Feeling the gazes fixed on her, Rosie’s heart pounded wildly.

‘Of all times… why did you have to show up?’

She felt ashamed and humiliated. So much so she wanted to die.

If they discovered the reason for her nausea, death might indeed be better.

She had been ordered to serve his future wife, got slapped in the face, and carried his baby in her womb. An unwanted, troublesome baby.

But the hardest part was that Arthur was witnessing all of this.

A strange emotion washed over her. It was too unfamiliar, too shameful, an overwhelming feeling that was hard to bear.

As the humiliation deepened, tears she didn’t even notice welled up.

Feeling the hot liquid wetting her cheek, Rosie stood up. There was also a sense of crisis—if they realized it was morning sickness, things would escalate even more.

The moment her eyes met his icy gaze, a violent emotion to abandon everything and flee bloomed madly in her chest.

‘I want to run away.’

Just then, Arthur’s voice rang out.

“What is this situation?”

His sharp voice was like a blade. More than that, the gaze he swept over her and the assembly was so cold it felt like he had swallowed a piece of arctic glacier.

“I’d like to ask why my subordinate is crawling on the ground.”

At the end of his gaze stood the Oferun young lady, looking somewhat flustered and awkward.

Rosie hadn’t imagined Arthur would take her side, so she was also taken aback, and even the nausea that had been raging momentarily subsided.

Just as her stomach seemed to calm a little, the lady’s lips parted.

“I saw someone suitable to run an errand and asked her to brush off the dust on my shoes. Is that wrong?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“……”

“‘Dust’?”

Arthur’s gaze finally fell on Rosie’s soiled hand.

“……”

“Please explain.”

“If I had known the training ground was in such rough, mountainous terrain, I would have worn more comfortable shoes. Why on earth didn’t you inform me in advance?”

The lady instead looked back at Arthur confidently. That confident gaze felt like a declaration of self-assurance, as if she wouldn’t yield an inch even before him, and also like a sort of provocation.

At the same time, a dismissive glance was directed at Rosie.

“Is that wench some kind of officer or something?”

“She is an Aura user.”

“What?”

For a moment, the lady’s eyes wavered slightly. As if surprised to hear Rosie was an Aura user.

Then, composing her expression, the lady looked at Rosie and Arthur alternately with slightly changed eyes and let out an ‘Ah.’

“So that’s the female officer I’ve only heard about? The female knight who’s somewhat decent with a sword in this unit? I heard she luckily manifested Aura and is quite the talk.”

“If you’ve heard that rumor, then that’s fortunate.”

Rosie was dumbfounded. Was she that much of a topic? Enough to reach this lady’s ears?

“If you’re unwell, you should have said something.”

The voice that followed was Arthur’s. Rosie’s eyes widened at that voice, which sounded quite affectionate.

However, there was no time to be moved. In stark contrast to the hand gently encircling her shoulder, a terrifyingly cold voice descended upon her.

“Go inside. Now.”

She felt strength pour into the hand gripping her shoulder. The forceful pressure hurt as if her shoulder would be torn off.

His gaze on her was icy. Meanwhile, his eyes were busy assessing the lady and her father.

Rosie realized. That he found her burdensome like a piece of luggage, or, if not that, that he was ashamed of her.

Realizing this, Rosie’s shoulder flinched with a jolt. Seeing her tear-stained face, he let out a heavy sigh, then spoke again in a voice loud enough for all to hear.

“If you’re unwell, I’m very concerned. Go inside and rest at once. I’ll excuse you from training.”

There were many watching eyes. This man was saying this with all those gazes in mind. So that she couldn’t possibly object, couldn’t say anything else.

In short, it was to silence her.

Realizing this, Rosie instinctively hunched her shoulders. Since disobeying was impossible, she bowed her head and left the spot.

Simultaneously, her heart beat wildly, and the nausea that had subsided began to stir again.

It was a violent churning, as if she would vomit everything inside, though she had eaten nothing.

On her way to the barracks, Rosie turned her head.

The scene, clearly visible as the mountain wind had dried her tears, was of him and the lady standing side by side.

The image of the two of them, looking quite affectionate and well-matched, was like a masterpiece painting.

Rosie wondered what it would be like if she were the one standing there.

The thought that she probably wouldn’t fit in made her fleeing steps quicken.

Walking briskly, it didn’t take long to reach the barracks.

But perhaps she had expended too much energy?

Upon reaching the barracks and opening the door, her steps faltered. Then, her vision blurred, and she felt the strength draining rapidly from her entire body.

Why… how…?

There had been no warning signs. She was just a bit tired, finding it hard to keep her eyes open, but suddenly she was losing strength like this.

Her slender, reed-like body then collapsed onto the cold carpeted floor.

In that instant, the thought of the child within her surfaced.

My… baby…

Rosie wanted to scream. But before that, deep darkness descended first.