"Lovers who feel betrayed by their friend's true identity, use this as an opportunity to grow closer!”
Even articles like this were pouring out one after another.
Of course, most of the articles were about Rosenta, searching for his whereabouts after she disappeared, or speculating about her ulterior motives.
Regardless of the subject, there was a name that was never left out of any articles.
Rosenta Estella.
Of course, it wasn't limited to articles. Rosenta's name was on the tips of everyone’s tongues.
"Oh, my God! Isn't that crazy? Absolutely toying with people!”
"Well, if they put a curse on someone, they'll just show up later and pretend to get rid of it!”
"Oh! So creepy.”
Rumors had been on everyone's lips, whether they were commoners or nobles, and they had added flesh and grown bigger.
Even those around Rosenta were suspected of being co-conspirators.
"There's another rumor saying….”
"What is it? What is it?”
"Some say that His Majesty knew everything, and they planned it together, while others say that he was used by his friend, the Duke, because he was deceived…….”
Indeed, the empire, especially the capital city of Nota, was hot and noisy every day and was always at the center of controversy.
As a result, the palace was particularly busy.
"Your Majesty, the Marquess of Dumitis has been asking for a meeting today.”
"Not just the regional newspapers, but the Nota newspapers contacted me asking if I could get your Majesty's statement as well...….”
"The central aristocrats are waiting for Your Majesty in the chamber.”
"The Holy Kingdom has sent a messenger. They want to hear Your Majesty's response.”
Theodore couldn’t escape from this unbelievable reality.
Everyone was looking for him.
They kept reminding him of the reality he wanted to forget.
His, or her, father killed his father.
And this throne he sat on was said to be a throne stained with the blood of others.
It was confusing now.
It was hard to tell what was false or true.
Everything he had been trying to protect; it all felt like a handful of sand.
Everything was meaningless.
"Why did he shake me up like this? I can't trust anyone anymore...….”
Theodore put down his quill.
He stopped what he was doing, leaned back in his chair, and tilted his face back.
He closed his eyes.
In the dark, funnily enough, Rosenta's face appeared.
A corner of his heart heated up.
But rather than longing or excitement, a different fire burned.
Resentment.
‘I know that Rosenta didn't kill my father, but that face that resembles the Duke, his predecessor...….’
At one point, Theodore even thought,
‘Can I really believe that there were no lies in what Rosenta told me?’
Maybe from the beginning he...….
"Your Majesty! Get a grip!”
"Ugh!”
Vivian exclaimed vigorously as she hit Theodore on the shoulder.
It stung as much as it was loud.
Theodore quickly grabbed the area where he had been struck and stared ahead with wide open eyes.
"Don't think foolish thoughts!”
Vivian stood her tallest, placing her hands around her waist as if she knew everything he was thinking.
Once again, in a sharp high-pitched voice, she shouted at Theodore,
"I knew this would happen! I haven’t been able to return home for days because of Your Majesty!”
It was the literal truth.
Vivian hadn't left the palace for several days.
She followed Theodore all day like it was her job.
When asked why, she didn't say much.
Of course, Theodore didn't even bother to think about it anymore.
There was no time to argue, and his mind wasn't intact enough to think about this too.
It had been so many days.
"It’s not like I told you to stay here….”
Vivian raised her hand again, as if Theodore's words were reprehensible.
This time, he slapped his back.
You might wonder how potent such a small hand could even be, but this time, too, there was a sharp and cold sound.
"Ugh!”
Theodore frowned and rubbed his back with one hand.
Then, he looked at Vivian with a stunned look as if he couldn't understand her behavior.
Theodore soon became angry.
"Why hit me all of a sudden?!”
But, when he saw Vivian's tearful face, he couldn't get angry.
No, he forgot what he was going to say.
"I can tell you have all kinds of worries just by looking at your expression. You’re thinking about unnecessary things...….”
It was him who got hit, but why was Vivian so upset?
‘Why is she crying?’
"Don't abuse yourself.”
Maybe it was because he’d been thinking too much until then, but he was now acting before he could think.
He pulled Vivian's hand.
Then, naturally, Vivian slipped into Theodore’s arms, as he was sitting in his chair.
Though she was clearly sitting in an awkward manner on his lap.
Neither was particularly shy, however, because it was a reasonable situation.
"At first, I was just going to stand by and watch,” Vivian said.
"But do you know what goes through my mind when I see Your Majesty in such a precarious situation that I can't afford to leave you alone for even a moment?”
“...…No.”
"We really put a lot of faith in Rosenta.”
Vivian kept wiping away the tears that were falling from her cheeks.
Then, she raised the corners of her mouth.
