Chapter 20

Objectively, he is beautiful, as if he had popped out of a picture, and he is more normal than anyone else.

She didn’t know where it went wrong, but the rumor seemed to have spread strangely.

“I see.”

Yerhan blinked slowly at Rosena’s calm answer.

He looked at her as if asking whether she had more questions.

But Rosena was hesitant to ask.

‘People say you’re a lunatic, you know that?’ She couldn’t ask him that.

Rosena took a step again.

A walk in the moonlight wasn’t so bad.

A cool wind blew, and the sound of bushes brushing against the wind came.

She closed her eyes, the scene of when she entered the echo forest came to mind.

The sound of the wind stroking the leaves and the touch of cool air on the skin were similar to that time.

As Rosena walked forward without a word, Yerhan, who was following her, stood tall and called her.

“Rosena.”

Rosena, who was walking ahead, turned her head.

“How did you…”

She had never told him her name before.

Seven years ago, the name she gave Yerhan was an alias.

“……”

Yerhan bit his lips slightly.

He seemed to realize that he called her name naturally.

“…I found out when I told the royal family about the marriage.”

Rosena nodded convincingly at his reply.

The prince suddenly brought back a child and a woman, and it was clear that an investigation would be undertaken by the imperial family.

They couldn’t allow him to marry a woman of unknown origin.

Yerhan looked carefully at Rosena and asked.

“Can I have your name formally, please?”

Rosena hesitated for a moment. It was awkward because it had been years since she lived under the cover of her family’s name.

Moreover, even in Astania, Rosena lived by her name alone.

Rosena whispered, almost buried in the wind.

“Rosena Estarot.”

“…Rosena.”

He called her name, pressing his emotions down.

Yerhan’s eyes were slightly bent.

It was the first time she’d seen him this happy.

It was a small, faint, but pretty smile.

Rosena, who was staring at him blankly for a moment, suddenly remembered Yerhan from the past.

If he was an untamed beast back then, he was now apparently dignified like a royal.

His polite tone was quite different. However, Rosena thought he was the same then and now.

Even if everything changed, the eyes directed toward Rosena hadn’t changed.

In the past, Rosena was possessed by those eyes and gave her all away.

Suddenly, a slight heat circulated around her ears from her cheeks.

The sweltering heat was burning like dry firewood.

As she inhaled deeply, a cold wind came inside.

Rosena, who barely came to her senses, said.

“I’d like to have your name officially, too.”

“It’s Yerhan Herbet.”

“……”

In the past, when Yerhan told her his name, she thought it was fake.

But he only told her the truth from the beginning.

“I see.”

Rosena managed to pull out a dry voice.

Then she tried to remain calm and moved back on.

Unconsciously, the two were walking side by side without falling behind.

“I don’t know how your life was before, but…”

Rosena listened to a quiet voice.

“A lot will probably change after you get married.”

“…Change?”

Yerhan stopped walking.

Rosena stopped walking as well and turned her head to look at the scenery in front of her.

White wildflowers washing themselves in the gentle moonlight were fluttering along the wind.

Whisperings of stars in the night sky seemed to be heard all the way here.

Was there a place like this in the Prince Palace?

Rosena, enchanted, looked around, took another step.

At that moment Rosena’s body, who tripped, reeled.

Yerhan’s hand immediately held Rosena’s waist.

The sound of breathing came between the two, who became close at once.

Being trapped in his big shadow, his hands wrapped around Rosena’s waist caught her nerves.

Unlike the cold night air, his hands were hot.

Leaning close enough to burn Rosena at any moment, Yerhan looked down at Rosena.

His eyes were silently covered with emotions.

Rosena looked up at him.

His sunken eyes looked navy in the dark.

Unlike when it was clear blue, his navy eyes looked dangerous.

Looking into his eyes, she felt her lower stomach tighten.

Rosena, who came to her senses belatedly, slowly pushed him away. She then muttered, straightening herself up.

“Thank you.”

Yerhan glanced at his empty palm and stepped back.

The wind cooled Rosena’s heat a little.

“A lot of things change…”

Yerhan, who slowly opened his lips, continued.

“Everywhere you go, people will follow you, and it will be hard to be normal.”

Like what he said, Rosena will soon be a Prince’s wife, not an ordinary woman.

Rosena was well aware of how heavy the weight of that position was.

It was burdensome when she lost her father and became an acting count to take care of the county, but she couldn’t even imagine how much hardship was waiting for her.

