A Lion Stands Before a Rabbit (4)

The Marquis of Mirse knew that Rosetta would not be able to refuse his letter. After all, he had traveled all the way from the capital!

***

“…Your Excellency, there is a letter from the Marquis of Mirse.”

Michael, who had been concentrating in his office, looked up with a frown.

“Who?”

Michael, of course, remembered the Marquis of Mirse’s name. He remembered the young lady of the Marquis of Mirse, the woman who had framed Rosetta, who had cursed and laughed at her at the ball.

“It is the Marquis of Mirse. I see they have arrived in Lugin.”

Word had spread that they had passed through the gates. Several other noble families had also come through, ostensibly to visit relatives or friends, but Michael knew all too well what their purpose was.

‘They sure have a thick face.’

That is what everyone thinks.

The people of the Duchy were united in glorifying Rosetta as a pitiful damsel in distress, and Michael as the brave knight who had slain the dragon and rescued her.

It was a delusion that would have embarrassed Rosetta had she known the truth.

“…Give it to me.”

As much as he wanted to read the contents, Michael had no intention of doing the unseemly thing of sneaking a peek at his wife’s letters; it was something that even a beloved husband would hate! Instead….

???

“Rosetta, this is a letter from the Marquis of Mirse to you, may I read it to you?”

“Marquis of Mirse?

Rosetta, who was reading a popular novel in the Duchy of Arden, was surprised to see Michael suddenly appear in the study.

‘Where have I heard that name before…. Ah!’

Having run away to a quiet small town from the capital, she had forgotten about it. It wasn’t something she wanted to remember, as it wasn’t related to anything particularly pleasant. With a relationship as insignificant as the size of an ant’s nostril, Rosetta granted permission without a second thought.

“Read it.”

‘It’s not just one or two people, so I forget things.’

And it’s a moment she can thank Michael for.

No one will ever be able to accuse her of anything like that again, and she won’t have to live with her nerves on edge.

Unlike Rosetta, who had become quite composed, Michael had a furrowed brow. It seemed he was annoyed that he had dared to propose a meeting here and that he had taken the initiative to send a letter boldly, even though he didn’t mention it first.

‘I’ll have to open the Marquis’ skull and see what’s inside.’

He can’t read this to Rosetta, Michael thought, as he speed-read the contents of the letter.

“What’s wrong, is there something strange in it?”

“Hmm. The Marquis must have mistaken the envelope for the letter. He must have sent it here when he meant to send it to someone else. If he had realized it, he would be very upset by now.”

His tone was polite, but it was clear that he still viewed Rosetta as a lady of a Count. The part of his letter asking how long does Rosetta think she will stay as the duchess, about thinking about it later, got on Michael’s nerves.

If this letter made Rosetta the least bit uneasy, he was going to rip the Marquis’s head off. He would summon a demon and actually do it.

“Well, I suppose I shouldn’t have to return the letter, and since that would be rude, I should burn it without looking at the contents.”

Fortunately, Rosetta didn’t pay much attention. Michael pursed his lips and gritted his teeth as Rosetta’s gaze drifted to the pages of the book.

Maybe he should bring them in and make an example of them before they send another letter, because he didn’t know how long he’d be able to read Rosetta’s letters first.

???

Only low-level potions could be sent into the prison; anything above that was confiscated as unworthy of a prisoner. So the potion on Isabelle’s back was also a low-level potion.

‘Incompetent!’

If it were her, she would have bribed the jailer to send a higher-level potion. Then she wouldn’t be in so much pain, and her wound wouldn’t turn into a scar.

If it had been Beatrice, not her, who had been imprisoned, she wouldn’t have cared so much, Isabelle thought.

It was her father, the incompetent Duke of Carulias, who had torn her back like this; it was the presumptuous Empress who had imprisoned her; and it was the lowly wench like Rosetta who had stolen Michael from her….

‘Rosetta! Rosetta, you stupid bitch!’

Even if it were Iris Leon, she couldn’t accept it, let alone Rosetta! Is it even conceivable that he fell for such a woman?! She is Isabelle Carullias, the duke’s daughter of the Carullias family!

‘Prince Michael must have other plans! Otherwise, he would never give his heart to a woman of no rank, worth, or ability….’

But Isabelle, who had watched Michael for many years, knew better. It was hard to believe, but he was in love with Rosetta.

