“…….”
Rose stood blankly for a moment.
The words he had spoken seeped into her ears like a slow-moving current.
At first, she didn't understand the words.
‘He likes… me.’
It felt surreal, like a gift she had desperately wished for but eventually given up on had suddenly appeared before her.
‘Is this a dream?’
Because something so surreal was happening, even such a thought crossed her mind.
However... Dane, standing before her with a contorted face and ragged breathing, was far too real.
So real that she dared not doubt his existence.
“Rose?”
Dane loosened his cravat in frustration and pushed it aside. Then, he asked in a voice laced with anxiety.
“Why aren't you saying anything? Did you not hear me?”
“...No. I heard you. That Your Grace... likes me.”
Rose answered in a half-dazed state. At her mechanical tone, Dane's eyebrows shot up.
“I asked you earlier if you were jealous.”
As if the confession just now had been a catalyst,
“To be honest, I feel like cutting off Arikx's hand.”
Dane began to speak in a much more relaxed tone. It was an attitude that said he had nothing holding him back now.
“That bastard should be grateful he was born a prince.”
Dane grabbed Rose's hand and lifted it, wearing a sweet yet bitter expression.
“Stay by my side, Rose.”
He then kissed the back of her hand and whispered.
“How about you?”
It was an incredibly sweet voice, as if declaring passionate love.
No, he had been like that for a while. He had constantly been trying to reveal his feelings.
Yet, the reason it hadn't reached Rose was...
“...Ugh.”
Because of the wall Rose herself had built.
The moment she realized that fact,
*Crack.*
The wall that had been kept solid and firm crumbled with surprising ease.
“Ugh.”
Rose's vision blurred. Her nose stung, and she couldn't stop the tears from flowing.
“Your Grace... couldn't possibly... like me.”
No, she was wrong.
She could see the emotion, which had taken root at some unknown point, sprouting within Dane, stretching its stem, and blooming lush leaves.
He had always been like that.
Rose just hadn't tried to see it. She had merely turned away because she feared getting hurt.
“I thought... you were treating me well because of the contract...”
With just a single step forward, the world had surprisingly changed.
“...Rose.”
She could finally see Dane's face properly as he reached out to wipe her cheek.
“I don't care about contracts. I like you.”
Even though he must have seen her tears countless times, he was trying his best to comfort Rose as always.
His attitude of prioritizing Rose above all else, and his words filled with unwavering faith.
He... likes me.
Complete realization dawned on Rose.
“...Your Grace.”
However.
Before she dared confess her own feelings to him, there was something Rose needed to know.
“There's something you haven't told me yet, isn't there?”
Rose shook her head lightly, shaking off his hand. With a trembling voice, she asked clearly.
“You know I've regressed.”
“…….”
Dane's face turned ashen. It was the moment his bitter suspicion was confirmed.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Rose asked continuously, even as she sobbed.
“…….”
Dane couldn't answer easily.
His complexion was stiff. The man who always gave quick, short answers at any moment merely remained silent.
“Please tell me honestly, Your Grace.”
Rose swallowed her rising sobs and felt a premonition growing firmer than ever.
If she didn't confirm this, she would never be able to move forward. She would doubt his love every single moment.
It was a conviction akin to a prophecy.
“...It might sound like an excuse.”
Dane's cracked voice pierced Rose's ears.
“I'd like you to listen without judgment.”
As if finally making up his mind, he began to speak slowly.
“I felt that if I revealed I knew about your regression, you wouldn't be able to trust me.”
“…….”
“In that situation, would you have thought of this as an equal contract? You would have considered it a slave contract holding your weakness over your head.”
It was a strained tone uncharacteristic of him.
“I wanted to wait. Until you could say it yourself.”
“…….”
“I know what kind of life you lived, so how could I dare say it first?”
Dane's voice became thickly damp.
“I know what you went through and what wounds you have. But rather than stepping in to fix it for you, I wanted to help you resolve it yourself.”
In the words he struggled to utter and carefully chose after much deliberation, a pure sincerity was felt.
Logically, Rose could understand Dane's words and actions. But her heart did not.
“...What if,”
Rose caught her breath for a moment.
Even knowing this question would be irreversible, she met Dane's eyes and asked.
“If you hadn't known I regressed, would you still have proposed a contract to me?”
Dane's face hardened like stone.
He only parted his lips, unable to say a word. It was because he knew the consequences his answer would bring.
“…….”
A long silence ensued.
Rose didn't take her eyes off his, which were violently trembling. Dane also couldn't look away from Rose's deeply sunken eyes.
What broke the suffocating silence was...
“...No.”
