After a long silence, the moon slowly revealed itself again, having been swallowed by darkness.

Callios spoke, her expression unreadable, and said something that was completely unexpected.

“All I need is you.”

“……”

“I never cared what happened to anyone else.”

Rosie let out a faint, incredulous laugh as she tried to make sense of this impossible situation. Callios was speaking as if she were his top priority.

It was as if he had cast aside the duties and responsibilities of the ducal house that he had always emphasized so fiercely.

Her lips trembled.

“And you still call yourself the master of the ducal house?”

But the words that followed were even more absurd.

“The Benedict family never meant much to me from the beginning.”

“…What?”

“I could lie a hundred times with the crest of the house in my hand. It’s nothing.”

Rosie was at a complete loss for words, overwhelmed by the unfamiliar confessions pouring out of him.

Above them, the fully risen, pale moon illuminated Callios’ earnest — almost painfully so — face.

His Adam’s apple moved slowly and deliberately.

His deep, turbulent eyes were fixed entirely on her.

The closer those emotions came to reaching her, the more he seemed to hurt.

“The only thing that means anything to me….”

“…….”

“Rosie, it’s only you.”

Thud.

It felt as if something inside Rosie had plummeted into the darkness without end.

The world around her no longer felt real.

What she had believed in was no longer real.

All the layers she had built around herself shuddered beneath the weight of Callios’s confession.

He had shaken her once again, effortlessly.

Was she now supposed to be his purpose?

Was she important enough for him to abandon the honor of his noble house?

Confronted with a truth that had been completely turned on its head, she felt betrayed.

Who had Callios been all this time, then?

What had she seen in him?

Even now, when she was on the brink of losing everything, why did Callios insist on causing her so much confusion that he could never take responsibility for?

Could he not at least allow her to die in peace, just this once?

Rosie bowed her head, trembling. Perhaps because she had coughed blood earlier, her body felt unbearably cold and painful.

“Stop it.”

Her voice came out like a scream toward the man approaching her.

“Stop lying!”

But deep down, she already knew. Those black eyes, thick with fury, had been speaking nothing but the truth.

“Do you think I have the mind to lie right now? I just saw another leech latch on the moment he got the chance.”

Callios kept closing the distance. The closer he came, the more Rosie stumbled backward. As if the very thought of it sickened him, he muttered darkly:

“How did I end up like this? How did it come to this? What did I miss?”

Rosie’s face drained of color as she retreated and hit her back against a tree.

Leaves rustled down, obscuring her vision. Callios brushed them aside with the back of his hand.

There was nowhere left to run.

He braced one hand against the tree where her back had touched it.

“…You’re not sane.”

“So, are you disappointed?”

She could not believe that the man she had once loved could be so selfish.

Callios stepped closer and ran a finger along her silver necklace.

Startled by his touch against her neck, she looked up to see him lower his head and whisper softly.

“What’s so wrong about wanting only you?”

“Lies….”

“It’s the most natural thing for me. Why are you….”

He pressed his lips to the thin silver chain, then abruptly pulled away with a twisted expression.

“Why do you keep rejecting me?”

Lifting his head, he looked at her bewildered face and spoke again.

“I kept regretting leaving you there alone.”

“…….”

“I should’ve cleared everything from the start. But no—I tried to play at being a family. Tried to make it look decent….”

His broad chest rose and fell.

Callios’s guilt-ridden face drew closer, brushing past her cheek.

His low breaths pressed against her ear and, at some point, his solid arms wrapped around her.

“I’m sorry.”

His quiet words sank cruelly deep into her heart.

He was sorry.

The truth was that she had always been his best option.

Held in his arms, Rosie looked up at the moonlit sky.

These were the words she had once longed for with all her heart.

But why did they feel so hollow now?

Wasn’t this exactly what she had wished for?

So why didn’t anything feel complete? Why did everything feel empty?

It was strange.

If her heart felt barren even though the thing she had yearned for had finally come true, then surely something was wrong.

Like a doll settling into someone’s embrace, Rosie whispered.

“Do you know how truly cowardly you are?”

A strong wind blew through the treetops.

The cold wind sent shivers down her back.

Until then, Callios had been silent, but now he answered in a low voice.

“I know. I know I’m a coward.”

“Why are you apologizing now? When everything’s already over….”

He flinched at her small whisper, then tightened his hold around her.

“You can curse at me all you want. I’ll listen.”

“…….”

“I’m sorry I didn’t know anything.”

Callios’s warm breath brushed her ear.

“I just believed it. That everything would be fine. You told me you were fine.”

“…….”

