A bedroom without Rosetta.
Anna looked at the door in vain and then cleaned. Then she looked at the door again and cleaned some more.
"I'm sure you're hiding something from me. If it wasn't for the seal, I'd just force it out."
Anna was somewhat shocked to learn Rosenta was hiding something from her.
She had been training to become his maid since she was young.
After that, she followed in her grandmother’s footsteps and lived as Rosenta’s personal maid.
"Ugh. I'm disappointed."
Anna, who had been smoothing out the wrinkles in the bedding, suddenly struck the blanket she was organizing as if she were chopping firewood.
"Ah, if you would just tell me, I could help.”
Anna kneeled and buried her face in the blanket.
It was as if she was completely consumed with these thoughts.
No, in some ways, it seemed like she was suffering from regret.
"After everything I’ve done for you…….”
After jumping up, she began anxiously pacing the room.
She was suddenly startled by something knocking on the window.
"Oh my!"
What surprised Anna was a pigeon.
The messenger pigeon had a piece of paper tied to its foot.
"Huh? A pigeon."
She must have been embarrassed to have screamed so she covered it up by scoffing.
Anna opened the window right away. Then she unwrapped the paper that had been on the pigeon's ankle.
"Oh, it's a letter from my grandmother.”
Anna's expression grew bored.
It was an expression that made it hard to believe that she was a granddaughter receiving word from her grandmother.
She even crumpled the letter. Then she burned it over the candle fire.
"You have a lot of worries.”
Anna mercilessly shut the window, regardless of whether or not the pigeon was sitting there.
She closed the curtain.
"Hmm. I guess I’ll have to smooth out the wrinkles again.”
She walked to the bed to resume the work she had started earlier, smoothing out the wrinkles in the bedding one by one.
Anna was so excited that she started humming and focusing on cleaning.
***
Rosenta’s head hurt.
‘Is this the natural consequence of staying up all night?’
She held her throbbing head and stood up. Then she could clearly see the mess around her.
There were beakers and medicinal tools in disarray, as well as several opened books.
And there was also the finished medicine.
"It's finally over."
She moved the liquid into a glass bottle the size of her thumb and shook it.
It was a very transparent liquid, with no sediment in sight.
It seemed that all the hard work had paid off and, for some reason, she felt overwhelmed.
But that was only for a moment.
She was now afraid to open the door and go outside.
"Sigh. How do I face Enoch?"
First, she put back on the magical tools she’d taken off one by one. She had been afraid they would wear out their magical power.
She felt her thin contours gradually getting thicker.
‘Now that I'm ready, I can open this door and leave. I can't stay here forever.’
He went out of the room.
He hesitated for a long time at the end of the corridor, at the mouth of the exit. ‘Should I leave now or stay a little longer?’
Then he came to a conclusion.
It wasn't like him to hesitate like this. What did Enoch mean by what he’d said the night before and why had he behaved that way?
With that thought, he became very annoyed.
As a result, his hesitation was lessened. He immediately called Enoch's name.
"Enoch."
The door began to open just as it did when he’d entered.
And in front of him stood Enoch, whom Rosenta had not called, simply using his name as a code.
As though he’d been waiting for him.
“……Why are you here?"
"Because you called me."
‘Did I call for Enoch?’
He didn't understand what that meant. Because he’d never called for Enoch.
‘Even if I did say his name, I was only reciting the password.
‘Oh. No way.’
"Did you add other magic?"
"I realized that I didn't know when and where an intruder was going to suddenly show up, so I put an additional summoning spell over the entire top floor. So that you can call me any time."
The entire top floor.
Then that meant that everything, including that room, was included.
"Of course, the code is my name."
Rosenta distorted his face.
Since yesterday, whenever Enoch came to mind, he’d had complicated feelings.
Whenever that happened, he’d grabbed his head and said Enoch’s name…….
"Yesterday, you called my name a lot, so it was hard to go back and forth."
Shame, embarrassment, and irritation mixed in many ways, creating complex emotions.
Funnily enough, there was another emotion that outweighed all of that.
It was comfort.
The Enoch in front of him was the Enoch he knew.
