Rose hadn’t expected that she would run to her father crying when she saw him.

And when she actually saw him, it was exactly as she thought.

But seeing his healthy appearance made her chest tingle. The vibration coming from her heart contained both intense sadness and joy.

“What brings you here? To visit your father at this hour.”

Duke Clematis was sitting at his desk in his office. Though he was quite aged, he was still an active duke.

Though he had handed over half of the major businesses to Rose out of extreme love for his daughter, he threatened to give her the remaining half only after she established a proper family.

This was part of the reason why Rose had accepted the sudden marriage arrangement with Maverick Phlox two years ago.

Her father had promised that if she had just one child, she would inherit the remaining property and he would never interfere in her life again.

Rose had accepted.

‘I think that’s how it was at first. Why did my feelings change…?’

Why had she suddenly thought about divorce and tried to let that man go? And with a huge amount of property too.

“So, what trouble have you caused this time?”

Rose snapped out of her thoughts at her father’s exasperated voice.

She smiled elegantly.

“Trouble? When have I ever caused any?”

“Those words would enrage all the people involved in the incidents you’ve turned upside down until now.”

“My, pretending not to remember? I handled all those situations myself, didn’t I? Without your help, Father.”

“……”

It was true. While Rose either created incidents herself or unwillingly got caught up in rumors and scandals, she always resolved them decisively by herself.

“Then what is it? What kind of trouble makes you visit your father at this unusual hour?”

“My goodness, anyone who hears would think I only cause trouble.”

“Can’t say that’s not true.”

Though his voice was gruff, it was full of affection.

‘Something must be wrong. Rose, stay still! Your father will somehow fix this…!’

Rose felt momentarily bitter remembering her father’s face before she died. He was a father who had worked until the end solely for her sake.

That’s why she didn’t want to believe what happened yesterday.

‘You really didn’t know? That Duke of Clematis, your father, killed your husband’s father and everyone in his family before bringing him to you.’

‘……’

‘What a pitiful man, isn’t he? Living a life where he could do nothing, forced into marriage with you through threats… how frustrated must he be?’

Her father had annihilated her husband’s family and entire house.

Given the Crown Prince’s twisted personality, he wouldn’t have whispered lies to her when she was facing death. Though he was the type to tell blatant lies if necessary, the vile delight in his eyes proved it was true.

“Father, I want to continue living with him.”

The Duke’s wrinkled eyes suddenly grew wide. If Rose was known as the Iron Lady, he was known as the Iron Duke for being so stoic and rarely showing any expression changes. That’s how surprised he must have been.

The Duke pondered over Rose’s way of referring to Maverick before calmly speaking.

“…I heard you were preparing for divorce. Did something change your mind?”

Well. Rose thought her father would naturally know about her divorce preparations. It wasn’t that Kathleen had done her job poorly. Rose simply hadn’t bothered to hide it.

“Yes.”

“And this has something to do with the commotion you caused early this morning?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The Duke’s eyes narrowed. Though they appeared cold, the father and daughter were a family with extreme affection for each other.

“Are you pregnant?”

Rose blinked, then burst out laughing.

“Oh Father, one needs to reach for the stars to catch them, right?”

“……”

“Shall I be more specific? His c*ck…”

“Enough, enough. Stop there.”

The Duke waved his hand in disgust as if shooing away flies. His daughter’s frivolous remarks weren’t anything new. Though he knew she found amusement in his disgust, he couldn’t help but furrow his brow every time.

What went wrong with the daughter he raised wanting for nothing? The Duke pondered this question again today, as he had for twenty years.

“How long do you plan to keep up this way of speaking?”

“Well, shall we continue with what I was saying?”

“What more is there to say? You’re not even pregnant.”

How could she be pregnant when she hadn’t even held that man’s hand before?

In other words, his judgment was that Rose would only have such a change of heart if there had been at least that much development.

Perhaps it was because he was a father who loved his daughter extremely. The Duke’s judgment was correct.

