Episode 77. Please Stay Here for a Moment
Meanwhile, Rose was still keeping watch over the Grand Duke, who hadn't yet awakened.
Rose's heart ached at the sight of the Grand Duke of Artaeum, who couldn't open his eyes.
"What should I do..."
It seemed her own complacency had brought the Grand Duke to this.
She had thought it would be easy to resolve since Serun had passed on the information, but who would have thought the Grand Duke would collapse like this...
The topaz brooch Rose had given him gleamed on the Grand Duke's overcoat as he lay there.
"Grand Duke, I'm sorry. I... promised to protect you."
Rose bowed her head, playing with the brooch.
What if the Grand Duke never opened his eyes?
Tears welled up in her eyes as she slowly stroked the brooch.
Rose wiped them away with the back of her hand and looked at the Grand Duke.
He looked like a half-corpse.
Rose was about to touch the Grand Duke's drooping face, but then hesitated.
"What if the Grand Duke's face... is as cold as ice?"
A terrifying thought crossed her mind, and her gently outstretched fingers curled into a ball.
Rose, helpless, hung her head.
The Grand Duke, lying like a corpse, was in utter perplexity.
Seeing Rose through his squinted eyes, she looked utterly distressed.
His cousin, Diana, had already heard the Grand Duke's entire plan.
He didn't want to tell her either, but Diana had suffered from poisoning. The Grand Duke didn't want to give Diana another shock.
Diana had actually opposed the Grand Duke's plan.
However, she had ultimately accepted the Grand Duke's offer to prevent an unwanted marriage.
She felt sorry for Rose, but she couldn't share the entire plan with her. She couldn't show even the slightest flaw in front of so many people.
Diana, having experienced this situation countless times, had found it easy, but Rose was not.
Perhaps if Rose had known in advance, this kind of performance would have been difficult.
However, it was an inevitable decision for the Grand Duke.
'I can't figure out the right time to wake up.'
The Grand Duke, who had been wondering how to wake up, decided to wake up naturally.
The Grand Duke twitched his finger, signaling.
'... '
He moved his hand, hoping Rose would notice, but Rose, lost in despair, didn't see the Grand Duke's movement.
The Archduke moved his finger again. This time, unlike before, with a larger movement, as if to show off.
"... Your, Your Highness?!"
Rose, who had been crying quietly, reacted.
It seemed she had seen the Grand Duke's finger move.
The Grand Duke of Artaeum moved his finger again for Rose, who was speaking in a bewildered voice.
Flinch.
"...!"
Rose's face began to brighten as he saw the Grand Duke's finger move once more.
Rose grabbed the Grand Duke's hand with a snap.
The warmth she felt through her hand.
The proof that the Grand Duke was alive made him breathe.
Rose brought the Grand Duke's hand to her cheek and muttered in a low voice,
"Thank goodness... I'm truly grateful..."
Rose's relieved voice deepened the Grand Duke's guilt.
'She loves me dearly, and I've caused her so much heartache.'
The Grand Duke opened his eyes and grabbed Rose's wrist.
"Your-Your Highness?"
Rose's voice trembled slightly at the sight of the Grand Duke suddenly opening his eyes. She was so startled that she even hiccupped.
Rose blinked her large eyes and stared blankly at the Grand Duke.
Her eyes were a jumble of complex emotions: joy, surprise, and relief. Rose, unable to stop hiccuping, stared at the Grand Duke for a long time, and her nose began to tingle.
Rose sniffled through her tightly shut mouth, then suddenly buried her head in the Grand Duke's embrace.
"Your Highness!"
She was truly terrified. Fearing that the Grand Duke would never open his eyes,
Rose's hand, which had been holding onto the Grand Duke's shirt, trembled.
The Grand Duke, who had been startled by Rose's sudden rush, soon gave her a gentle soothing touch. A feeling of longing welled up in his heart. He felt an inexplicable impulse at the sight of Rose in his arms.
He gently pulled Rose, who was leaning against his chest, towards him. In an instant, Rose's body tilted towards the Grand Duke.
"Huh, Your Highness?"
There was no time to panic. In the blink of an eye, she was lying down next to the Grand Duke.
The hiccups had already stopped. Rose blinked wide eyes and looked at the Grand Duke.
Lying in the same bed, facing each other...
"What is it...?"
A strange feeling made her swallow her saliva.
The Grand Duke of Artaeum reached out to Rose without hesitation. The Grand Duke gently caressed Rose's cheek.
