R4STWH - Chapter 101
Chapter 101
Though she had slapped him in anger without thinking of the consequences, Rosine felt slightly scared when she came to her senses.
The Amern Religious Order, like the Tenaclad family but for different reasons, had been gaining considerable influence lately.
People said that while the Tenaclad family held power and authority, the Amern Religious Order commanded the respect of the common people.
Given how low the imperial family's authority had fallen, it was obvious whose side the Emperor would take if she caused trouble with the Commander of the Holy Knights.
However, contrary to expectations, there wasn't even a hint of anger on Crow's face after being slapped. Instead, he looked at her as if she were a thoughtless child, with an expression that suggested he had aged ten years.
Something felt off about it, and it mysteriously irritated her.
'And telling me not to even mention that woman. What's that about?'
Though she grumbled, she had no intention of barging into Selena's reception room again.
Just before Crow had taken her out, she had felt chills run down her spine as if the temperature had suddenly dropped.
Though she hated to admit it, her instincts whispered to her that if she went back, she would truly die.
As someone who had survived in the imperial palace where a moment's carelessness could cost one's life, the Second Imperial Princess tended to trust and follow her instincts.
So she decided to write it off as bad luck and left the First Imperial Princess's palace.
'Maybe I should try probing my brother instead?'
It should be fine to casually bring it up while pretending to check on him.
She couldn't just give up—both Elias and the position of Tenaclad's mistress were too tempting.
'Nothing can be gained by just hiding.'
Having made up her mind, Rosine ordered her carriage to head to the First Imperial Prince's palace and got in.
'Come to think of it, why was Sir Crow by my sister's side? Has the Amern Religious Order, which had maintained neutrality until now, decided to get involved in the succession dispute?'
Just as she was pondering the events that had transpired in Selena's reception room, something caught her attention.
The scenery outside the window looked strange.
'Huh? What? Why is the carriage leaving the imperial palace?'
Startled, Rosine knocked on the wall near the driver's seat.
"Stop the carriage! Quickly!"
However, no matter how much she knocked on the wall and shouted, not only did the speed not decrease, there wasn't even a response.
'Could it be... assassins?'
When dungeons appeared and threw the entire continent into chaos, the Emperor had ordered a temporary halt to the succession disputes he had previously tolerated.
Everyone had ceased their covert operations, knowing that falling out of the Emperor's favor would most likely result in immediate disqualification from succession. Thanks to this, the imperial palace had been unusually peaceful for a while.
'I shouldn't have let my guard down!'
Rosine seriously contemplated whether she should jump from the carriage now. Getting injured seemed better than losing her life.
However, just as she was about to reach for the carriage door, it opened outward as if sensing her intentions.
Then someone abruptly entered the fast-moving carriage.
"Hello? You must be Rosine?"
The casual greeting came from a small-framed woman wearing a robe with a deeply pulled hood.
While Rosine remained frozen, the woman closed the door and sat across from her. Then, before Rosine could stop her, she pulled back her hood.
'I've seen her face now!'
It was common knowledge that seeing an assassin's face drastically reduced one's chances of survival.
Rosine's body began to tremble with fear.
Light pink hair flowing down to her ears and mysterious eyes that seemed to hold captured sunlight. The woman, whose beauty was almost disconcerting, smiled gently at Rosine.
"Why aren't you answering?"
"Ah, hello!"
Rosine hastily greeted the woman. She at least knew better than to act according to her usual personality when faced with someone who held her life in their hands.
"Yes, hello. I must have surprised you by appearing so suddenly? I hope you'll understand."
Despite her somewhat slow manner of speech and gentle voice, combined with doll-like features that shouldn't have seemed threatening at all, an inexplicable trembling wouldn't stop, as if she were face to face with a predator.
"Do you know who I am?"
"No...!"
The moment she screamed her denial, their eyes met. Once caught by those sun-orange eyes, she couldn't move an inch.
"Already lying... This is troublesome."
The woman was right.
Rosine had recognized the woman's identity the moment she pulled back her hood.
She was certainly Ilesha Tenaclad, the very woman about whom she had tried to extract information from Selena and Leonard.
While new information about Elias had been plastered across newspapers daily, strangely, there had been no information released about the wife he had taken.
It was an unnatural situation, as if someone had deliberately blocked it.
Only basic information could be obtained from the initial records reported to the Emperor, such as her hair color, eye color, and which kingdom she came from.
Most people assumed one of two reasons for this:
Either she was too insignificant to be worth attention, or there was a special reason she needed to be hidden.
Until five minutes ago, Rosine had firmly believed it was the former. Now she was certain it was the latter.
Ilesha Tenaclad was more terrifying than any being Rosine had ever encountered. So much so that the Emperor's suggestion that she might be the protagonist of the prophecy finally seemed credible.
"From now on, I'd like you to speak honestly. I don't have much time."
Her head nodded involuntarily before she could even think about it.
"You've exchanged greetings with my husband, Elias, haven't you?"
"Yes."
Rosine was inwardly shocked. Her mouth had moved on its own to answer.
'What is this...?!'
Her heart began to pound rapidly.
"Do you like him?"
"I wouldn't say I like him, but I'm interested in him."
"In what way?"
"Well, marrying him would make me the mistress of a great house, and he seems like he'd be amazing in bed."
'Aagh! Ah! What am I saying?!'
Rosine wished she could cover her mouth if only she could.
However, contrary to her wishes, all she could do was transparently reveal her innermost thoughts in response to the woman's questions.
"Even though he's already married and has a wife, those thoughts haven't changed?"
"No, my thoughts have changed now."
"Oh? How so?"
"That I shouldn't go anywhere near him if I don't want to die."
The woman's sharp gaze softened back to a gentler expression.
"You thought well. I'm glad you're smart."
The woman leaned back comfortably against the seat, her eyes curving into crescents filled with amusement. At the same time, the knife-like tension that had filled the carriage completely vanished.
"Huff, hah...!"
Rosine finally realized that she hadn't even been breathing properly until now.
The burst of breath made her chest ache. Tears streamed down from eyes that hadn't blinked once during their exchange.
The woman waited quietly, watching until Rosine calmed down, then spoke again.
"I could use brainwashing to keep you away or kill you right now, but I won't do either."
Despite still wearing a faint smile, the woman somehow didn't look particularly happy.
"I've decided to believe in God from today. As long as God's will, which is greater than fate, is with us, nothing can come between Elias and me."
"...?"
"Even if you're Elias's Pair, you won't be able to take him away."
Rosine couldn't understand the woman's monologue at all.
Still, she nodded vigorously, driven by the instinct to stay alive.
"Good. I'll leave for today. I hope you meet a nice person and find happiness."
"Th-thank you...!"
Though the word 'today' in her statement sounded ominous, Rosine was relieved to have somehow survived.
The woman disappeared as casually as she had appeared, opening the carriage door and vanishing.
As soon as she disappeared, the carriage that had been racing away from the imperial palace began to slow down and gradually came to a stop.
When Rosine, who had been huddled in the carriage for a long while, finally gathered the courage to open the door and step out, she found herself in the middle of a busy shopping district.
After staring blankly at the empty driver's seat, Rosine snapped to her senses and rushed to the nearest jewelry store. She needed to request them to send word to the imperial palace for a carriage and escort knights.
Just as she opened the door and was about to call out to the absent owner after stepping into the store...
"...!"
When she turned around, sensing someone following her in, she thought her heart would stop from shock.
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