SGC 22

CHAPTER 22

Translator: Rae

***

Rozella’s trembling gaze grew hazy as her hips quivered. The gently urging voice followed.

“Come on, Roze.”

Strength slipped from both her legs. Rozella, panting as if she might faint at any moment, blankly lifted her head.

Beyond her heat-hazed sight, only his figure showed clearly.

Black hair, disheveled with pleasure as much as hers, eyes steeped in dim moisture, and lips swollen red.

Despite the outwardly unhurried look on his face, the chest revealed between his robe rose and fell with a faint tremor. Moonlight spilled from the window and stretched long over him.

For some reason, the moonlight half-illuminating his familiar features was dazzling.

Like the sunlight that used to spread over the boy who would turn back to look at Rozella in that secret garden that was only theirs.

Rozella, looking at him with eyes bright as if caught in a dream, moved her damp lips.

"Ed...”

Ed, her first love and the sin she could never erase for the rest of her life. The moment she spoke his name, cracks ran through the barely held dam of her heart.

The longing she had hidden behind guilt, self-loathing, and fear felt like it would overflow without knowing its place.

Rozella tried weakly to turn her head away, but in that moment Edmund’s expression caught her gaze.

“I missed hearing you call me that name.”

Rozella’s damp lashes trembled. It took her a strangely long time to accept those simple words.

Did Ed really miss me too? But I betrayed Ed and left him with a wound that can’t be erased…

She moved her lips to say something, but her eyes kept closing. Strength drained from a body that had been overtaken by pleasure again and again.

"Good night, Roze." 

In her droopy golden eyes, a gentle face was reflected. After setting her legs back in place and straightening his upper body, Edmund covered her bare body with a blanket.

The faint curve of his lips formed a smile unlike his usual one—an unfamiliar smile that looked somehow sad.

Yet for some reason, Rozella felt as though she had seen this face of his before.

“There won’t be nightmares again.”

With those incomprehensible words whispered low, Rozella closed her eyes.

Soon, the sound of steady, soft breathing echoed evenly through the quiet bedchamber.

***

Knock, knock.

At the light knocking sound, Rozella gently furrowed the corners of her eyes.

Sunlight far too warm for morning lay slantwise over the bed. Mm, Rozella, tossing restlessly, opened her eyes in a daze and took in her surroundings.

The moment the blurred afterimage sharpened, a single intuition stabbed through her mind. This was the sign of oversleeping.

Rozella jolted upright with a gasp, and the knocking that had paused resumed again—knock, knock.

“Madam, this is Cynthia Wellen.”

It was the head maid’s voice. Rozella hurriedly threw off the blanket and answered loudly as she got up.

"Come on in." 

Soon, Cynthia opened the door and stepped inside. As she approached politely, her gaze swept over Rozella’s half-bare body for a brief moment.

Cynthia, who moved her eyes quietly as if measuring something, spoke in an unflattering voice.

“I will send up the maids who will assist with your bath and dressing. After that, I will prepare lunch.”

At those words, Rozella reflexively checked the pendulum clock. She could only be shocked at the hour hand pointing exactly to twelve.

It was already noon. It had been a very long time since she had slept in this late. Even when she attended the academy, she almost never woke after six in the morning.

“Th-then, please do.”

Forcing herself to calm the shock, Rozella hurriedly rose from the bed. In that moment, her legs suddenly gave out. Cynthia quickly stepped in and supported her right arm as Rozella swayed.

"Are you all right?" 

That calm gaze examined Rozella’s body once more. Admiring Cynthia’s quickness for a moment, Rozella realized far too late what her condition looked like under that gaze, and she froze in an instant.

That is, traces of last night remained plainly all over her body—marks Edmund had left…

“I… I’m fine! Thank you for helping me.”

Stammering noisily, Rozella abruptly regained her balance. All at once, it felt as though various places were burning hot and throbbing.

Especially between her legs, she had the feeling that the private place she could not bring herself to name was still damp, and Rozella unconsciously curled her toes.

The lips that had licked and sucked at her skin. The sensation of that tongue, which had relentlessly tormented the place between her legs, leaving only a single thin undergarment in its wake…

As I thought of the whole process casually, I felt dizzy because my head was dizzy. 

She couldn’t believe she had done such things with Edmund. Of course, for him it must have been nothing more than a necessary process…

When her thoughts reached that point, Rozella’s heart grew confused for a moment.

She knew it was nothing more than a dutiful act, yet what she felt from Edmund last night was a different air than usual.