The ticklish feeling made her heart pound. Why did the Grand Duke's gaze look so warm today?
Just looking at the Grand Duke in bed made her heart feel like it would burst, but he pulled Rose closer to him.
"Ugh, ugh. W-what is it all of a sudden!"
Her face felt hot, almost as if a warm heat was rising.
Why was the Grand Duke acting like this all of a sudden?
Now that he had come back from the dead, did he want to share a moment of joy with her?
"...Your Highness?"
Rose hesitated and peeked her head out, but the Grand Duke hugged her even tighter, as if he wouldn't let her go.
"Just stay like this for a moment."
Just a moment? My heart felt like it would burst at any moment...!
Thump- thump.
Her heart pounded rapidly and irregularly.
The heartbeat she could clearly hear in her ears wasn't Rose's, but that of the Grand Duke of Artaeum.
'...It seems I'm not the only one trembling?'
The thought crossed her mind that the Grand Duke was no different from her, and she suddenly wondered what expression he was making.
Rose wiggled, but she couldn't see the Grand Duke's expression.
The more Rose moved, the more he held her close.
Rose tried again and again, then said in a sullen voice,
"I want to see your face, Grand Duke..."
Flinch.
Rose's words made the Grand Duke flinch.
His heart, already throbbing, accelerated.
Even though it was ordinary, hearing it on the bed felt strange.
Rose's words sounded strangely provocative.
The faint scent of shampoo and the feeling of Rose's skin touching his body with each flinch constantly aroused his desire.
The sound of slightly heavy breathing and the sound of swallowing, overcome with tension, mingled.
The Grand Duke and Rose shared a silent exchange of breaths.
The Grand Duke's lips grew increasingly dry. His mind was filled with desire for Rose.
'If it's now...'
Wouldn't it be okay to kiss you...
The Grand Duke gently released Rose from his firm embrace. Then, Rose's face met his.
Rose's eyes captured the Grand Duke.
The Grand Duke, his face flushed red, stared at her. His hand caressing her chin made her heart tingle.
Was it an illusion that the Grand Duke's gaze was lingering on her lips?
Meanwhile, Rose was still keeping watch over the Grand Duke, who hadn't yet awakened.
Rose's heart ached at the sight of the Grand Duke of Artaeum, who couldn't open his eyes.
"What should I do..."
It seemed her own complacency had brought the Grand Duke to this.
She had thought it would be easy to resolve since Serun had passed on the information, but who would have thought the Grand Duke would collapse like this...
The topaz brooch Rose had given him gleamed on the Grand Duke's overcoat as he lay there.
"Grand Duke, I'm sorry. I... promised to protect you."
Rose bowed her head, playing with the brooch.
What if the Grand Duke never opened his eyes?
Tears welled up in her eyes as she slowly stroked the brooch.
Rose wiped them away with the back of her hand and looked at the Grand Duke.
He looked like a half-corpse.
Rose was about to touch the Grand Duke's drooping face, but then hesitated.
"What if the Grand Duke's face... is as cold as ice?"
A terrifying thought crossed her mind, and her gently outstretched fingers curled into a ball.
Rose, helpless, hung her head.
The Grand Duke, lying like a corpse, was in utter perplexity.
Seeing Rose through his squinted eyes, she looked utterly distressed.
His cousin, Diana, had already heard the Grand Duke's entire plan.
He didn't want to tell her either, but Diana had suffered from poisoning. The Grand Duke didn't want to give Diana another shock.
Diana had actually opposed the Grand Duke's plan.
However, she had ultimately accepted the Grand Duke's offer to prevent an unwanted marriage.
She felt sorry for Rose, but she couldn't share the entire plan with her. She couldn't show even the slightest flaw in front of so many people.
Diana, having experienced this situation countless times, had found it easy, but Rose was not.
Perhaps if Rose had known in advance, this kind of performance would have been difficult.
However, it was an inevitable decision for the Grand Duke.
'I can't figure out the right time to wake up.'
The Grand Duke, who had been wondering how to wake up, decided to wake up naturally.
The Grand Duke twitched his finger, signaling.
'... '
He moved his hand, hoping Rose would notice, but Rose, lost in despair, didn't see the Grand Duke's movement.
The Archduke moved his finger again. This time, unlike before, with a larger movement, as if to show off.
"... Your, Your Highness?!"
Rose, who had been crying quietly, reacted.
