Startled by his breath on her neck, Roselia pulled away and blurted out in a flustered voice.

“What? What do you mean…?”

As she blushed in embarrassment, Klaus, who had been staring intently at her, continued nonchalantly.

“This may sound strange, but you and Roselia always have a scent. Such a similar scent that I wonder if you have the same taste.”

Having heard about the scent from the Crown Prince a few times before, she was unsure, but for now, she needed to avoid suspicion that Antonio and Roselia were the same person, so Roselia blurted out whatever came to mind.

“It must be because we use similar soaps.”

Seeing her deliberately curt response, Klaus stared at her for a moment before leaning back leisurely on the sofa.

Gazing penetratingly at Roselia’s reddened face, he slowly opened his mouth.

“More importantly, did Roselia… say anything?”

Suddenly reminded of last night’s events, Roselia’s ears, which had been calming down, turned bright red again.

But unlike her honest body, Roselia, feigning composure, spoke calmly.

“She didn’t say anything.”

Hearing that she hadn’t said anything, Klaus lowered his gaze, seemingly disappointed.

“I see…”

Seeing his uncharacteristically forlorn appearance, Roselia steadied her wavering heart and continued impassively.

“Roselia will be busy for a while and won’t be able to come to the Duke’s residence.”

After saying this, Roselia glanced at Klaus’s face.

“I just thought… you should know.”

Klaus was lost in thought with an expressionless face that concealed his true feelings.

Then, looking at Roselia, he belatedly continued.

“Thank you for letting me know.”

His voice sounded more troubled than grateful, but Klaus tried to maintain a calm expression as he added.

“Think carefully about the proposal I made. It’s not such a bad offer.”

“…”

Although it was a proposal that didn’t need consideration, Roselia didn’t need to upset Klaus unnecessarily at this moment, so she simply bowed her head instead of answering.

“Then I’ll take my leave now.”

After Roselia left the room saying this, Klaus stared at the door she had exited for a while.

She said they use the same soap?

Can a mere soap scent be this strong?

That sweet fragrance permeating his lungs almost made him bury his face in her shoulder.

I must be crazy. Is the wine from yesterday still not worn off?

Reaching that thought, Klaus shook his head as if bewildered by his own thoughts and headed to his office to clear his mind.

Klaus, who had been staring at a pile of documents for a long time to forget his distracting thoughts, suddenly recalled the image of Roselia overlapping with Antonio in his mind.

She seemed flustered by what I blurted out under the influence of alcohol last night.

The expression of confusion, with eyes wide like a frightened rabbit, was vivid in his memory.

Did she feel guilty about doing such a thing with him while having a lover?

Come to think of it, it was a bit unfair.

He hadn’t dared to touch her for fear she might run away.

At that moment, Klaus inadvertently noticed Antonio conversing with Closet outside the window.

Realizing he had been staring blankly at Antonio, Klaus quickly came to his senses and shook his head.

It must be because of the resemblance to Roselia.

Thinking this, Klaus deliberately averted his gaze from Antonio.

Roselia, who visited the Bernas Count’s residence about every three days, discovered a pile of letters accumulated in front of the door while cleaning the Count’s mansion that day as usual.

Sighing deeply at the dusty pile of letters, which seemed to have gone unnoticed, Roselia gathered them and placed them on a table where the Count could easily find them.

“Grandfather. I’ll leave the letters that came for the Count’s family here, so please read them.”

In response to Roselia’s call, the Count, apparently busy with something in the study, replied without even poking his head out.

“Are there any letters from Eskivan?”

Eskivan was the name of the naval base where the Count’s son, Viscount Ashton, was serving in the military.

Roselia, who was checking the pile of letters one by one, replied curtly to the Count’s question.

“There doesn’t seem to be any letter from Eskivan.”

“…I see.”

The Count’s voice, which sounded a bit dejected after a moment of silence, made Roselia’s heart heavy.

Hoping against hope, Roselia scanned the letters again, but feeling somewhat resentful at the absence of the Viscount’s letter.

Why hasn’t the Viscount sent even a single letter?

Does he know about the Count’s dementia?

Even if he’s busy commanding the army, it’s not wartime now.

With the peace treaty signed half a year ago with the rival nation of Evels Kingdom, the current military situation was relatively stable compared to a few years ago.

Well, even if she thought about it, Roselia couldn’t fully understand the circumstances of the Count’s family, so she decided not to dwell on it further.

Curious about what the Count was doing in the study, Roselia turned her steps towards it.

For some reason, the Count was in the middle of organizing the books piled up in the study.

