For Rosenta, it was very strange to suddenly fire someone he had worked with for a long time.
It was obvious that everyone would be confused about what might have happened.
So, he used a little trick.
First, he borrowed Enoch's help, giving him these orders,
"Make a mess of the office, somehow. It'd be better if a few documents disappeared."
Then Rosenta went to Edmund.
Edmund was very worried as soon as he saw him, perhaps observing his serious expression.
"If you've come to visit me privately like this... What's the matter?"
Rosenta hesitated to speak.
Maybe it was because he’d known her since he was young. He seemed to have grown attached to Anna.
But...
"I'm going to let Anna go."
"What?"
Edmund repeatedly frowned and relaxed his brow as if he didn't believe what he’d heard.
That's how close Anna and Rosenta seemed.
But his decision was firm.
In the future, there would be more secrets he needed to keep, and he couldn’t keep an untrustworthy person around.
He exhaled deeply.
Then he spoke firmly in a very clear voice,
"It would be best to let her go naturally as part of your duties as head butler. So, I’ll need you to do your best for me, Edmund."
***
In an empty room some distance from the office.
Rosenta was listening to updates from Enoch on the progress of the incident.
The color of Enoch’s left eye was strange, as he was borrowing the vision of his familiar.
"Edmund has a stupid look on his face as he takes in the messed-up office."
It was fascinating every time Rosenta saw it.
Enoch continued his explanation without interruption as if he were really looking at the scene in front of him.
"Anna says the wind must have blown like crazy, but Edmund says not to lie. He wonders if a gust of wind even makes sense on such a windless day."
Rosenta kept nodding his head.
"It's going well."
Fortunately, Edmund seemed to be maintaining a serious mood.
Then there is no need to waste any more time. It was now Rosenta’s turn to appear.
‘Oh! Before that...’
"Enoch."
Enoch blankly looked at him at the sound of his call.
He approached Enoch.
He gently used his hand to sweep his left eye from top to bottom.
"The magic has been released."
When he let go, Enoch's left eye color was back to normal.
Those very pretty willow eyes.
It was satisfying. A smile hung around Rosenta’s mouth.
"Let's go now."
Now that he was done with that business, he turned his eyes away.
From behind his back came Enoch's voice, mixed with a small, light sigh.
"……Yes."
For some reason, this made him nervous.
So, he kept sneaking glances behind him the whole time as they headed to his office.
Whenever he did, he would see Enoch pressing his left eye.
Funnily enough, he thought, 'He looks like a cat.'
‘I must be going crazy.’
He quickly dismissed the thought and picked up the pace as if trying to get rid of his random thoughts.
He walked so fast that he was able to reach the office in no time.
"I can hear everything from down the hallway."
Edmund's angry voice rumbled through the hallway.
"You're going to keep speaking nonsense! A gust of wind in this calm weather!"
It didn’t seem like he was just blowing smoke.
In fact, when Rosenta saw the office, it made him think that Edmund might really be upset.
"What will you do if any of the duke's important documents have disappeared!"
He became anxious for some reason.
He urgently grabbed the doorknob and turned it. It was his office anyway, so he didn't need to knock.
Even before the door could be opened, he’d squeezed himself through the crack in it.
He took a proper look around.
He couldn’t help but sigh at the cruel scene before him.
"Sigh.”
He couldn’t see a single thing intact, whether it be a document or something else. The word ‘jumbled’ was a perfect fit.
The curtains were torn, and all the furniture had changed position.
There was no need to even mention the documents.
Not only were they scattered everywhere, but even at a glance, there seemed to be quite a few documents missing.
It was disastrous.
"……… These are all the documents that I organized recently……"
Edmund was not acting.
Seeing this would make anyone’s blood pressure rise.
"Oh...."
Rosenta’s hands were shaking.
Beyond anger, the thought of organizing the documents again made him dizzy.
Then, suddenly, one hand came out and pulled his hand.
It was Anna's hand.
She scrambled to make an excuse as if she was clinging to him.
"Du-, Duke! I didn’t do this... ... su-, suddenly the wind went crazy...."
