[t/n: I refer to Rosenta/Rosa according to the gender he/she is in at that moment. If Rosenta is wearing magical tools, I use he/him. If Rosa is without the tools, she/her. Regardless of whether her secret is out, I will use the gender physically represented for consistency and clarity.]
As the sun was preparing to set, Nike sent someone.
"I'll guide you."
Rosenta, who had been preparing in advance, quietly followed the man.
They climbed up the stairs, going up higher and higher.
It was as though they were going to the top of the wooden castle.
When they reached the last step, Rosenta was finally able to stop walking.
There was a huge door at the end of the stairs. It was the only door, and it was covered in intricately carved reliefs.
The space behind that door was already full of noise.
"I’ve brought a guest."
Those who were guarding the door nodded at the man's words.
He then opened the door wide.
"I think I'm the last to arrive.”
Rosenta had guessed as much from the sounds of conversations he’d heard outside, but he seemed to be the last to join the meal.
At the long table, Nike, her husbands, and her children were all seated.
"We sent someone to guide the guests here a bit late so that we wouldn’t run the risk of keeping you waiting."
Nike smiled gently and gestured toward an empty seat.
The place she directed Rosenta to sit was to the left of Theodore, who was at the head of the table, seating Rosenta directly opposite Nike.
"Bradley."
At Nike's call, everyone at the back came forward, led by a man.
Because of them, the table became filled with colorful and rich foods.
Once they started eating, the Cardia family didn't say much.
It was very quiet.
They didn't even make small mistakes like bumping into each other.
Driven by the atmosphere, Theodore and Rosenta also stopped talking.
It was when the time to eat dessert came that they started a proper conversation.
"Come to think of it, I heard my daughter proposed."
For a moment, Rosenta thought the tea he was drinking was flowing backward.
He put down the teacup quickly and coughed with his mouth closed.
Theodore began to talk to Nike on his behalf.
"If it's your daughter...…. As far as I know, the young lady, the eldest, is the successor of Cardia."
"Yes, but I did not say my first daughter. I have two daughters.”
Rosenta barely stopped coughing and raised his head.
Then he saw Theodore's face alternating between him and someone else with a look of astonishment.
He was probably looking at Arancia, the second daughter sitting next to Silva’s successor Aitachi.
"Thank you for the proposal, but I have no intention of getting married yet."
Rosenta expressed his intentions in a roundabout way.
Arancia suddenly, loudly cried out, "Sheesh!"
After that, the conversation calmly went in another direction.
Theodore and Rosenta overheard the stories they talked about.
Most of it was about the children or Silva's estate.
Then, all of a sudden, everyone's eyes were on "Aphra."
"Aphra, what did you do today?"
"Today I went east, and I spent the morning drawing the geography of the place."
The orange-haired young man, Aphra, who was responding to Nike, was the one whom Rosenta had already encountered.
The brother who was scolded by his sister, Arancia, in front of Rosenta’s room.
***
After the meal, Nike asked Rosenta to meet separately.
Not immediately, of course. She told me to meet her after a ‘certain room’ was cleaned.
In the meantime, Rosenta asked around and headed for Enoch's room. He hadn't seen Enoch's face since they’d arrived.
He wondered what the hell he was doing and whether he was abandoning his role as a butler, which he’d been carrying out so well thus far.
Enoch's room was a little remote.
That didn't mean it was shabby. It was a room that looked excessive enough to be used for a butler's room.
"Enoch."
Rosenta knocked on the door.
No sound was heard. As if no one was in the room in the first place.
‘Where the hell did he go?’
Rosenta turned around thinking that he should ask Enoch to call on him later.
However, someone who had approached him without giving off any trace, stood behind him.
It was a man wearing a black robe.
"Are you here to see me?"
From the voice and wolf mask over the hood, Rosenta could immediately guess who it was.
"Enoch, where the hell did you go?"
Even at those words, Enoch tightened his breath and giggled, as if Rosenta’s attitude was cute.
Then, suddenly, his mask popped forward. Rosenta could see the black hollows in the eyes.
Disgusted, he pushed that face away.
"I wanted to show it to the duke first, so I wrapped it up like this."
‘What the hell are you trying to show me? Are you talking about this costume that evokes old memories?’
First, Rosenta answered insincerely, "Yeah. I got a good look."
Having confirmed that Enoch wasn't causing problems, he was going back to his room.
But Enoch blocked his way.
As Rosenta was thinking about whether to say something, Enoch pulled his hood back.
Normally, Enoch's black hair fell all the way down his back like a waterfall.