It was a genuine feeling, nothing like the vague pity he had for Lydia. It was clear from the way he looked at her that he wanted her as a man would want a woman. Michael had never looked at anyone like that before.

‘I didn’t think he could ever love anyone….’

Rosetta, not Iris, had done it, and she was laughing beside him with a face that said she didn’t know what she was doing.

The look on Michael’s face as he stared at her mesmerized.

It was unbearably beautiful, and Isabelle wanted to rip her eyes out. She couldn’t help but scream at the top of her lungs, “Why did it have to be her? He had never given any room for such emotions.”

‘Michael is the bad one! And Rosetta, because she didn’t know her place!’

Isabelle could not forgive them. They do not deserve her forgiveness, even though she was in the position to ask for it.

She should have killed her; she should have brutalized her face and held it before the eyes of Michael, who would not accept her heart, but her hands were powerless. She didn’t know when she would have power again.

‘I don’t know about anyone else, but that bitch Rosetta must die!’

A strange sound caught Isabelle’s ears as she thought of ways to kill Rosetta that would bring tears of blood to her eyes. Or, more accurately, the absence of other sounds.

What was that?

It wasn’t that she was deaf; she could clearly hear the sounds of her own movement, so her hearing was still intact.

“…Princess.”

Isabelle turned at the sound of a muffled voice calling her name. A strange smile spread across her face, contorted with rage.

“Cyril.”

There was no sign of the jailer. There was no sound from the other prisoners. Isabelle wondered if Cyril had this power, for all she knew, he could summon and control powerful creatures.

“Tomorrow, when the convoy leaves the capital, we will rescue you, but there will be guards near the capital… so please wait until the convoy is completely away from the capital.”

“Yes, yes, Cyril!”

Isabelle wanted to order him to kill Rosetta first, but getting out of this place was a priority.

Thud.

When she came to, she saw a small bat-like creature peering down at her through a narrow grate, clearly speaking to her mind.

For a moment she seemed to be in a deep dream.

The creature looked at her for a moment with its red, tiny eyes, then turned and flew away.

‘Surely I wasn’t really dreaming?’

It has to be real. To get revenge on that Rosetta bitch!

???

After ordering a servant to burn the letter from the Marquis of Mirse, Michael returned to his office. Rosetta paused for a moment, wondering if the Marquis of Mirse was so important that Michael would come to her in person.

It wasn’t in the original story, but this world was already so different from the original that it occurred to her that the Marquis of Mirse might have become an important figure without her knowledge.

‘I don’t know him.’

He is not an acquaintance of the Count of Whirsen either. The only connection Rosetta had with the Marquis of Mirse was that his daughter had done her harm.

‘It was not an apology letter.’

Now that Isabelle’s trial was over, the investigations of the other young ladies would resume. The reason Isabelle’s trial was held so quickly was because of the Emperor’s maneuvering.

Because of the weight of the case, Isabelle’s trial was prioritized, but the original accusations and trial took many months.

‘Will the other trials start relatively soon because they involve me?’

As with any status system, the Rastan Empire was no different. Cases involving royalty were prioritized first, followed by those involving high nobility.

Trials involving commoners, due to their large numbers, were handled by different officials, both in terms of judgment and judges, and were therefore irrelevant to the trials of nobles.

‘How is that young lady doing….?’

Just as not all of the young ladies were immobilized by Isabelle’s threat, there was one who stayed there for a while and wrote an apology to Rosetta. In the letter, which gave no name or family name, she repeatedly said she was sorry.

It was unclear, but one could guess. It was the young lady with the reddened face who had told everyone that Rosetta had done it. The one who never dared to look Rosetta in the face.

She had heard rumors that she had since left society and gone to the countryside, so she assumed it was her.

‘Was she summoned?’

Now that Isabelle’s ledger had been found, all the young ladies involved would be investigated. Those of high status would be visited by the investigators themselves, but those of low status would receive a summons to come to the capital. She would not be able to refuse.

“Rosetta.”

Michael came to see if she was finally done. Rosetta smiled at him, a smile so different from before.

“You said you had a place you wanted to show me, didn’t you?”

The Duke of Arden’s castle was so vast and expansive that Rosetta had yet to see it all. Michael took her hand and led her out of the room.

“This is….”

Even as he showed her, Michael was still nervous.

He thought what if Rosetta was disgusted with him?

Of course, this is Rosetta’s room.