When Rose returned to her room deep in thought, a guest had been waiting for her.
Rose recognized him just from the back of his head as he sat on the sofa.
"Andersen-nim."
Tak, tadak.
Andersen, who had been nervously tapping his foot, turned around.
"I thought you'd call for me the moment you got back."
He drummed his fingers in displeasure.
"I suppose it's my fault for being too impatient to wait and coming here first. The one who wants something more always loses, isn't that right?"
A maid had told Rose that Andersen had asked multiple times about her outing and when she would return. So his reaction was understandable.
"Please don't say that. I was preoccupied."
Rose waved her hands and quickly soothed Andersen.
"I should have come to see you the moment I arrived. There was some business at the mine."
"Hmm. I heard the news."
Some of the hurt faded from Andersen's face. But his displeasure remained.
"You must have been busy. You look tired."
"Busy indeed. I was terribly, extremely busy doing the work you asked of me, madam."
Andersen crossed his arms and grumbled.
"I put my own research on hold and did this first, you know. You don't not know how valuable my time is, do you?"
"Thank you, Andersen-nim. For stepping up to help as if it were your own business."
She knew he had rushed over the moment he confirmed her return because of this matter. So Rose didn't find his grumbling all that unpleasant.
"I didn't do it for you, madam. I did it because the subject was interesting."
Putting on airs as if he had no need to boast about his contribution—that was also very him.
Andersen seemed to remember his promise to Rose, as he didn't even mention that this matter was related to Dane.
"Shall we get going right away?"
The two carried the box Andersen had prepared and moved to Rose's laboratory.
Once they were alone, Rose explained everything that had happened in detail.
"Just as I expected."
Andersen grasped even the truths Rose hadn't explained as soon as he heard the situation.
"If it was accumulated in the body without ingestion, I figured it had to be through inhalation via the respiratory tract."
"They used candles made by mixing Velvet Whisp with beeswax."
"Goodness. I'm not sure whether to call it ingenious or foul."
Andersen furrowed his brow and clicked his tongue.
"A poison aimed solely at His Excellency. Ordinary people with little mana—the servants—wouldn't have noticed much difference."
"That's right."
Rose nodded repeatedly in full agreement.
"Others also inhaled magic stone powder but showed no reaction."
"Moreover, the symptoms themselves would have appeared as nothing more than breathing difficulty on the surface. Very clever... and malicious."
Andersen let out a deep sigh, hyuu.
"How does anyone come up with such an idea? I experiment with various things on my students too, but at least I don't put anything inside their bodies."
"Hmm..."
Rose wanted to point out the glaring contradiction in his words but held back. Instead, she focused on the cylindrical object Andersen had brought.
"How should I use this?"
"Why don't you tell me, madam. I suspect you've already guessed."
"It appears to be some kind of gas. For drawing out the Velvet Whisp from the respiratory tract. Am I right?"
"Correct. If you inhale this, the Velvet Whisp particles will clump together. And then..."
The two discussed the matter seriously for a long time with the Magical Device between them.
Rose calculated the time in her head.
'The Royal Harvest Festival is coming soon, and after that, His Excellency's birthday. Joel's wine... even if we can smuggle it out, the enemies will come to settle things.'
After all, removing the Velvet Whisp from Dane's body quickly was necessary.
"Is there no way to remove it faster and more forcefully?"
"Oh."
Andersen picked up something else as if he had been waiting for this. However, uncharacteristically, his demeanor was a bit cautious.
"I had a feeling you might ask, so I brought this prepared, but..."
Andersen gave a dry cough, heom heom.
"You haven't forgotten that you'll need to put this on His Excellency, have you? Will His Excellency accept it willingly?"
"Hmm."
Even to Rose, what Andersen had prepared looked... rather difficult.
"We have to try."
Rose's eyes sparkled as she took Andersen's Magical Device.
"If His Excellency asks, you must absolutely tell him you made it yourself, madam. Don't even mention my name."
Andersen preemptively laid the groundwork, as if worried he might shoot himself in the foot. Rather than reassuring him, Rose simply smiled brightly.
"I can't promise that."
**
"He's inside."
The servants seemed to assume that, by this hour, he would naturally go to the madam.
Guiding me straight to Rose's laboratory the moment they saw me felt entirely natural.
"Your Excellency."
Rose, who had been absorbed in something at the table, bowed her head.
"I heard Andersen was here?"
I could roughly guess what the two had discussed.
Rose's next move, having secured sufficient clues, would be...
'It would be that, after all.'
Even though I had come fully prepared, it was still not easy.
I approached Rose with a face that knew nothing of what was to come.
"Yes, I had sought some advice."
Rose patted that torture chair... no, the in-body analysis Magical Device.
"Would you sit here first?"
As I sat obediently, Rose approached with something hidden behind her back.
"I'll get straight to the point. There are two methods to improve Your Excellency's condition."
Rose held up one finger.
"The first is to stop inhaling Velvet Whisp any longer."
