Johannes was walking in her direction and didn’t seem to have noticed her yet. Should she just let him pass? After a moment’s hesitation, Rosalyn finally found the courage to speak.

“Good morning, Lord Moore.”

It was just a simple greeting, but her throat felt as if it were burning with an inexplicable heat. And when his sea-blue eyes finally turned to hers, Rosalyn felt the warmth that had begun in her throat quickly spread across her face.

She wondered if she had done something unnecessary. The moment her gaze met his indifferent expression, she immediately regretted it.

“Good morning, Lady.”

He nodded slightly. It was a greeting like any other, without much emotion, but Rosalyn had to use all her strength to suppress the blush that rose to her cheeks until it was completely gone.

The light breeze gently ruffled his silver hair and the faint scent of mint lingered in the air. A subtle smile formed on Rosalyn’s lips and she thought to herself that blue really did look best on him.

***

“The weather is quite cold.”

It was a simple murmur, almost as if she was talking to herself, but the person opposite her untied his cloak with one hand, the other still holding the reins, and offered it to her. She hadn’t expected such a gesture, so she quickly waved her hand to decline. But Johannes didn’t withdraw his hand. Instead, he practically forced the cloak into her hands.

“Just wear it. Otherwise it’ll be a nuisance to me if you catch a cold.”

Rosalyn, still taken aback, accepted the cloak with a stunned expression on her face. A small laugh escaped her lips, though it carried an undercurrent of something deeper.

“You are still so kind, my lord.

There was a subtle bitterness in her voice, and as she spoke, his pale grey eyes shifted silently to meet hers. But the gaze didn’t linger long, leaving a quiet tension in the air.

The voice, tinged with subtle bitterness, drew a soft stare from his pale grey eyes, which focused silently on her face. It didn’t last long, but it was enough to make her feel its weight.

Rosalyn took the cloak and draped it over her shoulders. Perhaps because it had just been worn, the warmth that lingered on the fabric felt incredibly comforting.

Even though it was something she had acquired by accident, the warmth seeping through her shoulders gradually relaxed her body. The familiar sensation once again stirred complex thoughts in her mind. But now regret had no meaning.

Despite everything, Rosalyn couldn’t help but lament the warmth that was slowly slipping away in the breeze. With a hint of self-mockery, she pulled the cloak down to cover her body more completely.

***

Once they reached the lakeside, Johannes helped her dismount as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Rosalyn nodded in greeting and made her way to the stone where she usually sat. Meanwhile, Johannes threw the reins over a branch and spoke.

“Don’t go near the bushes.”

At his sudden words, Rosalyn turned to look at him, and he gestured towards the bushes with his chin, meeting her gaze with round eyes.

“There’s been an increase in poisonous snakes in the area lately.”

“But… it’s winter. Haven’t they gone into hibernation by now?”

Rosalyn cocked her head in confusion.

“Besides, even though I was born and raised in this land, I’ve never seen a snake.”

“That was when things were properly managed.”

“Ah.”

At his cynical reply, Rosalyn finally understood the meaning of his words and gave a small nod.

It occurred to her that he was right. Since her father’s death, she had been confined to the castle and had not really dealt with these matters.

But the management of the domain was the responsibility of the lord, and in the absence of such a figure, proper management was, of course, impossible.

After the Duke Delmart, who had wielded power without fear, met his untimely death, those who had sworn allegiance to his family hastily severed their ties with them.

Even the servants fled, and only the Emperor’s soldiers and knights remained in the castle. Now this place, with only armed soldiers and knights left, was like a land without a master.

Come to think of it, she and this land, and everything that bears the name of Delmart, are in almost the same situation.

“Something could still be alive. Besides, the time just before hibernation is the most dangerous.”

As if warning her like a child around water, Johannes repeated his warning and Rosalyn nodded obediently.

“I understand.”

With a cheerful reply, she began to walk. Johannes’ gaze followed her footsteps, lingering briefly on her watercoloured dress before silently looking away.

Rosalyn sat on a familiar rock by the water’s edge. Johannes stood about three paces from where she sat. The breeze blowing across the surface of the lake wasn’t too bad.

“Doesn’t your leg hurt?”

As she watched the tips of the bare branches trace lines across the surface of the lake, her eyes moved slowly.

Rosalyn stared at him blankly.

“I don’t mind if you sit next to me.”

She murmured, subtly shifting her body towards the edge. Although she didn’t really have to move, the rock she was sitting on was wide enough to comfortably accommodate two adults.

Still no answer came, and the distance between them did not diminish in the slightest. In the silence, Rosalyn understood the answer and turned her head away again.

Then, trying to maintain a calm expression, she looked at the lakeside, but the scene that had always been a perfect refuge for her no longer caught her attention.

It was simply a response to her good intentions, but Rosalyn wondered if Johannes might have interpreted it differently, which made her feel uncomfortable. She hadn’t spoken with impure intentions.

Even though the other person had already seen everything beneath the surface, her mind was troubled as she wondered if they might think she had said those things with shallow intentions.

However, since she hadn’t rejected Frederick’s overt advances the last time they had happened in front of her, she felt she had no right to be upset if others thought the same.

‘What does it matter? At this point, whatever he thought of her…’

The thoughts, tangled and endless, only made her feel more suffocated. Unable to hold it in, Rosalyn suddenly got to her feet. As she turned to leave, her eyes met those of the man she didn’t know had been watching her.

As their eyes met, it was as if his gaze held the lake in the moonlight, and the restless thoughts that had swirled in the silence suddenly settled as if nothing had happened.

The wind rustled the branches, creating a soft, swishing sound that echoed through the air. Above it, the sound of a heartbeat tickled her ears. This sound was different from the usual prelude to an attack.

It was strange. At that moment, an overwhelmingly trivial realisation hit her. It was as if someone, unable to bear her denial any longer, had whispered a truth deep into her ear.

‘This man killed my father, but I still love him, and it’s impossible to let him go. For all the promises I’ve made, haven’t the walls I’ve built crumbled before they’ve even hardened?’

The cloak hanging loosely from Rosalyn’s shoulders couldn’t bear the weight and slipped to the floor. Without realising it, she looked at Johannes with a look of shock on her face.

It was only when she hastily suppressed the emotions that were sweeping over her like a tidal wave and took a quick step forward that it happened.

“Ah!”

As soon as her foot moved, she felt something sharp scrape against her ankle and Rosalyn screamed as she lost her balance.

As she lay on the floor and raised her head, Rosalyn’s face went pale in an instant. She felt the cold sensation of blood draining from her body. The snake’s long, green-scaled body glowed in the moonlight. Its jaws were clenched tightly around her slender ankle.

Rosalyn, her face drained of colour, struggled to move her legs as she lay on the ground, but it was futile. The snake sank its fangs deeper into her flesh. Her vision began to blur.

Unaware that Johannes had already approached, he quickly used his sword to shake off the snake with a single blow. Although the heavy presence around her ankle was gone, Rosalyn still couldn’t regain her senses.

She couldn’t tell if it was the spreading venom or the sudden rise in her body temperature, but she struggled to steady herself and felt shivers run through her body.

Johannes lifted the hem of her skirt to her knees as she lay trembling on the floor. The area where she had been bitten was already swelling and turning bright red. In the midst of her confusion, Rosalyn looked down at her ankle and went pale.

“It’s all right.”

But his reassuring voice was so calm that even in her confused state, Rosalyn nodded weakly. Johannes, holding her calf, leaned down and pressed his lips to her swollen ankle.