Side Story. Rose's Past and Present in the Original (3)
"I like you."
Rose had been chasing Eric since she first met him.
She wore an innocent expression and didn't hesitate to say she liked him.
Eric seemed briefly interested in Rosé's constant pursuit of him, but soon faded.
He didn't hold a grudge against women who felt attracted to him, but he grew tired of anything easy.
Someone who always liked him without any effort.
Eric was busy ignoring such a woman, let alone showing interest.
"I guess so."
Eric sneered sarcastically at Rose, who admitted to liking him, and brushed past her.
Rose, unconcerned, followed Eric.
"Where are you going?"
"Do whatever you want."
"Come with me."
Every day, she visited Eric, as if stamping her attendance card.
Staying by Eric's side, she worked diligently to figure out what he wanted.
"I'm not lacking in looks."
Why did he keep rejecting me?
It would be a lie to say her pride had never been hurt by Eric's ignoring jer.
Having never been in a proper relationship, Rose had no idea how to captivate someone.
She simply continued to express her feelings by being relentlessly forward.
Rose reached out to grab Eric, who was turning his back on her. When Rosé grabbed his wrist, Eric let out a single scream.
"...Are you okay?"
She'd never held on so tightly as to make him scream.
It felt strange.
A faint trace of blood seeped through his sleeve, which Rose had gently grabbed.
She walked over to Eric and abruptly pulled his wrist away.
"What are you doing!"
Eric, startled by Rose's sudden action, yelled and quickly lowered his arm. It was only a fleeting moment, but Rose clearly saw the vicious wound on Eric's arm...
Rose silently grabbed Eric's hand. Then, without a word, she pulled him along.
"I asked you what you were doing."
Eric's subdued voice was sharp.
"Follow me."
Rose dragged Eric along and stopped in front of the flower bed. She sat him down on a nearby bench and bent down to pull out the flowers and weeds.
Eric looked at Rose with a look of utter bewilderment.
She'd dragged someone here all of a sudden, and now she was just pulling out weeds.
Rose, perhaps aware that Eric thought her pathetic, went about her business.
After grinding the flower petals into small pieces, Rose rolled up Eric's sleeve without hesitation.
"If you leave it alone, it'll get worse."
Eric, about to snap, hesitated as he watched Rose administer first aid.
"..."
Eric stared blankly at Rose as she tended to his wounds.
It was Eric who broke the silence and spoke first.
"Aren't you going to ask why I'm hurt?"
“It’s not like you fell or anything... I don’t think it’s necessary to ask about something so obvious.”
Rose spoke softly, as if she had already anticipated everything.
Rose, who had already applied the herbal medicine to his arm, raised her head and looked at Eric.
Eric, who had been staring at Rose the whole time, flinched for a moment.
Today was the first time he had met Rose this close.
The mysterious purple eyes meeting his were incredibly beautiful.
Eric, who had been staring at Rose as if entranced, came to his senses at Rose’s voice.
“Take it off.”
“...What?”
The intense words contrasted with her innocent face.
Eric blinked, embarrassed.
“It’s not just your arm. I’ll apply the medicine to your body too.”
...Ah. So that’s what you meant.
Eric was shocked to be suddenly told to take it off.
Eric, who had been half-asleep, regained his senses and spoke.
“It’s none of your business.”
“...I was rude.”
Rose studied Eric with a mysterious gaze.
Watching Eric these past few days, she'd realized something: he wasn't just some adored only son.
The affectionate expressions that appeared every day.
At first, she'd thought it was from practicing swordsmanship, but it soon dawned on her that Eric was far from skilled in the art of swordsmanship.
And, she could tell right away that the one who had inflicted this wound was none other than Cedric.
Every day that Eric got his wound, he would invariably complain about Cedric.
“You must be reckless. My father destroyed the Serviat family, and yet you still like me?”
“I’m just following my heart. I won’t deny that I like you.”