Looking at the books stacked in front of the door, Roselia asked quizzically.

“What are these books?”

To Roselia’s question, the Count, who was organizing books on the bookshelf, answered absent-mindedly.

“They’re just taking up space, so I’m planning to get rid of them.”

It seemed that all the books piled up near the door were meant to be discarded.

After opening one book to check its condition, which was better than expected, Roselia blurted out to the Count as if something had occurred to her.

“If you’re going to throw these away, can I have them?”

The Count, glancing at Roselia, replied indifferently.

“Do as you please.”

“Thank you!”

Roselia gathered several books that were relatively easy to read.

There were many books too good to throw away, so she planned to pick the easy ones to give to Erlin.

Being an unknown author, she felt a kinship with Abello and Erlin. Erlin, in turn, was quite fond of her. Whether as Roselia or Antonio.

Thinking about gifting books to Erlin, Roselia hummed as she tied up a bundle of books with string.

From fairy tales to easy-to-read history books, she gathered three or four volumes, which became quite heavy, making it difficult to carry more.

After asking the Count not to throw away the remaining books as she would come back for them later, Roselia bid farewell and headed towards Algria village.

Scanning the now-familiar village scenery, Roselia walked towards a house with a flower garden in full bloom at the entrance of an alley.

A girl who recognized her ran out from the wide-open door.

“Big brother!”

“Erlin, have you been well?”

Abello’s daughter, Erlin, clung to her happily, recognizing her after just a few meetings.

“Yes! What’s that?”

“These are books I brought for you, Erlin.”

“Wow~~!”

Erlin, who had only a few books, jumped up and down excitedly.

Behind the girl, Abello, wearing an apron stained with paint as if he had been working on a painting, walked out.

“You should say thank you, Erlin.”

“Thank you! Big brother!”

With that, Erlin grabbed a book that looked like a fairy tale from the pile and disappeared into the house, trotting.

Abello, who watched the scene with satisfaction, looked at Roselia and smiled warmly.

“So, have you resolved the issue with that person you were worried about?”

Roselia, who had been looking at Abello with a puzzled expression, suddenly remembered the advice she had sought from him before and smiled awkwardly.

“Well… sort of…”

“It seems it’s still ongoing.”

Seeing Roselia trailing off, Abello smiled knowingly.

“Sometimes, time is the best medicine. Time will naturally reveal whether it’s a relationship meant to last or one that’s meant to pass.”

At Abello’s meaningful words, Roselia looked at the flower buds in the garden that had started to bloom and thought.

It should pass. That would be best for both of us.

Roselia in the original story who died loving the Duke. The Duke who, after using Roselia, was likewise accused of treason and killed.

For both their sakes, their connection should not continue.

After leaving Abello’s house, Roselia was on her way to catch a carriage when she passed by the school construction site that was underway under Klaus’s direction.

This is where I first encountered Klaus in my female disguise in this area.

If that wasn’t a trick of fate, what else could it be?

As she was smiling bitterly at that thought, Roselia’s gaze caught a suspicious man.

In this world without electricity, most construction work typically wrapped up before sunset.

Yet, a man was entering the deserted school construction site after the workers had left.

He was too well-dressed to be a worker.

What business could a non-worker have at a school site under heavy construction?

Suddenly, a detail from the original story flashed through her mind.

Come to think of it, around this time in the original story, there was an issue at the school construction site led by the Duke’s family.

It was the incident where hidden illegal medicinal herbs were discovered at the Algria school construction site.

Since medicinal herbs were prohibited by imperial law, in the original story, the Duke was arrested for illegal herb trafficking.

This incident marked the beginning of the rift between the imperial family and the Duke’s family, and subsequently, a series of events led the Duke to contemplate rebellion against the imperial family.

When reading the original story, she had simply assumed that the Duke’s family was caught trying to smuggle profitable medicinal herbs.

But… thinking about it now, the Duke had no reason to deal with medicinal herbs.

If that part of the original story was just the Duke being falsely accused…

Perhaps uncovering the truth behind this incident could prevent the Duke from taking the path of a traitor.

Having made up her mind, Roselia headed towards the school site where the man had entered.

It wasn’t easy to find the man moving stealthily in the darkened construction site.

After searching for a while and about to give up, the man in question walked out of the skeletal structure of the construction site building.

Roselia and the man, suddenly face to face, froze as they stared at each other.

“Who are you?”

At Roselia’s sharp question, the man abruptly turned and started running.

Reflexively, Roselia also began chasing the man with all her might.

“Stop right there!”