TVHR - Chapter 85

At Arma's question, Roselyn smiled faintly with a blurry gaze.

Her frail body would always lose strength like this at the most important moments.

Roselyn was often sick. She suffered from a fever day after day, and whenever that happened, Arma was always by her side.

Falling for affection happened in an instant, and losing it happened in a flash.

To Roselyn, Arma was someone who had entered her very slowly, and before she knew it, too deeply.

"Since when have you liked me?"

"...I don't know. But I didn't dislike you from the first time we met. Roselyn didn't say anything even when she saw me at first."

She nodded.

He did that because he thought there was no one who liked him anyway.

"But I liked that you treated me kindly and we spent more time together; I could feel us getting closer little by little."

Roselyn slowly nodded. She held Arma's hand and strolled leisurely through the garden.

Arma carefully held Roselyn's hand, which was quite warm, and slowly matched her pace.

Arma also walked leisurely beside Roselyn.

Despite the difference in height—a difference of a head—and the difference in leg length, Arma willingly shortened his stride and slowed down.

Under the pitch-black night sky, stars filled the sky as if they were about to pour down, and the moon was bright.

The grasshoppers would cry, but by the time Roselyn and Arma passed by, they would quickly stop making noise.

The Duke's mansion garden was quite spacious and extended widely across the entire grounds.

"I liked Arma's kindness."

“...Roselyn.”

"Actually, I did find out after coming here that you aren't just a kind person, but..."

Roselyn let out a small laugh.

Arma stared blankly at her profile at the clear, unrestrained laughter. It was because the atmosphere had suddenly changed.

"After I left home, Arma used to come looking for me often."

She learned quite a lot thanks to Arma. She could never say she disliked spending time with him.

"Until Arma died... no, until you left my side, I didn't even know I liked Arma."

You shouldn't take having someone by your side for granted.

Arma slowly shook his head at the added voice.

"It's my fault for not trying to properly confirm your feelings. Roselyn isn't at fault."

"I liked you because you were kind. Back in my immature days, when I had never once felt that the world was kind to me... because you were kind no matter how much I pushed you away."

So, at the very end, Roselyn opened her heart, and Arma left her behind.

Roselyn came deep into the garden where even the sound of insects could not be heard.

"It’s atmospheric, it’s night, and it’s a garden. Are the conditions still not right for a kiss?"

"..."

Roselyn smiled softly and put her arm around Arma's neck.

"... Roselyn."

Arma murmured softly, his eyes trembling slightly.

"Are you going to embarrass me?"

"...No, never."

Arma reached out and carefully wrapped her arm around Roselyn's waist, pulling her toward himself.

As Roselyn slowly closed her eyes, Arma carefully kissed her lips.

During the silent time of the kiss, the grasshoppers chirped incessantly as if the sound of human presence had vanished.

Arma, who had been kissing for quite a while, pulled away when Roselyn's cheeks turned red.

"Roselyn..."

At Arma's call, which had lowered considerably, Roselyn stepped back slightly with a flushed face and lightly rubbed her lips with her fingertips.

Arma's cheeks were also flushed.

Roselyn placed her hand on her heart. Her rapidly pounding heart signaled that she was alive more intensely than ever before.

'It looks like you really do like it.'

Roselyn was swept up in a sudden feeling.

"Thank you for liking me, Arma."

As Roselyn slowly raised her head, Arma, sensing a subtle nuance in her words, also looked at Roselyn with an uneasy gaze.

"But there is still something you want to do, isn't there?"

"...Roselyn?"

"I mean it when I say I want Arma to be happy."

She smiled sweetly.

This smile was beautiful, but it was a smile that Arma did not like.

Because this smile of hers was a grin that she only wore on her face when she was about to hurt someone or was ready to do so.

“Rose...”

"But if you ask if I can forgive you for deceiving and abandoning me... that is not the case."

"..."

Roselyn understood Arma's situation.

Since she understood it, she could accept it to some extent.

However, the issue of whether to forgive it or not was a separate matter. The time spent living with guilt was somewhat wasted.

"Of course, I'm not talking to the current Arma. But Arma has work to do, too."

She rubbed her fingertips a couple of times over her lips, which still retained their soft texture and warmth, and spoke.

"I have work to do too."

Roselyn said firmly.

"So, it is fine for Arma to go."

Arma froze at the words of permission.

He smiled awkwardly with a gentle expression, then slowly hardened his face and rubbed it.

"That's too much, Roselyn."

After a long while, he finally managed to put a smile on his lips and slowly opened his mouth.

"I even allowed you to kiss me, and now you're acting like this? What am I supposed to do?"

"I wanted to try it. Because I've never been able to do it before."

"...You're saying you've never done it?"

Arma's eyes widened significantly.

When he asked back in a flustered manner, Roselyn nodded with a calm expression.

"Yes."

"...Uh, by any chance, was the me over there actually a dead one?"

"If you ask if you had any problems with your physiological functions, that is not the case."

Roselyn shook her head at the serious question.

She gently rubbed her innocent neck for no reason as her vision became increasingly blurry.

"So, I would appreciate it if you could cooperate with the breakup. If possible."

Honestly, it’s better to just say she died after breaking off the engagement than to have rumors circulating that he had a deceased fiancée.

"You want to be free, don't you? You don't want to be bound by duties, and you want to run away."

"..."

Arma slowly shook her head at Roselyn's indifferent words.

"...If so."

Because even the voice in her ears was blurry, she looked at Arma in silence.

'I should head inside and get some sleep soon.'

Some signs going any further than this was a bit too much.

"If I... say I won't run away."

Roselyn frowned at the clear voice.

“From what?”

"In terms of the duties or obligations one must bear."

“Why is that?”

"If I do that, will you not abandon me? No... won't you tell me to leave?"

Arma approached with quick strides and carefully took Roselyn's hand.

Roselyn chuckled.

"I am..."

She smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

“I’m going.”

"I'll wait. If you absolutely have to go, I can just wait until Roselyn arrives."

At that moment, her vision wavered.

'Wait, am I the one staggering?'

Flustered, Arma instinctively pulled Roselyn into his arms.

"Roselyn...?"

He looked down at her as if flustered.

'...It's hot.'

He had thought for a while that their clasped hands and lips felt a bit hot, but he thought it was just because her body was heating up.

'...Damn it, you idiot.'

He, who hadn't even noticed Roselyn's condition, cursed at himself.

"...How are you supposed to wait knowing how long it will take? Just..."

Roselyn, who had been muttering softly with her eyes half-closed, fainted.

'I heard she was frail, but I didn't realize it was this bad.'

Arma held Roselyn in his arms.

"As long as it takes."

He spoke as he hurriedly walked toward the Duke's mansion.

"When you return, I just need to be the Emperor."

Isn't it enough to simply secure the most precious position at the highest point?

Arma thought as he rushed into the Duke's mansion.

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