***

Rosie opened her eyes again at night.

In the deeply settled darkness of the camp night, Rosie tossed and turned, her body tightly wrapped in blankets.

Thud.

Her eyes snapped open at the sound of someone entering.

She saw a ceiling that was familiar yet strange.

Only then did she realize she was lying on a bed.

Why?

‘I clearly collapsed…’

Unless someone had brought her here, it was impossible.

Just then, a familiar scent brushed her sense of smell, and her pupils dilated.

Soon after, a familiar voice reached her.

“How are you feeling?”

“…Your Excellency.”

Rosie hurriedly sat up. Arthur was standing there.

Instead of the steel armor worn during battles or training, he was dressed comfortably in a shirt and loose pants.

Exactly like one would look late at night, before retiring to bed.

“This place…”

“I found you collapsed and brought you here. If it’s uncomfortable, you can return to your quarters.”

“Ah, no.”

Perhaps because she wasn’t fully awake, Rosie instinctively waved her hand in denial and then regretted it.

“Your voice sounds hoarse. As if your throat is sore.”

“…Yes.”

As he said, her voice coming out was rough. Her throat stung as if she had a cold.

For a moment, Rosie’s vision spun dizzily.

An icy chill, like pressing an ice shard against her skin, crawled up her spine, and her body trembled uncontrollably.

Seeing Rosie shivering faintly, Arthur frowned.

“It seems you are unwell.”

At his words, Rosie widened her eyes.

“No.”

For a soldier who must fight back whenever enemies attack, being unwell was a disgrace.

But despite Rosie’s strong denial, Arthur didn’t easily accept it.

For a while, for some reason, he stared at her intently, then finally opened his mouth.

“You might be unwell. It’s just… someone who hasn’t had even a minor illness in three years of robust health suddenly falling ill is concerning.”

“…I apologize.”

“You seem to be doing a lot of strange things lately.”

His voice continued leisurely.

Rosie listened to the story with her head deeply bowed.

“First, you fall ill with that ironclad stamina, then you suddenly confess you like me…”

Then, the moment she detected a thorn hidden in his words, she flinched.

Noticing her reaction, Arthur smiled faintly.

“A joke.”

“That’s cruel of you. Your Excellency has no intention of accepting my feelings, so why make such jokes?”

“Are you more sensitive than I thought?”

“……”

At Arthur’s question, Rosie pursed her lips tightly. Being sensitive, like being unwell, was a disgrace for a soldier.

She had to be strong; especially for a female knight like her, she had often been mocked for appearing weak.

Though the rumors quieted down after she beheaded an enemy commander with an Aura-clad sword…

“May I ask one thing?”

Rosie changed the subject. She had something she absolutely had to say to Arthur, and she thought if not now, she never could.

“By all means.”

The moment his nonchalant reply fell, Rosie brought out the words she had held back.

“Have you… have you truly never loved me, not even once?”

At Rosie’s direct words, Arthur’s expression stiffened briefly, then he burst into laughter.

“You always have a talent for disconcerting me with unexpected words. It was the same when you came to my quarters first the other day.”

“I don’t care much for vagueness. So today, I must hear Your Excellency’s answer.”

She hated ambiguity. Even before she turned twenty, when she took the enlistment test with just a rapier, declaring she’d rather die honorably than be used as a political marriage pawn, it was the same.

For her, there was no middle ground.

She knew the world shouldn’t be divided into black and white, but she had no luxury to agonize in that ambiguous middle.

That was her life.

A life where love and romance were luxuries.

Perhaps this man was the only luxury allowed to her.

Yes, that was it. Having a romance on the battlefield was nonsense.

Maybe she understood why the voices whispering behind her back called her crazy.

She had no room to mind them, nor did she care. For her, only the essence mattered. If it wasn’t there, she was always prepared to turn away.

She had made a resolution from the moment she first entered a relationship with Arthur.

‘Be prepared to let go of something precious at any time.’

That preparation lessened the heartache.

But she knew it ended exactly here.

That’s why she wanted him to draw a clear line all the more.

‘I’ve even killed people; raising one child alone wouldn’t be impossible.’

All she wanted was just one thing.

His definitive answer.

And a clear conclusion to their relationship.

“…You are always so hasty.”

Unaware that the address ‘you’ had changed to ‘thee,’ Rosie answered.

A hint of a smile appeared on her face. The smile that rose on her sickly-pale face was frail.

“Since the day I fearlessly jumped into Your Excellency’s bed, I’ve been like that. It’s my way, and I’ve always lived like that. Wasn’t it Your Excellency who consistently said you liked that about me?”

“Yes. That’s true. I am the same. But right now, you are too hasty.”

“In what way, Your Excellency? Now that I think of it, Your Excellency’s choice to bring me here is also quite ambiguous. The Oferun young lady seemed to clearly dislike me.”

