Rosalie listened to him quietly, opting to stay silent instead of offering awkward words of comfort.
“But that was just my petty revenge. Day by day, the Empress’s attacks grew more vicious, and Derivis suffered. All because of his wretched father.”
“…Why are you telling me this?”
“When the Duchess said she was going to save my son, I saw a glimmer of hope. From an Emperor of one of the kingdoms, no less.”
Patrick sipped his tea, his expression unchanged even at the bitter taste. It seemed that reminiscing felt more bitter than the tea he was drinking.
“I know that Derivis sided with the Duchess, even though it meant giving up Count Amins’s support.”
“The Duchy of Judeheart will fulfill Count Amins’ role now.”
“No, I’m not blaming you. It’s just that… I wish you could protect my son’s happiness even though I couldn’t protect him. I apologize for placing such a burdensome burden on the Duchess….”
“It’s alright. I’ll do my best to protect him in my own way.”
Rosalie muttered softly, and Patrick murmured his gratitude with a smile. From then on, the two exchanged gentle smiles and filled the time with lighter topics.
After finishing the tea, Rosalie left the reception room. She faced Venick, who had been waiting for her, and asked.
“Do you happen to know where His Highness is?”
“He’s probably working in his office right now. He’s probably alone since he doesn’t like having anyone around when he’s looking at the documents.”
Knowing that Derivis liked to be left alone while working on paperwork and that he would shoo away anyone who disturbed him, Rosalie couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Can I stop by?”
At her request, Venick nodded, alternating between looking at the reception room door and Rosalie.
Although he had to escort her out of the palace immediately due to the informal visit, he owed her a debt and was more than willing to grant her a small request.
“I’ll lead you there. But since this is an unofficial visit, would you please return immediately after seeing His Highness briefly?”
“Okay, I will do that.”
Rosalie replied obediently. Afterwards, Venick led Rosalie to Derivis’s office, choosing the quietest path and hiding along the way. If his skills were similar to Derivis’s, Rosalie guessed he was no less an honor student.
They soon stopped in front of Derivis’s office, and Venick spoke to Rosalie.
“Here we are. I’ll come back later.”
Rosalie nodded, and Venick bowed his head before leaving. Rosalie knocked on the thick door of the closed office, but the sound that came from inside the room with the knock was unwelcoming.
“If you brought more documents, leave it there and go silently.”
“Unfortunately, I did not bring any documents.”
Rosalie replied with a teasing smile to the disgruntled voice. Hearing that, the office door suddenly swung open with a noisy creak.
“…Rosalie?”
“Are you busy?”
Trying to suppress her laughter at Derivis’s surprised rabbit-like expression, Rosalie asked the question, anticipating the expected reaction. Derivis also smiled faintly and immediately invited her in.
“No, not at all.”
Derivis opened the door wider and welcomed Rosalie into the office.
Rosalie looked around the room before sitting down. Like most palaces, the furniture was mostly red, and his office was no exception.
Then Rosalie noticed the documents piled up on the desk. Papers that hadn’t even been signed off on yet were stacked as high as the sky.
“…You must be busy.”
“No, these are just kindling for the fireplace.”
Rosalie stared at the papers on the desk without saying a word. She wouldn’t have stopped by if she’d known he was so busy. Derivis must have sensed her thoughts because he strode up to her, his face pouty.
“Look at me. Not those boring papers.”
He then turned Rosalie around and placed his hand on either side of the desk. Rosalie stiffened at the sight of Derivis, who had trapped her in an instant.
“What?”
He grinned mischievously and asked in a low voice, causing Rosalie to turn her head slightly.
‘Isn’t this cheating?’
If he asked in this state, she would naturally be unable to take her eyes off him.
“…Okay, I’ll go to the sofa for now.”
Derivis considered whether to tease Rosalie more, but he stepped back obediently. Rosalie quickly slipped past him and headed to the sofa.
Whether or not he knew what was on Rosalie’s mind, Derivis smirked and sat on the opposite sofa.
“But I didn’t hear that you were coming to the palace today.”
“His Majesty summoned me unofficially.”
“His Majesty?”
“Yes. He thanked me for the incident at the hunting competition. He also said that he would give me a reward.”
