CSTB Chapter 24

Chapter 24

“Ah, I’m not really interested!”

Not that she wasn’t interested—she had to pretend she wasn’t. She was about to reach the climax of the work she had been putting so much effort into.

But seeing the climax of such a steamy, tempting romance unfold right in front of her eyes made it impossible to ignore.

Anyway, as long as those two were occupied, there was no other way to sneak out with the ledgers and documents.

Rosé clutched the papers and hid under the desk, pricking up her ears.

“So he really planned to run off, huh?”

She knew Andrew intended to run, but she hadn’t expected him to break things off with Mrs. Green and just vanish. Yet, that’s exactly what happened.

Even just a few days ago, Andrew had been enjoying a passionate secret rendezvous with Mrs. Green—but now he pushed her away mercilessly.

“What’s this? Did you actually believe me? You’re not fifteen years old… Mrs. Green, who’s grown old raising her son, get a grip. What man in his right mind would like someone like you?”

Andrew deliberately said crazy things, as if trying to hurt her.

But even crazier than him was Mrs. Green herself.

“How can love change in such a short moment?”

Andrew’s words clearly meant he had never loved her from the start. Yet she was crying and wailing, insisting that love couldn’t change before him, that she could endure any trial for Andrew.

“Seems like this was true love on her side,” Rosé thought.

After seeing how he embezzled funds and treated the servants, she had no sympathy for whatever he did—but seeing her cling so desperately, it almost looked pitiful.

And from what she could hear, it seemed neither the affair nor the embezzlement had been Mrs. Green’s idea.

She had been thoroughly used by Andrew.

And it wasn’t just Mrs. Green—Andrew seemed to have exploited several of the household managers before her.

He bragged about how he had taken advantage of them, leaving them with nothing and kicking them out.

“Do women really fall for a man like that?”

Curious, Rosé flattened herself against the floor and peered through the gap between the desk and the floor to catch a glimpse of Andrew’s face, which she had only seen briefly before.

“Why would anyone like that pot-bellied guy?”

Looking at his facial features, they were fairly prominent and masculine—it might have been attractive when he was young.

But now, leaving aside the wrinkles, his features were buried under layers of fat.

It wasn’t that fat people were unattractive—just that all that excess flesh made him look greedy.

For once, Rosé felt a twinge of sympathy for Mrs. Green, whom she normally wouldn’t defend… but only a little.

“Don’t you get it? I approached you from the start intending to use you! Thought you were smart, but you’re the dumbest. The other women eventually realized and demanded their money back, but you’re still babbling about love?”

Andrew, obnoxious enough to make one want to take a detour just to avoid him, laughed at Mrs. Green.

“I’m not giving her a single cent even if she demands it. Idiots. Who would believe them? Even the handwriting in the ledgers is theirs, but they think it’s safe to ask for money.”

Rosé, who thought Mrs. Green had been the villain in ignoring the servants, realized Andrew was far worse.

Despite his appearance, Andrew was cunning. Even though he kept the ledgers, he made the women write the entries so he could escape if needed.

“Seriously… why give your heart to a married man?” she thought, suspecting he only targeted women without husbands.

“Foolish…”

She had done something incredibly stupid. And then…

“That annoying cat…”

“What?”

“The emperor’s cat is here.”

Through the narrow gap between the floor and desk, Mrs. Green’s eyes met Rosé’s.

—Someone had seen that woman throw the cat into the cart at the store.

Noah, realizing who had sent Rosé so far away, discreetly set aside the sword he carried. If he went there with it, he might strike without listening to any excuses.

This was another reason he could never be accused of tyranny.

There was a cruelty in him akin to his mother’s.

“I will become a good emperor on Zion’s behalf.”

If not for that oath, he might have killed even more people than his mother, he thought often enough to scare himself.

So he restrained himself, but he couldn’t when it came to Rosé.

He always reacted when even the slightest threat to Rosé occurred, or if something happened that might make her disappear from his side.

Even when he knew Rosé was frustrated, he locked her in the bedroom to protect her.

He worried that if something happened to Rosé, he might truly lose his mind this time.

“Your Majesty! Please release your hand for a moment… just hear me out first…”

Rosé couldn’t have gone so far alone. The first person Noah thought of was Melissa.

Melissa had hated Rosé from the start, so it was natural to assume she had sent someone to abandon her.

But…

“How dare… you dare touch my Rosé…”

Ian, who had investigated the perpetrator and potential accomplices, said there was no connection between Mrs. Green, who threw the cat into the cart, and Melissa.

So Mrs. Green acted alone. And her eyes must have been revolting, too.

Even as he guessed this, Noah struggled to keep his composure while walking…

On the way to Mrs. Green’s office, he heard a commotion outside. Opening Andrew’s office, he saw Rosé in Mrs. Green’s hands.

Rosé struggled painfully in her grasp, choked and twisted.

At that moment, Noah completely lost control.

Noah realized then that one didn’t need a weapon to kill someone. Just grabbing her throat made Mrs. Green gag and wheeze.

“Yaaah!!!!!”

If Rosé hadn’t been crying on the floor, clinging to Noah’s arm as if telling him to stop…

“Ugh… huh… …gack.”

Noah might have killed Mrs. Green on the spot.

Finally regaining his senses, he shivered at his own actions. Even if she deserved death, it shouldn’t happen like this.

“Meow~!”

At that moment, Rosé, who had fallen to the floor with Mrs. Green, rubbed against Noah’s legs, crying.

Noah could tell from her eyes that she wanted to be held.

Instinctively, he bent down to reach for her—but froze mid-air. Could he touch Rosé with the same hands that had almost killed someone?

“Meow!”

Rosé raised her paws, grabbing his hand lightly with both, biting and nibbling as if to say everything was fine. She seemed to be saying: no matter what happens, she’s on his side.

Seeing this, Noah quickly regained his composure. Jonathan, who had finally seen the real Noah, sighed in relief. Meanwhile, Andrew, in the office, completely lost his composure.

“Please spare me, Your Majesty! I truly didn’t mean it! I was seduced by the women…”

No one paid attention, yet Andrew begged for his life from the floor. Noah’s eyes then shifted toward the scattered ledgers and documents near Rosé.

Andrew had betrayed Mrs. Green because he misunderstood why Noah was angry. Later, when he realized it was about Rosé, he sighed—but it was already too late.

“Yes, I did it. I wanted Rosé to disappear entirely.”

Surprisingly, Mrs. Green admitted her crime obediently. She envied the cat’s comfortable life.

She looked gentle, but she was endlessly cunning. No punishment would seem to faze her.

But what angered Rosé even more than Mrs. Green was Andrew.

“I realized I shouldn’t do this either. But the women flattered me, begged me to help, saying they couldn’t do it without me… I felt I couldn’t go on like this. I tried to return the money, to fix things… Then Mrs. Green suddenly spotted Rosé…”

Andrew shifted the blame onto Mrs. Green and the other women. He claimed he had only been used and tried to return the money—denying responsibility to the very end.

“Anything to say?”

But Mrs. Green, who should have argued, suddenly went silent. She didn’t defend herself at all. From her expression, it seemed she had given up and accepted responsibility for Rosé without excuse.

“Of course, I have no intention of siding with you either.”

Though Rosé felt no inclination to help Mrs. Green, she couldn’t leave things as they were.