“When it comes to you, I can’t see anything else. If you say you believe, then I believe. What more do I need?”

The arrogant, high-handed Callios Benedict was nowhere to be found. All that remained was a tormented man, crushed beneath his own emotions and struggling for breath.

“And I’m sorry for talking like a b*stard every time and tearing at you.”

“…….”

“And I’m sorry I said I wouldn’t let you go when I knew you were having a hard time.”

“…….”

“I’m sorry for everything. Every last thing.”

His honesty—heard for the first time—was bitter, not sweet. Rosie let out a hollow laugh, clutching the emptiness inside her chest.

Ah! So that’s why everything felt so empty.

All he was confessing was his own guilt.

He just wanted to get rid of the burden on his conscience.

Was she truly part of that at all?

Even now, Callios could not see Rosie Moavis; he could only see the depths of his own suffering.

He was just a tormented sinner, desperate to unburden himself.

Rosie exhaled softly and brushed her fingertips against his cheek.

He flinched at her touch and raised his head.

“Did you want to feel better by apologizing?”

“I….”

He rushed to speak, but she raised her hand to stop him.

“If that’s what you want, do as you like. Apologizing is your choice.”

Looking into his shaking eyes, Rosie continued calmly.

“Let’s say I accept your apology. Are you planning to tell me we should get back together?”

Her life wouldn’t be much longer.

Did he expect her to go back there?

Even though Isabella was gone now and the entire Benedict family had submitted, the things she had endured there would not simply disappear.

“Are you telling me to go back and live there again?”

“That’s not—”

“I honestly don’t believe you.”

Rosie lowered her gaze and gave a bitter smile.

She watched the scattered leaves being blown away by the wind — the same ones Callios had brushed aside earlier.

“Something so sudden like this….”

“…….”

“So suddenly like this….”

Even now, while he was pouring out his remorse, he was still drowning alone in the swamp of his own anguish.

“How am I supposed to believe that?”

Why was she always the one being shaken?

His belated confession shattered the last of her heart’s fragile pieces.

If she had truly been his priority, why hadn’t he told her sooner?

Why did he leave her with nothing but regret when she was already on the brink of death?

In an attempt to erase that regret, she paid the ultimate price.

So why come to her only now?

Her throat burned.

Gritting her teeth, she fought to hold back the tears that were welling up.

“Are you saying this because you regret it when you look back? Or because your pride is hurt?”

“…I threw my pride away long ago.”

That much was true. The Callios she once knew would never have spoken like this.

Rosie murmured weakly as if the strength had drained out of her.

“I’m going to live the rest of my life in peace. I don’t want to worry anymore, or hurt anymore…. I don’t want any of that.”

“…….”

“It takes a lot of strength to let someone into your life.”

She had used up all her strength a long time ago. Now, the thought of having someone by her side again — of fighting, arguing and feeling — felt exhausting.

“I’m even tired of hating. So I’m going to let everything go.”

“Rosie.”

“So your apology… whether I accept it or not, that’s not the issue.”

Even if Callios was sincere, it would take time and effort to ascertain whether that sincerity was genuine.

Rosie had neither.

She had already coughed up blood and didn’t know when death might come for her.

She lifted a hand and gently cupped his cheek.

Looking into his eyes, which trembled with turmoil, she spoke quietly.

“Callios. Don’t try to end everything with a light apology.”

Then she thought—

‘I hope you suffer as much as I did. Even more.’

“That’s not what I want.”

‘I won’t forgive you easily. Not for making all those years amount to nothing. Not for tormenting me until the very end – again. And certainly not for drowning in your own despair and being unable to truly see me, even now.’

At that moment, Callios clenched his fist so tightly that it looked as though it might shatter.

“If I wait….”

“What?”

“If I wait, will that be enough?”

A terrible certainty began to form in his desperate, shadowed gaze. It was as if he had found a way to overcome this situation in true Callios fashion.

“If you’re exhausted, then giving it time means you’ll recover.”

Yes… this was the man he had always been. People didn’t change easily.

Rosie let out a cold, hollow laugh.

“You’re still so quick to decide things on your own.”

‘If he waits, he’ll probably receive news of my death.’

That bitter truth dissolved on her tongue before she could speak.

For a moment, the realization sent a cold shiver through her.

Right. She would die soon.

If she refused to forgive him, perhaps Callios would etch even the faintest trace of her into his memory.

If she became his regret, then maybe—even after her death—he would think of her from time to time.

So go ahead and wait.

Let that long, agonizing wait turn into despair.

Feel that terror, just once.

“All right.”

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