CH 28

“I’m glad it sold for a higher price than expected. We received the money right away.”

“That’s right. We’re lucky that it was bought by an anonymous businessman. It’s better than selling it to a noble family.”

After the mine was sold, rumors began to circulate that the Duke’s family was going bankrupt, as Rosalie had hoped. The proof of that was Bianca, who was well-informed of the rumors, sent Rosalie over ten letters of concern today.

“Have you finished training, Duchess?”

Rosalie nodded her head and lightly patted Erudit’s shoulder a couple of times as she passed by him.

“Good work.”

From the touch of her hand on his shoulder, Erudit felt a sudden rush of heat throughout his body.

Rosalie entered the room shortly thereafter, casting a familiar glance at Derivis, who occupied a corner of the room as usual. He had been coming to the duchy for three days now, so she was used to it. Derivis rose from his leaning against the window and strode briskly over to her.

Then, he raised Rosalie’s hand and placed it on his shoulder. Due to Derivis’s tall height, Rosalie had to reach quite high to put her hand on his shoulder.

“What are you doing?”

“…Just messing around.”

Ignoring his inexplicable behavior as usual, Rosalie lowered her hand that was on his shoulder and opened her mouth.

“I need to go somewhere for a while.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to a mountain in a remote corner of the Duchy’s mansion.”

When Derivis heard the word “mountain,” he raised his eyebrows and then followed Rosalie out of the room. When Rosalie saw Derivis trailing behind her, she stopped walking.

“What are you going to do if someone sees your face?” 

“I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry.”

True to his word, Derivis quickly sensed any danger and hid like a ghost. Rosalie watched in disbelief as he skillfully hid behind statues and around corners.

‘He’s really good at hiding.’

Rosalie shook her head and smiled as she realized that he was trying his best to hide, like a child playing hide-and-seek.

Derivis made it to the stables undetected. Once inside the stables, Rosalie prepared something, and the saddles of the two horses she brought out had pouches on them. Derivis looked into the pouches curiously and found buckets of paints and brushes.

“Are you going to paint something?”

“I suppose you could say that.”

Rosalie mounted her horse, and Derivis did the same. Rosalie led the way, with Derivis following behind. 

As they rode, they began to see mountains in the distance. Although the slope was not too steep, there were many rocks and dense trees that seemed to offer plenty of places to hide.

“Now, we’re going to paint targets all over the forest.”

“Hmm, is this also part of the crossbow training that the Duchess does every morning?”

When did he even see us training? Rosalie wondered. Apparently, he seemed to be wandering around the duchy with the skill he had used earlier.

“Yes, we will be training here from now on. I want to teach them slowly, but there is not much time left.”

“It’s amazing how the Duchess comes up with these training methods.”

Derivis looked at Rosalie in amazement, but she ignored him and took out a paintbrush and a bucket of paint. She then handed them to Derivis, who took it hesitantly, then tilted his head.

“Me too?”

“Well, since you’re following me anyway, you might as well paint something.”

Derivis laughed at Rosalie’s brazen demeanor and followed her. The two started walking around the mountain.

Rosalie leaped onto a rock but slipped, causing her to stumble. Before she could regain her balance, Derivis was already grabbing her shoulder.

“Be careful.”

“You have a fast reaction speed.”

“Well, I’m a Swordmaster, so I have to be.”

Derivis spoke in a nonchalant tone, but in truth, he had been reacting quickly because he was focusing his attention on Rosalie. However, he didn’t mention this fact.

While walking, Rosalie looked up at a tall tree with a troubled expression. Seeing her gaze, Derivis spoke up.

“Do you want to paint up there?”

“Yes, but it’s too high for me to climb or jump up.”

With a single leap, Derivis landed effortlessly on a high branch. Rosalie’s eyes widened at his uncanny physical prowess. Once on the tree, Derivis painted a circular target on the tree with red paint, then effortlessly descended.

“It will be hard to find over there because it is hidden by the leaves.”

Rosalie suddenly approached Derivis. His body flinched slightly in surprise as she closed the distance between them.

“…There’s a leaf on your head.”

Rosalie brushed a small leaf from the top of his head with her hand. Derivis turned his head slightly and cleared his throat.

“How did you jump so high?”

Rosalie’s question made the corners of his mouth twitch up slightly. Her gaze became suspicious at his expression. It was the same smile she always saw before he unleashed his mischievousness.

“I usually wrap my Auror around my body and jump.”

As Derivis answered, he suddenly put down the paint and brush in his hand. He then approached Rosalie and began to set down the paint and brush in her hands as well.

