“These are letters I received from His Majesty today. Of course, I was planning to deliver them. However, they were merely delayed due to the sudden expedition preparations. In that gap, you entered my room and took the letters.”

When Jane came out confidently, Emma flinched and stepped back. Emma grumbled from behind, but Jane stared at Rosana holding the letters.

“His Majesty ordered me to deliver the letters to Lady Rosana.”

It meant the owner of the letters was Rosana. Rosana slightly raised the corners of her mouth. Then she held out both the opened letter and the unopened letters to Jane. 

The other letters would obviously contain the same consistent words anyway. She spoke to Jane, who was looking at her questioningly.

“Dispose of them.”

“Miss?”

Jane’s always serious face went blank. She sharply swatted away Emma’s hand trying to grab her shoulder, asking why. She spoke firmly once more.

“Jane. I don’t need them, so dispose of them. You don’t need to give me any letters that come for me from now on.”

“…Understood.”

Jane composed her reluctant expression and took the letters. Emma stared helplessly at the letters passing into Jane’s hands. Rosana kept chewing over the contents of the letter she had opened.

‘I thought just escaping would be enough.’

Rosana let out a deep sigh. The headache returned. What was the reason? Emma chattering beside her? Or Jane monitoring her?

It had taken over ten years just to escape. But even that wasn’t truly escaping in the real sense. 

She wanted to change. Even while thinking that, Rosana didn’t know what to do. She had come too far down the road.

Situations where she could only be helplessly swayed by people’s words… 

The reality that hadn’t changed even while thinking it was detestable had been a full ten years. Rosana closed her eyes tightly.

‘Sophistry. How can I know if you don’t speak?’

His words were right. She had looked away because she didn’t want to despair. She had turned her head. That was how things ended up now. But conversely, he was the only one who had encouraged her to speak.

Rosana thought of his intense golden eyes. Eyes that contained a strong power she couldn’t reach and couldn’t dare imitate.

Rosana slowly inhaled. It was a warm-up exercise to make sound come from her mouth.

‘Is it because he conveyed warmth to me?’

Words she had absolutely never spoken at the ducal family, words she couldn’t speak, flowed out smoothly. To the extent that even she was surprised.

“Did you say Emma searched through your room?”

“…”

“Then she might have seen confidential information or something.”

Emma was startled and frantically waved her hands. Jane watched the confrontation between Emma and Rosana intently. Jane’s eyes instantly became fierce.

It was as Rosana said. No one could guarantee she had only found the letters. Especially since Jane was a head maid who moved under Jade’s orders. It wouldn’t be unreasonable for there to be various confidential matters.

“What? No. I only brought the letters!!”

Emma frantically made excuses, knowing her life was in danger, but no one listened. Jane listened silently and Rosana pressed on.

“No one knows that. You’re the only one who went in, right?”

“Miss!”

Jane didn’t think Emma had seen confidential information. 

She hadn’t placed it in an easily discoverable location in the first place, and given Emma’s personality, if she had seen confidential information, she would have been arrogantly triumphant about catching a weakness. 

Rather, Rosana’s attitude was strange. She was squeezing out all her strength with eyes that looked like she would die at any moment. Exactly… like making a final struggle.

“My Lady… no, never mind.”

Jane gave up saying her thoughts. It was Emperor Jade’s role to judge.

“Are you saying you don’t need the letters?”

“Yes, they’re not family.”

“Miss! How can you say such a thing…”

Emma trembled with shock, covering her mouth with shaking hands. At Rosana’s words that they weren’t family, Jane’s eyes also wavered but she pretended to be calm.

“…I will convey this matter to His Majesty when he returns.”

Jane bowed her head, hiding her spinning mind. Rosana clenched her hands tightly. It was the moment she had dragged out her true feelings that had settled deep in her heart with all her strength.

“Do that.”

Rosana prayed her words wouldn’t tremble. That she would appear unaffected. With those final words, she collapsed like all her energy had drained.