Rose smiled faintly and blurted out things she didn’t really mean.
“What a foolish woman.”
“Do you think I’m foolish, Eric?”
“If I said so, would you stop?”
“No. I was just about to say it didn’t matter.”
Eric stared at Rose.
“Don’t like me. There’s no way we’ll ever be together anyway.”
“Why? Am I that bad?”
Rose poked her head in at Eric’s firm words.
Eric couldn’t hide his embarrassment at Rose’s appearance, so close that their noses were touching.
He blinked rapidly, but didn’t pull back. He seemed unwilling to be swayed by Rose's momentum.
"There's no way my parents would accept you."
"Aside from Count and Countess Wence's thoughts... I'm curious about yours, Eric."
Rose stared intently at Eric, her eyes half-closed.
"If it weren't for the Count... would you even consider marrying me?"
"Don't be a swindler. And I know that won't happen, but even if I loved you to death, I couldn't marry you."
He spoke firmly once more. Then he muttered to himself, "Until I become a Count... I can't escape my father."
Eric often said this out of habit. He thought that becoming a Count would allow him to escape his father's embrace.
Rose, watching for an opportunity, leaned down slightly and approached Eric. Then she whispered softly,
"You just need to become a Count as soon as possible. Should I help you?"
Eric suddenly turned his head and looked at Rose.
“Marry me when you turn twenty.”
“...What?”
“You said the Count always said that when you get married, you’ll inherit the Count’s title.”
Cedric wanted to introduce his son to politics early, so he wanted to hand over the Count’s title to him quickly, unlike others.
However, there was no way he would hand over the Count’s title to Eric, who had just become an adult and was ignorant of politics. It would be even more impossible if it were Rose of the Serviat family.
“Ha, this is too absurd to listen to. Does my father’s brain look like a decoration to you?”
If he said he would marry as soon as he became an adult, his father would see right through him, desperate to inherit the Count’s title.
Would he just notice? His father could have been angry at Eric's childish behavior and dismissed the idea of handing it over.
“I was a fool to expect even a moment.”
What could he have expected from the likes of Rose? Eric glanced at Rose with a mocking smile.
Rose continued, oblivious to Eric's gaze.
"Get a prophecy from the temple. It says that if you don't marry by the time you turn twenty, you will die young. Bribing someone should be easy. Count and Countess Wence hold you in such high regard; this will surely work. Then, as soon as you become an adult, you can escape from your father's embrace."
Eric's eyes wavered, having thought he would have to live in his father's shadow for several more years. Rose's words seemed quite plausible. And at the same time, the corners of Rose's mouth slightly quirked.
'Yes. If you, the naive one, take the Count's seat instead of Cedric... My plan to destroy your family will also become easier.'
So you become the Count.
I can manipulate the earldom as I please.
Eric, following Rose's advice, bribed someone to receive the prophecy.
And, to have an affair with ease, he decided to marry Rose, who was so easy to manipulate that she couldn't even sway him.
When Eric announced his marriage to Rose, the Count and his wife frothed in opposition. However, they were helplessly crushed by the relentless flow of time.
The fear that their only son might die soon clouded their judgment.
Rose became a member of the Count Wence family as planned.
Rose's first step in devouring the Count's family was perfectly laid.
Rose played the role of a woman in love, blind to all appearances.
No one suspected Rose.
Not Eric, Cedric, Tercia, or anyone in the Count's family could detect that Rose was hiding dark intentions.
Rose, who begged Eric for love every day, achieved his first accomplishment at Count Wence's house: eliminating Sir Buttern, who had murdered her cousins.
Though he'd acted under Cedric's orders, his betrayal was unforgivable.
Discovering that Count Wence was researching poisons, Rose concocted a poison using the ingredients in a secret recipe book.
He waited until the knights were finished training before handing them a drink. He marked Sir Buttern's drink, adding a small amount of poison each day, to avoid a single fatal blow.
Before he knew it, Buttern was becoming poisoned.
