~TMPM 07~

Chapter 07

“Did you enjoy standing me up, Rose?”

Cassian greeted me with a smile when I returned from the Empress’s palace.

“Thanks to you, I had no choice but to become a wallflower.”

“I’m sure there were plenty of ladies who wanted you to ask them for a dance.”

“I’m quite devoted to one person.”

As if. He just hated being bothered.

Unlike the First Prince, who was always surrounded by scandalous rumors with noble ladies, Cassian was actually very clean in that regard. Even before I came to the capital, he was famous for never dancing at balls.

So of course, I thought today would be the same. But he casually danced the first dance with me.

“So, do you need a bonus for the overtime work?”

Cassian held out his hand to me.

I hesitated for a moment, then nodded and took it.

I wanted to erase that overly sweet taste that still lingered on my tongue, even though he said he had reduced the sweetness.

I cut a large piece of tender grilled beef and put it in my mouth.

The fragrant scent of well-grilled asparagus and the deep, rich wine washed over my mouth afterward.

Even after I had eaten half of the steak, Cassian said nothing and only drank his wine without urging me to speak.

Instead—

“I had decided not to resent you even if you gave in to temptation.”

He said something that slightly hurt my pride.

What does he take me for?!

“That’s a bit much, Your Highness. I can’t believe you thought I was that easy.”

I’m only easy when it comes to money I earn fair and square!

Hearing my usual tone, Cassian stretched out his arm.

Clink.

He casually tapped his wine glass against mine.

“That’s the cruel part. Rose, you’re actually a very difficult person.”

And yet he knew exactly how to make me move.

I put down my utensils and began my report.

“Her Majesty the Empress seemed like she wanted to remove me from your side. She said that if I just told her in advance what work Your Highness would be doing for the next three months, she would pay off all the debts of my estate.”

Honestly, it might have been better if she had asked me to find your weakness instead.

But the fact that her only goal was simply to remove me made me feel even more uneasy and irritated.

“Don’t be too upset about that, Rose. It just means the Empress isn’t a fool.”

“…Pardon?”

“Since you came, His Majesty has been giving more work to me.”

I thought about that for a moment.

It was true that the workload between when I first started working with Cassian and now was very different.

“The Empress has always tried to avoid assigning me a proper aide.”

“Meanwhile, the First Prince has five aides.”

“Yes, and all of them are chosen from the most intelligent young nobles in the capital.”

Cassian smiled darkly.

“And yet she did nothing about you.”

Well, of course. I was just a noble lady from a remote countryside estate.

I didn’t even have a career record, so why would she bother keeping me in check?

“But that turned out to be outside her calculations. She probably didn’t expect you to be this competent. Especially not that you’d even work overtime.”

For some reason, I felt like I heard him mutter, ‘I did, though.’

“Since you arrived, a lot of important work that used to go to the First Prince has decreased.”

Cassian took a small sip of wine before continuing.

“His Majesty the Emperor may be narrow-minded, but he’s not a foolish ruler.”

I only agreed in my head.

If I said that out loud, it would be considered insulting the imperial family.

“So the Empress wants to remove you. If the amount of work I handle decreases, she can raise the First Prince’s reputation while bringing me down.”

Cassian shrugged and asked again,

“So, Rose, why did you refuse that offer?”

Even though he looked completely certain that I would refuse.

So out of the many possible reasons, I deliberately chose the strangest one to say aloud.

“She said she’d arrange a marriage for me with the second son of Baron Irenol’s family, who’s rumored to be ugly and have a terrible personality.”

The baroness—who used to be one of the Empress’s maids—looked like she was making a huge sacrifice when she said it.

That kind of trash? No thanks.

But instead of laughing like I expected, Cassian looked at me with unexpectedly deep, chilling eyes.

“…They dared to offer you something like that?”

After the imperial ball ended and most of the guests had gone home, the palace was quiet.

Cassian provided a carriage to take me home.

Perhaps he was being considerate of my feelings, because he prepared strong wine for me, and my mind felt a little hazy.

