Captain! Where is the Battlefield?

 

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  “Rosalie, Rosalie.”

 

  She had been talking to Toronto for a while when Nathan tapped Rosalie on the shoulder. She turned her head and he pointed his finger between the buildings.

 

  “Over there.”

 

  A suspicious black shadow could be seen there. Rosalie motioned for Toronto to stay put, and then, as if she were casually walking away, she snuck behind the building where she saw the black shadow.

 

  “Nathan, follow me.”

 

  Rosalie searched for the black shadow while being fully alert, summoning the dagger in her hand for an immediate attack.

 

  And then a low voice came from behind her.

 

  “Ah, ugh!”

 

  Although it was a familiar voice, Rosalie was startled and instinctively turned around, swinging her dagger.

 

  “Derivis.”

 

  Derivis swallowed hard as he grabbed Rosalie’s wrist, which was holding the dagger. The tip of Rosalie’s dagger was pointed menacingly at the skin of his neck.

 

  “I don’t mind seeing you face to face, but I don’t want to be greeted with a sword.”

 

  “…Sorry. Nathan!”

 

  Rosalie called out to Nathan, who was behind him. Surely, with his ability, Nathan would have immediately recognized that Derivis was the suspicious shadow. 

 

  However, Nidan shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly as if he was enjoying the scene.

 

  “I thought Rosalie would know.”

 

  “I’m not you. Are you okay?”

 

  The worried words that followed Rosalie’s sigh turned to Derivis. He nodded, releasing Rosalie’s thin wrist.

 

  “Why are you here?”

 

  “Nathan told me that the woman who commissioned your assassination is hiding here.”

 

  “Oh, right. I told Devi when Rosalie went out to eat with Erudit.”

 

  Nathan said as if he’d really forgotten. Rosalie sighed again and slowly walked over to Nathan. Expecting a scolding, Nathan smirked and ducked behind Derivis.

 

  “But I didn’t know Devi would come alone.”

 

  “Well, see you later.”

 

  When Rosalie let go of her grip with a growl, Nathan smirked and clung even tighter to Derivis’s back.

 

  “Do you have business with Callie? Are you here to kill her?”

 

  Derivis shook his head and stepped away from Nathan, causing him to stare blankly ahead and step further away from Rosalie.

 

  “No, I wasn’t here to kill her.”

 

  …I just came to give her a light warning. 

 

  Derivis swallowed the rest of his words. If her attitude had been bad, the warning could have turned into a threat.

 

  …How about doing nothing at all?”

 

  “If it interferes with your plan, then I won’t.”

 

  Derivis surprisingly raised his white flag easily. Rosalie’s suspicious eyes turned to him.

 

  “Well, there should be nothing that interferes with your plan.”

 

  Derivis said lightly, understanding the hidden meaning behind Rosalie’s gaze. Rosalie bit her lip, unsure if she should ask how much he knew about her plan.

 

  “I heard you’re not meeting with Count Amins.” 

 

  Noticing the corner of her mouth twitch with conflict, he said.

 

  “…Has the Count sought out Your Highness?”

 

  Derivis nodded his head. Rosalie had expected it, but the thought of the Count going to Derivis made her gaze sharper. Since he intended to put Sonia on trial, the visit would not have been a pleasant one.

 

  “What did he say? Did he threaten you?”

 

  “Well, I made it clear that you have the final say in this matter, so he won’t come back now.”

 

  Derivis remembered the angry face of Count Amins, who had come to him not long ago. He had threatened that there would be no more support from the County if Rosalie did not apologize to Sonia.

 

  “With the witness, the maid, left unharmed and the knights lying in ambush, it was easy to guess it’s a trap since the Count hasn’t met with you.”

 

  Rosalie did not hide her surprise at his keen deduction, but Derivis chuckled as if it were no big deal. 

 

  Nathan, who had been listening to their conversation, waved a hand in between them when Rosalie seemed to have completely forgotten that she was about to scold him.

 

  “Do we have to keep standing here?”

 

  “No, let’s move. I’m going to keep an eye on Callie tonight.”

 

  Since it was already deep into the night, they couldn’t go back. Rosalie wanted to take the opportunity to keep an eye on Callie for the night and let the knights who hadn’t had proper rest in days catch some sleep.

 

  Thus, the three of them hid again around Cali’s house.

 

  “This spot seems good.”

 

  Rosalie settled into a spot where it was dark but easy to see the target, and Derivis stood next to her. Nathan quickly looked around and then loosened his legs.

 

  “What are you doing?”

 

  When Derivis asked as he watched Nathan warm up, Nathan smirked and pointed a finger at the sky.

 

  “I want to lie down, so I’m going up to the roof. I don’t like standing.”

