Yura kept looking back as she ran out. Theodore wasn’t following her.
She stopped running.
It'd been weird since yesterday. If it was before, he would have come after her right away.
There was no way to control her rising irritation.
Eventually, Yura couldn't stand it anymore and ended up screaming in the hallway.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
While shouting, she ended up making eye contact with a maid.
Yura quickly gathered her emotions. She tidied her messy hair and smiled at the maid.
"I'm sorry. I thought no one was here."
"Oh, don’t worry. Saint."
The maid carefully walked past Yura, carrying cleaning supplies.
Yura quickly rushed to her bedroom.
Then she laid down on the bed and began to beat the quilt.
"Phew. It's good I came here."
After pounding the blanket, as if to vent her anger, Yura slowly sat up.
Sitting on the bed, she began sorting out where things had started to go wrong.
At first, she asked a maid to inform Theodore that the duke had been injured.
She knew His Majesty would run to the Western palace at any moment.
She took advantage of their intimate friendship.
However, after Theodore came running, Yura's emotional state plummeted.
"The Duke and His Majesty are both men...….”
The duke was the only one Theodore had eyes for when he entered.
The emotions in that gaze were too deep for ordinary friendship.
Even if she’d called out to him, he wouldn't have noticed that she was there.
On top of that...….
"You didn't follow me."
Yura bit and ripped her lower lip.
She didn't care about the blood flowing down and kept biting it.
It was an eerie scene.
It was truly scary to see a girl stained with madness and obsession throwing away her mask.
"What is it? What the hell is wrong with you.”
If Conitel was there, she could get a blessing from him again.
‘A special blessing for just for me.’
It was needed again. Then His Majesty would look after her once more.
"Yes. He said that everyone would soon gather in the Holy Land…”
‘I need to get a new one from Conitel there.’
Yura smiled very gently and warmly. However, unlike that smile, the inside of her was truly scary.
"It has to be me. We fell in love with each other at first sight. Your Majesty...….”
Yura, the female protagonist no longer existed.
All that remained was the poor, evil girl who had not received love and had fallen into obsession.
"He was my man from the beginning."
Volume 3
Two nights later, the whole country was turned upside down by a single story.
The fact that the pope had died began to spread throughout the country.
Only stories about the Pope could be heard on the streets, and the front pages of the newspapers were filled with news about the Holy Land.
The more momentum the news built, the more anxious he became.
"Duke! Are you going to the top floor again today?"
"Tell the chefs not to prepare lunch because I won’t eat it.”
"But...….”
Rosenta knew that Anna was worried out of concern for his health.
But it was also a waste of time to argue like this. He had received an invitation to the pope's succession ceremony as well.
It was time to leave for the Holy Land.
The timeline had begun to change from the original story. At this rate, even the plot could be changed.
Before a completely unknown future unfolded, he wanted to resolve the matter of the saint as quickly as possible.
"Anna, don't follow me."
"Duke, Duke!"
Eventually, he shook off Anna's worries and climbed the stairs.
Then there was a second obstacle waiting for him at the end.
"As expected, you're here.”
This time it was Enoch.
Enoch was looking down at him from the top of the stairs with a very serious look on his face.
He also knew what Enoch was going to say.
But that didn’t mean he wanted to hear from him either. He went to walk past Enoch.
“……What is this?"
He couldn't get past.
He couldn't take a single step forward, as if there was a transparent wall.
He kicked hard.
But he only hurt his toes and still couldn't go up the stairs.
It was clearly Enoch's doing.
"Open it."
"I want to."
The fiercer Rosenta’s eyes became, the deeper Enoch's smile became.
Rosenta sighed deeply and swept back his hair.
"Sigh. You'd better let me go while I’m still being nice."
Enoch's attitude changed in an instant.
He approached Rosenta without hesitation, and tried to grab his wrist, but stopped.
Enoch took a step back.
"I want to keep you from going there at all costs, but I'll hold it in."
His words said he would endure, but Enoch's gaze was very fierce.
His voice was also infused with ferocity.
"It's probably because of the emperor. The reason why you’re working so hard."
“……It's not."
"Lies. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been so weird after coming back from the Imperial Palace.”
He’d purposefully left Enoch behind that day. But it seemed it was useless.
Enoch dug into him as if he knew everything inside him.
Just like now.
"The medicine you barely made was useless, right? Is that why you're doing this? Huh?"
Enoch's voice, which had been harsh, suddenly became sorrowful.
He was anxiously looking at Rosenta.
Rosenta quietly looked up at Enoch. ‘Why on earth are you doing this to me?’
He couldn’t be who Enoch wanted him to be.
From the beginning, there were too many people who were precious to him, and there were too many things he wanted to protect.
Enoch would know that too. ‘But why do I…….’
Maybe it was because he was thinking about Enoch. The impatience inside his anxious mind gradually subdued itself.’
“……You’re right."
He didn’t know what kind of whim it was, but it gave him the answer he’d been avoiding.
Only for Enoch.
"As expected."
Upon hearing Rosenta’s answer, Enoch calmly smiled.
He came down the flight of stairs.
"I expected it, but I can't help this gut-wrenching jealousy.”
His face wore a warm smile, but his eyes were cruel.
But Rosenta wasn't worried because he knew that Enoch could never hurt him.
He stared into the fierce pale green eyes.
And he kicked at that damn transparent membrane again.
Speaking harshly to Enoch.
"Open it."
***
Rosenta couldn't go up to the top floor because Enoch didn’t listen.
He only smiled with narrowed, snake-like eyes, and never released the magic.
Eventually, Rosenta realized that this kind of arguing was a waste of time, so he quickly gave up.
And now.
He was sitting in his office scribbling an outline on a piece of paper.
"Duke."
Enoch pulled up a chair in front of him and rested his chin on the backrest.
Then he continued to call him, and Rosenta ignored all Enoch's calls.
"Duke."
It was just Rosenta’s petty grumpiness.
"Duke."
It was the fifth call. But again, Rosenta pretended not to hear it.
"Duke, Duke, Duke...….”
But Enoch tirelessly called him.
It seemed as though he was going to keep calling him until he answered.
As usual, Rosenta flew the white flag first due to Enoch's persistence.
"Why do you keep calling me?"
"Well, if you look at the text just now, it says that the duke gave you medicine…….”
Enoch pointed to one of the texts Rosenta was organizing written in cursive.
Then he got up and turned the chair 180 degrees.
After sitting up straight, he lowered his upper body slowly as if he were trying to bring his mouth to Rosenta’s ear.
He whispered, "The more severe a cold is, the more delayed the effect of the medicine is. What if this is the same?”
Enoch's words gave Rosenta an epiphany. It was quite the enlightenment, too.
What if the effectiveness of the medicine was slow because it was a really strong cold?
"Yes. It’s a very bad cold."
Upon hearing Rosenta murmur, Enoch added an additional explanation.
"If it's a bad cold. Then it must be a very contagious cold that spreads quickly."
Rosenta covered the paper without any hesitation.
He wanted to go to the palace right away and observe Yura. But that was too much.
Instead, there would be other opportunities.
Soon everyone would head to the Holy Kingdom. That's where it would be decided.