As soon as the fireworks were over, Vivian went down from the rooftop frantically, her face reddened.
When Rosenta tried to hold her hand, she dodged him by jumping like a live fish.
Thus, uncharacteristically, they went down without a word.
There was total silence.
Since he couldn’t keep quiet forever, he called Vivian in a gentle voice.
"Vivian."
"Oh, what?"
Again, Vivian's pupils fluctuated nonstop.
It was a reaction that wouldn’t occur unless he’d done something to Vivian.
He couldn’t figure it out no matter how much he thought about it.
He didn’t know if he was just arrogant, but he was confident that he’d never made a mistake with Vivian.
‘It might be better to openly ask rather than to rack my brain and think about it.’
"If I make any mistake...….”
But he didn't even finish the question before Vivian shook her hands frantically.
"No! You didn't make any mistake!"
"Then why are you so uncomfortable?"
"Well, that's...….”
Vivian closed her mouth tightly.
She even wiggled her fingers nonstop, further displaying her anxiety.
Then, with her eyes closed tightly and her dress clasped in her hands, he shouted out loud.
"I want Rosen to meet someone reliable!"
"What?"
It was a sudden remark.
It was clear that ‘someone reliable’ was referring to his future spouse.
‘Why are you talking about that now?’
He looked at Vivian in confusion since he couldn’t understand.
Just in time, his eyes met Vivian’s, whose eyes were squinted open.
Fortunately, Vivian didn't shy away.
"Oh, I was reading the writings in the fireworks earlier and I thought…. "
Instead of continuing, she crumpled her dress.
He could see the hem of her dress had curled up to her mid-calf.
He grabbed Vivian's hand.
He spoke in the softest voice he could.
"Tell me it's okay."
“……I wish Rosen would stay with me forever. But Rosen needs to meet someone better than me."
As she began to speak properly, words spilled from Vivian’s mouth like a burst dam.
"Just as Rosen made me happy, I hope you find happiness as well. Of course, it would be nice to be that happiness...….”
“……It would be nice, but?"
Vivian smiled.
Her eyes and mouth were bent to the fullest, but it seemed like a lonely expression to Rosenta.
"I know. To Rosen, I'm just a friend. And I can only lean on Rosen."
He couldn’t ask any questions regarding what she meant.
The shaking corners of Vivian's eyes and the corners of her mouth smiling bitterly came into his view...….
"There's no tree that can't break. One day Rosen, you, will need someone that supports you, too. So, Rosen, meet someone like that, okay?"
It was the most serious-looking Vivian he’d ever seen.
He couldn't take it as a joke.
Therefore, he answered carefully in a very serious manner.
“……Yes."
***
He couldn't remember how he got back to the ducal castle.
The last thing he remembered was that the coachman and Enoch came to pick him up.
It was because he’d drunk a lot.
Vivian, saying, "Let's drink!" had urged him to drink the wine, so he drank much more than usual.
But it wasn't compulsory.
The atmosphere of the banquet was good, and he was glad that Vivian was rejuvenated, so he enjoyed a lot of alcohol.
In a word, it was his fault for not monitoring his intake.
"You've been drinking a lot."
"Yeah. I'm in a good mood...….”
He closed his eyes while on his bed, and he felt a cold hand touching his cheeks along with Enoch's voice.
Just in time, as his face was burning, he rubbed his cheeks on the cool hand, in a good mood.
Of course, with his eyes still closed.
He was mumbling like that for a long time when he heard Enoch talking to himself.
"I have to come back quickly; I should never leave him alone."
‘Come back? From where?’
‘Ah, Enoch told me that he would leave me for a while.’
‘To protect me...….’
The thing that Vivian said came to mind. Meet someone who can support him so that he doesn't break.
‘Is it because I'm drunk?’
He asked a question that he would never normally have said out of his mouth.
"Why would you leave me?"
He managed to lift his heavy, non-floating eyelids.
Sitting at the edge of his bed, he saw Enoch touching his cheek.
"You said you were going to stay by my side and wield my pity for you. But why are you now saying that you're going to protect me?"
Every time Rosenta spoke, the scent of wine crept up.
Maybe it was just his imagination, but he felt drunk again because he was smelling that scent.
He couldn't overcome the gravity and would start to close his eyelids, but he would then open his eyes again.
He repeated that a few times.
Then, at the end, he looked forward as he narrowed his eyes.
In the meantime, Enoch didn't say much and just looked down at him.
