CHAPTER 18…………………………………….
Rosennelly stared at him, thinking, What on earth is he talking about? But soon, she understood what he meant. Maybe Leonhardt was thinking the same thing too.
Ah… so does this mean he still has lingering feelings for me? No way… seriously?
Ridiculously enough, they were thinking the exact same thing. For a long moment, the two simply stared at each other in silence. Each of them wondering, What do I do… I think they still have feelings for me, caught in the same mistaken misunderstanding.
At that moment, the sliding door burst open and Terius walked in.
“Hahahaha! Leonhardt! I heard the news! You passed out from staying in the hot springs too long, didn’t you? They say you just collapsed like a paper doll—is that rumor true? I mean, with that huge body of yours, collapsing like that… were you trying to get someone’s attention—oh… looks like I came in at the wrong time. Please, carry on.”
As Terius naturally began backing out, Rosennelly stood up and spoke.
“No, it’s fine. I was just about to leave anyway, so there’s no need for you to step out, Your Highness Terius.”
“Hm? No, no—you two clearly have more to talk about, and I barged in without thinking. I’ll just excuse myself—”
“No. There’s nothing more to say. You didn’t interrupt anything—you came at the perfect time.”
At Rosennelly’s firm tone, Terius blinked in confusion, looking back and forth between her and Leonhardt as she walked past him. Soon, she slid the door shut behind her and left. Even the usually talkative Terius fell silent as the sound of her footsteps echoed down the hallway.
“That was quite decisive. Exactly your type, isn’t it? Leonhardt.”
“…Ha.”
Leonhardt simply pressed his forehead and sighed. That bastard… There was a lot he could say, but it wasn’t even worth putting into words.
“Come on, don’t pretend it’s not true. Playing hard to get like that isn’t attractive, Leonhardt.”
“Would you shut up already?”
“Did I ruin your cozy moment with your ex-wife, so now you hate me?”
“You really—”
Leonhardt glared at Terius with rare irritation. It was the kind of rough affection only forged on the battlefield.
“You’ve got strange taste, you know. When she used to look at you so kindly, you didn’t care at all—but now suddenly you’re full of regrets? What, are you into being ignored and rejected—mmph!”
At last, Terius’s flapping mouth was firmly clamped shut by Leonhardt’s hand. With an utterly indifferent expression, Leonhardt grabbed the lips of a king.
“Try saying that anywhere else.”
“Mmph! Mm! Mmmph!”
With his lips squished like a duck’s beak, Terius struggled before carefully pulling them free, shooting Leonhardt an annoyed look. How could he treat a king’s dignity like this?
Well… he had been provoking him a bit. But it wasn’t entirely untrue either.
“You’re only reacting like this because it hit a nerve! You could just admit it honestly. Why cling so hard to your pride? You said it bothered you before! I was just helping you realize your true feelings. Honestly, this is unfair!”
Despite Terius’s protest, Leonhardt only scoffed as if none of it mattered. But in truth, it wasn’t funny at all.
After Terius left the room, rambling about tattling to his wife, Leonhardt’s expression quickly darkened.
Because Terius had hit the mark exactly.
He pretended otherwise, but it wasn’t untrue.
He acted like he didn’t care, but that wasn’t really the case.
Rosennelly Ferdi had always stood out among the noble ladies of the Robea Kingdom. It wasn’t just because of her platinum blonde hair and light brown eyes that made so many blush—
She was also the beloved daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Ferdi.
Leonhardt respected ability above all else, regardless of gender. That was one of the reasons he despised his own father.
In his eyes, the Ferdi family embodied noblesse oblige itself. Both the duke and duchess had devoted themselves to the development of the empire, each reaching the pinnacle of their respective fields before retiring at their peak.
They had also been Leonhardt’s mentors.
To him, Rosennelly Ferdi had simply been the daughter of those impressive teachers.
