CH 40

The bustling atmosphere wasn’t really something she was used to. The music had been cranked up even higher since Rosalie had come out, and she could hear it faintly in the garden outside the banquet hall.

“It won’t die down.”

As her tipsiness was drowned out by the cold breeze, Rosalie saw a familiar figure.

The faint sound of music flowing into the dim garden, the tipsiness from the alcohol, and the slight emptiness felt from being amidst the loud atmosphere—

“Hello, Duchess.”

Those were reasons enough to welcome that low, soft voice.

As the sound of footsteps approached, Derivis’s face slowly came into view from the darkness. His usual relaxed demeanor made Rosalie smile faintly.

“You always appear so unexpectedly that I’m not even surprised anymore.”

“Unexpected…?”

Derivis cocked his head in confusion, causing Rosalie to shrug her shoulders. It seemed that such idioms were not common here.

“I’m saying that you’re like a ghost.”

“A ghost…by the way, you look really cool in your knight attire, Duchess.”

“Oh, I wore the official knight attire for the victory celebration.”

“Right. I can hear the music.”

Derivis tilted his head, listening to the music. Rosalie nodded quietly. Observing her like that, Derivis looked at her curiously and then asked.

“But why is the Duchess outside?”

“To be honest, I don’t adapt well to noisy atmospheres.”

Derivis approached her with huge strides and bowed his head. Rosalie’s eyes widened as their faces suddenly got closer.

“It seems like you haven’t danced. However, you’ve had a bit of alcohol.”

After finishing his sentence, Derivis stepped back, smiled broadly, then reached out his hand while bowing his waist.

“Lady, dance a song with me.”

“…I’m not good at dancing, and I’m not wearing a dress.”

Rosalie glanced at her clothes and hesitated. Then, Derivis reached out his hand even closer as if to reassure her.

“It’s fine. It’s much nicer than a dress, and I’m a good dancer,” he said.

Eventually, after some hesitation, Rosalie placed her hand on top of Derivis’s. His large hand completely enveloped hers.

They slowly started to dance to the faint music flowing through the empty garden. Despite Rosalie’s clumsiness, Derivis led her smoothly with his skilled movements.

However, in the end, Rosalie accidentally stepped on Derivis’s foot. Looking down at his trampled-on foot, he joked.

“I guess I should be grateful that I wore thick shoes.”

“Once again, dancing is far from my forte.”

Glancing at Rosalie, whose body had stiffened with the effort of trying not to step on his foot, Derivis put his hand on her waist and lifted her up with a swift motion.

When Rosalie looked down at Derivis in surprise, he smiled widely and gently spun her around. The long ends of her knightly attire swayed lightly in the wind.

“Are you enjoying the dance now?”

“I feel dizzy.”

“Then let’s do it again.”

Derivis took another slow, playful turn, and Rosalie finally laughed. The subtle sounds of music in the garden, the rustle of the bushes in the breeze, and their joyful laughter filled the garden like a symphony.

After playing in the garden for a while, they felt a mild thirst and wanted to drink, but neither wanted to go back to the noisy banquet hall, and the last thing they wanted was to disturb the duchy with Derivis’s presence.

In the end, they secretly headed to the wine cellar. Realizing that she was trying hard not to get caught by anyone for just a bottle of wine, Rosalie burst into a small laugh. It seemed that the intoxication that had yet to fade away had brought about the laughter.

“What’s so funny?”

Pulling out a bottle of red wine, Derivis tilted his head.

“It’s funny because I’m doing things I never did when I was younger.”

In response to Rosalie’s answer, Derivis chuckled softly. He had only come to know Rosalie through Sonia after they were teenagers.

“Somehow, I can imagine your childhood.”

“I also have a feeling that I can imagine your childhood, Your Highness.”

Rosalie smiled faintly as she accepted the bottle of wine from Derivis. Seeing that, he regretted that he had never known her as a child.

“Shall we have this wine?”

Rosalie nodded in response to his question, and the two headed to the secret reading room where no one could enter.

When they opened the door to the confidential reading room, a cozy book scent wafted out. The moonlight coming through the large window was bright, and the two leaned against the windowsill without turning on the lights, drinking the bottle of wine.

“I wanted to thank you again.”

It was an abrupt statement, but Derivis understood it right away.

“The weather was cloudy.”

Rosalie laughed at his consistent response. She felt the intoxication returning as she drank the wine, and it seemed that Derivis, who had also taken a sip, was feeling the same.

“I’m glad we weren’t too late.”

His words were filled with relief. When Rosalie looked at Derivis, he felt her gaze and turned his head to face her. Then, Rosalie let out the little question she’d been harboring. 

“I wondered if the reason you helped me was because of Sonia.”

