/
(Alberto’s POV) A Knight’s Pride
“Alberto! Alberto, wait!”
Seeing the young man running at full speed from the end of the long corridor, Alberto made up his mind.
He braced himself for what he knew would one day be asked of him, and it was about to happen.
“Prince Risel.”
“Miss Marie! Why can’t I see her?!”
“Please keep your voice down. You never know who might be listening.”
The prince, with his long red hair disheveled, noticed the gravity of the situation and looked around. Fortunately, there was no one in sight.
“This way, please.”
Alberto led the prince behind the training grounds.
Risel questioned Alberto while worrying about other people’s presence.
“It’s been more than seven days since I gave you a letter to visit me, but you refused, saying you had urgent matters to attend to. If you go this far, even I would realize that you are intentionally keeping your distance from me.”
“My apologies.”
“I don’t want an apology. I want to hear the reason.”
Alberto’s face distorted slightly at Risel’s direct question.
“
 It seems some people have noticed the situation, so I’ve been watching for a while.”
“Already? Isn’t it too soon?”
“Everyone is in a hurry for the prince’s marriage. If you visit here more than once a week, it will only be a matter of time.”
It wasn’t a lie. Although not identified as Marie, Alberto knew that there were rumors that the prince may have found someone he wanted based on his recent appearance.
The ignorant one was the person himself.
“I don’t care about me at this point. I wonder if Miss Marie has been harmed in any way.”
Risel’s love for Marie, whom he had come to clearly admire, was increasing day by day. The more they met, the more the prince was attracted to her, and the more he fell in love with her.
He was too old to be in love for the first time, but Alberto also had the same disease. He knew there was nothing he could do about it.
Still, he can’t let things proceed as it were.
“I decided to place her in the care of the Duke of Rose as their maid.”
“What?”
For a moment, malice appeared on Risel’s face.
This is the moment when jealousy and possessiveness were born out of his normally mild-mannered nature.
However, the prince’s calm face immediately returned.
“I see
. She is certainly safe under Lord Reynaldo. But
.”
The Rose territory is located in the northern region. It’s too far from the royal capital.
It’s a fact that Alberto is painfully aware of.
“When things settle down, I will return her as the maid of the Knights’ Corps. I promise.”
Not for Risel’s sake, but for Alberto himself.
“
. I want to see her, at least for a glimpse.”
“
. Please be patient.”
It was a difficult decision, one that they both shared, but Alberto hid his true feelings and told the prince.
After parting ways with Risel, who has regained his composure, Alberto heads to his office.
After finishing today’s work, Marie had already returned to her room, and the tea she had brewed around noon was sitting on his desk, cold.
Sitting in his chair in his office, Alberto held his head in his hands.
After meeting Marie and learning that she was Rosemary, Alberto didn’t know where to direct his emotions.
He was reunited with the person he thought he would never see again.
She had been reborn and was no longer anybody’s fiancĂ©e. Her status was also lower than Alberto’s.
Nothing will ever change the loyalty he has dedicated to her.
And nothing has changed in his love for her.
Alberto envied Risel.
How happy he would be if he could honestly express his feelings as honestly as Risel does.
He had known since he was a child that his feelings for Rosemary would never come true.
That’s why the thoughts that had been locked away whispered to Alberto with a shallow desire to be with her now. It was like a devil’s whisper.
Still, the fact that his revenge had not yet been completed and that she was still in a dangerous situation that might cause damage was a deterrent. Alberto was thankful for that.
Even if he could not tell her how he felt, even if his feelings did not come true.
He was happy just to be by her side, as he had always been.
Now, with Rosemary becoming Marie, being a maid and staying by his side, it was a happy time for Alberto.
‘What would have happened if she had served him as Marie, a mere maid who didn’t remember anything?’
The “what if” thoughts remind Alberto of reality.
‘Would I have thought of her even if I didn’t know she was Rosemary?’
He doesn’t know. But he always had a good impression of her.
Marie, who showed up at the knight’s training grounds.
Marie, who took her work seriously and gave Alberto comfort so that he could get rid of his fatigue even if only a little.
Even if it had been a job for her, it was certainly the most healing moment for him.
‘Marie
. Lady Rosemary.’
The faces of the two women who had stirred up Alberto’s life more than ever came to mind and then faded away.
It was all the more detestable.
It would have been better if it had ended with just a solemn pledge of allegiance.
The balance that had held Alberto’s heart together was shattered when she was reborn and appeared before his eyes.
And yet, he remains a knight.
His undying loyalty is with her soul.
The only thing that could keep his ego in check was being her knight.
As for Reynaldo, he has his own way of getting things done the way he wants and even tries to lock her up.
Even Risel, who earnestly whispers his love to her, can’t do it like Alberto.
It has always been the only way to love her, the only way that only Alberto could love her.