Duncan safely escorted me to the log cabin.

I don’t know how many times he checked if Benjamin was following us, or if there were any other dangers on our way here.

Seeing his attentiveness, I felt he was truly reliable.

The weight of his words about helping me suddenly felt much more significant.

After all, help from a man like him would be truly valuable.

“I wonder if my life is finally starting to turn around.”

As I lay on the bed lamenting my situation, Bless, who had been quiet for a while, emerged from my embrace.

―Kyukyukyukyuuuu!

‘We only have happy times ahead of us!’ he says.

Happiness…

“Bless. What is happiness in your life?”

What makes this small, cute monster bird happy, and what kind of life does it wish to live?

Bless slowly flapped his wings, lost in thought, and then finally answered.

―Kyuukyukyu, kyukyu. Kyukyuuu,

“You…”

For a bird, you speak better than some people, don’t you?

At least, he was certainly more eloquent than the prickly Baron.

‘My happiness is watching the people I like become happy. So I want my owner to be happy.’

That was Bless’s take on happiness.

Feeling a bit choked up, I carefully embraced him with both hands.

His trident feet pressing against my palms were very small and light, but the creature before me seemed especially big today.

One bird wishing for my happiness was worth more than ten people, you could say.

“I’ve gained so many good people around me. You and Honey, and Duncan, um… and the Pteros too? Though none of you are actually people.”

―Kyukkuuuukku!

‘Among them, I’m the best bird!’

“Agreed.”

Seemingly satisfied with my answer, Bless wiggled his beak, creating what looked like a smile.

“I think I’m already happy, but I hope you become happy too.”

Bless nodded his head up and down several times, as if to say he was happy too.

“Ah. For the first time, I’m glad I became Yerena.”

I hoped that we would be happy tomorrow, the day after, the day after that, and far into the future.

Since we might be happier with more money, I should work hard on the transportation business too.

I want to imagine the happiness that can only be dreamed of when two people are together, meeting a man who loves birds.

When will such a future come?

I fell asleep quickly while dreaming of a beautiful future. It was a deep sleep without even dreams.

***

The next day, Rosie, who had not left the Duke’s residence following her father’s order to stay in until the trial, boarded a carriage.

Visibly tense, she was heading to the Vicente Duke’s residence.

She was planning to meet Benjamin there.

Of course, it wasn’t her own will to go to the Vicente Duke’s residence.

If it had been like before when she was obsessed with Benjamin, she would have rushed there as soon as she heard he was at the Duke’s residence, but…

‘…I didn’t want to meet him for a while.’

The day before, Benjamin had harmed the Duke’s knights and choked her while asking about Yerena.

Rosie was upset about this and didn’t want to see Benjamin for a while.

She couldn’t accept the reality that he didn’t appreciate what she had done for him.

Moreover, Benjamin seemed to show favoritism towards the lowly Yerena. He had never even glanced at her.

It was unbearable for her pride.

She wanted to pull the dead Yerena out of her coffin and tear her face to shreds.

So she had planned to distance herself from Benjamin for a while and reconsider her feelings for him.

If she only thought about Benjamin’s cold and heartless attitude, it would be right to give up on him.

Why was she so desperate for someone who didn’t even look at her? What was she lacking?

There were countless men who wanted to meet her.

But the more she tried to give up on Benjamin, the greater her desire to possess him grew.

She wanted to somehow have Benjamin, to see him acting desperately towards her.

How relieved would she feel if the situation was reversed, and he became obsessed with her?

Rosie came to harbor feelings for Benjamin that were closer to lingering attachment than love, and closer to love-hate than lingering attachment.

In the midst of this, her father’s stern command came down.

“How have you been conducting yourself? Now even young Duke Benjamin is stepping forward to interrogate you about your crimes! At this rate, you might really be punished.”

It seemed that Benjamin, who had taken the confessions of her knights, was working behind the scenes to punish her.

What hadn’t budged when Duncan alone tried to uncover Yerena’s case suddenly changed when the heir of the most influential ducal family in the empire stepped in personally.