Derivis blinked. Rosalie continued, tilting her head at his reaction.

“I thought you were worried about Sonia getting involved if something happened to me, since she is Your Highness’s woman.”

“I’m not sure where that misunderstanding started, but I’m just friends with Sonia. She has nothing to do with this.”

“…I’m sorry. It seems that I misunderstood.”

“Well, I’m glad that misunderstanding has been cleared up.”

At that moment, clouds covered the moon, which was the only source of light. Rosalie gazed intently at Derivis, who was now shrouded in the darkness.

“When I first saw your face at the territory war, I was surprised, but I was also happy.”

It was unclear how Derivis found out about Marquis Windell’s activities, but if he had not been there, Rosalie would not have been sitting here now.

‘Though the timing was too good to be called coincidental.’

As the clouds dissipated, the moonlight shone brightly through the window once again. As a result, Rosalie was able to see him gazing intently at her, his face bathed in moonlight.

As if mesmerized by each other’s gaze, they didn’t speak for a long time until Derivis’s lips which were shadowed by the moonlight moved first.

“It’s late at night. Let’s go.”

Rosalie rose to her feet, feeling her cheeks flush red as she watched Derivis’ back as he walked towards the door. 

Perhaps I should stop drinking.

Their destination was Rosalie’s room. After walking with her to the front of her door, Derivis called out to her before she entered.

“Rosalie.”

She turned her head to see him smiling at her, stepping closer. Then, Rosalie felt a soft and gentle touch on her forehead. Surprised by the light goodnight kiss, her eyes widened, and his gaze softened.

“Good night.”

With a gentle tone, Derivis turned around and left.

‘I…drank too much.’

Rosalie touched her forehead absentmindedly and quickly turned the doorknob, feeling as if the heat in her cheeks hadn’t fully subsided yet.

⊱⊱⊱────── {.⋅ ✧✧✧ ⋅.} ──────⊰⊰⊰

The next day, Rosalie stumbled out of bed. She didn’t have a hangover, but she hadn’t slept in for a long time. It wasn’t really that late, considering that she usually woke up early due to training.

“Your Grace.”

Dolan’s voice came with a knock on the door.

“What is it?”

“Um… Before Lady Bella is punished and imprisoned, she wants to have one last drink together. What should we do?”

Rosalie pondered, sweeping a hand through her disheveled hair. However, she didn’t want to endure Bella’s whining or tantrums while having a drink. As intense as she was, she had never tamed a woman’s stubbornness and had no desire to do so.

She had been putting it off because she was so busy, but Bella’s punishment had already been decided: to be expelled from the duchy.

“Forget the tea. Bring her to my office in a little while.”

“Yes, understood.”

Dolan replied and moved away from the door, and Rosalie slowly lifted her stiff body out of bed. Shortly afterward, Emma knocked on the door, and Rosalie motioned for her to come in.

“It’s a tea that’s good for hangovers. Even if you don’t have a hangover, it will help with fatigue.”

Emma handed Rosalie a cup of tea with a bitter aroma.

“But I haven’t seen you since yesterday afternoon. Where did you go?” Emma asked.

“I left first because I was tired.” 

Rosalie replied, averting her eyes while taking a sip of the tea.

⊱⊱⊱────── {.⋅ ✧✧✧ ⋅.} ──────⊰⊰⊰

After grabbing a simple breakfast, Rosalie headed to her office with Nathan following behind her. Rosalie said nothing about his behavior, which had become the norm.

Inside the office, Bella, with messy hair and a pitiful appearance, stood alongside Dolan and Aaron. When Bella spotted Nathan behind Rosalie, she started screaming. She had already screamed countless times in the underground prison, so her voice was hoarse.

“You! You said you loved me, and yet you betrayed me!”

“Of course it was a lie.” 

Nathan shrugged shamelessly behind Rosalie. The affection that used to be seen in his eyes when looking at Bella was nowhere to be found. There was only coldness.

Bella remembered Nathan looking at her with that same cold gaze as the servants dragged her away. The memory of his betrayal and humiliation boiled her anger.

“You! I’ll kill you!”

Bella shouted sharply, driven by anger, and Rosalie raised her hand to stop her.

“We’ll seize all of your assets and expel you from the duchy. You’re no longer a member of the Ducal family.”

“No! Give me another chance!”

Bella didn’t want to go back to her impoverished and scorned life. For her, it would be better to die than to go back to that. Rosalie laughed out loud as she watched Bella beg on her knees.

“You should be grateful that you’re still alive after planning the territory war and embezzling funds.”

“Argh! I’ll kill you, Rosalie Judeheart!”

Bella couldn’t accept this situation. She couldn’t stand seeing those whom she used to look down upon now looking at her with a cold gaze.