 

  With that said, Nathan swiftly climbed up to the rooftop, leaving Rosalie with no chance to stop him. However, they both knew that he had keen hearing, so they didn’t bother calling him back.

 

  The two of them remained silent for a while, leaning against the wall and keeping their eyes fixed on the target.

 

  Rosalie cast a sidelong glance at the figure beside her. Derivis’s high nose stood out in the moonlight.

 

  ‘Is it okay for me to attack Sonia? Won’t it bother him?’

 

  In the silence, Rosalie recalled his demeanor earlier. She was both relieved and confused by his firm stance.

 

  ‘It’s strange. I worry about him suffering because of Sonia, but I also feel relieved by his resolute attitude for my sake.’

 

  Rosalie leaned her head against the wall, feeling a paradox she couldn’t quite understand, and it wasn’t until she continued to stare at him out of the corner of her eye that another thought began to fill her mind.

 

  ‘But more importantly, Bianca’s words bother me…’

 

  Rosalie couldn’t stop thinking about what Bianca had told her on the day of her rant, and about how she needed to recognize her feelings for Derivis. She’d tried to put it out of her mind, but when she saw his face in the quiet atmosphere, the words crept back into her mind.

 

  ‘…Come to think of it, Chaerin said the thing that excites her the most is being pushed up against a wall.’

 

  “Derivis, I need to check something for a moment. Can you stay still?”

 

  Derivis nodded at Rosalie’s request, a question mark hovering over his head. Then, with a look of determination on her face, Rosalie reached out with both hands and pinned him to the wall.

 

  However, Rosalie overlooked one thing. Chaerin had multiple experiences with romantic relationships and had pushed someone romantically against a wall on numerous occasions. 

 

  ‘…Am I doing it right?’

 

  Rosalie, on the other hand, had no romantic experience and had only pushed someone against the wall for attack and subjugation purposes.

 

  “…Duchess, can you tell me what you want to check?”

 

  Because of his relatively large stature, Rosalie was placed in an awkward posture on her tiptoes. Derivis, who had his arm caught by Rosalie, playfully poked her skinny arm. Then, Rosalie sighed and covered her face with one hand.

 

  “This wasn’t what I wanted to do.”

 

  Seeing her sullen face, Derivis shook his head.

 

  “Then, do you think you can confirm it if I did it?”

 

  Before Rosalie could respond, Derivis swiftly pinned her to the wall and trapped her in his arms. With his back to the moonlight, Derivis lowered one arm and gazed intently at Rosalie.

 

  Naturally, Rosalie looked up at him. His strong presence loomed over her, and she couldn’t take her eyes off his moving pink lips, which filled her vision.

 

  “What about now? Did you confirm it?”

 

  Derivis asked, his voice barely above a whisper. Rosalie immediately answered, her expression gradually stiffening as his low voice flowed into her ear.

 

  “Yes. Can you please step aside now?”

 

  “Yeah, sure.”

 

  Derivis obediently stepped back and leaned against the wall once more. Unlike her expressionless face, Rosalie could feel her heart beating fast and strong.

 

  She was so flustered, in fact, that her face had hardened. Derivis stood quietly next to her, clenching his fists.

 

  “It looks like the sun will rise soon~.”

 

  Nathan, who had just descended from the roof, scratched his head. True to his word, the darkness in the sky was receding and the bluish light was becoming clearer.

 

  Although there was no urgency, Rosalie hurriedly went to wake up Toronto, leaving Derivis and Nathan alone.

 

  “It seems like you can’t control your emotions, huh?”

 

  Nathan said to Derivis, who was still leaning against the wall. It wasn’t an accusation, nor a criticism; it was just a question.

 

  “If I had control, would I be like this?”

 

  Derivis replied in a dry voice. However, unlike his face which showed no expression, his clenched fists and his fast-beating heart answered Nathan’s question.

 

  “Devi, the way you are now reminds me of how I used to be.” 

 

  Trapped in a place that felt like a prison, shackled by an ugly vengeance.

 

  “Maybe I am.”

 

  Derivis chuckled, as if mocking himself. His pained expression made Nathan unable to hide his pity.

 

    ⊱⊱⊱────── {.⋅ ✧✧✧ ⋅.} ──────⊰⊰⊰ 

 

  Meanwhile, Rosalie entered the room where the knights were staying to wake them up and took a deep breath.

 

  ‘Calm down.’

 

  Rosalie clutched her chest and exhaled again. Feeling her presence, Toronto woke up.

 

  “Your Grace?”

 

  “Wake up.”

 

  As it became clear that the person in front of them was Rosalie, Toronto and the knights scrambled to their feet; they couldn’t think of a more eerie wake-up call than Rosalie’s voice.

  

 

 

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