Jane withdrew, and Emma also stamped her feet before hastily following Jane. So no one saw Rosana’s collapsed state.

“How pathetic…”

She had said something obvious, so why was she so drained? 

Even she didn’t know. The nail marks embedded in her palm showed she had been clenching her fist the whole time, that she had exerted considerable force.

“Pathetic…”

Rosana’s voice filled the room quietly. It was endlessly distant. She wouldn’t even allow the hem of her clothes to brush against it.

* * *

Dust had risen so much it was impossible to distinguish who was human and who was Monster. 

Within it, Jade was struggling against the Monsters. The Monsters that had suddenly appeared in swarms had turned an entire village into a wasteland in an instant. 

People couldn’t even put up a fight against the charging Monsters and were robbed of their dwellings.

Jade, who had urgently received that letter, immediately departed for battle.

“Of all things, pack-hunting Monsters…”

An exhausted knight sighed and muttered. Monsters usually traveled alone. With survival of the fittest deeply rooted in their minds, they devoured everything they saw. It was common for strong Monsters to eat weak Monsters.

But pack-hunting Monsters were different. They protected their pack and had intelligence capable of group behavior. That’s why they were tricky to deal with and difficult to subjugate. 

They cooperated with each other, making it difficult to target gaps. The current situation was forming groups to face them one by one.

Though casualties increased, fortunately the number of Monsters also gradually decreased. Jade was facing what appeared to be the pack’s leader. 

The Monster had a large horn like a rhinoceros, and its body was so large that if hit directly, bones couldn’t be collected. Its hide was so tough that sword blades couldn’t easily penetrate.

The two stared at each other, engaged in a kind of battle of wills. Jade looked for weaknesses to swing his Sword Energy when an opening appeared. The Monster didn’t move rashly either. 

Monsters had excellent wild instincts. It was a movement that sensed danger if judgment went wrong. They maintained a certain distance from each other and didn’t allow approach. Then, Fel’s back touched Jade’s back.

“Your Majesty, are you alright?”

“Worry about yourself. There are still many Monsters.”

“I’ll join you soon.”

Jade didn’t take his eyes off the Monster before him. Then a knight flew across between the confronting Monster and Jade. Jade reflexively caught the knight. 

The knight, who must have been rammed in the abdomen while fighting the Monster, coughed up blood.

The Monster didn’t miss that opening. The Monster charged vigorously toward Jade. Jade threw the knight to a safe place and hastily dodged, but it grazed his side and inflicted a large wound.

“Kugh…”

“Your Majesty!!”

At Jade’s pained groan, the knights hastily looked back. Jade staggered back. He quickly grabbed his side, but blood dripped from the large wound, and his vision swayed hazily.

“This is trouble…”

More blood flowed out from the wound. It had been deeper than expected.

As Jade’s instinct predicted, lava boiled deep within his body. The Monster immediately kicked off and charged at Jade. It was the Monster’s bold charge, confident it could definitely kill him.

At the same time, Jade’s pupils narrowed vertically. Jade jumped high over the charging Monster and dodged. That wasn’t human movement. 

He showed fast movement despite having a large wound on his side. And for a very brief moment, a strange form overlapped with Jade’s appearance.

When Jade dodged the attack, the Monster rammed into the tree behind him. 

Jade didn’t miss the moment when the Monster’s horn got stuck in the tree and hesitated, quickly turning around and raising his sword. Blue Sword Energy rippled.

The Monster’s neck area consisted of tender flesh not covered by outer skin. The sword aimed at the weak point cut off the Monster’s head in one strike. The Monster fell with a loud thud! Immediately after, as Jade staggered from his wound, Fel hastily supported him.

When the pack leader died, the Monster horde began to flee in confusion. Baron shouted not to let a single one escape. Fel’s complexion wasn’t good either, seeing Jade’s side where blood gushed out. Jade spoke with difficulty in a voice close to a groan.