Although he pretended to listen to Anna's excuses, he didn't release the deep furrow between his brows.
In fact, he frowned even more.
Then he forcibly removed Anna’s hand and deliberately avoided eye contact.
"Anna, you must know how much I have worked without a single day off."
"Yes... ...I know."
"Yet you’ve made this mistake. I really don't understand."
"It wasn’t my mistake!"
"Anna, I hate lies."
He meant it. Although he’d concocted this false story, his words were sincere.
So, he was sad.
He had to cut off the child who had been with him for six or seven years with his own hands.
"Do you think it makes sense for my office to be in such a mess because of the wind? Of course, considering my affection for you, I won’t punish you severely."
"What? That means..."
Anna's face lit up.
But he completely cut off any bud of hope she may have had.
With a very cold look,
"Return to your hometown until I call you back."
He had told her to return to her hometown which was no different than a notice of dismissal.
Knowing that Anna's expression completely distorted; she slumped and clung to his legs.
"Duke! How could you do that to me?! You'd be in trouble without me!"
While her words were meant to appeal to his needs, they became words that further fueled the fire.
Rosenta bent down one knee to make eye contact with Anna and asked,
"Is that a threat?"
"’Choke’, what do you mean threat?"
He grabbed Anna by the chin.
"Anna, I want our farewell to be a positive one. Please don't provoke me."
"Ugh, yes...."
Anna groaned in fear and tried to lower her head.
But because he held her chin, she was forced to maintain eye contact with him.
"No matter how much I hate it, is it because this is all I've ever learned?"
He secretly smiled.
After coming to the Estella Duchy, most of what he saw and learned were his father's teachings as he was simultaneously suppressed.
Emma and Anna would know that.
So, he wanted to, once again, remind them whose blood ran through his veins.
"Don't make me angry, Anna."
***
He leaned slightly against the window frame and looked down at Anna's back as she left.
Anna kept looking back with her eyes full of regret.
Bitterness came over him. He struggled to keep looking out the window.
Then he pulled the curtain.
The darkness descended, but the curtains did not open again.
He just sat quietly on the sofa. He leaned back on the backrest and looked up at the ceiling.
At that time, a face suddenly appeared.
"Are you worried?"
Enoch, holding the back of the sofa tightly, locked him in between his arms and lowered his face to him.
Rosenta was exhausted and had no energy to push Enoch away.
He looked up.
"I'll be fine. I'll make you into even more of a butler than you are now..."
A cold hand touched his cheek.
His temperature had already been rising since that morning as he’d awoken with his head pounding.
Perhaps that's why he quite liked Enoch’s coldness.
He closed his eyes.
When he didn't shake it off, Enoch continued resting his hand on his cheek.
Of course, he did so while clinging to Rosenta in a pleading tone.
"Trust me."
Perhaps because Anna's seat had become vacant, he seemed to think that someone else would be put in that position.
It may have been childish, but Rosenta burst into laughter at that very Enoch-like childishness.
He opened his eyes again.
He then tapped Enoch’s arm and escaped from between them.
"You alone are overwhelming enough; I refuse to hire someone else."
He moved and sat on the table in front of the sofa to make it easier to face Enoch.
He spoke only after their eyes met.
"You don't have to do any better; you're already the most trustworthy person to me."
"I'm... trustworthy?"
Enoch was as incredulous as if this was the first time in his life hearing that.
His expression even reflected as much.
But Rosenta was serious. Full of sincerity without even a single lie.
"You came into my life already knowing my secret. And you have nothing to hide from me either."
When they first met, they had one or two things hidden from one another but now, even those things had been revealed.
There was no need to lie anymore.
No one could be more reliable than that.
"It’s just as the duke says, and I am... even on a leash."
Enoch smoothed the black fabric around his neck that he never took off.
Every time Rosenta saw it, he was overcome with a strange feeling.
"Why do you keep that leash on..."
‘Rattling’
Someone opened the door without knocking.
Without saying a word, Rosenta looked at the door that suddenly opened.
"Your Majesty?"
Theodore was standing at the door.
He immediately asked a question without even coming in.
"A leash? What does that mean?"