Still, I tried to keep my heavy eyelids open since I was in front of my boss.

“It’s alright, Rose. You can sleep. I won’t deduct your precious overtime pay for something like that.”

Cassian spoke in an overly sweet voice.

Even though the carriage ride was only about ten minutes, I ended up dozing off.

Maybe because so many strange things had happened that night, I had a strange dream.

In the dream, a very young Cassian whispered in my ear so vividly that it felt real.

‘You are still the only one for me.’

What kind of ridiculous dream was that?

There was no reason for a young Cassian to say something like that to me.

The moment I thought that, I suddenly wondered if I was actually dreaming about my original world, and I woke up in shock.

When I suddenly opened my eyes, Cassian chuckled softly.

“So the wine I specially gave you ended up being useless?”

I had almost wished it was reality.

But hearing his playful, familiar voice instead made me feel relieved, which made me feel a bit ridiculous.

Even though I technically lost about eight hours, it was still a long-awaited, honey-sweet rest.

The generous overtime pay and the “spoils of war” also made me feel warm and satisfied.

But most of all, I felt fulfilled knowing I could spend three whole days completely alone without meeting anyone.

Since coming to the capital, this was the first time I had properly rested for three days.

I got out of bed late, well past lunchtime.

Still wearing my pajamas, I just threw a shawl over myself, ate the meal the maid had prepared in advance, and leisurely checked the pile of letters.

First, I opened my parents’ letter.

Since it had been a while, I wanted to put extra effort into my reply.

I always felt sorry for writing letters half-asleep and exhausted.

They must be really worried.

When I said I was going to the capital to work, the people who had always supported whatever I wanted to do tried to stop me for once.

‘We’ll just work more. You don’t have to suffer like that.’

‘That’s right, Rozelita. If it really comes to it, we can sell the title and the estate and move to another kingdom.’

In the end, they were the ones who gave in to my stubbornness.

Their letters every month were always full of love.

And every time, they wrote that I could come home anytime if things were too hard.

And they always added one more thing:

Please stop sending money.

Wait… Don’t tell me they haven’t been using the money I send to repay the debt…?

Knowing my loving parents, it actually seemed possible, so in this letter too, I strongly emphasized that they must repay the debt.

I also wrote about the debutante ball they had been worried about, carefully decorating Cassian’s actions to sound like something out of a fairy tale.

If they knew what his personality was really like, those soft-hearted people might come to the capital immediately to take me home.

I absolutely didn’t want that to happen.

After finishing my reply to my parents and checking the rest of the letters, the afternoon passed quickly.

I was supposed to go to the bookstore today…

Lying on the sofa and lazily wiggling my fingers, I thought for a moment.

Even though I slept late today, I still felt strangely sleepy again.

Maybe I’ll just go tomorrow.

Thinking about changing clothes, going out, coming back, washing up, and sleeping again felt like too much work.

Then again, if I bought the books today, I could stay home all day tomorrow and just read…

Knock knock knock.

I heard someone knocking on the door just as I was lost in those trivial thoughts.

The maid wasn’t even here today.

And I was still in pajamas with messy hair.

Maybe if I pretended I wasn’t home, they’d leave… but instead I hurriedly tied my hair and looked for a long robe to cover my pajamas.

I had a bad feeling about this.

And then—

“I apologize for the sudden visit. You are Lady Rozelita of the Salice Barony, correct?”

By the third knock, I opened the door and saw the seal on the letter the visitor handed me, and I had to suppress my irritation.

“This is an invitation from Baron Irenol’s wife, requesting your attendance at a luncheon tomorrow at the Irenol estate.”

I had clearly refused.

‘Thank you for the offer, Your Majesty the Empress, but I was taught by my parents never to betray trust lightly.’

I had even said something that could easily sound arrogant from the Empress’s perspective.

“Our second young master will also be attending. The Baroness asked me to tell you that special dessert will be prepared for you, so you must attend.”

Yeah, no thanks.

It looked like tomorrow was going to be a self-declared workday after all.