CH 27

“I like it better than a cloudy day.”

“Hmm, I guess you fit better with clear days.”

Rosalie, who had assumed the comment was an inside joke, shook her head and smiled as if she couldn’t help herself. She was really caught off guard this time.

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Returning from the Duchy to the Imperial Palace, Derivis muttered while looking at the traces of reeds on his jacket.

“It got buried in reeds.”

Derivis smiled faintly, remembering Roaslie’s surprised expression when she saw him in the field of reeds. He then frowned at the sound of a knock on the door.

“Your Highness, this is Bell.”

At the sound of the knock and the voice, Derivis granted permission and Bell, the elderly steward of the palace, came in.

“Your Highness, the Young Lady of Count Amins stopped by today. She asked me to let you know to contact her when you return to the palace.”

Derivis made a small sound of pain. With all the work he had to do to make time to visit Rosalie, it was unlikely he would be able to set aside time to see Sonia.

“Can you let her know that it would be difficult to meet for a while?”

“Yes, understood.”

Bell bowed politely and left the room.

“I feel sorry for Sonia, but I won’t be able to meet her until after the territory war.”

Derivis stared out the window into the complete night. He wished it would stay cloudy for a while.

Meanwhile, Bell’s face turned confused as he opened the door and saw Sonia standing there, not knowing when she had arrived. Glancing at the door, Sonia asked.

“Has Devi returned?”

“Yes… but His Highness asked me to tell you that he will not be able to see you for some time.”

Sonia’s expression gradually darkened as she heard Bell’s response.

“Why?”

“That’s…”

“Why is it so noisy?”

As the conversation between the two could be heard beyond the door, Derivis opened the door and came out. Sonia called out to him with a smile.

“Devi!”

“Oh, Sonia.”

As Derivis waved his hand, Bell bowed down and left.

“You said it would be difficult to meet. Is something wrong? Did something go wrong with the expedition?”

“No, some things happened. It will be difficult to meet for a while.”

Sonia’s pupils began to shake slightly in response to Derivis’s firm answer.

“…Is it because of Rosalie?”

It was a question that she asked out of curiosity. However, Derivis did not respond. He didn’t want to answer. But Sonia, who accepted it as a yes, laughed and spoke with a slightly raised voice.

“Did you do something? I knew it. It’s because her personality has changed. She doesn’t even listen to my advice! She just keeps getting weirder and weirder!”

“Sonia.”

As her voice got louder, Derivis called out her name. Sonia stopped, unable to say anything else as she felt his blue eyes on her that somehow felt so cold today.

“Calm yourself down and let’s talk about this later.”

With a small sigh, Derivis turned around and grabbed the doorknob, thinking that Sonia was just upset because he had kept a secret and that he could soothe her after everything was over.

Sonia reached out to grab Derivis’s sleeve. As Derivis grabbed her hand holding his sleeve, Sonia’s face seemed to brighten for a moment.

“I’ll come to see you after this is over.”

However, Sonia’s eyes widened in shock when he released her hand without hesitation.

With that, Derivis turned the doorknob and entered his room. Sonia’s expression began to harden as she watched him go.

“It’s all because of Rosalie… Devi has never treated me like this before.”

Once again, unpleasant emotions began to eat away at Sonia.

‘To be honest…’

Sonia hated Rosalie for getting close to Derivis, to whom she thought Rosalie would never get close. Even when the three of them were together, Derivis always looked at her, making her feel recognized as the closest person to him. That feeling was extremely satisfying. 

‘But…’

But now, she was annoyed with and resented Rosalie, who had stolen all of his attention.

Sonia thought that Rosalie, who now confidently expressed her opinions, had become arrogant. It seemed ridiculous to Sonia how the timid person who had always relied on her since becoming a Duchess suddenly acted like she could do anything on her own. She thought that being helpless and timid was more suited to Rosalie.

‘It’s ridiculous.’

She also felt a sense of betrayal and irritation when she saw that Rosalie had become close to Bianca, whom she had never been able to get close to. No matter what she did, Bianca had always pushed her away. She also didn’t like how Bianca was fawning over Rosalie.

“She’s the one who betrayed me… Rosalie is the one who became strange first.”

Sonia’s emotions were so dark and sticky like a swamp that once she fell into it, she couldn’t come out.

When the unpleasant emotions that she had kept deep in her heart reared their heads, nothing but coldness was left on Sonia’s face.

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Rosalie became deeply lost in thought while conducting the usual training. Aaron, who had come to see the firing squad’s training, asked with a concerned face.

“What’s wrong?”

“I thought of a new training method, but it feels like something is missing.”

“Oh, do you plan on conducting a new training?”