He was dangerous because he was unpredictable, but Enoch was honest with how he felt.
That's why he was a man of no pretense.
"Enoch."
"Yes."
"I don't need it, so terminate that magic immediately."
In response, one side of Enoch's mouth twitched. That meant he didn't like it.
He approached Enoch and pulled his tie sharply.
Then Rosenta asked, "I guess I look like a man who anyone can easily defeat in your eyes."
“……No way."
"So, cancel it."
He immediately turned and went straight down the stairs.
Behind him came Enoch's laughter, but he never stopped walking, pretending not to hear.
Although there was a smile hanging from Rosenta’s mouth, just like Enoch’s.
***
Rosenta took a late break and was walking around the garden with the intention of taking a day off.
"Since things are going to continue to be hectic, it won’t make much of a difference if I rest for one day, right?
If he left things for another day, nothing would happen.
‘Maybe you're getting an earful from Marquis Marigold by now.’ He could just imagine it.
[This is referring to Theodore. He left Marquis Marigold in charge when he suddenly left to chase after Rosenta.]
A laugh came out.
"It's a shame I can't see it."
It's not often he got to see Theodore in trouble.
He must have been hearing from the marquis day and night because he had done something wrong.
"The sky is so clear."
Even though it was well past morning, the sky was still bright. He covered his face with one hand and looked at the scorching sun.
Then he heard a stranger's voice calling him.
"Duke!"
At first, Rosenta tried to guess who it was because it was an unfamiliar voice.
Then he soon realized.
Aphra was now staying at Estella Castle.
"Duke!"
Aphra was running from afar with his orange hair flying about.
Rosenta felt sorry that he’d pushed him to the back of his mind.
To make up for it, he tried to treat him as kindly as possible.
"How was your night, Aphra? I'm worried that you might not have been able to sleep because of the new environment."
"How could I complain? I had such a nice stay because you gave me such a comfortable room. Thank you."
"I'm glad you're satisfied."
Rosenta couldn't just end the conversation like this, so he asked Aphra a question for no reason.
"Then what have you been up to?"
"Ah! I've been looking around here and there. It's definitely different from Silva, so there are a lot of fun things to see."
His eyes glistened.
Aphra talked for a long time, like a man who had been waiting to be asked.
Rosenta continued to observe Aphra with a curious look in his eyes.
"The number of things to map has increased. It’s so exciting and full of anticipation. Maps are very important. When transporting or doing trade...….”
Fortunately, however, just as Rosenta was getting tired, he could see a bundle of pink behind Aphra.
It was Vivian's hair that exuded presence even from a distance.
"Rosen!"
Vivian was running toward him, holding on to the skirt of her dress, having thrown off her overcoat.
She jumped into his arms.
He used one arm to support Vivian's waist and embraced her with his other hand.
"I missed you! Did you have a good trip?"
Vivian was smiling in a flash and then composed her expression.
After she escaped his arms, she greeted Aphra with a haughty expression.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Vivian Marigold. May I ask the young lady’s name?"
Aphra looked around as if he was embarrassed, wondering if he should respond.
Then he pointed at himself and stammered.
"What? Me? Me?
"Yes, young lady."
Vivian was now completely misunderstanding.
Aphra was definitely innocent and pretty. Plus, he was a person who liked to adorn himself.
But regardless, he was a man.
On behalf of Aphra, who seemed bewildered and lost for words, Rosenta wanted to step up and clear up Vivian's misunderstanding.
"Vivian, it's young lord."
"Yeah right. I can distinguish between a young lady and a young lord...…. What?"
"It's young lord."
Vivian's eyes slipped back toward Aphra standing next to Rosenta.
She pointed to Aphra with a robot-like gesture. Then looked at him and Rosenta alternately.
"Lord, really?"
"Yes, indeed."
Vivian immediately approached Aphra.
From Aphra’s point of view, it was all a series of sudden events.
Maybe that's why Aphra just stood still, dumbfounded.
But he soon screamed.
"Ugh!"
Vivian put both hands on Aphra's chest.
"Oh, my. So, it’s young lord."