Chapter 37
‘Huh? What’s this?’
Noah cut in with such perfect timing that it almost seemed intentional.
“The Duke of Raymond also said he would be arriving at the same time, Your Majesty.”
And just like that, Jonathan became so focused on Noah that he completely forgot Rosé had been about to say something.
“Let’s go.”
“No, wait… um…”
In the end, before Rosé even had a chance to open her mouth properly, even the maids tidying the bedchamber hurried out of the room.
“No! Wait!”
I’m a person, you know! A woman, and one with such a splendid figure, too!
She shouted belatedly into the now-empty room, but it was no use.
As Noah had said beforehand, Rosé sat in the study after breakfast, and soon Christina arrived.
“I’m here! Rosé!”
“Welcome, Lady Christina.”
“Where’s His Majesty the Emperor?”
“He went out early this morning.”
“Oh dear, what a pity.”
Regretting that she had missed her chance to run into Noah, Christina soon called out toward the door.
“Bring it in.”
At her command, imperial servants carried several boxes into the study.
They turned out to be the dresses she had promised to bring.
“They’re so beautiful, Lady Christina!”
“I’m glad you like them.”
When Rosé opened the lids one by one, each box held dresses that looked practically new.
As could be guessed from Christina’s own chambers, her tastes were consistent.
Every box contained girlish dresses with little ribbons, lace, and bead embellishments.
“Some I never even wore after having them made. I hope they fit you.”
“Anything that doesn’t fit, Evelyn will fix for me. Thank you so much, Lady Christina!”
“Would you like to try one on right away?”
“Yes!”
Rosé had never worn such dreamlike, girlish clothes in her life, and worried they might not suit her. But surprisingly, they did.
“You look wonderful. I’d believe you were a young lady of some noble house.”
And Christina’s flattering words didn’t sound like mere politeness.
Wearing a pale yellow dress, Rosé stood before the mirror Evelyn and Amelia had brought from her bedroom, and found herself rather pleased with the reflection.
The last time she had looked in a mirror, she’d been too shocked by the fact that she had turned into a human to notice. But now, upon closer inspection, she realized she looked quite good.
Her face was pure and spotless, like someone who had grown up sheltered from the sun, with well-proportioned features neatly set in place.
Her frame was small, but where she needed curves, she had them.
Her uncommon hair and eye color made her look even more striking.
‘With looks like this, I could pull off pretty, cute, and even sexy!’
If only she had been born in the right era, she might have profited from her beauty alone.
‘But then there’s that damned prophecy.’
These pretty eyes of hers frightened everyone, so it was hopeless here.
“By the way, when will His Majesty come to the inner chambers?”
“Probably around lunchtime. That’s when he usually came if he wasn’t too busy.”
“I hope he comes soon!”
“Me too!”
Rosé eagerly agreed with Christina’s wish, but a bittersweet smile tugged at her lips.
She ought to be using every spare moment to think about how to develop her relationship with Noah, yet what came to mind first was the thought of wanting to show him how she looked in this dress.
‘Honestly…’
Of course Noah would say she looked beautiful no matter what she wore, but why did she so badly want to hear him say it?
A very bad habit indeed.
As she was chatting further with Christina, suddenly—
“Lady Melissa, what brings you here…?”
“Where is the Emperor?”
“His Majesty is out.”
“Then what’s that tray in your hands? You’re always lying to me.”
“No, it’s not like that…”
Out of the blue, Melissa’s voice sounded from beyond the door.
—Lady Christina, you know, right? This is a secret.
Just before the door opened, Rosé had whispered her plea to Christina, then quickly ducked under the desk. Melissa was exactly the type to fling open a door without knocking.
‘Why is she here all of a sudden?’
Sure enough, as Rosé clutched her pounding chest beneath the desk, the door swung open.
“Lady Melissa! It’s been so long! If I’d known I’d meet you here, I would’ve dressed even prettier—what a shame.”
Christina greeted Melissa with cheerful nonchalance.
“Lady…?”
Melissa’s sharp voice softened instantly upon seeing Christina.
It wasn’t surprising. Melissa desired Noah’s union with Christina just as much as Duke Raymond did. Perhaps even more.
She believed their marriage would be to Noah’s great benefit.
Even Rosé—who disliked the Duke—acknowledged there was no surer way to secure Noah’s position. Melissa’s reasoning wasn’t exactly wrong.
‘The problem was that her obsession only backfired.’
In the original story as well as now, Noah’s total lack of interest in Christina was largely Melissa’s doing.
He already disliked the idea, and her constant insistence on a marriage he didn’t want only deepened his resentment.
‘If not for that, who knows how the story might have changed.’
Rosé thought Melissa’s methods were wrong, but she still understood her.
‘She probably had no choice.’
Before Noah became a tyrant, before Zion appeared before him again, the only person who believed Zion might truly still be alive was Melissa.
‘She wanted to secure Noah’s throne by any means necessary.’
Melissa had never seen Zion’s corpse with her own eyes.
She forever regretted not ensuring with her own hands that the body was truly disposed of, leaving that task to her subordinates instead.
That lingering fear drove her to interfere more and more in Noah’s affairs… and ultimately, it was that interference which ruined him. Melissa never realized it, even until her death.
That was why Rosé’s role—knowing the hidden motives of the characters—was so crucial.
‘We’re actually on the same side!’
Yet Melissa didn’t see it that way, and so despite sharing the same goal, they had to treat each other as enemies. Exhausting.
‘Please, Christina—handle this well!’
If their plan to naturally pair Christina with Noah came to light here, everything would be over.
Rosé, anxious, gnawed her nails and strained her ears.
What were the odds that Melissa wouldn’t notice this endlessly bright and innocent girl hiding something?
“What brings you here, my lady?”
“From today, I’ve become Rosé’s playmaid!”
“Rosé’s… playmaid?”
Rosé had worried Christina might not even grasp what needed hiding, but—
“Yes. Once, Rosé accidentally boarded my father’s carriage and ended up at our house. Somehow her necklace came loose then, so I came to return it. But Rosé looked so lonely! Since I love cats, I asked if I could become her playmaid. His Majesty kindly gave me permission.”
Christina lied without the slightest waver in her tone.
Listening under the desk, Rosé sighed in relief, even as she chuckled in disbelief.
‘I really underestimated the early training of noble daughters.’
Of course—no daughter of a duke would act like a fool in such situations.
Smiles to your face, enemies when interests change—that was nobility.
She had surely been drilled since childhood by Duke Raymond himself.
‘Not bad at all.’
Rosé found herself liking this new side of Christina.
Naïve and cheerful most of the time, but capable of drawing the line firmly when needed.
That quality might actually suit Noah better.
“His Majesty, you say?”
“Yes!”
“I see. But what about all these dresses?”
“He even wanted to call a tailor and make some for her as thanks! He asked about my tastes, so I brought some of my old clothes.”
“That’s wonderful. Truly wonderful. So the cat… sometimes it is of use, after all.”
When Melissa began asking about the dresses filling the study, Rosé thought they’d been caught for sure—but Christina slipped past the suspicion with ease.
‘She’s earned herself a pass necklace in Melissa’s eyes!’
If Noah saw Christina handle things this skillfully before Melissa, perhaps he would see her differently too.
Rosé felt a flicker of hope. Yes, it was good and all, but…
‘Melissa, when are you leaving!’
Hiding in such a rush, Rosé had ended up kneeling, and now her legs were going numb.
