Ch 94

For some, Rosaline had been a mage from birth, but it wasn’t true. Rosaline was just an ordinary human. An ordinary knight with decent skills. Not only was she not strong enough to defeat the son of Sihorge, a renowned swordsman, but she also wasn’t good enough to catch the assassins seeking the life of the 2nd Prince. The child wasn’t strong enough to tear apart the Black Moon and survived against their weapon.

Before seeing the ‘It’ wearing his daughter’s shell, Fertan had first encountered the battlefield where she’d fought. Seeing the disastrous sight of the shattered and scattered flesh rotting under the damp moisture, Fertan was finally fully aware that the woman wasn’t Rosaline.

He’d thought she would die. However, she survived longer than he’d expected. Although she had decent enough skills, it wasn’t enough to stand by the 2nd Prince Ricardis’ side, whose life was filled with all kinds of danger. Rosaline’s death was foreseen. It was not surprising at all because it was fate that could come at anytime.

“Why are you hiding the fact that I am not the original Rosaline?”

Fertan looked around in bewilderment. Fortunately, no one passed by. ‘How could she say “I’m not Rosaline…” in an open space like this so blatantly?’

“It’s not for you. I only did so because it could endanger the Radwiell.”

“Aren’t you sad?”

Fertan stopped walking. Rosaline followed him to a halt.

“Rosaline’s choice almost put countless people of Radwiell Castle in danger. She was a child who has abandoned even her duty and left to protect the moonlight in the distant night sky.”

His eyes were wide, and with his big figure, he looked intimidating, but his tone was calm.

“Since then, Rosaline has been dead to me.”

Fertan hesitated a lot before saying this because it felt like he spoke these harsh words to the dead Rosaline.

But his expression was the same as before. Calmly, as if it was someone else’s business. Only then could Pertan look at her more comfortably.

“So you’re saying you’re not sad?”

“…”

She seemed like she couldn’t read the main point beneath his words at all, but she had accurately stabbed his lungs. Fertan brushed his rough beard a few times before hesitating and opening his mouth.

“It’s hard to feel sad and mourn after cutting off-”

‘You have no sense of shame.’ Rosaline’s expression wrinkled harshly, but Fertan only saw it as a simple, troubled expression. She was just like Rosaline in the past when she pondered something.

Rosaline, who had been rolling her eyes for a while, opened her mouth.

“So to be precise, you’re saying you’re not sad, right?”

“…”

‘She didn’t understand it at all.’ Fertan’s face now resembled the unknown creature in the skin of his daughter. He realized that it wasn’t enough. He thought he should’ve expressed his feelings more simply, clearly, and accurately.

Fertan said this after swearing once.

“I mean, I’m sad.”

It sounded more realistic after taking it out of his mouth.

He was sad. The pain penetrated deep into his bones. Even if it was the result of him letting go of Rosaline, even if it was the result of Rosaline letting go of his hand.

Whether his face was filled with remorse or not, Rosaline looked relieved, saying things like, “Oh, is that so?” with a look of consolation. ‘How could you be relieved after making another so ruffled?’ Fertan was worked up.

He looked at her for a long time and then opened his mouth.

“… How’s your body?”

“It doesn’t hurt.”

“There will be more injuries as long as you’re with His Highness Ricardis.”

“That’s all right.”

“I don’t know what you are, but you, too, will die.”

Considering he was looking at a strange creature in the shape of his dead daughter, his eyes looked soft. Rosaline read the concern in his blunt voice.

“I won’t die.”

It wasn’t a sweet word to relieve the anxiety of the person in front of her. Her expression and tone were full of conviction. It was different from the past when they were united by flattery and stubbornness. The moment he saw her walking the same path as in the past, Fertan asked as if possessed.

“Why do you want to protect His Highness Ricardis?”

Fertan fumbled around his memories. From the silky-haired young Ricardis to the scruffy beggar boy of the past.

What on earth did Rosaline see in Ricardis enough to want to protect him so much? He’d never once asked because it didn’t matter. Only the consequences of her actions were of concern. So he’d said don’t do it. He’d rebuked her that she shouldn’t walk on that path.

