Before Klaus could even open his mouth, Roselia cut him off with a resolute voice.
“From now on, please deliver the money through my brother, Antonio. I would prefer it if we never had to cross paths over such unpleasant matters again.”
With that, she turned on her heel and walked away, her departure radiating an icy coldness.
Klaus could only watch her retreat, his brows knitted; he found he could not bring himself to stop her.
Bang! With a jarring crash, the door slammed shut, and Roselia vanished from sight.
Klaus stared at the wood long after she was gone, his gaze dropping to the pouch of money in his hand.
‘Sleep with me’—what on earth had possessed him to say something so out of character?
He was a man who loathed the very idea of paying for a woman’s company. How could he have let such a ridiculous, absurd proposal spill from his own lips? The suggestion that she could clear her debt by serving him—it was madness.
It must have been the frayed nerves from the school construction project, or perhaps the stress of Antonio being detained by the Crown Prince earlier that morning.
Klaus heaved a deep, shuddering sigh and collapsed onto the sofa, utterly exhausted.
***
Having returned to her role as Antonio, a servant of the Duchy and the *Il Domestico* to Closette, Roselia stared blankly at the sky.
She felt as though her soul had been hollowed out. She gazed into the void before suddenly raking both hands through her short black hair.
The sensation of being trapped in his arms the previous evening and the strange, electric tension that had hung between them kept resurfacing, making her feel as though her head might explode.
‘Sleep with me’—and to her, of all people!
For a Duke who cared only for gold to say such a thing!
She felt angry, yet flabbergasted; indignant, yet dumbfounded.
She had assumed he was so consumed by work and wealth that he had no interest in women, but was the Duke, in the end, just like any other man?
Closette, who was crunching on a cookie, watched Roselia’s sudden transition from dazed to fuming as if she were observing a curious animal.
“Antonio, is something troubling you?”
At the abrupt question, Roselia belatedly remembered she was in the middle of teatime and forced an awkward laugh.
“Troubling me? Not at all.”
When she tried to gloss over it, Closette fixed her with a suspicious gaze.
“You entered the mansion in women’s clothing yesterday… Did something happen with Klaus?”
At the mention of “something happening,” the memory of the incident flared in Roselia’s mind. She flushed a deep red, acting thoroughly repulsed.
“Nothing happened! W-what could possibly happen? The Duke only cares about money and work!”
Seeing Roselia’s hypersensitive reaction, Closette blinked in bewilderment.
“I was just asking if Klaus suspected your true identity.”
Realizing she had jumped to conclusions out of pure guilt, Roselia rolled her eyes and offered an awkward smile.
“Ah… right. Nothing happened. I just handed over the money and left.”
For the most part, anyway.
Roselia tried to avoid Closette’s gaze, offering only a strained smile. Watching her intently, Closette suddenly sprang to her feet.
“That’s it! Let’s go for a picnic at the lake!”
“Pardon?”
As Roselia stared at her, wide-eyed, Closette winked with a mischievous grin.
“Actually, there’s something we need to discuss privately. Just between us.”
It was quiet enough here to be ‘just between them’—in truth, her nursemaid Melda was a person of absolute loyalty, so it was safe to assume the walls had no ears.
Though Roselia was skeptical, Closette seemed so excited that she eventually nodded in agreement.
By the time they reached the giant lake on the Duchy estate, Roselia looked dazed.
A delicate boat, adorned with dangling decorations and lace, waited for them at the water’s edge.
“What are you doing? Hurry and get in!”
As Roselia stood staring blankly, an excited Closette stepped lightly onto the vessel. Only then realizing the picnic was to be held on the water, Roselia recoiled in horror.
“Y-you want me to get in?”
“Hurry!”
Closette, already seated, waved at her. Just then, Melda, who had silently approached, placed a picnic basket into Roselia’s hands. It was a silent instruction to carry it aboard.
Resigned, Roselia took the basket, boarded the boat, and sat down across from Closette.
Before long, the boat began to drift lazily across the water.
“Why a boat, all of a sudden?”
When Roselia asked with suspicion, Closette took off her flowery hat and thrust it toward her. It was a command to hold it.
Roselia let out a dry laugh and obediently rested the hat on her lap.
“I told you, we have something urgent to discuss.”
Seeing Closette lower her voice as if sharing a grand state secret, Roselia let out a deflating sigh.
“What is it?”
“I received a letter from the Crown Princess today.”
“The Crown Princess?”
Surprised by the unexpected topic, Roselia’s eyes widened, causing Closette to frown and place a finger to her lips.
“Shh!”
As if anyone could hear them in the middle of the lake.