"Rosenta must have fought alone to protect us. Even when he learned of one difficult secret after another, he couldn't even tell us.”
“...…But it would have been nice if he had told us. I could have sorted things out a little more before it got to this point.”
"Yes.”
It was an unexpected answer.
Up until now, Vivian had been speaking in Rosenta’s defense, so Theodore figured she would do the same now.
But her subsequent remarks savored more of bitterness than advocacy.
"It would have been nice if Rozen had trusted us and shared all his secrets. But I think we are to blame, too.”
"We are to blame?”
"Honestly, we could tell just by looking at his expression, given the amount of time we’ve spent together. We noticed that Rosen was having a hard time, but since he's always working for us…… I thought ‘He’ll tell me someday.’”
Vivian, whose eyes looked especially red because of her tears, smiled sadly.
Theodore couldn't take his eyes off her.
‘Why does she look so sad when she's obviously smiling?’
“Yes, I see...….”
Vivian was right.
Exhausted from the hardship, he unwittingly blamed Rosenta. Why hadn’t he told him in advance?
But strangely enough, one side of his heart was still filled with anger.
"But, Vivian, I...….”
Theodore began to speak, biting the flesh inside his mouth until it bled.
His true feelings.
"I liked Rosenta. After being frustrated several times over that Rosenta was the same sex, I was glad for a moment to find out that she was actually a woman. But then she told me directly. Her father...….”
The more he spoke, the more grotesquely distorted Theodore's expression became.
The corners of his mouth curled like a smile, but strangely, his eyes were crying.
And his voice trembled incessantly with anger.
"I know everything. So, Your Majesty, you don't have to say more…….”
Enough was enough.
So much so that Vivian embraced him in her arms, so that he could no longer speak.
"But please know this. I don't think there's anything wrong with how you feel right now.”
A small hand patted him on his sad, lonely back.
"Just accept it all for now. And bit-by-bit, let's work it out together.”
It was Vivian, who was always like a little sister.
But today, she consoled Theodore like a mother, an older sister, and a friend.
"But all I have to say is...…. I hope Your Majesty won't torment yourself by misinterpreting the happy memories we had together.”
In some ways, it wasn’t much of a consolation.
Strangely, however, that small hand patting his back, though it seemed rough, was actually from a kind heart...….
It seemed to clear a little of the darkness that hung over his mind.
***
Throughout the conversation, the expressions of those looking at her were mostly the same.
Especially those who looked like natives, with eyes similar to those of Elef, did not show any reaction.
They just stared at her as if they wouldn't miss a single word.
These were quite burdensome eyes.
She then looked for the people who were not gray-eyed, looked at them, and continued talking.
"It is the previous Duke's plan,”
She said, trying to tell them the truth as much as possible, omitting any exaggeration.
"To make me run away, to cover up what's to come.”
She said everything that could be said.
When she thought it was over, Elef, who was listening to her from the front, raised his hand for the first time.
Like he had a question.
"I have a question. Then why did you bother to run here? I understand that you are close to the Duke of Cardia.”
Elef was sharp.
Rosa would have to talk about the disasters to answer that question, but she had no intention of hiding it.
Anyway, when she brought the prince of Cardia into her castle, she was basically announcing that their families were close.
So, she decided it would be better to be honest rather than trying to deceive them with nonsense.
She immediately opened her mouth.
"Didn't I say that my father caused disasters in other places?”
"Yes.”
At that instant, his gray pupils narrowed further and further to an almond-shaped one.
However, the change was not limited to just Elef.
All the gray eyes facing her narrowed vertically.
As descendants of the Snow Wolf, the moment she saw them, she felt like she was standing in front of something extraterrestrial.
She felt the need to swallow at the strange feeling.
“...…From what I have learned, this is where the next disaster will occur.”
"What kind of disaster?”
"Hail.”
Once a year, on the day of the white night, countless hailstones will fall from the sky.
Hail of ice as hard as stone.
And that hail was going to destroy the foundations of this place and injure people.
"There’s going to be hail. Hail of unimaginable size that’s going to wreak havoc here.”
There was silence for a moment.
She waited for their response with bated breath, hoping that the silence would mean something positive.
On the other hand, she tried to devise another plan.
If they believe what’s being said about her on the outside, they could report her or try to detain her.
To be honest, it would be hard to believe what someone they’re meeting for the first time says, especially someone who’s running away.
However, before long, the silence was broken.
"A telegram’s arrived!”
A man was running in the distance, waving a rolled piece of paper.
At that moment, she saw a familiar bird flying behind the man.
It was a bird flapping its splendid golden wings, undisturbed by the snowstorm.
"Sol…….”
It was a telegram from Theodore.