It seemed she had seen the Grand Duke's finger move.
The Grand Duke of Artaeum moved his finger again for Rose, who was speaking in a bewildered voice.
Flinch.
"...!"
Rose's face began to brighten as he saw the Grand Duke's finger move once more.
Rose grabbed the Grand Duke's hand with a snap.
The warmth she felt through her hand.
The proof that the Grand Duke was alive made him breathe.
Rose brought the Grand Duke's hand to her cheek and muttered in a low voice,
"Thank goodness... I'm truly grateful..."
Rose's relieved voice deepened the Grand Duke's guilt.
'She loves me dearly, and I've caused her so much heartache.'
The Grand Duke opened his eyes and grabbed Rose's wrist.
"Your-Your Highness?"
Rose's voice trembled slightly at the sight of the Grand Duke suddenly opening his eyes. She was so startled that she even hiccupped.
Rose blinked her large eyes and stared blankly at the Grand Duke.
Her eyes were a jumble of complex emotions: joy, surprise, and relief. Rose, unable to stop hiccuping, stared at the Grand Duke for a long time, and her nose began to tingle.
Rose sniffled through her tightly shut mouth, then suddenly buried her head in the Grand Duke's embrace.
"Your Highness!"
She was truly terrified. Fearing that the Grand Duke would never open his eyes,
Rose's hand, which had been holding onto the Grand Duke's shirt, trembled.
The Grand Duke, who had been startled by Rose's sudden rush, soon gave her a gentle soothing touch. A feeling of longing welled up in his heart. He felt an inexplicable impulse at the sight of Rose in his arms.
He gently pulled Rose, who was leaning against his chest, towards him. In an instant, Rose's body tilted towards the Grand Duke.
"Huh, Your Highness?"
There was no time to panic. In the blink of an eye, she was lying down next to the Grand Duke.
The hiccups had already stopped. Rose blinked wide eyes and looked at the Grand Duke.
Lying in the same bed, facing each other...
"What is it...?"
A strange feeling made her swallow her saliva.
The Grand Duke of Artaeum reached out to Rose without hesitation. The Grand Duke gently caressed Rose's cheek.
The ticklish feeling made her heart pound. Why did the Grand Duke's gaze look so warm today?
Just looking at the Grand Duke in bed made her heart feel like it would burst, but he pulled Rose closer to him.
"Ugh, ugh. W-what is it all of a sudden!"
Her face felt hot, almost as if a warm heat was rising.
Why was the Grand Duke acting like this all of a sudden?
Now that he had come back from the dead, did he want to share a moment of joy with her?
"...Your Highness?"
Rose hesitated and peeked her head out, but the Grand Duke hugged her even tighter, as if he wouldn't let her go.
"Just stay like this for a moment."
Just a moment? My heart felt like it would burst at any moment...!
Thump- thump.
Her heart pounded rapidly and irregularly.
The heartbeat she could clearly hear in her ears wasn't Rose's, but that of the Grand Duke of Artaeum.
'...It seems I'm not the only one trembling?'
The thought crossed her mind that the Grand Duke was no different from her, and she suddenly wondered what expression he was making.
Rose wiggled, but she couldn't see the Grand Duke's expression.
The more Rose moved, the more he held her close.
Rose tried again and again, then said in a sullen voice,
"I want to see your face, Grand Duke..."
Flinch.
Rose's words made the Grand Duke flinch.
His heart, already throbbing, accelerated.
Even though it was ordinary, hearing it on the bed felt strange.
Rose's words sounded strangely provocative.
The faint scent of shampoo and the feeling of Rose's skin touching his body with each flinch constantly aroused his desire.
The sound of slightly heavy breathing and the sound of swallowing, overcome with tension, mingled.
The Grand Duke and Rose shared a silent exchange of breaths.
The Grand Duke's lips grew increasingly dry. His mind was filled with desire for Rose.
'If it's now...'
Wouldn't it be okay to kiss you...
The Grand Duke gently released Rose from his firm embrace. Then, Rose's face met his.
Rose's eyes captured the Grand Duke.
The Grand Duke, his face flushed red, stared at her. His hand caressing her chin made her heart tingle.
Was it an illusion that the Grand Duke's gaze was lingering on her lips?
Rose, her gaze riveted to the Grand Duke, secretly licked her lips.
And then, the strange atmosphere between them was shattered when a maid opened the door and entered.
"Your Highness, your body is a bit..."
The moment the voice was heard, Rose and the Grand Duke fell far apart.
