SGC 15

CHAPTER 15

Translator: Rae

***

Click here to read the previous chapters (Chapter 1-14)

The boy’s height was always at least a finger’s breadth taller than the girl’s. At some point, that gap became the length of a finger—and then, before she knew it, a full span of a hand.

As the distance in their eye level widened, the boy grew ever more mature. Sometimes, the things he said became hard for her to understand.

The maid’s daughter, who did nothing but wander the estate, had no learning and knew very little. Unlike the girl’s painfully narrow world, the boy’s world grew wider with every passing year, every passing moment.

The more the boy grew, the more restless the girl became. She feared that once he had fully grown, he might stop coming here, and he would grow tired of childish games with a worthless little girl like her.

The memories of a spring from long ago when she had anxiously waited for the summer of his return suddenly came vividly back to life.

“I’ve never once forgotten the summers here. Even if I wanted to, everything was far too vivid.”

Edmund’s fingertips slowly traced the line that marked Rozella’s height. Now, he had grown into a man tall and strong enough to easily vault over the white fence.

But she still felt as though she were trapped in those days, like a child who hadn’t grown at all. She felt guilty, yet lacked the courage to bear it, and she even stood there having postponed atonement itself.

Lowering her distant gaze, Rozella pressed her lips together, then slowly parted them again.

“Your Grace, do you still…”

Do you still hate me so much? The words never reached her throat, sinking deep into the edges of her heart instead.

She had neither the courage to ask about his feelings, nor the resolve to endure the answer. After all, she already knew what that answer would be.

“Ah, it’s nothing. Please just forget I said anything…”

As she hastily tried to brush off the irresponsible question, Edmund suddenly reached out.

His nimble fingertips lightly caressed her cheek, then began to move slowly, as if sketching over it.

“...!” 

Rozella widened her eyes when she felt his almost ticklish touch as it brushed past her earlobe. Her red hair, which she hadn’t realized had fallen loose, slid along the back of his hand, tucked behind her ear, and spilled down beneath her delicate jaw.

As if that alone had been his purpose, Edmund withdrew his hand from her jaw without hesitation.

Staring up at him as though her breath had stopped, Rozella snapped back to her senses at the sound of his voice.

“Once the ceremony is over, we won’t be able to come to this garden for a while.”

His eyes, holding the deep green of foliage, were as calm as his voice.

“But when we return, I promise—it will be exactly as you remember it.”

A deep ripple spread through Rozella’s heart. Why was he making such a promise to her? She was only a contractual partner who would disappear in a year…

And besides, she was still a traitor and a bystander who was hardly worthy of such a precious promise. Though she stood here out of necessity, she could never again be the “Roze” of the past to Edmund.

Rozella’s confused gaze wavered endlessly, but Edmund answered only with gentle silence.

The green eyes looking down at her curved softly, and a light breeze drifted in, filling the silence between them.

“...”

After gazing up at him as if in a dream, Rozella finally lowered her eyes.

Though old and chipped in various spots, the sturdy fence still stood firm, encircling their paradise just as it always had.

As if to say that nothing had changed at all.

In the end, unable to push away the selfish, longing feelings swelled in her chest, Rozella absentmindedly traced the marks they had left on the fence.

Wondering whether a day would ever come when this garden would again be filled with blooming roses, like those warm, happy days of her younger days.

*** 

To Rozella, the summer when she was thirteen years old remained an especially sweltering, searing memory.

Rupert the gardener sprinkled water all around the grounds whenever he had a spare moment under the midday sun.

Young Rozella crouched beneath the eaves, blankly watching the streams of water spraying from the hose and the rainbow blooming between them. She was also peering like a sneaky cat beyond the window, eavesdropping on the solemn voices coming from the study.

“You are well aware that the Hayden family, as the royal family’s closest ally, is facing countless forms of scrutiny.”

With the academy on break, Edmund had returned from the military school and devoted himself to the heir-related mentoring without having time to rest.

On days like that, Rozella grew tired of waiting and secretly listened in on his lessons. It allowed her to study alongside him, and to keep an eye on whether any cruel instructors were giving Edmund a hard time, k*lling two birds with one stone.

The history teacher who had arrived today was an elderly gentleman with an impressive white beard, and fortunately, he carried himself with great courtesy.

“Even now, there remain those across the continent who refuse to acknowledge the current royal family. Many are leaders of the aristocratic faction that has since lost its influence.”

Unaware that some child was eavesdropping on his lesson, the old gentleman cleared his throat gravely.

“For that reason, the Hayden family must further solidify its relationship with the royal family.”

From the old teacher’s mouth came words that instantly swept away Rozella’s boredom.

“In other words, a betrothal.”

Betrothal. In other words, marriage. Swallowing hard, Rozella straightened her crouched knees and gripped the window frame.