Even her father, who wielded considerable power, seemed to have difficulty dealing with it.

“Go to the Vicente Duke’s residence right now and beg young Duke Benjamin for leniency. Don’t even think about returning to the Duke’s residence until you’ve received the young Duke’s mercy!”

For Rosie, who had grown up as a cherished only daughter, protected as if she might fly away in the wind or get wet in the rain, her father’s stern command was like a bolt from the blue.

Even though he had always been lenient no matter what mistakes she made…

It was the first time she had seen her father yelling at her and ordering her to resolve the situation. It was clear that the situation had become that serious.

Rosie, unable to defy her father, headed to the Vicente Duke’s residence. And that’s how she ended up here.

She felt that the cause of all the unfortunate events surrounding her was because of Yerena.

It seemed as if her happy life had been completely ruined because of her.

‘Instead of killing her outright, I should have tortured her into disability…’

Rosie anxiously chewed her nails as she cursed the deceased Yerena.

“You… if only you were still alive…”

She would have personally shown her what hell was like.

Rosie deeply regretted this point.

***

Her resentment towards Benjamin over the past few days seemed meaningless now.

The moment she saw Benjamin in the drawing room of the Vicente Duke’s residence, the moment their eyes met, Rosie realized that her heart had started beating rapidly.

All the resentment, hatred, and curses she had harbored seemed to vanish in an instant.

She couldn’t ignore that beautiful face like an inorganic doll and the strange atmosphere he exuded.

Rosie approached Benjamin as if drawn to him and called out.

“Benjamin…”

Ah, I have no choice but to love this man.

No matter how much I try to hate him, in the end, just seeing his face makes my heart melt.

Rosie couldn’t take her eyes off Benjamin.

Benjamin’s lips, which had been looking up at her with an expressionless face, parted.

“Sit down.”

Seated on the sofa, Rosie carefully examined Benjamin’s appearance.

The enchanting beauty that could bewitch people remained unchanged, but somehow his face seemed to have become thinner.

“Benjamin, are you ill? You don’t look well.”

“Is that so.”

Benjamin slowly stroked his cheek a couple of times.

Rosie, realizing that Benjamin’s response wasn’t sharp, brightened considerably.

‘He’s back to being the indifferent Benjamin I knew.’

However, she soon became gloomy again.

It was because she suspected that the reason for his gaunt appearance was due to Diana’s memorial service that had taken place yesterday.

Diana, who had been friendly to all nobles, had also pretended to be close to her and looked after her.

Although Rosie disliked Diana for receiving Benjamin’s attention, she pretended to be friendly with her because she met Benjamin every time she was with her.

Sometimes she secretly bullied Diana, but that girl smiled brightly even when she was being bullied.

“Rosie, to make someone as pretty as you have bad thoughts… Could there be something wrong with me?”

Diana blamed herself for the reason Rosie was being mean. She was a foolish girl and someone who couldn’t be truly hated.

Rosie eventually surrendered to Diana’s pure and kind nature.

Looking at that child’s pale white face and hearing her kind words, she simply couldn’t treat her badly.

Rosie even thought about giving up Benjamin to Diana.

‘If it’s her, she could probably make Benjamin happier than I could.’

Diana was the only one that the jealous Rosie had ever acknowledged.

That overly kind girl died in vain. Leaving behind lingering attachments to many, including herself.

It was a foolish death, just like her nature.

Although Rosie had been sincere towards Diana, she never attended her memorial service.

Not because she suddenly hated Diana, but because she didn’t want to cry.

She didn’t want to show weakness in front of everyone.

So she didn’t attend Diana’s memorial service yesterday either, instead sending a wreath to the Count’s residence.

“Is it because of Diana’s death anniversary? I’m also feeling down thinking about her death…”

As Rosie slowly closed and opened her eyes, Diana’s image flickered before her.

“Death anniversary… Right. Yesterday was the anniversary of her death.”

As if recalling something unpleasant, Benjamin’s brow furrowed slightly.