Derivis was lost in thought for a moment at those words. Rosalie glanced at Derivis, who was staring blankly at her face.
“Come to think of it, I should have been the first to say it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Thank you for coming to rescue me.”
Rosalie stopped dead in her tracks at the sudden expression of gratitude, then answered with a light smile.
“Didn’t I say that I was going to save you?”
“Actually, it never occurred to me that someone would come to my rescue,” Derivis said flatly.
There was no disappointment or any emotions in his calm tone. It was rather Rosalie who felt sorry for this situation that seemed so natural to him.
“That’s why I was so happy to see you.”
As Rosalie’s expression darkened at the memory, Derivis shrugged as if it were nothing.
“I saw a newspaper that concluded that opposing factions were responsible for this incident.”
“The culprit cut off their tail again and even fabricated rumors about the incompetent Crown Prince because he couldn’t deal with the false culprit properly. How many times has it been?”
Derivis said, clicking his tongue. The way he stumbled over his pronunciation from moment to moment showed how much trouble he had been in.
“Derivis.”
Rosalie called out to him, and Derivis raised his head. Rosalie knew that the culprit he was talking about was Nine, who was also the Empress.
After a moment’s pause, Rosalie’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“I intend to depose the Empress.”
With those words, the atmosphere in the room became heavy, as if a huge lump of lead had just been placed on it.
“If the Empress is gone, I will have to take the position of the Crown Prince and the Imperial Palace.”
“You can just throw it away without any regrets.”
Derivis had taken the position of the Crown Prince for one reason only: to prevent Nine, who had killed his mother and taken the position of Empress, from doing as she pleased. It was not a sense of duty or justice, but only that one reason.
“…You said you had a plan, didn’t you?”
“Yes. I plan to find the place where evidence of Nine’s dirty schemes is stored.”
While speaking, Rosalie looked at Derivis’s face. Though he was feigning nonchalance, Rosalie could tell he was racking his brain.
“There is a place in the eastern forest where Nine hides the evidence of her schemes. We will find it using the duchy’s knights.”
The Imperial Knights had already fallen into Nine’s hands before, so using them in the process of investigating Nine was unrealistic. Derivis was painfully aware of this fact more than anyone else.
‘Now that I think about it, Rosalie hid her identity when we met in the capital, and she was well-versed in strategies and things that people couldn’t easily understand and use.’
However, he had passed those things off as mere coincidences, as he believed that everyone had unexpected sides to them.
But the information that had just come out of Rosalie’s mouth had caused a small ripple in Derivis’ mind.
“I have just one question. What is the source of this information?”
He had also secretly searched for Nine’s traces. However, he only received small pieces of information, and nothing substantial enough to drive Nine away.
“That’s…”
Rosalie hesitated to answer. This was also something she had read in the novel. In the earlier part of the novel, Nine had hinted that she had hidden evidence in a specific location in the eastern forest.
This was to gain control over the noble families who were loyal to her. But at the same time, it also threatened her own life, so she had hidden it in a secret place.
‘If we turn that place over, we might be able to drive away the entire influence of the Empress.’
Rosalie had a plan to find that place based on what she knew, but she faced an unexpected problem.
‘How should I say this? I came into this book. Your original lover was Sonia, and the Dita mine was also yours. And… I am Rosalie, but I also not Rosalie.’
Rosalie felt the unorganized words rise in her throat. She couldn’t get them out of her throat, though; her feelings for him were clear, but as nice as he was, it wasn’t easy to tell him the truth.
She was worried about how Derivis would take it, and more importantly, she was scared.
‘How do I even begin to tell him? I didn’t even think about how he would take it when I was sorting out my own feelings,’ Rosalie thought.
At first, she thought it would be easy to share this information, just like she did with Nathan. But now that she was facing Derivis, it felt like something was blocking her throat. As her expression grew darker, Derivis’s face hardened in response.
“…Rosalie?”
Hearing her name, Rosalie snapped out of her thoughts. She hesitated uncharacteristically for a moment before speaking.
“If I promise to tell you the source of this information later and simply ask you to believe in me, will you believe me?”
She needed to organize her thoughts and didn’t want to blurt everything out in a disorganized mess.
“I believe you.”
Derivis replied quickly and firmly, surprising Rosalie with the unexpectedly fast and decisive answer.
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