As if… it was neither present nor past, but a side of him she was seeing for the first time.

After a brief silence, Rozella composed her expression and quickly changed the subject.

“Madam, has the Duke already gone out?”

“Yes. He had a schedule at the imperial palace, so he left the estate early this morning.”

Cynthia, who had been waiting in silence, answered immediately. With a dizzy face, Rozella clutched her hair. It weighed on her that she hadn’t seen him off from the very first day of their marriage.

Of course, if she had met his face the moment she opened her eyes in the morning, her whole body might not have merely turned red like a radish, but become like a lump of fire.

“Your schedule is free today, Madam. How about looking around the estate after finishing up your meal?”

Rozella, who had been wrapped in self-reproach, replied belatedly.

“Ah, yes. That sounds good. I’ll do that.”

Cynthia nodded politely and rang the bell on the side table. With its clear sound, the late-starting day began.

After being guided around the estate all afternoon, the last place they visited was the library.

The meticulously cleaned library, free of even a speck of dust, was filled with countless books.

Even when I climbed the round and low stairs to the second floor, there were full of bookshelves there. 

Even on the upper level reached by a round, low staircase, the shelves were packed with books.

The academy’s grand library was enormous as well, but even compared to it, this place would not fall short. She had only meant to look briefly, yet she found herself absorbed without realizing it.

“Since you have long enjoyed reading, His Grace instructed that the library be managed with special care.”

At Cynthia’s unexpected remark, Rozella’s golden eyes widened.

Feeling the tips of her ears grow warm, Rozella took a small breath and murmured softly.

"I see..." 

She felt grateful and overwhelmed that he cared for her even amid his busy schedule.

Of course, this might also be part of an act to dismiss any suspicion, as he had said, but Rozella knew better than anyone that he was always kind and considerate.

“If you plan to spend time in the library, I will have refreshments brought up.”

"Oh, refreshments are fine." 

Shaking her head, Rozella added another thought belatedly.

“More importantly, could you let me know as soon as His Grace returns this evening?”

Since she had not been able to see him off in the morning, she wanted to greet him when he returned. As it was her first day as duchess, she thought it would be good to present a proper image before the servants.

“I will do so. Then, please enjoy your time.”

Replying in a monotonous tone, Cynthia soon left the library. Once alone, Rozella finally relaxed and leisurely scanned the shelves.

Walking with unconsciously light steps as she browsed, she stopped in front of a shelf filled with classical works.

“I heard this book is out of print by now.”

Murmuring to herself, she pulled out a book on classical theology. She recalled that only one copy remained at the academy and was always checked out.

It was so rare that even Rozella, who visited the library whenever she could, had never read it, so she had no choice but to open it eagerly at once.

After skimming several pages while standing, Rozella soon took a seat at the round table. As she turned each page, the sun gradually set in the west.

Lost in reading, Rozella eventually finished a thick hardcover book and went in search of another with a satisfied heart.

As she walked among the maze-like shelves on the upper floor, a crimson sunset soon covered the courtyard.

Soon, Rozella’s eyes lit up when she spotted a familiar cover. It was a novel titled “Beyond the Fourteenth Door,” which she had read dozens of times as a child.

The story was a coming-of-age tale about a girl born into an ordinary family who faced many hardships but ultimately carved out her own life.

The one who had first given this book to Rozella was Edmund.

“...”

Lost in memories, she barely managed to take down the book from its high place.

As she turned the thick cover, the memories resurfaced vividly, and she was soon absorbed. Because of that, she did not even hear the library door open.

When footsteps eventually drew near, Rozella finally sensed someone and lifted her head. She thought Cynthia had come to call her.

“Could you wait a moment?”

She closed the book with a regretful look and stood on tiptoe to put it back, when a shadow fell behind her.

Just as she thought she had succeeded in sliding it in, the book slipped from her strained hand and fell.

"Ah!" 

At that moment, someone’s hand shot out and caught both the book and the back of her hand.

Feeling a firm chest behind her, Rozella widened her eyes. At the familiar scent and touch, her lips parted on their own.

“Your Grace?”

A small chuckle rumbled from behind her. Still holding her hand, the man slid the book back into place and slightly lowered his head.

“Didn’t we decide you wouldn’t call me that way anymore?”

The voice falling clearly into her ear grasped Rozella’s heart as always. While she foolishly swallowed dryly, a quiet evening greeting followed.

"I'm back, Roze." 

As Rozella hurriedly turned, his handsome face was reflected in her golden eyes. Her heart began to pound impatiently.

***

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