But not now.
His long neckline could be glimpsed.
An earring, which was always covered by his hair, also caught Rosenta’s eye.
"Don't tell me that today...….”
"I heard that there is a professional hairdresser for men here, so I went there. What do you think, Duke?"
Enoch swept Rosenta’s hair behind his ears.
Because it had been cut so short that it only reached his shoulders, it gave off a more mysterious atmosphere than before.
“……It's okay. It suits you."
Rosenta turned his head away.
It really looked good on him. But it was embarrassing to give such a compliment.
He walked away calmly as if he had no reason to hurry.
Then he stopped walking.
Of course, without looking back, he said to Enoch.
"I'm going to see Duke Cardia soon, so be prepared."
From behind his back came Enoch's answer, full of laughter.
"Yes."
***
The place where Rosenta arrived to meet Nike, funnily enough, was near Enoch's room.
"She’s waiting for you."
Rosenta tried to enter the room.
However, the woman who was standing guard put out her arm.
She was indicating that Enoch couldn't enter.
"I’ve been ordered that others are not to be let in."
Rosenta nodded lightly. Then he stared at Enoch and commanded him.
"Wait for me."
"Yes."
Once Enoch took a step back, the woman opened the door.
Through the open door, he could see Nike standing in a narrow, old room.
He stepped into it.
Soon, he heard the door behind him closing with a squeak.
Meanwhile, Nike was staring at something with only her back showing. A picture frame on the table.
Curious, Rosenta glanced at the frame.
"My mother...… I see."
It was a picture of Nike and his mother smiling together against the backdrop of a flower garden.
It seemed to have been well kept so far without any smudges.
"This is Jane's room. I just wanted to show you this place at least once.”
He examined the room carefully.
It was an ordinary but very well-decorated room. It was the kind of room that didn't have a single spot.
There was not a speck of dust. Even at a cursory glance, you could see how well it had been managed all that time.
All of this seemed meant to affirm Nike’s special friendship with his mother.
"Thank you for showing me."
"No."
Nike shook her head.
As if she missed someone whom she was projecting onto Rosenta, she caressed his cheek with a tender touch.
She looked at him with her teary eyes, like a wet sunset.
"I am grateful you are here, Rosa."
He’d heard the name from his past, which he’d thought he would never hear again.
Did he hear it wrong?
He didn't even think about how to respond to the confusion.
Then Nike mentioned the name once again. Like she could read his dizzy mind.
"Rosa Veronica."
"Ah……. How...….”
"Jane had sent me a letter. She named her Rosa Veronica after her own last name. Given to her own pretty daughter."
"Does that mean you knew everything from the beginning?"
Now everything was explained. Why she’d thrown such ambiguous words at Rosenta.
Because she knew he was a woman from the beginning.
Gradually, it became difficult to manage his facial expressions.
He looked at Nike with the wariest look she’d ever seen. He thought about what to do after this.
‘Should I curse her like I did with Enoch?’
But doing that to a duke of similar status was like declaring war.
"You don't have to be so vigilant."
He would not be foolish enough to immediately answer, 'Okay.'
He remained vigilant.
"In case your father decided to find you later, foolish Jane said she would stay there, but...….”
Nike paused. Then she opened the drawer of the desk where the frame was placed earlier.
There was only a piece of paper lying in the drawer. It was a very faded piece of paper, as if to indicate its age.
Nike held it out to him.
After being handed it carefully, he slowly unfolded the paper. A familiar, bad handwriting caught his eye for the first time in a long time.
"I ask of you just in case."
What was written was no different from what Nike said.
There was a series of explanations about me, and at the end, there was a note saying, "Please take care of her."
"After learning of Jane's death, I visited you, but you weren't there. And years later, I saw you here."
"You mean the day I followed my father here."
[t/n Rosenta noted earlier in the story that he visited Silva with his father as a child.]
"Yes."
He didn't know what scene came to mind, but Nike crumpled her face.
He thought he heard the sound of grinding teeth.
Then she clapped her hands very loudly as if to change the atmosphere.
A small window slid open. The vine outside moved on its own and opened the window.
This was Nike's ability.
"Rosa...….”
The sun was setting.
The reddish sky outside the window mingled with Nike.
"No, Duke Estella."
Nike raised her lips to the fullest and handed me a rolled piece of leather.
"What's this?"
"You have to get the materials yourself. It's a place we can't enter."
The identity of the leather was a map.
One location was highlighted, with its name written in very bold letters.
It was called "The Moon's Tomb".