“Don’t worry. I won’t die from this much. Rather…”

“I know. …Let’s hurry back to the castle.”

“Yes…”

Fel gave orders to take the wounded Jade and knights to the castle. All the knights glanced at Jade. 

The knights’ expressions were all the same. They rode toward the castle with thoroughly hardened faces.

* * *

Rosana looked at Emma, who was quiet despite standing beside her, with curious eyes. It had been a statement mixed with spite to drive Emma away. After that, Emma had been cowed and was reading Rosana’s mood.

Emma became completely isolated when word spread that she had entered Jane’s room without permission. When people around pointed out Emma’s behavior and said it would be a problem, she became quiet, perhaps feeling a sense of crisis. It was a rare quiet time.

A maid approached behind Jane and quietly whispered. Jane’s eyes widened at the maid’s words.

“Is that really true?”

“Yes.”

Rosana guessed something unusual had happened from Jane’s agitated voice.

“Jane, what’s wrong?”

“They say His Majesty has returned.”

“His Majesty?”

He was the one who had breathed courage into her yesterday, who had helped her open her mouth to speak. She felt a friendliness toward him alone, like facing a benefactor. But Jane’s brow was furrowed. It wasn’t a reaction she would show just because Jade had returned.

“Is there some problem?”

“No. I heard news that he was wounded… I was worried.”

Rosana was also shocked at Jane’s words. Jane seemed troubled rather than surprised, but Rosana didn’t notice. She was greatly shaken by the words that he was hurt.

‘Wounded, him?’

Rosana roughly rose from her chair.

“If he’s wounded, we need to see the situation. Please guide me.”

At her attitude that she would naturally go, the eyes of the maid who came to deliver the news changed to suspicious. However, she soon stepped forward to guide them under Jane’s cold glare.

“They say he’s badly hurt. It may be uncomfortable for you to see.”

“Then all the more reason to go.”

It was a wound received in the process of subjugating Monsters. From what Rosana knew, among Monsters there were types that could swallow a person whole in one bite. If he was hurt to that degree, it must have been a strong Monster.

‘If Jane is saying that much, how badly is he hurt?’

Like a snowball gradually growing larger, Rosana’s worry also grew. Rosana silently followed the maid. The closer they got to the destination, the more servants ran about and knights received treatment everywhere.

The smell of blood stung Rosana’s nose. The servants moved systematically even while running frantically. It was the attitude of those who knew well what their respective duties were. It meant battles occurred frequently.

Soon Jade came into Rosana’s view. She stopped dead in her tracks. Jade’s complexion was deathly pale, and his black clothing was also visibly soaked in blood to the point of being dark red. 

He was only breathing laboriously at intervals.

At that sight, someone suddenly came to mind.

Gender, age, appearance were all different. Yet Jade’s appearance overlapped with someone. The image of one person who had lain collapsed, only breathing heavily, came to mind.

‘Why… did I think of that? Because he’s another person who discovered my existence?’

Rosana shook off Emma’s arm saying to go back since there was blood, and walked faster and faster toward Jade. Eventually she almost ran. She thought he might leave like that person.

It was natural. Though covered by clothes, the amount of blood coming from his body was considerable. Enough to worry he might die from excessive blood loss. 

To Rosana’s eyes, he looked like he would die right then and there.

Rosana gasped roughly right in front of Jade. Whether she liked it or not, she had thought she wanted to become confident too after seeing him. Because those words of his were unforgettable.

Jade gently opened his eyes at the commotion. In his blurred vision, he saw Rosana approaching. 

A small warmth touched his cheek. She reached out without hesitating about getting blood on her hand.

“Are you alright?”

“My Lady. You’ll get blood on you.”

Fel firmly pushed Rosana away. He judged that touching rashly could open the wound, and it wasn’t a sight to show her. Rosana’s hand dropped away from Jade. 

A realization suddenly flashed through her mind.