A scapegoat for the imperial family, and a daughter who lost her life protecting the scapegoat. Just thinking about it, his fingertips became cold as if the falling rain had hit them for hundreds of hours. The resentment wandered nowhere and eventually returned to himself. It was only then that he became curious.

‘What the hell was my daughter, Rosaline, thinking?’ It might be a meaningless question now.

Fertan looked at her with his fists clenched so hard that his veins were raised on the back of his hands. Rosaline crossed her arms and stared at her feet as she was in deep trouble. ‘Umm… Hmm… Ngg…’ She even made strange noises like an enthusiastic puppy whining for snacks.

‘Rosaline…’

Rosaline opened her mouth and closed it again. She attempted to say, ‘Rosaline asked for it.’ but she eventually couldn’t. That answer was engraved in her with intuition, and it had long since been no longer the correct answer. Rosaline pondered.

She’s been through a very long time deep in the forest. She held her breath without being noticed by anyone and sometimes spent a long time immersed in the sensation of floating in the fog. Then she woke up from time to time and consumed magical energy from something dead and existed. ‘It’ existed but had been slowly dying. Because ‘It’ was in an area where death could not reach.

At that time, ‘It’ met ‘Rosaline’. And became Rosaline.

Even the slightest breeze or the scorching sunlight made Rosaline feel a different emotion than before. The appearance of the world she met for the first time was surprising and beautiful. The memories she had built up inside her chest gradually shone more and more brilliantly. Her heart pounded at the vivid emotions. Rosaline finally realized that she was alive.

The short time spent among humans had overshadowed the sum of all of ‘It’’s time.

Please protect him.

I will protect him.

It’s been a long time since the promise she made with ‘Rosaline’ in the past turned into her own oath.

But she didn’t know when and why it’d changed that way. ‘My heart wants to protect him.’ So when asked why she wanted to protect him, she became flustered. Rosaline tilted her head and asked Fertan at once.

“Then why are you trying to protect the Radwiell Castle and Illavenia?”

Fertan’s beard twitched for a moment as if caught off guard. The man’s impression became ferocious, but Rosaline noticed that he wasn’t offended. He was simply thinking about it. Fertan answered after he pondered.

“… because it’s precious to me.”

“I see.”

Rosaline smiled.

“His Highness is important to me, so I will protect him.”

Every word that came out of her mouth was filled with certainty. Fertan felt a force firmly entrenched within her. Strong will and conviction. The power burnt inside the chest and made people move forward.

He’d thought that this creature could do nothing more than imitate humans. So what’s this existence?

A gust of wind blew across the floor and spread across the ceiling. Rosaline’s hair fluttered. It swayed as if drawing the grain of the wind.

“What are you?”

Rosaline’s gaze stopped at his breastplate as it moved around in response to Fertan’s question. Rosaline looked into herself, reflected in her silver armour.

[What are you?!]

Suddenly, she remembered her image reflected on Calyx’s blade from the moonlit window.

[I am the shadow.]

The vitality of the woman in the sunlight stirred.

[I am Rosaline’s shadow.]

“I am Rosaline.”

And she was smiling brightly.

***

[… Let’s have a meal together soon.]

What Fertan had said as they broke up wasn’t unfamiliar. It was the greeting Rosaline received from many people after she entered the imperial city. ‘Why do people ask to have a meal every time we say goodbye?’ Despite her confusion, she’d excitedly and vigorously reply, “Yes!”

But Rosaline, who hadn’t known that the cliche started with “Let’s have a meal soon”, was interpreted as “It was nice to meet you today, I’ll see you again soon”, had gone to each person who’d brought it up and asked, “So when are we going to eat?”

It was a huge mistake for people who didn’t know her tenacity for food. In the end, they had to face an uncomfortable situation where they had to eat an uncomfortable meal with an uncomfortable person after making a mistake in the ritual greeting.

After knowing everything, Raymond taught Rosaline that such a greeting was just words, and Rosaline was furious, asking why people just make promises they wouldn’t keep. Anyway, Rosaline realised that “Have a meal soon…” was more like a greeting.

[If there’s a flower named Radwiell, it must mean “relentless” and “you can’t find any flexibility in them even if you wash your eyes in search of it”.]

Like what people’s mouths were saying about the family name, Fertan seemed to mean what he said. So three days later, an appointment was made.