She thought of Eswar for a moment, then swallowed the question that suddenly occurred to her. Ranon had been holding back on him until the time was right—until he spoke of his own accord. This had always been the case since she had rescued Corte, so Rosentine let it slide.
- The ghosts are whispering that this generation's first child is walking.
"People originally walked."
- Cute Rosentine, we all know he hasn't been out for a while.
"You helped me."
- I will always help you.
Rosentine now stood in the palace hallway. Since there were no people around, Ranon, who could converse, half-smiled in a dazed manner, as she e did with other ghosts, while the other half remained expressionless. It was an expression that had changed with each passing day.
Rosentine dipped the rag she was holding into the water in the basin. A clear, sloshing sound was heard.
- This is the last time I'll see you in your maid's outfit.
“Are you sad?”
- Of course, since these are clothes I'll never see again...
"I think it's bad taste to want to see a maid's outfit."
She wore a relaxed expression, one she rarely displayed in front of ghosts. It wasn't that the moment she'd set the net down wasn't tense. But waiting was essential to properly raid the scene. She'd been running around all this time, so this waiting time wasn't a bad thing.
The time to put on the maid's uniform she had grown accustomed to was quickly drawing to a close. Rosentine thought of the assassin, chained and imprisoned in the basement of the Shartus Palace. The words that came out of his mouth were quite useful. Words were useful, after all, because they were essentially revealing the truth.
Eswar was now in everyone's sights. Even the traitor, who had his sights set on Shartus, couldn't help but pay attention to Eswar. If Hernando Barreton, the second Prince of Vishtean, had aimed to eliminate both Princes, the traitor's attention would be drawn there as well. Even if the traitor didn't specifically try to kill the Crown Prince, it would be difficult to prevent the attention from being diverted.
- You don't have to do this right now.
“This job?”
- Cleaning the hallway.
Ranon circled around Rosentine. Rosentine shrugged and picked up the rag again. It wasn't a rag, after all. She'd snuck a fresh towel in, so it wasn't too dirty. She particularly liked the quiet of the hallway.
- It's because of the Arolne Mulde.
"I know, that's right. It's been a bit noisy lately."
Rosentine said in a casual tone. "It's no longer of any use, so there's no need to worry about it anymore."
The vanity she had heard must have given her quite a big dream.
Arolne began to frequently visit her out of the blue and demand more. Of course, she didn't directly demand anything, citing her own dignity, but she would often come to her for no reason, throw tantrums, or ask about Shartus's current situation. The problem was that it was quite annoying.
A single noble lady's whining wouldn't bother her, but when Rosentine refused to give in, she began to order the people around her.
"What a messy sight. Does His Highness even keep someone like this by his side?"
If she were to be exact, it would be correct to say that a knight who was deeply in love with her acted with discretion, but he committed acts that would be unimaginable for an adult, such as knocking her down with his huge body and insulting her.
Frankly, it was annoying. And this mild harassment intensified every time Arolne vented her distress, to the point where she even brought in the soldiers, who were practically thugs, to harass her. Rosentine sighed softly as she looked at Sir Pana, who had finally arrived. The knight's anger flared at Rosentine's reaction.
"You're being rude to a knight. I wouldn't mind if you were beheaded right now! Do you want to be found dead somewhere unknown? Your clothes will be torn, and it'll be a truly ugly sight."
Sir Pana, who must have been twice Rosentine's size, swept the knife. His sinister expression even ran up and down her body. Ranon, who was circling Rosentine, wore a strange expression. It was hard to gauge, but it was a look of intense discomfort. Rosentine nodded, signaling him to remain still.
- Patience is not a virtue I desire, Rosentine.
It wasn't really that bad. It would have been easier for her if Ranon had taken the pyramid away first, but now wasn't the time. Arolne, accompanied by Shartus, was walking towards her from afar, so it was perfect timing, and it was clear she had a purpose.
"Your Highness, the flowers are truly beautiful. The palace is a place that always brings admiration, so I often visit."
"I see. I've heard that you've been coming and going a lot lately."
"Oh my... You knew about me."
From afar, the scent of perfume seemed to waft. Pana, who had been picking a fight with Rosentine, quickly took a stance, looking at Arolne. It was a pose that directly rebuked Rosentine. Even with the knight and the maid, anyone could tell that the maid was the one being scolded.