When she cautiously leaned forward to look inside, she saw the boy’s back, turned away from the window. As she sat upright, Edmund didn’t even budge as if he was listening intently to the teacher’s words.

“The royal family and the ducal house have long discussed this betrothal. And since Her Highness the Princess is the same age as the young lord, you two will naturally bethrothed once you two come of age.”

With a sudden lurch, Rozella’s heart sank. Her golden eyes trembled endlessly, blurring faintly under the weight of shock.

She wanted to know Edmund’s response, and yet at the same time, she never wanted to hear it. Clapping both hands over her ears, Rozella abruptly pushed herself up from her spot.

As she fled the villa and ran into the forest, her heart sank endlessly toward the bottom.

Would Ed one day truly marry someone else and never return to this villa again? When her heart was hurting for some mysterious reasons, Rozella clutched her chest tightly.

Edmund was the duke’s only son, and Rozella was the daughter of a maid. Because their distance had felt so close, she sometimes forgot that fact, and now it was like she had been splashed by cold water.

It felt as though she had just returned to reality from a daydream she would one day have to wake from.

Wandering aimlessly along the edge of the garden, Rozella rubbed her eyelids. When she opened her blurred eyes, she saw a withered rose lying carelessly on the ground.

It looked as though it had been driven out from a place where it belonged, and the sight left her anxious.

“It’s still pretty. What a waste.”

Murmuring in a deliberately bright voice, Rozella picked up the rose and walked beneath a large zelkova tree.

After some time had passed, a familiar presence stirred at Rozella’s ears.

"Rose. I thought I’d find you here.”

Edmund seemed to have returned to the garden with something in one of his hands. Standing beneath the tree where light filtered through in patches, Rozella couldn’t bring herself to look at him and dropped her head.

The edge of her vision caught sight of his feet.

“I’m sorry. The lesson kept dragging on, so it was hard to slip away.”

Thinking that Rozella was sulking, Edmund tried to soothe her in a gentle voice.

In order to hide her pounding heart, Rozella answered on purpose in a loud voice.

“I’m fine. Playing by myself is fun too.”

Edmund bent down deeply, trying to meet Rozella’s eyes. As she kept jerking her head away to avoid his gaze, Rozella eventually sank down to the ground.

When she drew up her knees and buried her face in between, Edmund bent down beside her as well.

"Really? Then why are you avoiding my eyes?" 

As his voice grew cautious, her heart dropped heavily. She did not want to hurt him, yet she lacked the courage to speak to him as she normally would.

“It’s just that sometimes I want to be alone too. I’m already thirteen, not a little kid anymore. You don’t need to play with me every time.”

When she deliberately lowered her voice and answered as if she were already a grown-up, Edmund fell silent. Soon, his feet moved out of her sight as soon as he stood up.

She wondered if he was leaving, tired of her like this, but unexpectedly, Edmund moved and dropped down right beside her.

“I brought a book to read with you. Are you not going to look at this either?”

A thick hardcover book was thrust out in front of her.

“It’s the book you said you wanted to read.”

The title The Ball of Oblivion was embroidered in red on a pitch-black cover. It was a novel that had recently become popular among the maids.

Every time Rozella asked them to tell her the story, the maids would panic and run away, which only made her want to read it more. Recalling it, Edmund had gone and found the book for her.

“Let’s read it together. How about it?”

Her heart grew painfully warm, and without realizing it, Rozella tightly clenched the rose in her hand. A sharp thorn dug into the tip of her thumb.

“Ah!”

As Rozella let out a short cry, Edmund set the book down and hurriedly grabbed her hand. His concerned breath brushed against Rozella’s cheek.

"Are you okay? Let me see." 

"I'm fine..." 

It was the moment she instinctively turned toward him. His clear green eyes were far too close, and along with the soft brush of their noses, something tender grazed her upper lip.

It was brief and faint, but Rozella immediately understood what that sensation was.

…That was unmistakably a kiss.

She had read about it in books. About that first kiss, when lips meet, shared with the person one loves.

Edmund also seemed to realize they had just accidentally kised, so he just stood there with a blank expression. Rozella sprang up with a flushed face. At her feet, the corner of the book caught with a dull thud as it fell.

The opened book fluttered its pages in the breeze, then stopped on a single illustration.

By sheer coincidence, the man and woman in the illustration were clutching each other and kissing passionately.

“I, I didn’t see anything at all!”

Rosella, who screamed, covered her eyes and stamped her feet. Edmund was still looking in the air as if he were mesmerized. 

Shrieking, Rozella covered her eyes and stamped her feet. Edmund continued to stare into empty space as though his soul had left his body.

In the end, Rozella peeked through her fingers and had no choice but to step in and sort things out herself.

“So, this is, um… invalid!”

Edmund finally lifted his head and stared straight at Rozella. Though his entire face was flushed, the boy’s gaze was firm.

“Why did you say that?”

***

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