Prologue

“…. You’re saying, one year?”

Her voice trembled from fear. The blood from her face had seemed drained and her face became paler. But, contrary to her reaction, the old man, the village therapist, who has been treating her, nodded his head sullenly.

“If you’re lucky enough, you might be able to live, or a little more. But yes, you can’t last more than two years.”

He sounded too casual and dry when he declared how much time she would last, if it would be a year, less, or more than that. He wasn’t saying it out of pity, rather he was stating the truth.

The weather was rather clear today, and if it was cloudy, it would be raining. Even if she talked about the weather, she wouldn’t feel emotional and hurt like this.

But the therapist wasn’t particularly unkind. Because everyone in the village who treated Rosé was like that.

It was a village with strong vigilance towards foreigners and a strong tendency to exclude them. So, from the moment she first set foot in this town, no one had approached her, and they had never offered her a friendly greeting.

They saw her sobbing dejectedly after losing her beloved man and her baby at the same time, however there was no one who offered her words of consolation.

And it was still the same today.

“It was still useful when there were herbs left… But who should I ask now? It’s troubling me.”

The therapist grumbled and stood up. Rosé didn’t give the therapist a single glance and was staring blankly at nowhere; couldn’t even shed a single tear.

The therapist didn’t realize that he had just sentenced her life to end sooner, as if he didn’t feel any pity for her.

Saying that her death was nearing, when she was this energetically alive, he turned his back on her and tidied the dried herbs.

Rosé belatedly stood up, while wiping her tears that had come late too with her face, paling as the second passed by. She then bowed her head politely to the therapist who didn’t give her any glance and turned away from him.

As soon as she stepped out, the cold breeze penetrated her thin clothes.

“Keuluhg!”

She clenched her clothes with one hand squeezing her chest due to pain, as her other hand was covering her mouth, which couldn’t stop coughing.

Once her cough started, it wouldn’t subside that easily. She kept coughing and moved her trembling legs.

She was heading to a house on the outskirts of her village. No, it was an old and shabby hut that was embarrassing to even call it a house. But it was the only place where Rosé could rest her body.

… And it was once a real ‘home’.

“Keuluhg, Keuleuhg!”

After entering her house, she hastily closed the door and coughed one after another. A little while later, she had calmed down and her cough had finally stopped.

She lifted her hand that was covering her mouth, she stood up and looked around her house.

There were no candles lit in the house; it was as dark as night. It’s a house where if you open the door, the sunlight pours in brightly.

Tears streamed down Rose’s cheeks once more. She flopped down on the spot like a doll with a broken string. And a thin cry leaked from between her lips.

“… Haven.”

Someone’s name came out through her almost silent cry. It was a name she had never called before until several years after letting him go.

“Ugh, … my baby.”

And she called her baby, who she had yet to name but had left him already.

Despite the fact that she was all alone now, she once had real family. There was a man who approached her, whom she had never thought that a family would be created between him and her, and in the end, a baby was born.

They came as a blessing for her. For Rosé, who grew up not even remembering her parents’ faces, it was her ‘her first’ family.

Maybe it was because she wanted to live happily with them for the rest of her life.

Had I been too greedy to stay with my beloved one, so they took them away from me? 

「How dare you covet the Grand Duke!」

She didn’t know that the man was the Grand Duke. She never imagined that he has such a great status. She was merely an ordinary woman, who was indefinitely kind and warm to everyone.

「He can’t hold such a lowly person as you. He will be king of Guinters in the future.」

The village where Rosé lived was a rural area located on the border of the kingdom. There were very few people coming to the village from other regions, so the news of the world was also dark.

So, neither of the villagers know that the king had already died at a young age, without any children.

In addition, I did not know that there is a law that states that if the king dies without a successor, the royal family who takes the queen as his wife will be the next king, and I learned for the first time that the royal family is currently fighting for the throne.

「What would happen if it became known that you were by his side in such a situation? Is it okay for you to be attacked by your enemies because of your petty greed?」

“B-but I—”

I couldn’t say anything. I couldn’t find any words to refute the words of contempt and accusation directed at me. All she could do was bow her head down in front of those who said they came from the royal family.

「That’d enough. Unless you’re a fool, you’d understand if I said this. 」

“……I’m sorry.”

‘I’m sorry, Haven.’

Rosé’s tears dropped on the floor when she was reminded of that time, leaving traces on the floor of her crying. She crouched down and buried her head between her knees.

For his sake, I made an excuse. Unlike me, he’s a noble man. Because he’d be the king. I’m not supposed to be here.

For that reason, she constantly gave him tea to make Haven drank.

As soon as he ate it, he wouldn’t know that I existed in the first place. I will disappear from his memory.

Rosé looked up again. Her eyes were swollen from crying.

She looked around the house. When my beloved man and baby were together, this place was absolutely a ‘home’ to me.

However, it’s not the case anymore. After letting them go, this place has never been home even for a moment.

“… I miss you.”

She murmured helplessly. Her face was still filled with tears.

“Before I die, just once..… I miss you.”

The man she loved the most. And he and their baby would grow up.

Rosé’s mouth was twisted. She bowed her head with her lips closed. I clenched my hands on my knees.

Until the end, my selfish self was ugly.

“But I can’t help it. It’s a pre-death wish, so please don’t get mad at me for being too greedy.”

She murmured to herself like an excuse, rubbing her distorted mouth.

* * *

That night, Rosé left town right away.

But none of the villagers wondered where she had gone. No, to be precise they didn’t immediately realize she left in the first place.

However, the village therapist heard the news a couple of months later and murmured something he couldn’t understand.

‘She must have gone somewhere good to die.’