CH 144

The man looked at me, wiping his messy brown hair carelessly.

I gasped in silent.

Dylan? what are you doing all of a sudden?

Apparently I wasn’t the only one who was flustered, the priests shouted at Dylan.

“Young master Herthas! What kind of rudeness is this!”

“I’m sorry, Paladin Commander. Suddenly, this young master….”

Although the priests were angry at Dylan’s sudden action, they looked at Richard and tried to explain the situation.

“Lady, I know it’s rude, but I’d like a moment of your time.

Dylan looked at me steadfastly, fighting off the hands of the priests trying to pull him away.

“Young master Herthas, you barge in like a bull and ask to spare you some time.”

Richard stood in front of me and spoke to Dylan in a soft voice.

“It makes no sense to act so recklessly. Next time, how about formally asking Lady to meet you?”

One of the priests admired Richard’s character when a friendly voice resounded like a child’s.

I, of course, was thrilled.

I feel bad for this man to treat Dylan below me.

“I asked lady Camilla.”

“That kind of attitude is no different from intimidation.”

“Intimidated? When did I intimidate her…”

“When you barged in with such a ferocious force and threatened her, you scared anyone, Young master. Do you really think a decision made in a state of fear is justified?”

Why are you all arguing over me?

I quietly put my head behind Richard’s back.

‘What should I do?’

There were two options.

To give Dylan some space, or to turn him away.

‘Dylan isn’t the type to be reckless.’

Seeing him acting like this all of a sudden, something must have happened.

I want to talk to Dylan, but it wasn’t an easy decision. I had already decided to push him away.

I rubbed my tired eyes. and soon made a decision.

“I’d like to ask you to step aside for a moment.”

“Young master, did you hear that?”

“Not the young master, but you.”

Richard, who had been cheerful, looked back at me as if he didn’t understand.

I smiled broadly and gestured for him to leave.

“I promised to meet Young master Herthas, but I forgot. So I guess that’s why he was so urgent.”

“…….”

“Right, young master?”

*****

Richard and the priests left the room dissatisfied.

When Dylan and I were left alone in the prayer room, I was naturally nervous.

“Rose.”

Dylan called my name.

‘How did you know that too?’

I don’t know how they found out about my identity….

“Who are you calling now? My name is Camilla, young master.”

Dylan’s face contorted slightly as he stopped flirting.

I have no intention of pretending to know you.

I didn’t want to torture him in hopes of getting involved with him for nothing.

“Don’t try to fool me, Rose. Do you think I won’t even recognize you?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

You can’t even smell me like Yurtha. How could you recognize me?

“… Hah. You’re going to push me away after all.”

But Dylan didn’t back down.

He stood there like he was nailed to the wall, and then he took a heavy step.

When I saw the man striding towards me, I wondered if Dylan was this big.

As I swallowed instinctively, Dylan reached out and grabbed my wrist.

“What are you doing now…!”

“Being around you, seeing you, being in this much pain, and you’re not Rose?

“……”

The strength I had in my hands to shake him off was gone.

“I didn’t know you would find out.”

“… Rose.”

“Why did you appear in front of me?”

Didn’t our relationship end in that Northern castle?

“You don’t know? That’s what I’m talking about!”

“What?”

“Why did you suddenly say you were going to come back?”

I’m going to come back? What do you mean?

“Weren’t you never going to set foot in Herthas again? You thought it was a terrible place.”

“……”

“Then why do you suddenly want to come back?”

My head was spinning from the rapid-fire barrage of words.

“Dylan, speak slowly. What do you mean, I’m going back?”

“… You sent a letter saying you’d be back. Why are you pretending not to know?”

“I? when?”

“……?”

Something strange was going on.

Dylan and I couldn’t understand each other’s words, so we looked at each other blankly.

“… What’s the trick again this time? Are you trying to make fun of me? If that’s the case, it’s not working.”

“Do I look like I’m joking? a letter? You mean I sent the letter to Herthas? I never did that.”

“What? No. It was definitely your handwriting.”

“What….”

A thought flashed through my mind at that moment.

There’s no way Dylan would know my handwriting. Has he ever seen my handwriting?

If so, the handwriting Dylan is talking about is probably Rose’s handwriting, not mine.

And Rose…

The woman who strangled me when I was in the North.

“If you didn’t send the letter, who sent it?”

Dylan asked the question.

But I was too busy to deal with my own questions, so I didn’t have time to answer his questions.

“If you didn’t send it, who did?”

As I was sorting things out in my head, Dylan asked me again.

I lifted my head and looked at him. And I gave a firm answer.

“I did send it.”

“What?”

“I forgot for a second. It is true that I sent you to return soon.”

“Did you forget that?”

Dylan asked, saying it was nonsense, but I nodded brazenly.

A woman with the face of Rose.

I had no intention of spreading the word about her existence when I still didn’t know if she was really Rose or not.

‘You mean that woman is going to return to Herthas sooner or later?’

It was good.

Because I too was looking forward to meeting her again.

“Huh, Marquis!”

Then another noise was heard from outside.

“Oh no. Argen must have come.”

He must have been surprised that all of a sudden I went to the temple.

“Dylan, I think our conversation is…”

Bang!

Before I could finish speaking, the door swung open. Roughly.

“Come here, Camilla.”

Argen’s voice was somehow ferocious.

Are you mad at me for leaving without a saying word?

“What business does the young master of Herthas have with my mistress?”

The cool green eyes facing this way were unfamiliar.

“… Mistress?”

“Did you not know that Camilla was my mistress? There’s no way you would have approached her without knowing that.”

Dylan clenched his fists as if responding to the word mistress.

Richard’s expression, standing behind Argen, also hardened.

Richard looked at me with eager eyes.

He smiled at me, as if he were trying to hold back, thinking of his future reward.

However, the softly curved lips did not feel as comfortable as before.

“It was nothing, Marquis. Let’s go back.”

I casually slipped my arm through his.

I smiled at him as best I could, because normally he would have folded.

But strangely enough, his response was unusually cold today.

“Marquis?”

“Yes. I want my mistress to do that, and I have to listen.”

Ah. I can see why Arjen feels like a stranger.

He usually called me lover, not mistress.

‘Things like that happen, too.’

A name isn’t important, right?

“Come on, Marquis.”

I dragged Argen.

Argen looked at me like that and smiled meaningfully.

‘If you comfort him, it will be relieved.’

But that was an idle thought.

*****

It’s definitely weird.

Argen had always been blunt, but today, he kept his mouth shut.

The atmosphere I felt was so fierce that it seemed to annihilate his surroundings, and I barely said a word the entire ride to the Marquis.

I had to patiently endure the pouring pain-like silence.

“Rosie.”

That was when Argen led me into the room.

“If the Crown Princess attends this holiday event, she will help you find the savior.”

A gentle smile appeared on Argen’s lips, as if the awkward atmosphere of an awl pricking my skin was a lie.

It was then that I was able to open my mouth to Argen in a more comfortable atmosphere.

“Really? It’s not long until the holidays. Maybe we can go together…”

“No.”

Argen closed the door after cutting my excited voice.

Thud—

There was a small sound of the door closing, but for some reason it felt like a huge iron cage was closing.

“I’m not going there with you.”

“What…”

“You are the one who broke the contract.”

What is this all of a sudden?

“You shouldn’t have betrayed me like that, Rosie.”

There was a click, the sound of the door being completely locked.

Argen imprisoned me.