Their relationship was famous within the unit. Numerous scandals followed, but they would fall silent before her overwhelming skill.

Just as everyone dismissed it as a fling, the Oferun young lady suddenly appeared.

It was obvious she would form a marriage alliance with Arthur, and those who knew Arthur’s character would probably realize by now that Rosie had become a discarded piece.

But the very person who caused all this seemed unaware of that important fact. That made Rosie angry.

“Are you pretending not to know even though you do? Or are you just trying to settle for the current situation?”

Rosie’s violet eyes, once blurred, ignited sharply in an instant.

Meeting her intense gaze, Arthur’s eyes wavered.

Soon, he let out an exaggerated breath and forced a hollow laugh.

He was smiling, but the air in the room had long since turned cold and rigid.

“I don’t wish to see Your Excellency’s name tarnished. If you’re going to marry, leaving aside the wordplay about being a bachelor, cleaning things up with me completely would sully Your Excellency’s name less. That’s why I bowed my head before that young lady today as well.”

It meant her actions were all calculated.

Arthur, who had been silently listening to Rosie, wore a subtle expression. He seemed both angry and astonished, and at the same time, his gaze was profound.

His eyes, which had been staring blankly at her as if lost in thought, turned slightly red.

Sad?

The thought flashed through her mind, but Rosie immediately shook her head.

That couldn’t be. Sadness didn’t suit that man.

Even if he were sad, it wasn’t an appropriate emotion in this situation. If he had poured enough heart into her to feel sadness, he wouldn’t have let things come to this in the first place.

Rosie just found this situation laughable.

“Your Excellency. Please, a definitive answer…”

Just at that moment.

Rosie’s body was blocked by something large and solid.

At the same time, a faint citrus scent brushed the tip of her nose.

Rosie was stunned, momentarily dazed. His firm hands were wrapped around her.

He didn’t smell of cigars as he usually did. But she was too flustered to notice that.

Soon, the restraint of his hands loosened.

To the speechless Rosie, Arthur spoke, meeting her eyes.

“Holding you once, I understand now.”

“……”

“You are too precious to me, Rosie.”

“……”

“But… that’s exactly where it ends.”

Arthur’s words were affectionate, but his gaze was colder than arctic ice.

With that piercing gaze, he stared at Rosie and said,

“If it’s love, then it is love. The love for a comrade. And you are a knight I cherish and trust. That fact remains unchanged. But if you hope for more, I cannot give it.”

He gave the answer she had so longed for, so easily.

The conclusion of their relationship.

It was truly easy. To the point where the past three years felt utterly futile, worthless even as dust.

“You are precious. So I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“……”

“You are a very capable knight, and you will have many opportunities to pursue your dreams.”

He looked down at her and spoke in a clear voice.

There was not a hint of malice in his gaze. That’s why it hurt Rosie.

The feelings and memories that had filled her heart drained away in an instant like a receding tide, leaving emptiness in their wake.

Looking at her empty gaze, Arthur spoke as if reciting an incantation.

“I hear Her Majesty the Empress desires capable female knights. News brought by the Oferun family. There would be no candidate more suitable than you for that position.”

“……Ah.”

Rosie understood why Arthur had nursed her and showed her the kindness of speaking so calmly now.

He intended to clean things up perfectly.

Her hasty urging had merely moved the timeline forward.

In other words, this was likely the preliminary step for pushing her aside.

“You have your own life. I have mine as well, and you and I look toward different places.”

“……”

“So for your sake, leave. I will ensure thorough silence from those within the unit, so you needn’t worry about your marriage prospects.”

Arthur’s words now were long and verbose, but the conclusion was clear.

The man was telling her to end their relationship.

That’s why he was telling her to leave for the imperial palace.

So she needn’t worry about her marriage prospects.

He so easily said that he would make their past as if it never happened.

In this situation, the fact that she carried his child…

‘Would be useless now.’

Rosie smiled faintly.

“Then rest. I’ll be staying in temporary quarters, so you don’t need to move.”

“Your consideration… thank you.”

She wasn’t grateful at all, but she replied dryly.

Arthur turned and left without another word.

After he disappeared, Rosie licked her lips.

Her mouth tasted bitter.

Wasn’t it laughable, or rather ridiculous, that three years of love ended so easily?

Perhaps because she had prepared so much. Her chest didn’t even hurt that much.

Instead, she thought.

‘To the imperial palace…’

It might sound ungrateful to Arthur, but she had no intention of obeying him.

If she were to remain forever as some uncomfortable memory in his mind, that would be more than enough.

‘Sorry, but I can’t go along with your wishes on that.’

Covering herself with the blanket, Rosie entertained an audacious thought. The barracks, with the firewood burning, was warm.

But in stark contrast, her heart felt fiercely, desperately cold.

So much so that she couldn’t even distinguish what was cold and what was hot.