After all, Rose had gone through a dramatic change. Hadn’t she died once?

“I just fell in love with him.”

“……”

“That’s all.”

Rose had fallen in love the moment the man took her from the prison cell. When he whispered for her to live as punishment, when he pushed her away to live in the midst of thick smoke. And when she opened her eyes and saw Maverick, she knew.

She would have to live as the weaker one for the rest of her life.

But that was fine. Though she had lived proudly all her life, she was willing to give up her pride, self-respect, and wealth. Just seeing that man alive made her happy.

“Since you brought him, Father, you must know him better than anyone else in the world. After all, you wouldn’t have matched me with just anyone.”

Who would have known? It was something she herself hadn’t expected.

“So Father, please tell me about him.”

Rose was upset that she was practically her husband’s enemy. But what could she do? She couldn’t change that fact anymore. So, she wanted to make his remaining life happy. She wanted to live together with him.

“There’s something you haven’t told me, right?”

“You weren’t interested before.”

“It’s different now.”

That’s why she had to hear it directly from her father’s mouth.

“Since childhood, you’ve shown obsessive dedication to things that interest you.”

The Duke’s words implied that it wouldn’t be any different now that the target was a person. Even though Maverick wasn’t like the jewels, mines, or ports she had been overly obsessed with.

“Though I was born as a ducal lady and have enjoyed privileges, I know the difference between people and objects, Father.”

“Your longest relationship lasted only three months.”

“……”

The men who had passed through her life lasted at most a month. As someone who pursued fun and interest, she grew bored as quickly as her interest was sparked. The only things she had persistently pursued were her duties as an heir and the dedicated management of her merchant group and trading ports.

“Are you trying to say you don’t believe this will be any different?”

“Precisely.”

Rose’s eyebrow twitched. Having grown up with her father after losing her mother early, Rose sometimes surprised even herself with how similar her temperament was to her father’s.

“But as you know, this father is weak to you. What can I do? You’re my only blood relative, a daughter so precious it would hurt to put you in my eye.”

“……”

“I don’t know what you want to know, but I’ll tell you.”

The Duke spoke majestically with his arms crossed.

“If you’re curious, you can look into it yourself. I won’t stop you.”

Rose’s expression furrowed.

“But if you want to hear it from my mouth, wait three months. If you say the same thing after exactly three months — longer than your longest relationship — I’ll tell you myself.”

It seemed the Duke wanted to see if Rose’s obsession would last longer than three months.

“You said it yourself, Father. That you won’t stop me from investigating.”

“Yes, do that.”

Rose nodded, naturally confident.

“And if you’re still saying the same thing after three months, then have a proper wedding ceremony.”

“……”

“You’ll have children too, right?”

Rose narrowed her eyes just as her father had done. That obsession with grandchildren. She easily understood why her father had increasingly talked about grandchildren since she turned twenty.

“Yes. And Father, you should ask one more thing.”

“What’s that?”

“After three months. On whether the other party agrees to a proper marriage too.”

From her position, she didn’t want to force anything. Though she couldn’t let him go now, separate from that, she didn’t want to force anything else on him. So somehow, she had to make him want to have a new wedding ceremony.

‘I’ll seduce him.’

Her father wanted her to have a stable family. He even went so far as to bring a man who would supposedly die at her command from somewhere.

‘Obedient man my foot.’

Maverick Phlox and Rose Clematis had held their marriage ceremony at a temple at the time of their wedding. It was quite modest compared to the ducal family’s reputation, which led to various rumors at the time. Some said Rose was pregnant and forced into marriage, while others said it was clearly just a fake ceremony for appearance’s sake.

“Father, I respect you.”

Rose spoke softly. A bitter expression passed over her face for a moment.

Beloved father. Father who died trying for my sake.

“So I hope there won’t be anything that would disappoint me about you.”

“……”

Rose smiled.

“But even if there comes a moment of real disappointment, my love for you won’t change.”

The Duke’s expression stiffened slightly as he watched Rose bow her head gracefully.

“See you in three months.”