“Scent?”
“Yeah. The scent of that woman’s perfume is unique. She must have made it herself or something.”
At Nathan’s comment, Rosalie remembered Sonia’s interest in flowers. She nodded her head at the thought that Sonia could make perfume with the flowers she grew in her personal greenhouse in the Amins’ mansion. However, Rosalie wasn’t particularly interested.
“Don’t you have any books you want to buy?”
“I’ll look around a bit more. I like the atmosphere here.”
After spending a reasonable amount of time at the bookstore, the two solved their errands by evening and returned to the mansion. By this point, Rosalie thought that Emma had already given up, but that was a big mistake.
“Are you back? I’ve prepared everything for the Duchess to finish as soon as possible.”
Rosalie looked at the dresses that were spread out with a bored expression. Nathan, who had followed her to the room, was stifling a laugh behind her.
“Emma, just buy new dresses. I’m busy and I have to get back to work.”
“Oh my… Then there’s nothing we can do.”
Following Rosalie’s orders, Emma quickly put away the dresses. It was fortunate that the designers had sent a catalog of new dresses to the mansion.
Rosalie sighed and smiled lightly as she watched Emma clear away the dresses without any hesitation.
“Emma, get yourself a few dresses from the catalog as well.”
“What? But…”
“It’s alright. Get a few dresses. Then, I’m going to work.”
Rosalie said before turning and leaving the room. Nathan waved his hand as if he had lost interest in the situation, which ended faster than he expected.
“I’m going to bed,” he said.
In the spacious mansion, Nathan confidently settled into the most secluded and sparsely populated room. He liked that room because the thick walls made it hard for sounds to travel. After briefly glancing at Nathan’s retreating back, Rosalie headed to her office.
As the night deepened, the mansion fell silent. The only sound that could be heard was the occasional howling wind against the windows. In her office, Rosalie was going through reports when she suddenly felt a chill and hurriedly went to her room to get under the covers.
‘The mansion in the capital is colder than the mansion in Judeheart.’
The hands of the clock on the wall of Rosalie’s room moved forward by one hour. A steady breathing filled the room, and a cloaked figure emerged from the shadows in the corner of the room.
He stealthily approached the bed where Rosalie lay. In his hand, he gripped a gleaming, sharp blade. In a split second, he raised the blade as if about to strike a fatal blow.
“I don’t recall inviting anyone tonight.”
At the sound of Rosalie’s low voice, the man flinched and attempted to bring the sword down. However, he couldn’t do it because the fluttering white blanket was blocking his view.
“Ugh…!”
Seizing the opportunity, Rosalie summoned her dagger and avoided the attack, quickly retreating and moving back. The man, who had backed away, looked at the wound on his arm with dismay.
Rosalie lowered her body to prepare for another attack, feeling the same sensation she had felt earlier when she used the dagger.
‘Tsk, the wound is shallow… he’s not an easy opponent.’
The room was filled with tension, like a plump balloon that could burst at any moment. Rosalie gripped her dagger and as if on cue, the man lunged forward.
A fierce battle ensued between Rosalie and the assassin. It seemed that if either of them made even the slightest mistake or gap, their blades would cut deeply into each other’s flesh.
A surprised voice escaped the assassin’s lips when Rosalie didn’t budge easily.
“Damn it.”
Rosalie scoffed at the assassin’s bewildered look.
“Why? Are things not going your way?”
After clashing several times, they returned to a standoff. Rosalie looked at the small gash on her arm. The tip of the assassin’s sword must have grazed her during the prolonged confrontation.
“Ugh…”
In contrast, the assassin was clutching a deep wound on his waist. Rosalie’s eyes flashed, and she lowered her stance again to finish the job.
At that moment, a cold wind blew into the room.
“Rosalie~ is it a guest you invited?”
Nathan asked, leaning against the open door to the terrace. Rosalie shook her head firmly.
“I don’t welcome such violent guests.”
Nathan’s eyes traveled to the small cut on Rosalie’s arm. Nathan arched an eyebrow and drew his sword.
“Ah, you got hurt…”
After that, Nathan launched a one-sided attack, kicking the assassin mercilessly. Watching him, Rosalie thought to herself.
‘He fights more recklessly than I expected.’
Nathan deliberately paused, as if waiting for the assassin’s screams to satisfy his anger. Rosalie couldn’t understand why he was delaying, and she showed her frustration by tapping the floor with her foot.
Suddenly, Rosalie was perplexed by the heat that rose in her body. Nathan quickly finished off the assassin upon hearing her heart rate become abnormally fast.
Rosalie clucked her tongue as this proved that he had been toying with the assassin. She didn’t nag at him for killing the assassin either, because the assassin would have killed himself even if she had kept him alive to find out who was behind it.