His body grew weaker, and his energy began to dwindle to the point where he couldn't keep up with his training.
Watching the knights train, Rose grinned at Buttern's withering pace.
Buttern stumbled before he could even finish his training.
Sweat drenched his body, his face pallid.
Rose approached Sir Buttern, holding a towel and a poisoned drink in her hand.
Rose's bright smile was more sincere than usual.
She couldn't hide her crooked smile, feeling that today, for the first time, she could finally get rid of Buttern.
"You've had a hard time, Sir Buttern. Please have this."
Buttern downed the drink Rose offered in one gulp.
"Your complexion looks pale. Are you feeling well?"
"It's encouraging to see a little girl worrying about me like this."
"A little girl? I'm a grown woman now."
"You're still a little girl in my eyes. I never thought we'd meet again like this."
"That's right. If my brothers were alive, we wouldn't have had to wait so long..."
"It's my fault for failing to protect you and the Princes. If I had been a little wiser, I might have been able to save you all from the clutches of the Imperial Knights."
Buttern responded to Rose's words with aplomb.
“I believe you, Madam, will understand that I have no choice but to pledge my loyalty to the Count of Wence for a living. Didn’t you marry the son of your enemy?”
“Yes. I have a very pleasant disposition. I married the son of my enemy, and I still talk to you with a smile, even though you killed all my cousins.”
“!”
“Oh, why are you surprised? Oh, right. This was a secret, wasn’t it? The fact that yiu killed your master and became a parasite to the Count of Wence is a fall from the honor of Lord Buttern.”
“Cough, cough.”
Buttern coughed a couple of times, embarrassed.
“What are you talking about? I... Ugh!”
However, he couldn’t finish his sentence. The nausea churning inside him blocked his mouth.
“Did I say something I shouldn’t have said? You killed them. My aunt, my uncle, and my cousins, all of them.”
Rose's eyes lit up with a chilling gleam as she whispered, as if practicing ventriloquism.
"I like you."
Rose had been chasing Eric since she first met him.
She wore an innocent expression and didn't hesitate to say she liked him.
Eric seemed briefly interested in Rosé's constant pursuit of him, but soon faded.
He didn't hold a grudge against women who felt attracted to him, but he grew tired of anything easy.
Someone who always liked him without any effort.
Eric was busy ignoring such a woman, let alone showing interest.
"I guess so."
Eric sneered sarcastically at Rose, who admitted to liking him, and brushed past her.
Rose, unconcerned, followed Eric.
"Where are you going?"
"Do whatever you want."
"Come with me."
Every day, she visited Eric, as if stamping her attendance card.
Staying by Eric's side, she worked diligently to figure out what he wanted.
"I'm not lacking in looks."
Why did he keep rejecting me?
It would be a lie to say her pride had never been hurt by Eric's ignoring jer.
Having never been in a proper relationship, Rose had no idea how to captivate someone.
She simply continued to express her feelings by being relentlessly forward.
Rose reached out to grab Eric, who was turning his back on her. When Rosé grabbed his wrist, Eric let out a single scream.
"...Are you okay?"
She'd never held on so tightly as to make him scream.
It felt strange.
A faint trace of blood seeped through his sleeve, which Rose had gently grabbed.
She walked over to Eric and abruptly pulled his wrist away.
"What are you doing!"
Eric, startled by Rose's sudden action, yelled and quickly lowered his arm. It was only a fleeting moment, but Rose clearly saw the vicious wound on Eric's arm...
Rose silently grabbed Eric's hand. Then, without a word, she pulled him along.
"I asked you what you were doing."
Eric's subdued voice was sharp.
"Follow me."
Rose dragged Eric along and stopped in front of the flower bed. She sat him down on a nearby bench and bent down to pull out the flowers and weeds.
Eric looked at Rose with a look of utter bewilderment.
She'd dragged someone here all of a sudden, and now she was just pulling out weeds.