Rosentine's expression was unmistakable. From a distance, Pana's movements made it seem as if the two were cleverly intertwined, a composition that belied the vicious harassment he had inflicted on her. Ranon, who had flown slightly upward, tilted his head to observe the confrontation.
- I want to come out too.
If he was offended, Ranon's face would slowly walk over and overlap with Pana's. It was roughly two noses. Rosentine, seeing this, bit her lip to stifle laughter. It didn't seem like it would be a particularly good scene to burst out laughing at Pana.
"Hold still, okay? Your master is coming over there."
The gruffness of his voice was utterly menacing. Certainly, his rank as a knight was higher than that of the commoner Roan, but since she wasn't Roan, he wouldn't know. Rosentine had no intention of disrespecting Arzen's name. She had pride.
This was why, no matter how much Pana and Arolne tormented her, she never once frowned. Rosentine waved her hand invisibly at Ranon, telling him to stop making people laugh and go away.
Ranon looked at Rosentine, then shrugged as he saw the Second Prince approaching from afar. Soon, he vanished, as if he'd never existed, concealing his presence.
Rosentine, who saw Ranon disappearing, sighed as he looked at Arolne and Shartus walking from afar.
Now, she's going to use her tricks on herself. A fleeting thought crossed her mind: "Have I been too lenient?"
A feeling of discontent flashed through her mind: "If she had just received the world's attention and a gift bearing Shartus's name, what else could she possibly be so greedy about?" Speaking of which, Arolne's hysteria, which she had dismissed without a second thought, would have been enough to make any other maid weep with embarrassment.
She took her to a tea party and secretly pressured her to get more from Shartus in front of the other ladies. She tried to humiliate her when she refused to give in to her demands.
'What would have happened if it hadn't been for me?'
It was obvious without even thinking about it. If it weren't for her, Arolbe wouldn't have received the brooch anyway. And Pana's direct, physical harassment was even more outrageous.
Subtle pressure or hysteria could be ignored, but attacking someone twice your size was more like a thug than a knight, no matter how you looked at it. She even wondered if it would have been better if she had a bit more strength, or if she could actually perform sorcery.
"The person standing over there seems to be the young lady's knight."
"Oh, really. You remembered my knight's face. Arolne is delighted."
By then, they were close enough to discern Shartus's expression. Rosentine, who had been waiting leisurely, leaning against the wall, made a surprised expression. It wasn't unusual for Shartus's hair to shine in the sunlight streaming through the window.
Like a scene from an old painting, his long body and broad shoulders suited this luxurious building. Whenever his beautiful eyes glared at Arolne, she blushed unusually. Well, it wasn't all that different. Except for the expression on Shartus' face.
Rosentine blinked briefly, her eyes wide. Pana interpreted the expression as fear, but in reality, she was surprised by Shartus's face. Shartus's eyes, emotionless yet captivating, were cold.
His lips were set, expressionless enough to be pleasing to the eye. He brushed his silver hair back once and walked with a gait that was perfectly polite yet confident. Towards Rosentine,
'Come to think of it, I think he always had that kind of expression.'
His face held a coldness that seemed to reflect his emotions. It had been a long time since Rosentine had seen Shartus's expression like that. Rosentine pursed her lips, lost in thought.
When they caught the culprit or interrogated him, of course, everyone's faces were tense, but most of the time, she saw a softer expression than that. A more human, more airy, free expression. And when they saw that expression, everyone there, including her, was spellbound.
She felt that his smile was more natural than she thought, and that he smiled more than she expected. But...
'Since when?'
Yes, since when? The question that came to her was, since when? That was it. Rosentine frowned slightly, suddenly confused and unintelligible. It was a face that Pana could interpret as he pleased. Certainly, Shartus Kartazen's default expression was clearly that cold face.
It matched the impression she'd had of Shartus at the ball, even before she'd become Roan. While Rosentine was breathing heavily and lost in thought, Shartus, who had gradually approached, recognized her. In the palace's hallway, simple yet luxuriously decorated, the woman in a maid's attire confronted the knight, and she had black hair.
"The person next to him... Oh, she's my dedicated maid."
For a moment, a playfulness rose to the edge of his voice. It was a tone she'd never heard before. Rosentine, who was staring at him, felt a pang of breathlessness. Her gaze settled, as if a soul had taken hold of his otherwise inert face.
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