The Grand Duke sat up faster than anyone else and sat on a stool next to the bed.
“Are you... okay?”
The maid was perplexed by the scene in the room.
A patient sitting, and a guardian lying down?
The Grand Duke answered without even straightening his disheveled hair.
“I’m fine.”
“Oh... yes.”
He must be sitting there because he’s fine.
‘Lady Serviat has been caring for His Highness the Grand Duke all this time, so I guess she’s tired.’
The maid left the room with the final words, telling him to call her anytime if he needed anything.
***
The Grand Duke and the Princess collapsed, and the birthday banquet naturally came to a halt.
He tried to say a brief farewell to the Princess, but he couldn’t.
She hadn’t yet woken up.
‘It’s a big deal... Are you okay?’
The Grand Duke opened his eyes and heard this news, then hurried to Diana, telling her to go to the carriage first.
Rose sighed with a worried expression. As she trudged along, she felt a stinging gaze from somewhere and raised her head.
'...!'
What bad luck.
Why was she running into that person again?
Eric appeared at the end of the hallway. He was leaning over, looking at Rose.
There was no turning back... Rose felt extremely uncomfortable facing Eric again.
'You must understand now, since I said that at the banquet hall.'
Rose tried hard to ignore Eric's gaze. Then she tried to pass him by.
"I've been waiting,"
Eric said, grabbing Rose's wrist.
"I had something to ask you."
It seemed their meeting here wasn't a coincidence.
The atmosphere was quite different from what she's seen at the banquet hall. If he'd been trying to force Rose back then, he didn't give off that vibe now.
However, Rose flatly rejected Eric's words.
"As I said before, I have nothing to say to you."
"You approached me with the intention of using me from the beginning? To steal information about Count Wence... and give it to the Grand Duke of Artaeum?"
Eric asked, recalling what Cedric had told him.
"That girl stole all the information about our family and passed it on to the Grand Duke of Artaeum. She planned this from the beginning. She disguised herself as a foolish woman in love and seduced your naivety!"
He didn't want to believe it, but he felt that this confirmation would at least give him some peace. Eric's eyes, as he spoke to her, felt desperate.
His eyelashes fluttered. Even Rose could sense how nervous he was.
"What, why are you so serious today...?"
Eric's appearance was unfamiliar.
"...It's not you, you."
Eric bit his lips nervously.
It seemed Cedric had heard about her provocation of the Emperor. Well, she expected it.
'Cedric must have thought from the beginning that Rose was trying to use the Counts of Wence.'
It wasn't true, but it was a plausible assumption.
She couldn't leave Eric even a single leeway.
Rose, who was about to say "That's right," hesitated and thought.
'Wait... If I say it's right, then all of the 'real Rose's' sincerity will become a lie...'
The more she thought about it, the more hesitant she became.
Eric had left countless pains on the original female protagonist, but the original female protagonist loved Eric. But...
'Every moment Rose loved became a lie with just one word from me...'
That wasn't right. She couldn't say something like that just to get Eric away.
She decided to protect the original heroine's heart.
You might think she was acting foolishly because of a character in a book, but to Rose, this world was no longer a book. It was reality.
"...I don't know what you heard, but it's not what you think."
Eric finally breathed a sigh of relief at Rose's reply.
"Of course, you wouldn't."
"But, remember. The me who loved you is gone now. Don't mistake my feelings for you now just because they were true in the past."
Rose slowly took a deep breath and continued calmly.
"I don't love you."
Rose's cold voice pierced Eric's heart like a dagger.
"So, don't bother me anymore."
With those words, Rose turned her back on Eric.
Had Rose's words shocked him?
Eric clutched his left chest with one hand, his chin trembling. Not only did his heart ache and ache, but his mind also felt dizzy, as if time had stopped.
Where on earth... where did it all go wrong?
Eric's afterimage of Rose lingered before him.
He slowly waved his hand toward the empty space where Rose had been moments before. The moment he reached out, Rose's figure vanished like a mirage. Eric stared blankly at his hand, unable to grasp anything.
No words came from his gaping mouth.
"Ah..."
Only a desperate, pained moan escaped his lips.
Staring into the empty space, Eric lowered his head and covered his face with both hands.
Why hadn't he noticed this before...?
Despair washed over him like a wave.
Eric realized too late how deeply Rose had occupied him.
But it was too late to regret.
The Rose who had loved Eric was now nowhere to be found.
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