Chapter 59
“…What?”
Rosie looked at him with a slightly defensive expression, thinking he was about to say something unpleasant about Einar again.
But Clidden wore a faint yet clear smile and, without getting angry or continuing any negative talk, simply said,
“Then, I’ll see you again soon.”
“……”
Rosie did not reply.
Far too many things had happened in a single day, and the corresponding exhaustion washed over her all at once.
Clidden seemed to quietly turn his back and leave her behind, but just before exiting the room, he carefully looked back at Rosie again.
“Ah, may I have a moment of your time?”
Rosie, looking tired, simply stared at him without particularly stopping him.
Clidden walked over in front of her as she sat on the sofa, lowered his body, and briefly looked at her foot.
Only then did Rosie panic and try to pull her foot back, but Clidden was faster.
Without a word, he gently grasped her injured foot, lowered his eyes, and muttered something softly.
And then…
“…!”
A bluish aura began to emerge from the hands that held her foot, and soon it started to wrap around it.
“W-What is this…?”
The energy felt like him—warm and refreshing.
“It should feel a bit better now.”
After letting that strange energy flow into her foot for a short while, Clidden rose as if nothing had happened and said,
“For the record, I don’t like misunderstandings.”
“…What does that…”
“I’ve been quite rude today. Please rest.”
This time, he truly turned away and left.
Rosie stood up from the sofa and stared at the spot where he had disappeared.
Just as he said, the foot that had always carried a faint, lingering pain felt completely fine, as if nothing had ever been wrong.
As if by magic.
After parting ways with Rosie, Clidden headed straight for the Baydos villa where he was staying with Roselina.
When he entered the villa, the estate manager smiled and spoke to him, saying that they were just about to serve dinner.
“Tonight’s menu is bouillabaisse made with fresh seafood. It’s one of Baydos’s signature dishes. Lady Roselina has already gone to the dining room.”
“That works out well.”
Clidden went straight to the dining room.
As the manager had said, Roselina was already there, a napkin on her lap, enjoying a light appetizer and an aperitif.
“You came quite late, didn’t you?”
She asked with a smile as she looked at Clidden entering the dining room.
She seemed curious why a man who was rarely ever late had only returned to the estate when it was almost dinner time.
“There was something I had to deal with.”
“Oh my, for you to answer like that makes me very curious.”
Because Clidden was someone who always answered clearly, it was rare for him to gloss over things like this.
Roselina looked at him with her deep bluish-green eyes sparkling.
Clidden met her gaze and thought of Rosie’s soft green eyes.
He hadn’t realized it before because he’d never paid attention, but now that he thought about it, the way their eyes looked was rather similar.
“For example, that bold look I saw at the end.”
That spirit back then was definitely worthy of comparison to a princess.
Thinking that, Clidden let out a small laugh.
In fact, he wasn’t a dull man.
He couldn’t help it—he was a mage who could read the aura of others.
If someone had feelings of favor or hostility toward him, he could naturally sense it even if they didn’t say it outright.
In other words, he had felt Rosie’s affection toward him long ago.
That was why the reaction he’d seen from her earlier was something he had never expected.
“…I’m sorry, but no matter what the reason is, I have no intention of getting involved with a man who meets other women.”
She rejected his proposal without a single moment of hesitation or the slightest wavering.
Because he knew how she felt about him, he had naturally assumed she would accept his offer.
To be honest, he had made that proposal to her somewhat easily, using her feelings as justification.
In front of Einar, he had casually spoken as if he had a deep relationship with her.
But that was wrong.
“You clearly don’t get along well with him, and I understand that you sensed something as well, Clidden. But… speaking about someone like that without properly confirming the facts is a little unpleasant to hear, no matter who you are.”
Regardless of her feelings, she had pointed out that he was badmouthing Einar without clear evidence, and in the end, she rejected every bit of kindness he had offered.
It was his mistake for thinking lightly of her—and it was no different from a defeat.
Recalling the situation, Clidden curled his lips upward in a bitter smile.
As Roselina, who had been watching him like that, spoke in a curious voice,
“Oh my, did you just smile? Did something good happen?”
“…The opposite. I happened to go to Vine Rose and felt traces of an explosive activation of black magic there.”
The moment black magic was mentioned, Roselina’s face instantly turned cold.
“The source was precisely the steward’s office. In other words, the place where Einar Portray had been.”
“…What did you say? Is that really true?”
“Yes. Although the traces disappeared just before I opened the door, so I couldn’t see the exact scene, there’s more than enough reason to believe that Portray is connected to black magic.”
“If the Marquess Portray’s family is truly involved in black magic, that’s a very serious issue.”
In the Empire, the Duke of Diero in the west, the Marquess Portray in the east, and the imperial family in the center maintained a careful balance of power while keeping each other in check.
However, in the eastern region—where imperial authority did not fully reach—Portray held the greatest power.
If they were to extend their hands even to black magic and grow stronger, no one could predict how the balance of power might collapse in the future.
That was exactly why Roselina and Clidden had come to Baydos together.
To stop Portray, who kept showing signs of trying to overturn the power structure.
“So what do we do now? Even if you felt such an aura in Einar’s office, we can’t search the Portray family based only on your intuition. We need more solid evidence.”
“Yes. That’s right. And that’s why I intend to get a little help from the woman who was in the office with him.”
“A woman? And someone who was with Einar?”
“Yes.”
“Clidden, aren’t you mistaken about something? Wouldn’t it be more reasonable to assume that woman is also a black mage? And you want to ask her for help?”
What Roselina pointed out was perfectly reasonable.
But Clidden thought for a moment, then shook his head.
“That’s probably not the case. That woman came from the capital, and before that, she had nothing to do with Baydos or Portray at all.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I’m the one who sent her to Baydos… well, to be precise, to Vine Rose.”
“…What?”
For the first time since the conversation began, a look of confusion appeared on Roselina’s face.
At the same time, she remembered how he had once told her that he’d given someone the key to the Room of Roses.
Ignoring Roselina’s clearly startled expression, Clidden continued.
“That woman is the only witness in that room who had nothing to do with Portray. And strangely enough, she’s a woman that Einar keeps close by his side. So…”
“So?”
“For the time being, I think it would be best for me to stay by her side, prepare in case she gets exposed to black magic, and monitor Einar. Fortunately, I already have a plausible excuse to stay by her side.”
“A plausible excuse? What is it?”
For some reason, Roselina felt an inexplicable tension as she looked at him, waiting for his answer.
And then, a bombshell that perfectly matched her bad premonition dropped.
“I’m planning to disguise myself as her husband. I’ve used a similar excuse in the capital before. If I use one woman well, I should be able to avoid suspicion.”
“…Wait. What did you just say?”