Aaron expressed his interest in Rosalie’s words. Then, he glanced at the firing squad rolling on the ground with pitiful eyes. Whatever it was, the training Rosalie was planning would not be easy.

“How is the training going on your side, Sir Aaron?”

“Oh, we’re training just fine. Everyone is really struggling, but they’ve gotten a lot stronger.”

Rosalie nodded satisfactorily at Aaron’s answer. Now, the firing squad members never put down their crossbows no matter what happened and were able to smoothly take a shooting stance. It was a sign that it was time for a new training method.

“Are there any outstanding surplus personnel?”

Rosalie made a pained sound and suddenly spoke to Aaron as if she had just thought of something.

“Oh, you can pick up a new training sheet from my office later.”

“…Yes, understood.”

This time, the groaning sound came from Aaron. He could already hear the screams of the knights as they cried out in despair.

After leaving the training grounds, Rosalie headed straight to her room. When she opened the door and entered, she heard a faint breathing sound coming from the sofa. 

Rosalie approached the sofa with full vigilance, suppressing her presence. 

“…Oh, it’s you.”

Rosalie stared in disbelief at Derivis, who was sleeping soundly inside a room that didn’t belong to him.

Feeling exhausted, Rosalie approached and crouched down next to his sleeping form on the sofa. His clean skin, long eyelashes, high and straight nose, and lips of a suitable size caught her eye. 

However, the area around his eyes looked a bit darker than usual, as if he were tired.

‘He’s quite handsome.’

Rosalie shook her head and started to push herself up, thinking that Derivis’s face was too handsome and unrealistic. However, a gentle hand on her sleeve stopped her and she looked down at him, his eyes still closed.

“When did you wake up?”

Derivis’s eyes remained closed.

“You were looking at my face closely and I thought you wanted to see more, so I stayed still.”

“I’ve seen enough.”

Although it seemed like he had woken up from the beginning, Rosalie was unfazed and replied calmly.  As Derivis slowly lifted his eyelids, Rosalie saw herself reflected in his clear blue irises.

‘Come to think of it, I haven’t looked at the sky once today.’

Looking into his blue eyes, a sudden thought struck Rosalie and she raised her head to look out the window. She realized that she had not properly seen the cloudy weather due to her concentration on training. As she continued to gaze out the window at the gray sky, Derivis frowned disapprovingly.

“Look at me.”

Derivis released his grip on her sleeve and held out his palm, blocking Rosalie’s gaze. She looked at his large, outstretched hand with an unreadable expression and then lowered her head to look at him.

“Your Grace.”

Startled by the sound of Dolan’s voice outside the door, Rosalie flinched. Even Dolan didn’t know about Derivis sneaking inside the Duchy, and Derivis was lying on the couch.

“I’m coming in.”

“No! I’m getting dressed. Say it from there.”

As Rosalie exclaimed in panic, Derivis opened his mouth with a wicked smile.

“Your Grace, are you changing your clothes?”

“I can hear you.”

As Rosalie hurriedly stretched out her index finger and held it against Derivis’s lips, he closed his mouth and looked down at the thin white index finger at the corner of his mouth.

“Is anyone there?”

“No! Tell me.”

“According to Bella, she will come down to the territory from the capital soon. However, she didn’t provide an exact schedule.”

“I see. Is there anything else?”

Dolan, who was standing beyond the door, tilted his head in confusion at Rosalie’s voice which was filled with urgency.

“No, there isn’t. Then, I’ll leave. Please call me if you need anything.”

“Uh…uh!”

As Dolan’s footsteps retreated from the door, Rosalie let out a small breath and relaxed her tense shoulders. At that moment, she began to feel a sharp pain in her index finger.

Alarmed, she looked down to see Derivis biting her index finger and she quickly pulled it away.

“What are you doing?”

“Petty tricks.”

Rosalie couldn’t hide her bewildered expression at the nonsensical answer that he replied with a smile.

“You’re too old to play such petty tricks.”

Still smiling, Derivis moved closer to Rosalie, who was still crouching, their breaths almost touching.

“…You’re too close.”

“Age doesn’t matter when it comes to playing around.”

Derivis’s deep voice rang clearly in Rosalie’s ears. She quickly stood up at his unexpected action and turned away from him as he sat on the sofa, smiling leisurely as usual.

‘He’s a really unpredictable person.’

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As Rosalie made her way to her room after the firing squad training that had now become a routine, Erudit appeared in front of her. Rosalie was inwardly pleased to see him wearing the pair of glasses chain she’d given him, as they seemed to fit him well.

“Your Grace.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m on my way to handle the paperwork for the sale of the Goredic Mine.”

The Goredic Mine was recently sold for a fairly high price. The buyer was an anonymous businessman who had thankfully paid the full amount at once, despite the high price of the mine.