Dane's voice, sounding heavily laced with metallic scraping.
“Probably not. I would have spent the day as usual.”
Even knowing what his answer meant, Dane chose to speak honestly.
“I wouldn't have fallen in love with you. And then... I would have died helplessly.”
Because that was so like him. Because even that was a part of him that Rose loved.
Rose felt herself becoming endlessly sorrowful.
“...I knew it.”
She couldn't hold back the bitter smile forcing its way to her lips.
Even though she knew, even though she had expected it.
The moment it was confirmed in such a clear and cruel way was terrible. Even finding the answer she had waited for didn't make her feel any better.
“You made the contract because of my information and value.”
Rose murmured with a drained face. Self-deprecating remarks that had become habit flowed out unconsciously.
“Otherwise, would you have ever laid a hand on a woman like me?”
At that moment, Rose realized.
“-!”
That the words she had just spoken had actually hurt him.
It felt like her breath had stopped. All time and space seemed to freeze, and only Dane's expression registered in her eyes.
“…….”
Dane expressed his pain in a very characteristic way. She could see cracks forming and gaps opening in his icy eyes.
*Blink.*
When he closed and opened his eyes, they became as clean as a frozen lake a wave had just brushed past.
As if nothing had happened. But it wasn't true that nothing had happened.
“Haa...”
Dane exhaled softly. Like an injured king of beasts struggling to rise to its feet.
Something countless women who had harbored feelings for Dane had desperately wished for, yet no one had been able to achieve.
She had managed to wound and frustrate him. With merely a few words.
That was... a truly strange feeling.
“…….”
The bizarre omnipotence that her insignificant self could control the mighty him, that she could twist his heart at will.
“...Ah.”
It was a desire even she herself hadn't known. Intense possessiveness and a sense of conquest surged, dyed with ecstasy.
The moment she realized the scales she always thought were tilted had actually been completely tilted in the opposite direction for a long time.
*Thump.*
A pleasure so intense it tingled the top of her head soaked Rose thoroughly. It was an immense sensation she had never felt in her entire life.
*Thump, thump.*
Her heart beat so fast it felt like her whole body was pounding. It felt like something inside her was broken.
“Rose.”
The moment Dane reached out to Rose with a melancholic face,
*Slap.*
Rose reflexively knocked it away.
“…….”
Dane flinched and froze on the spot.
He didn't try to blame or scold her for her rudeness. He just stood there blankly, looking as if he were in shock.
“...I want to be alone.”
Rose tried her best to avert her eyes from his face.
“I'm too confused. Please give me some time to think.”
“…….”
Dane cast an intent gaze at her as if trying to see through her inner thoughts.
“...Alright.”
An obedient answer eventually flowed out.
**
“...nim.”
*Sa-geuk, sa-geuk.*
He silently moved his quill pen. The white was the paper, and the black was the writing.
“Hyung-nim.”
He read and signed. He flipped the page and read again. Signed. Read...
“Hyung-nim!”
A loud voice suddenly rang out, making him jerk his head up.
“...Matthias.”
Matthias stood in front of the office desk with his face scrunched up in displeasure.
“Man, how many times did I call you? Are you ignoring me on purpose?”
“I am not.”
“Then why are you holding the paper upside down?”
“…….”
I furrowed my brow slightly and quickly flipped the paper over.
I was really going crazy.
I was reading the letters, but nothing entered my head. Naturally, my efficiency dropped, forcing me to review documents multiple times when once would have sufficed.
“Why have you been like this since yesterday, seriously? You're not usually like this.”
Matthias's eyes scanned every corner of my face meticulously.
“Did something happen? It looks like you haven't been able to sleep.”
“No.”
“Sure, sure. The dark circles under your eyes have reached all the way down to your jaw.”
I steadfastly ignored Matthias's words and only looked at the documents.
“Anyway, why did you come alone this time?”
Matthias shrugged and changed the subject.
“Isn't that a good thing? You showed such signs of displeasure last time.”
“Well, that was then. It's just strange because you used to have her by your side all day.”
Matthias muttered, turning his head slightly.
“I was hoping to get a look at Miss Lune's face...”
“What?”
“No, never mind. Anyway, please approve this.”
Matthias set down a new document.
“What's this?”
“It's a tunnel drilling machine using the resonance crushing method developed by Your Grace's precious wife. There are plans to put it into trial operation.”
“...I see.”
I skimmed through the document half-heartedly and signed at the bottom. With the thought that if Rose developed it, its performance was naturally bound to be good.
“...Hyung-nim.”
Matthias, who had been watching me, sighed.
“You signed as Rose Schmaichel.”
“...Ah.”