But compared to her parents, she hadn’t stood out much. Aside from being famous among young noblemen for her beauty, she didn’t seem particularly talented. Just an ordinary noble lady—nothing more, nothing less.
After marrying her at fourteen, he paid her even less attention.
She wasn’t temperamental enough to clash with, nor did she require taming. If anything, she was so gentle it became almost dull—leaving him at a loss for words.
A troublesome woman who said she wanted nothing, yet looked at him with eyes that desired more than anyone.
“You’re definitely a pervert.”
At Terius’s words, Leonhardt glared.
“You said she was boring before, but now that she’s acting cold, suddenly you’re curious? That’s a pervert! I get it—you’re drawn to ‘bad women,’ right? Same here. When Kenice seemed uninterested in me, I suddenly found myself attracted to her.”
“How about you shut that mouth of yours?”
“You have to admit it. It’s for your own good. You actually want to be swayed by her. There’s a softer side of you that you don’t even realize exists. Anyway, I’m off!”
At twenty-six, Terius wasn’t about to get kicked in the rear, so he quickly made his escape.
With the annoying man finally gone, Leonhardt thought he might feel some relief—but instead, his mind grew even more unsettled.
“Terius, you damn bastard…”
He cursed like an old comrade from the battlefield, trying to cool his flushed face. It was humiliating—having something he wanted to hide exposed.
No… that’s not it. What was even exposed? It’s not like he had anything to hide in the first place.
…Right?
A fundamental question suddenly surfaced. Did I really never feel that way?
Of course not… he had never thought that… right?
Or had he?
Was this what people called a split personality? Or had he hit his head when he fainted in the hot springs and damaged his brain?
Leonhardt muttered, thoroughly bewildered.
“Have I really gone insane… to feel excited about being swayed by Rosennelly?”
Slowly raising his hand, as if in disbelief—or as if to cover his own mouth—he touched his lips. Then he glanced at his reflection in the mirror and froze.
His face was bright red—so red that there was no need to visit a tomato field.
…He might really have gone mad.
From early morning, Rosennelly held a meeting. Natasha, once a maid and now her secretary, presented the future direction of Silentium’s operations, while the staff—including Rosennelly—listened attentively.
Everyone wore the standard Silentium tunics—except for one man dressed in shabby clothing.
He was the village chief of Cherta Village.
After the recent flood, more than half the villagers had lost their property. Rosennelly had proposed that they relocate here and build a new village.
She intended to go beyond just running the Silentium hot spring bathhouse—she wanted to create an entire hot spring village. With more visitors arriving, they needed to accommodate larger numbers, and besides—noblesse oblige, wasn’t it? Since she had wealth, she was willing to help those who didn’t.
More than anything, she wanted to share this precious and lovely hot spring with commoners as well.
Her goals were to expand Silentium, establish a village, and develop a souvenir business.
“I heard Cherta Village was nearly wiped out by the flood. I’m planning to build a small settlement on the land in front of Silentium and eventually develop it into a full hot spring village. I’d like to ask if you’d be willing to take part in this.”
Rosennelly spoke confidently.
“You understand that those rumors about curses and such are nonsense, right? Our boss is offering extremely generous conditions. I hope you’ll give it careful thought before making a decision,” Natasha added.
The village chief, who had been silently reading the contract, spoke hesitantly.
“But… the villagers won’t be able to repay such a large sum of money for building a village…”
At his words, Rosennelly smiled gently.
“There’s no collateral or interest. I’m lending money and homes interest-free and without collateral, so the people of Cherta can become self-sufficient.”
“So… why would you do that? Could it be… for collateral purposes like human trafficking or—”
The chief’s distrust only deepened. Recently, predatory lenders had been exploiting commoners with sweet words.
“Excuse me, are you suggesting that the owner of Silentium is some kind of loan shark?” Natasha snapped, clearly offended.
“W-What?! No, that’s not what I meant… I just…”
The elderly chief’s already hunched shoulders shrank even further under her sharp tone.