“The imperial palace is full of people who are after me. Perhaps you and the child will be ostracized from the aristocracy.”

Instead of a golden future, black thorny paths would unfold.

Yerhan exhaled and inhaled.

Straight eyes headed toward Rosena along with a heavy word.

“But since I will never let them harm you…”

“It’s okay.”

Rosena shook her head firmly.

“I’m not the one you have to protect.”

Rosena was not the one to be defeated here.

Her final destination was the Kingdom of Astania, and she intended to fight hard for it.

“And I’ll do my best after we get married. As a mother, and as your wife.”

Her unshakable eyes were directed at Yerhan.

Yerhan swallowed his breath without realizing it.

“But if there’s one thing I want…”

“What is it?”

Yerhan asked rather impatiently.

“I’m trying to fix this place, is it okay?”

Yerhan stopped at Rosena’s question.

“I’ll call someone.”

“No, I’d like to decorate it myself if you allow me.”

She would live here at least for a few years, and she didn’t want to lean on Yerhan.

Now that she was staying in the imperial palace, Rosena wanted to get through her own path.

“But…”

Yerhan hesitated for a moment.

Seeing his hesitant expression, Rosena thought it was because of the low budget allocated to the palace.

Because there was no economic activity and she didn’t think there was any support from the Imperial Palace, so there would be no money.

“I’ll take as little of the budget as I can. Don’t worry.”

Yerhan’s expression grew strange at the words.

“It doesn’t matter how much the budget is. Feel free to use it as much as you want.”

Rosena thought he was just saying that.

It was impossible to root out a pillar in the absence of a livelihood.

If she spent a lot of money as she wanted, they might be shivering with cold in winter.

From now on, she had to join in making a living for the Prince’s Palace.

Rosena nodded with a burning desire.

“I’ll start tomorrow.”

She was going to change the garden right away.

***

Getting up early in the morning, Rosena changed into something comfortable to wear, and made a sandwich that was easy to eat in the kitchen.

In this way, it was like going on a picnic, but today was different.

Rosena headed for the backyard with Illian.

The randomly grown bushes were like a huge lump of dust.

Rolling up her sleeves, Rosena picked up a trowel that she found in the warehouse.

“Ilian, shall we hang out over there?”

Ilian nodded his head at Rosena’s words.

“Me too, me too… I want to do it.”

Illian said slowly, clasping Rosena’s sleeves in both hands.

After a moment of agony, Rosena went back into the building and brought a spoon.

“Will Illian take this?”

It was only a spoon, but it was oddly suited to Illian’s small hands.

Rosena and Illian crouched side by side and began to cultivate the flower bed.

He dug up weeds that grew badly like a rolled thread and trimmed a huge bush.

As they worked hard to organize the backyard, the birds sitting on the branches began to hover near Rosena and chirp in beautiful voices.

Rosena reached out her hands and allowed the birds to sit on them.

The birds showed affection by rubbing their faces against Rosena’s arms.

The little beasts started approaching her.

Spotted cats, black dogs and even white rabbits… the backyard had already resembled a small zoo.

The animals were snuggling around Rosena and whispering offers of help.

Rosena, who was troubled, pointed to the leaves piled up.

“Can you help me move this?”

As soon as Rosena’s words were over, animals lined up side by side to bite the leaves.

She would have had a hard time cleaning up by herself, but she was able to finish her work in a flash.

Rosena straightened her back and looked up at the fence.

The ivy vines, which grew as high as the sky, looked clear.

She thought she needed to repaint the walls, but it was too much to do today.

“I wish I could make room for the animals to rest.”

Rosena, who muttered to herself, looked around.

The palace was small, but the garden and backyard were quite wide, so there seemed to be a lot of space to use.

Rosena thought she’d change everything one by one.

By the time the sun had gone down, Rosena had straightened her back.

It was just removing the leaves and fixing the wall, but it was a good start.

If she worked every day, she thought the backyard would be clean soon.

Before evening, Rosena arranged the surroundings to return to the palace.

Meanwhile, quite a loud sound came out.

She had been hearing a faint sound since this morning, but she didn’t think too much of it.

But the sound just now was loud enough to not let it slide.

“Illian, hold my hand.”

Uneasy to leave Illian behind, Rosena reached for Illian.

Then Illian grabbed her hand.

Rosena walked out of the backyard with Illian at a quick pace.

Finally arriving in front of the palace, she opened her eyes wide to the ridiculous sight.

“What… is going on…”

The shabby palace had been turned into a completely new building.