“Right, right.”

“What are you doing?”

He smiled as he dropped the paint bucket and brush from Rosalie’s hand and gently lifted her up. Embarrassed, Rosalie struggled, but he didn’t budge.

“Rosalie, stay still. It’s dangerous, so don’t open your mouth.”

A blue Auror surged through Derivis’s body and he kicked the ground with all his might, climbing up the tree in an instant. He didn’t stop there, using the trunks as footholds to move from tree to tree until he reached the top. 

Once at the top, the vast blue sky and expanse of the duchy came into view, and Derivis gently set Rosalie down from his arms as she let out a small gasp of admiration.

“It always feels like I’m seeing good sceneries with Your Highness.”

As Rosalie spoke in admiration, Derivis smiled beside her. While gazing at the scenery unfolding before her eyes, Rosalie found a familiar reed field.

“There, I see the reed field.”

“I see.”

Rosalie pointed ahead, but Derivis’s gaze remained on Rosalie. At that moment, a cool, refreshing wind wrapped around them both.

‘I hate to admit it, but the wind makes me feel so much better when I’m with Derivis.’

Rosalie, who had been admiring the beautiful scenery for a while, suddenly felt her body getting colder in the chilly wind. She turned her head to see if she could get down and found Derivis’s body casually wrapped around hers.

‘How long had he been… was he worried that I might fall?’

It would definitely be difficult to survive if she fell from this height. Derivis wouldn’t be safe either, but he wrapped himself around Rosalie.

Derivis tilted her head as she stared at him.

“Why?”

“I want to go down now.”

In response to her words, Derivis naturally reached out his arms to Rosalie, and she looked at them disapprovingly. Nevertheless, Derivis simply stretched out his arms without any hesitation.

“We should go down.”

Eventually, Rosalie reached out to hug Derivis with a small sigh. Holding her small figure in his arms, Derivis felt satisfaction, and, surprised at his own reaction, he quickly hid his expression.

However, Rosalie didn’t notice the change in his expression as she looked down at her feet.

Derivis easily descended from the tall tree, hugging her lightly. Even after they completely landed on the ground, he still held her.

“We have arrived on the ground.”

Derivis gently placed Rosalie on the ground. As the warmth that had been in his embrace faded away, he watched her back as she walked further, feeling a sense of emptiness.

The two of them applied paint to a total of thirty spots, ranging from visible areas to places between trees and rocks that were not easily seen. By the time they were finished, the sky had started to become dark.

“All done.”

“Hmm… Are you going to make them guess?”

“Yes, I’m going to make them guess without telling them how many there are.”

Derivis rubbed his chin with interest. As she stared at him, Derivis cocked his head. Rosalie asked, feeling like she’d found the outstanding surplus personnel she’d been pondering for days.

“Aren’t you bored, staying in the Duchy’s mansion?”

“It’s pretty nice and relaxing.”

“What do you think of playing hide-and-seek?”

Derivis’s eyes lit up at the word ‘hide-and-seek’. Rosalie continued speaking, sensing his interest.

“I’ll prepare a mask and a robe for you.”

“A mask and robe?”

“Will you put them on as soon as they are ready and get in the way of the knights?”

Derivis took out a silver ring from his pocket. It was the familiar shape of a ring she had seen before.

“Robes are stuffy.”

As Derivis put on the silver ring, a faint light appeared, just like Nathan’s ring, and his hair began to change color. His hair changed from jet black to bright silver hair. 

Thanks to his bright, silver hair, Derivis’s blue eyes looked even clearer and more prominent. His straight nose was also clearly visible.

“Let’s just use a mask.”

“In that case, I’ll have the mask ready.”

Derivis nodded and immediately returned his hair to its original color.

⊱⊱⊱────── {.⋅ ✧✧✧ ⋅.} ──────⊰⊰⊰

After sending Derivis off, Rosalie sat on the sofa in her office and picked up a feather pen to write a letter in response to Bianca’s letter.

“The letters keep coming every day.”

Emma, who was next to her, said in a cheerful tone. At her proud expression, Rosalie asked.

“You seem to be in a good mood?”

“It’s because the Duchess has made a new friend. It makes me happy.”

“A friend…”

“Sending letters every day, asking about your well-being in such a worried tone.”

Rosalie nodded in agreement. Bianca’s letters were always long and full of love, and the letters even smelled of her perfume. Rosalie handed the finished letter to Emma, laughing at the smell of perfume on the stationery.