“Assassins’ weapons usually have poison on them.”
Nathan examined Rosalie’s arm. Fortunately, the wound was shallow, so the amount of poison that had entered her body appeared to be small.
“You should take an antidote and rest for a few days.”
“I can’t. I have an appointment with the Emperor tomorrow.”
“Didn’t you get poisoned? The poison that assassins use isn’t weak.”
Rosalie remembered a book she found in the secret reading room. The Duke had raised her resistance to poison since she was young and recorded it in the book.
According to the records she read, she already had a resistance to most poisons, so she could endure it for a while with the help of antidotes and painkillers.
“I have resistance to poison.”
“But it will still be difficult. It won’t kill you, but it will sap your strength and stamina.”
Rosalie shook her head at Nathan’s words. He, in turn, made a displeased face.
“It will be painful, you know…”
“It’s not difficult to endure the pain.”
Enduring pain was familiar to her. However, getting an audience with the Emperor was difficult, and she didn’t want to delay it because the true value of the Dita mine could be revealed if she missed the timing.
Emma and Martin rushed inside the room and came to Rosalie with a surprised expression. They had heard the commotion and hastily came up to the room in their night clothes.
“Your Grace! Are you okay?”
“Do we have any antidotes and painkillers at the mansion?”
Martin, who was quick-witted, hurriedly left the room. Meanwhile, Nathan still had a disgruntled expression.
The next day, Rosalie, who had been moved to a second room due to the disturbance at dawn, had her pale complexion covered with Emma’s makeup skills.
“Your Grace… Are you really okay?”
“I’m fine, so don’t worry.”
Emma couldn’t ask any more questions at Rosalie’s calm response. Rosalie was proficient at enduring pain and her expression didn’t change. If someone who didn’t know the situation saw her, she looked like her usual self.
When Rosalie left the room, Martin stood there, looking just as worried as Emma.
“Your Grace, the knights from the territory will be coming up this afternoon.”
Due to the disturbance at dawn, they had urgently called for reinforcements from some of the knights in the territory to strengthen the security of the mansion. Rosalie nodded her head and headed towards the carriage. Emma and Martin kept their worried gaze fixed on her back.
Nathan was already waiting in front of the carriage, waving his hand.
“Rosalie~ hurry up and get on.”
“You can’t enter the palace. Don’t sneak into the Emperor’s palace, or you’ll get in trouble.”
Nathan nodded as if he already knew
“I’m worried, I’ll go with you halfway.”
Rosalie weakly smiled and lightly tapped his arm.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
Nathan climbed onto the horse behind the carriage while Rosalie climbed inside. Letting out a small sigh, she closed her eyes as the carriage door slammed shut and they started to drive away.
“Whew…”
Her whole body ached like someone had beaten her. She wouldn’t have been able to move if it weren’t for the painkillers and antidotes provided at the mansion. The only relief was that she was used to enduring pain, so her expression remained as usual and her unwell complexion could be covered with makeup.
Rosalie slowly opened her eyes when the carriage started to slow down, and got off the carriage when it came to a complete stop. Nathan, who had been following on horseback, hadn’t left yet.
‘We left too early.’
Because they arrived earlier than expected, Rosalie had unwanted free time and wandered around, looking for a suitable place to rest.
Then, a group of people who looked like nobles entered her line of sight. She tried to avoid them, fearing that they might ask her to join them.
‘Derivis…?’
However, a familiar figure stopped her in her tracks.
‘His expression doesn’t look good.’
His appearance of talking with the nobles seemed strangely unfamiliar. Rosalie walked slowly towards the group.
As they got closer, she tilted her head at the unfamiliar feeling emanating from his face.
“Rosalie?”
During the conversation, Derivis turned his head and spotted her. The nobles who followed Derivis turned their eyes towards Rosalie, and their eyes lit up as if they had found a good prey. Then, a nobleman at the forefront started to babble.
“Are you Duchess Judeheart? I was actually close with the former Duke. What a coincidence!”
Rosalie looked at the nobleman with a wary look. He was introducing himself without being asked, and she couldn’t understand why she should be happy to see someone who she had only seen once in passing.
“That’s right. I see.”
Rosalie replied curtly, glancing at Derivis. He was looking at the nobleman with an uncomfortable expression, seemingly annoyed by the nobleman’s relentless chatter.
‘He looks fed-up.’
After a moment of listening to the nobles’ chatter, Rosalie turned her head and barely suppressed a frown. Every single one of the noblemen’s eyes were glazed with greed.
‘Ah, so this was why his expression didn’t look good.’
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