“What’s wrong?”

“Um, well, commander… don’t be shocked when you hear this.”

Just as Maverick felt puzzled for the first time in a while, he ran outside the moment Debbie finished telling everything.

“…They say Lady Clematis attempted suicide.”

* * *

“We’re not sure if she’s dead or not.”

Three months. The time Rose hadn’t shown her face in social circles, and also the time that had passed since Rose and Maverick’s divorce.

In other words, Rose had stayed in the mansion without any activities after the divorce.

No, more precisely, she had moved to the Clematis family villa near the capital’s mountains about a month after the divorce.

Why a mountain villa of all places? Maverick’s vision blurred at the unpleasant memories. The mountain cabin, Rose nowhere to be seen, ruined furniture… None of the final memories of the cabin were good.

“They… they say gunshots were heard. So rumors are spreading that the lady committed suicide out of grief after the divorce… are spreading…”

After the divorce, Maverick had consciously shut off all his nerves regarding matters related to the Clematis family. The same went for Rose. Because he knew he would obsessively scrutinize everything if he learned even one thing.

If that happened, he might go looking for Rose, and if she happened to hate him, he might show a pathetic sight then, might end up causing her distress. He was wary of becoming a monster.

No, honestly, he still desired and loved her.

So… he hoped these rumors were false. He hoped they were nonsense.

Don’t think about escaping through death.

…Even if it’s true, if you die, I’ll definitely be buried beside you.

“Haa, haa…”

Maverick stood before the villa. He didn’t know what state of mind had driven him to ride a horse up this mountain. There were no soldiers guarding the villa, and the door was open. Once again plagued by the hateful final memories from the cabin, Maverick furrowed his brows.

He went inside frantically. The villa wasn’t very large for something that belongs to a ducal family. Its structure strangely evoked nostalgia. Especially the wooden decorations placed above the fireplace…

They were similar to what they had decorated their cabin with when they lived together. He had carved them himself from wood in his spare time, worried Rose might get bored. Rabbit, cat, deer… even the animals were similar. It made his stomach churn.

‘There was a sound from upstairs.’

The lit fireplace meant someone was definitely here. Maverick quickly went up to the second floor. When he opened the first visible door, he could finally see the face he longed for.

“…Ma-Maverick?”

Though Rose looked a bit thinner and paler, she was the same as before. And she was holding a gun in her hand. In what looked to anyone like a position ready to shoot. Seeing the gun in Rose’s hand, Maverick’s reason flew away.

“What are you doing!”

“Wh-what?”

“Who said you could die? Did you think I’d let you?”

“Uh, Mav…erick?”

“After everything I did to keep you alive!”

Maverick snatched away the gun and threw it far away. Then without restraint, he grabbed both Rose’s shoulders.

“You can’t die. Never. You can’t die without my permission. Understand?”

“…That…”

“If you’re going to die, die in front of me. After shooting me first.”

“……”

Rose froze, watching Maverick growl like a beast. Only then did some reason return to him. He had yelled at her in shock at seeing the gun. He immediately regretted it. Just as he was about to remove his hands, Rose’s hands moved faster.

She grabbed both his cheeks and pulled him in. Her breath settled on his lips, and soon transformed into a passionate kiss. Maverick felt his anger evaporating.

“Haa… are you calmer now?”

“……”

Rose smiled prettily with curved eyes.

“First let’s clear up the misunderstanding. I wasn’t planning to die, and the gun wasn’t pointed at me.”

But Maverick couldn’t easily forget the rumors Debbie had mentioned. Having hunted with guns before, he knew. It was a tool that could take life in an instant.

“Then why were you holding a gun?”

“Ah, well. When I hear gunshots, it makes me feel more stable. It gives me a nostalgic feeling.”

‘When I hear the bang! sound, I feel reassured knowing you’re here.’

Maverick’s face clouded over for a moment as if about to cry. Why, why are you saying such things now when I’ve given up? I thought you would never remember, so why.