Rose, perhaps aware that Eric thought her pathetic, went about her business.
After grinding the flower petals into small pieces, Rose rolled up Eric's sleeve without hesitation.
"If you leave it alone, it'll get worse."
Eric, about to snap, hesitated as he watched Rose administer first aid.
"..."
Eric stared blankly at Rose as she tended to his wounds.
It was Eric who broke the silence and spoke first.
"Aren't you going to ask why I'm hurt?"
“It’s not like you fell or anything... I don’t think it’s necessary to ask about something so obvious.”
Rose spoke softly, as if she had already anticipated everything.
Rose, who had already applied the herbal medicine to his arm, raised her head and looked at Eric.
Eric, who had been staring at Rose the whole time, flinched for a moment.
Today was the first time he had met Rose this close.
The mysterious purple eyes meeting his were incredibly beautiful.
Eric, who had been staring at Rose as if entranced, came to his senses at Rose’s voice.
“Take it off.”
“...What?”
The intense words contrasted with her innocent face.
Eric blinked, embarrassed.
“It’s not just your arm. I’ll apply the medicine to your body too.”
...Ah. So that’s what you meant.
Eric was shocked to be suddenly told to take it off.
Eric, who had been half-asleep, regained his senses and spoke.
“It’s none of your business.”
“...I was rude.”
Rose studied Eric with a mysterious gaze.
Watching Eric these past few days, she'd realized something: he wasn't just some adored only son.
The affectionate expressions that appeared every day.
At first, she'd thought it was from practicing swordsmanship, but it soon dawned on her that Eric was far from skilled in the art of swordsmanship.
And, she could tell right away that the one who had inflicted this wound was none other than Cedric.
Every day that Eric got his wound, he would invariably complain about Cedric.
“You must be reckless. My father destroyed the Serviat family, and yet you still like me?”
“I’m just following my heart. I won’t deny that I like you.”
Rose smiled faintly and blurted out things she didn’t really mean.
“What a foolish woman.”
“Do you think I’m foolish, Eric?”
“If I said so, would you stop?”
“No. I was just about to say it didn’t matter.”
Eric stared at Rose.
“Don’t like me. There’s no way we’ll ever be together anyway.”
“Why? Am I that bad?”
Rose poked her head in at Eric’s firm words.
Eric couldn’t hide his embarrassment at Rose’s appearance, so close that their noses were touching.
He blinked rapidly, but didn’t pull back. He seemed unwilling to be swayed by Rose's momentum.
"There's no way my parents would accept you."
"Aside from Count and Countess Wence's thoughts... I'm curious about yours, Eric."
Rose stared intently at Eric, her eyes half-closed.
"If it weren't for the Count... would you even consider marrying me?"
"Don't be a swindler. And I know that won't happen, but even if I loved you to death, I couldn't marry you."
He spoke firmly once more. Then he muttered to himself, "Until I become a Count... I can't escape my father."
Eric often said this out of habit. He thought that becoming a Count would allow him to escape his father's embrace.
Rose, watching for an opportunity, leaned down slightly and approached Eric. Then she whispered softly,
"You just need to become a Count as soon as possible. Should I help you?"
Eric suddenly turned his head and looked at Rose.
“Marry me when you turn twenty.”
“...What?”
“You said the Count always said that when you get married, you’ll inherit the Count’s title.”
Cedric wanted to introduce his son to politics early, so he wanted to hand over the Count’s title to him quickly, unlike others.
However, there was no way he would hand over the Count’s title to Eric, who had just become an adult and was ignorant of politics. It would be even more impossible if it were Rose of the Serviat family.
“Ha, this is too absurd to listen to. Does my father’s brain look like a decoration to you?”
If he said he would marry as soon as he became an adult, his father would see right through him, desperate to inherit the Count’s title.
Would he just notice? His father could have been angry at Eric's childish behavior and dismissed the idea of handing it over.
“I was a fool to expect even a moment.”
