisfied.

He remembered the look on the boy named Louis’s face.

It was a look of complete resignation.

He couldn’t have missed that budding love.

Caron deliberately showed off his close relationship with Rosa.

He held her hand, even when she was flustered, and gently stroked her rounded shoulder.

When he spoke, he deliberately whispered in her ear.

[Hey, what are you doing?!]

Even when she said that, he persisted.

He even considered claiming Rosa’s lips right then and there.

But he wasn’t so uncouth as to do that at the dinner table.

But he was certainly displeased enough to consider it.

‘She’s mine.’

Rosa belonged to him.

She was the only woman to whom he had given all his firsts, and who had taken all his firsts.

So he had no intention of letting anyone covet her.

So his intentions were quite obvious.

The reason he had deliberately sat the naive boy next to them was.

It wasn’t out of insecurity.

Rosa had chosen him, after all.

But the fact that someone else recognized Rosa’s worth.

That they knew her kindness made Caron uncomfortable.

So after dinner, he took Rosa out.

There was a small hill near the inner castle of Arnad.

They took a walk on that hill.

The warmth of Rosa’s hand in his.

She was completely his.

Caron had no intention of hiding that childish possessiveness.

“Caron.”

Rosa spoke.

“That thing you said earlier, was it true…?”

“What thing.”

“The… thing about Louis.”

Rosa looked somewhat bewildered.

She looked like she had heard something completely unexpected.

She was really dense in some areas.

‘Especially when it comes to matters of the opposite s*x.’

She seemed to have almost no awareness that she was a sufficiently attractive woman.

In fact, ‘sufficiently’ was an understatement.

Rosa was a being who attracted the attention of all men.

The boy named Louis was actually quite cute in comparison.

Sometimes there were gazes that looked at Rosa with desire.

Whenever that happened, Caron seriously contemplated.

What excuse he could use to cut them down.

Rosa was unaware of that dark possessiveness.

“Are you serious?”

She was still curious.

Caron had already whispered to Rosa. During the dinner.

[He seems to have feelings for you.]

Rosa seemed flustered.

When they parted ways after dinner.

She treated Louis awkwardly for some reason.

In reality, what satisfied Caron the most was.

Rosa was as oblivious to the opposite s*x as she was uninterested in men.

So, of course.

She hadn’t noticed the boy’s feelings.

“Caron. That’s the third time I’m asking.”

Only then did Caron meet Rosa’s eyes.

Whoosh-

A gentle breeze blew.

Her fine silver hair fluttered in the wind.

Caron gently grasped that hair.

“Wh, what are you doing.”

Rosa is very pretty. She was always the best to him.

It was a familiar outfit to him.

Rosa had changed back into her everyday dress.

It was a hill where the night wind blew.

The occasional lights of the festival mixed into their view.

“Rosa.”

Looking up at the sky, a sea of stars spread out like the Milky Way.

A being more radiant than that Milky Way.

It was Rosa, standing right in front of him.

Caron pulled Rosa into a tight embrace.

“Whether that kid likes you or not. Is that so important?”

Rosa stammered.

“No, it’s not important, but.”

Caron looked down and said.

“You’re mine anyway.”

His red eyes seemed to captivate Rosa.

There was a deep possessiveness in them.

“Your hair, your cheeks, your lips. And your heart.”

‘They’re all mine, aren’t they?’

He omitted those last words.

“…”

Rosa trembled slightly.

It certainly wasn’t out of fear or dislike of that possessiveness.

Of course, she had a minimum of resistance.

“Si, since when was I yours? I’m not an object.”

Rosa’s face was flushed.

Caron chuckled and replied.

“Then if I become yours, would that be enough?”

Caron already knew.

That Rosa couldn’t refuse this offer.

Just as she always had.

Because he was the only man, the only person of the opposite s*x to her.

“…?”

Rosa’s fingers fidgeted.

It seemed she was too embarrassed to say it out loud.

“It wouldn’t be…”

“Of course it wouldn’t be enough.”

Rosa had already forgotten.

She had completely forgotten about Louis.

Caron held her tightly in his embrace.

His clear voice reached her ears.

“Are you… feeling better now?”

Rosa knew what that meant.

She had definitely finished taking her medicine yesterday.

But saying she was fine here.

It would also be an answer to another question.

“Hmm…”

Rosa hesitated, as expected.

Caron moved first instead of her.

Soon, the two were walking down together.

From the hill where the festival lights shone.

There was no need for a reason.

Caron had endured enough.

Rosa always made him burn.

He probably wouldn’t get tired of holding her and holding her again.

Rosa was conscious of him.

So she was concerned about her chest area.

Even though it was already more than enough.

The desire to be even more attractive to him.

In fact, Caron had found it hard to endure since then.

Rosa’s feelings were cute.

Their steps gradually quickened.

She felt a sense of suffocation at what was to come.

Caron knew himself.

These peaceful days wouldn’t last long.

‘If the battle for the throne soon begins…’

It probably wouldn’t be smooth.

It was a fact, regardless of his confidence.

It was a battle for the imperial throne, after all.

So Caron wanted to enjoy it. This interlude of peace.

Rosa hadn’t said no either.

When the two returned to the inner castle.

The inner castle, where the exhibition had ended, was quiet.

“Did you enjoy yourselves?”

Hamel greeted them with a smile.

Caron whispered something to him and immediately headed to the top floor with Rosa.

Rosa hesitantly asked Caron.

“What did… you say to him?”

“To dismiss everyone. Until the afternoon.”

At that answer, she took a deep breath.

She didn’t expect him to do this as soon as she got better.

Well, she kind of did, actually.

“Don’t you… want to?”

Caron asked.

The heat simmering within him was fully felt by Rosa.

Rosa felt burdened by it, yet it was strange.

It was a complex feeling.

She didn’t know how to react.

But one thing was certain, it wasn’t a negative feeling.

It was embarrassing and indecent.

At the same time, she found herself anticipating it.

The wording was strange, but it was clearly anticipation.

Caron wanted her.

Naturally, it was better than not being wanted.

After a moment of hesitation, Rosa slowly opened her mouth to answer.

“Then…”

Caron focused on her answer.