"I had just changed the candles. Lucky, indeed."
I deliberately replied lightly, as if it were of no consequence.
I had guessed that Rose would check the candles first thing upon returning to the mansion.
"It had been bothering me for some reason."
"......"
Rose stared at me for a moment as if gauging my true intentions. Then, finding nothing in my expressionless face, she averted her gaze.
"...The candle situation seems to have been handled well, thanks to Your Excellency."
"And the second method?"
I asked, anticipating what she would say next, and Rose nodded gravely.
"To physically remove the Velvet Whisp that has already accumulated in Your Excellency's lungs."
"Is that possible? How?"
"That's why I needed to consult with Andersen-nim."
Rose took a deep breath, seemingly nervous, then carefully revealed what she had hidden behind her back.
"This is..."
I swallowed a shallow groan as I confirmed what Rose held in her hand.
It was a mask designed to cover the nose and mouth, with a tube through which something could be inserted.
Its rather bizarre, never-before-seen form instinctively repulsed me.
"Explain in detail."
Rose continued her explanation while watching my reaction.
"First, you inhale a specially prepared gas. It's a gas that reacts only with Velvet Whisp, causing the particles to clump together."
"And then?"
"Then, using this mask—more precisely, this inhaler—you can draw out the clumped Velvet Whisp."
"Draw out, huh."
That was a rather sanitized expression.
According to Dane's description in the original work, it felt like his chest was being torn apart.
That device was likely a Magical Device designed to rip impurities out of the lungs with brutal efficiency.
"Is it absolutely necessary? That inhaler."
"Originally, you would inhale the gas and wait for it to be naturally expelled, but 'as you know,' we don't have much time."
Rose observed my reaction for a moment, as if searching for something. When I accepted her words in silence, her gaze softened slightly.
"...Your Excellency, I'm sorry, but this is the only way. We can't leave Your Excellency's body as it is."
"I'm not blaming you. Rose, I know how hard you're trying."
That was the only, best method available for now.
I knew how hard the Rose of the original work had struggled to reach this point.
I also knew full well that she hadn't made this for herself—she had made it for me.
"Physically removing it—wouldn't that typically involve pain?"
"...I can't say it wouldn't. I haven't tried it myself, but I don't think it would be painless."
"Then you'll understand my apprehension."
And yet, despite knowing I would accept it anyway, since it was for my own sake.
I ended up whining for no reason.
"It seems like every time I sit in this chair, I only have unpleasant experiences."
Having someone to trust and rely on made weak words slip out before I knew it.
At the same time, I was curious how Rose would soothe and persuade me.
"Only unpleasant experiences..."
Rose's expression clouded. She carefully scanned the chair, the Magical Device, and then me with her eyes.
"...How can I make this a pleasant experience for Your Excellency?"
Yes, this kind of reaction.
The way she slightly drew her brows together as if troubled, yet tried her best to find an answer.
Whenever I exchanged such questions and answers with Rose, I felt vividly alive.
It felt like having a 'conversation,' unlike always commanding and directing others.
"If there were a reward, I'd be more motivated."
"A reward, you say."
"Didn't you also work hard to receive a reward? It's along the same lines."
Rose nodded as if she vaguely understood. However, uncertain, she asked in a hesitant voice.
"Am I in a position to offer Your Excellency a reward?"
"That depends on you."
"If that's the case, then..."
Rose hesitated, then set the mask she was holding down on the desk. And she took one step closer to me, sitting in the chair.
"I'm not sure if this is right, but..."
Rose gently reached out and cradled my cheek. The unfamiliar sensation of each finger carefully making contact was strange.
Seuk.
Rose's knuckles grazed my cheek, and her thumb came up to trace my lips.
"......"
It was a slow and gentle touch, as if trying to learn the shape of my face.
Rose swept over my face quietly for a long while.
As if it were a moment she had been waiting for a long time, as if she didn't want to forget this instant.
"......"
I too remained silent, surrendering my face to Rose's touch.
I locked eyes with Rose and didn't look away for even a single moment.
That timid little squirrel, the squirrel that used to startle so violently at the slightest touch.
She had come to me of her own accord and was caressing my cheek.
As if handling something infinitely precious, carefully, lest it break.
"......"
The sunlight pouring through the window, and Rose standing beside me beneath it.
Her hair blazing red in the light, and the glinting glass of her spectacles. Her calm, settled gaze, and in contrast, her slightly quickened breath.
The soft, lukewarm body heat tickling my cheek.
This brief time, each and every moment, seemed to shatter into fragments and engrave itself deeply in my memory.
"......"
I had a premonition that I would never forget this moment for the rest of my life.
At length, Rose's lips moved.
"Could you... close your eyes?"
Because I didn't want to take my eyes off that lovely face.
Slowly, very slowly, I lowered my eyelids. Taking in Rose, who was gradually fading from view, until the very last moment.
And the next moment.
Huk—at the same instant the breath suddenly drew near.
Chok.
Soft, pliant flesh touched my lips.