What could he have expected from the likes of Rose? Eric glanced at Rose with a mocking smile.
Rose continued, oblivious to Eric's gaze.
"Get a prophecy from the temple. It says that if you don't marry by the time you turn twenty, you will die young. Bribing someone should be easy. Count and Countess Wence hold you in such high regard; this will surely work. Then, as soon as you become an adult, you can escape from your father's embrace."
Eric's eyes wavered, having thought he would have to live in his father's shadow for several more years. Rose's words seemed quite plausible. And at the same time, the corners of Rose's mouth slightly quirked.
'Yes. If you, the naive one, take the Count's seat instead of Cedric... My plan to destroy your family will also become easier.'
So you become the Count.
I can manipulate the earldom as I please.
Eric, following Rose's advice, bribed someone to receive the prophecy.
And, to have an affair with ease, he decided to marry Rose, who was so easy to manipulate that she couldn't even sway him.
When Eric announced his marriage to Rose, the Count and his wife frothed in opposition. However, they were helplessly crushed by the relentless flow of time.
The fear that their only son might die soon clouded their judgment.
Rose became a member of the Count Wence family as planned.
Rose's first step in devouring the Count's family was perfectly laid.
***
Rose played the role of a woman in love, blind to all appearances.
No one suspected Rose.
Not Eric, Cedric, Tercia, or anyone in the Count's family could detect that Rose was hiding dark intentions.
Rose, who begged Eric for love every day, achieved his first accomplishment at Count Wence's house: eliminating Sir Buttern, who had murdered her cousins.
Though he'd acted under Cedric's orders, his betrayal was unforgivable.
Discovering that Count Wence was researching poisons, Rose concocted a poison using the ingredients in a secret recipe book.
He waited until the knights were finished training before handing them a drink. He marked Sir Buttern's drink, adding a small amount of poison each day, to avoid a single fatal blow.
Before he knew it, Buttern was becoming poisoned.
His body grew weaker, and his energy began to dwindle to the point where he couldn't keep up with his training.
Watching the knights train, Rose grinned at Buttern's withering pace.
Buttern stumbled before he could even finish his training.
Sweat drenched his body, his face pallid.
Rose approached Sir Buttern, holding a towel and a poisoned drink in her hand.
Rose's bright smile was more sincere than usual.
She couldn't hide her crooked smile, feeling that today, for the first time, she could finally get rid of Buttern.
"You've had a hard time, Sir Buttern. Please have this."
Buttern downed the drink Rose offered in one gulp.
"Your complexion looks pale. Are you feeling well?"
"It's encouraging to see a little girl worrying about me like this."
"A little girl? I'm a grown woman now."
"You're still a little girl in my eyes. I never thought we'd meet again like this."
"That's right. If my brothers were alive, we wouldn't have had to wait so long..."
"It's my fault for failing to protect you and the Princes. If I had been a little wiser, I might have been able to save you all from the clutches of the Imperial Knights."
Buttern responded to Rose's words with aplomb.
“I believe you, Madam, will understand that I have no choice but to pledge my loyalty to the Count of Wence for a living. Didn’t you marry the son of your enemy?”
“Yes. I have a very pleasant disposition. I married the son of my enemy, and I still talk to you with a smile, even though you killed all my cousins.”
“!”
“Oh, why are you surprised? Oh, right. This was a secret, wasn’t it? The fact that yiu killed your master and became a parasite to the Count of Wence is a fall from the honor of Lord Buttern.”
“Cough, cough.”
Buttern coughed a couple of times, embarrassed.
“What are you talking about? I... Ugh!”
However, he couldn’t finish his sentence. The nausea churning inside him blocked his mouth.
“Did I say something I shouldn’t have said? You killed them. My aunt, my uncle, and my cousins, all of them.”
Rose's eyes lit up with a chilling gleam as she whispered, as if practicing ventriloquism.
"This time, it's your turn to die, Sir Buttern."
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