“The Crown Princess invited both you and me to the banquet tomorrow evening.”
“The Lady and me?”
It was unexpected, but not entirely unforeseen. She had been meeting the Crown Princess privately, but since the Crown Prince’s suspicions persisted, it was likely a calculated decision to meet under the guise of escorting Closette.
While Roselia was deep in thought, Closette continued.
“To be precise, you—as Roselia—and me.”
Wait… if it were me as Roselia…
Doesn’t that mean I’d have to go dressed as a woman?
“What???”
In her sudden shock, her grip slackened, and the hat was snatched away by a gust of wind.
Startled, Roselia reached out to grab it, but the hat fell into the water right beside the boat. It looked like an expensive, high-quality piece, so Roselia leaned over the railing, stretching her arm out to retrieve it.
But just then, the center of gravity shifted, and the boat tilted precariously.
“Eek—!!”
It happened in an instant. The boat rocked violently, and with a scream from Closette, Roselia tumbled overboard.
Splash—!!
“Antonio!!!”
As she heard the panic in Closette’s voice, the realization hit Roselia with icy terror: she had never in her life been in water that reached above her waist…
***
The Baltezar Duchy estate was bordered by the Hypris Lake, so clean the residents used it for drinking water, and the Veldef Mountains, so vast they were called the roof of Rugvelzet.
Klaus would occasionally ride toward the mountain entrance, which lay just past the lake, whenever he needed to clear his mind.
That day, he was heading that way when he pulled on the reins, alerted by a sudden scream. He turned his head toward the sound.
He saw the picnic boat floating near the edge of the lake, along with a familiar silhouette.
“Closette?”
As he watched her standing precariously on the edge of the boat, he saw the water near her churn violently. Without a moment’s hesitation, he spurred his horse forward.
“Closette!!!”
Perhaps hearing his voice, Closette shouted back, her face twisted in distress.
“Antonio! Antonio is—!”
Seeing Closette look as if she were about to dive in herself, Klaus’s expression hardened, and he leaped from his horse.
“Stay back!!!”
Warning her not to move, Klaus plunged straight into the lake.
Splash!!!
Slicing into the water as smoothly as if he were diving, Klaus swam with all his might toward the flailing form.
Antonio, thrashing like a fish pulled from the depths, had already swallowed a great deal of water, and his movements were growing sluggish as he began to sink beneath the surface.
Klaus, tracking him even while swimming, dove under.
He saw Antonio staring at him with hazy, unfocused eyes.
Klaus swam with all his strength, grabbed the limp body by the waist, and dragged him back to the surface.
Dragging the dead weight was an arduous task, feeling three times heavier than reality. But, gritting his teeth, Klaus hauled Antonio to the shore, laid him flat, and checked his condition.
“Hey! Hey!!”
When Antonio didn’t respond to a few slaps on the cheek, Klaus cursed in a sudden, overwhelming surge of anxiety.
“Damn it!”
He bent down to grab Antonio’s jaw to perform rescue breathing, but just then, Antonio gasped, turning his head to the side and coughing up a mouthful of water.
“Ack! Cough, cough!”
Klaus watched him with a look of relief, which was instantly replaced by a flash of white-hot anger. He grabbed Antonio’s shoulders roughly.
“Just what were you thinking, throwing yourself into that lake?!”
Faced with Klaus’s intensity, Roselia looked at him with a bewildered expression, managing to squeeze out a weak voice.
“I didn’t… throw myself… I fell…”
“Whatever the case, why can’t you sit still for even a moment!”
Before she could shake off the lingering terror of almost dying, the force of his voice brought a sudden wave of sorrow to her heart. She had really thought she would die… she had been so terrifyingly scared…
Suddenly, as her shoulders remained firmly gripped in his hands, tears began to stream down her face.
Realizing that what he had mistaken for lake water was actually tears, Klaus froze in panic.
“I… I thought I was going to die…”
At the sound of her voice, broken by sobs, Klaus’s hands involuntarily stiffened.
It was strange; the moment he saw her tears, his entire body seemed paralyzed, unable to move an inch.
Unaware of his internal turmoil, Roselia continued to sob, tears rolling down her cheeks in droplets.
Klaus’s grip on her shoulders tightened.
He could not fathom what this strange emotion was. He felt angry, annoyed, anxious, and worried all at once…
And now, for some reason, he found it unbearable to watch her cry.
She was merely a servant… what was this sensation a man like him was experiencing?
Even as he thought this, he couldn’t bring himself to let go.
As he stared at her in confusion, she looked up at him with tear-filled eyes, as if appealing to his sense of injustice.
At that, Klaus’s body went rigid once again.