"Why are you suddenly doing what you want...….”
"I think about how many times a day I want to have you. I want to kiss you again and again, not just your hair...….”
"What?"
It was strange.
Suddenly, his heavy eyelids opened on their own.
Enoch's face was seen more closely in his clearer view.
Enoch's pale green eyes, full of possessiveness and obsession, were flashing down at him.
Enoch slowly took his hand off his cheek.
Then, this time, he slowly leaned over Rosenta’s body.
He picked up a handful of hair and, without taking his eyes off him, he gave it a short kiss.
"For that to happen, you need to be intact. I don't want you to be broken. I want you to stay with me, just as you are now."
Rosenta’s breath was taken away.
But he didn't feel suffocated.
It just meant that Enoch’s feelings towards him were overwhelming, beyond his control, beyond comprehension.
And it was a pity.
"I'll risk being broken, so don't ruin yourself, Duke."
The love of this man, who takes it for granted that he will be broken...….
***
Theodore Royal Helios.
He intended to make a surprise appearance at Marquis Marigold's wife’s birthday banquet.
He finished today's work, thinking of how surprised they’d look when he appeared.
No, he thought he’d finished.
If one of the spies he’d sent to the Holy Kingdom didn't suddenly visit the palace with a letter.
"What's this?"
"At the moment, several people, including the Saint, are preparing to enter the empire."
In fact, as soon as Theodore ascended the throne, he planted several spies in the Holy Kingdom without others knowing.
Of course, they were turned into competent priests.
This is because he thought that the only way the empire could be prepared was by knowing the power struggles of their targets, the greedy Kingdom.
"They said that disaster had struck a village called Nequitia, so she would go to heal it."
"Disaster?"
"Yes, the river in the town is said to have a problem."
“……Wait a minute, wait a minute."
He was basically saying that there was a problem with the town’s drinking water.
This was a major disaster that was directly linked to their ability to live.
If such an appeal had made its way to Theodore, he would have already seen it.
After the sandstorm, Theodore began organizing the documents by their assessed risk.
Then, the documents were immediately checked by himself or passed on to the newly established crisis management department.
Theodore quickly began to rummage through the appeals, thinking that he might have missed it.
"I don't have it."
Soon Theodore looked up. His golden eyes shone sharply.
“……Not at all."
Urgent documents handed over from the crisis management department today were also searched.
Of course, it wasn't there either.
In the end, the current situation meant only one thing.
Even though it was an incident that was not officially reported, the Kingdom was the first to know about it, which was an absurd situation.
"Following a pig full of greed, is it a snake this time?"
[t/n: Theodore called the previous pope a greedy pig. He’s asking if the current pope is a snake.]
He remembered Conitel.
A character who maintained an unsettling smile no matter the situation.
He wasn’t an easy man to read.
That’s why he felt like a snake, and it was the first time Theodore had felt that impression since the previous Duke of Estella.
"Is that all you've found out?"
“……Yes. I'm sorry."
Theodore shook his head.
"No. That much is enough."
‘Thud, thud, thud.’
A steady, yet dull sound rang through the office.
It was the sound of wood as Theodore tapped his finger on the desk.
Theodore repeated the meaningless act over and over again as if thinking deeply. Until a method came to mind.
“……Rosenta."
At the same time, the dull sound of tapping on the desk stopped.
Rosenta Estella.
It was a name that passed through Theodore's mind in an instant.
The Estella family had passed down the ability to curse for generations.
Perhaps that could be the answer to this problem. Theodore thought so.
Of course, if Rosenta couldn’t step forward, Theodore was going to do so.
The power of the Helios imperial family.
Some of the ancient god Harmonia's abilities could be used, some of them were purifying.
"If there are conflicting abilities...… Either of these two will work."
Theodore was confident and, at the same time, felt a great hesitation.
It would be nice if the information was wrong, but in that case, Rosenta could be in danger.
If there was a real crisis, the situation was dangerous in itself, and even if it was a trap, it wouldn’t be good to be involved.
But...….
Theodore's troubles were short-lived.
"Sol."
The window of the office shook.
Soon, the window blew wide open with a tremendous sound of wind.
A golden bird appeared at his call.
"Please deliver this letter."
He, too, was an ordinary man.
But before that, he was a person who sat in a position with a lot of responsibility.
An emperor who considers the empire the number one priority and has to move for the people below him.
Theodore was an emperor.