“So I was having servants shoot it, then got curious about its structure…”

“What reason do you have to be curious about such things?”

“Just… I thought it shouldn’t break down. Um, because it could cause injury?”

When they lived together in the cabin, Rose would worry greatly about Maverick carrying an old gun. What if the gun broke and he got hurt? She said they should save money to buy a gun instead of clothes for her.

“Why, now… No, then the rumors aren’t true? They’re not, right?”

“What rumors?”

Maverick spoke after hesitation. The rumor that Lady Clematis had committed suicide unable to bear the grief after divorce. Just thinking about it made him shudder. Rose smiled softly. Her hand had somehow found its way to Maverick’s heart.

“Oh my, the latter part is wrong, but the first part is right.”

“……”

“It’s true that I was consumed by grief after being divorced.”

After Maverick left the mansion, she could hardly sleep. Rose was plagued by nightmares. It felt like the terrible nightmares she suffered at age twenty had come back to life. In her dreams, a boy with a distorted form would cry and search for her. She couldn’t reach him no matter how she stretched out her hand. Her body was hot and in pain.

Sorry, I’m sorry. If only you weren’t in pain, I would hold you. Rose would wake up crying and get irritated, then suddenly felt like going to the mountains. She couldn’t understand why.

Greta willingly became Rose’s confidante.

‘Since Father sent his precious son to prison just to save himself, which was quite satisfying to see, I’ll listen to any complaints you have, tell me.’

‘My, you’re having strange dreams? You keep dreaming about mountains? Then why not go to the mountains directly? I once dreamed of turkey dishes for a week straight, so I ate them for a week.’

Before going to the family villa, Rose went up to inform her father. Before spending the one-month grace period with Maverick, Rose had left a letter to her father. About what Greta would do, what her father should do. And lastly…

[Don’t even think about coming near the room where Maverick and I are. If you come in or interfere, I’ll live as a daughter without a father.]

It was an extreme measure. She did it because she knew Duke Clematis would definitely interfere. And Rose’s judgment was accurate. During that month, her father handled everything cleanly, and what she did after the divorce was punishing the Crown Prince and Tony Gotfried.

Then Rose happened to see a report.

“Hm? Kidnapping…? Wow, this bastard. He tried to approach when I was kidnapped?”

When Rose was kidnapped as a child. The Crown Prince had tried to take her for himself. By approaching the organization that had kidnapped her through a certain Count.

Rose filled out the Crown Prince’s punishment column while shaking with disgust. I’ll make sure you never show your face in the world again. She thoroughly took care of the trash.

And the Duke looked at Rose with a strange expression when she said she wanted to go to the mountain villa, then gave permission.

‘Tell me now. What are you hiding about Maverick? I won the bet. I’ll love that man even after 10 years, even after 20 years.’

‘Indeed… It seems you will.’

The Duke admitted it readily. It felt more suspicious because he admitted it, but getting information about Maverick came first. And so Rose was able to learn fragments of the truth about Maverick.

“…Sad? Didn’t you wish for divorce from me, wife?”

“Not at all. Not even once? I just painfully realized I couldn’t live without your chest.”

“…Why is that chest coming up in this conversation now?”

Maverick wiped her face. Then he pulled Rose into his arms. Rose let herself be held and leaned her face against Maverick’s chest. Tears flowed helplessly.

“I like you. I love you. I told you countless times.”

“…Then why on earth did you accept the divorce?”

“…I’m sorry, I lied. Will you forgive me?”

“Lied?”

Maverick pulled Rose away. Rose sniffled with a red nose. Though her usual elegant self looking like this was lovely, getting an explanation for her words came first.

“Actually, I gave good information to Sister Greta, no, Her Highness the Crown Princess and made a request. To never let the divorce papers between you and me go through.”

That’s right. Having put Greta in her debt with this incident, Rose extracted quite a price in return. Namely… forging the divorce papers.