Why do Dark Histories Follow Us? (1)

The news spread like wildfire. If nothing else, the capital was shaken by the news that the person who sought to undermine the royal family had escaped from her convoy. The news was that all the soldiers, knights, and guards escorting Isabelle had been killed.

The Marquis of Carulias, who had been pensioned, was taken to prison. He was accused of allowing Isabelle Carulias to escape.

A pursuit force of the capital’s finest knights was assembled. They quickly left the capital, as the more time that passed, the more distance they gained from the prisoner.

What remained was….

“The Duchy of Arden also has capable and outstanding knights.”

“They were chosen and sent by His Majesty himself.”

Michael’s expression did not improve at William’s words, for among the knights sent by the Emperor was Patrick Lansfield.

Why him?

It was a relief to have at least one more person to protect Rosetta, but having Patrick among them was not a relief at all.

He was her first love, after all!

The words ‘thank you, but please go away’ were rising in his throat. He wished he could just send Patrick Lansfield away.

For one thing, it was about Rosetta’s safety. For another, he was undeniably one of the best in the Empire.

‘I can’t say I have no room available.’

The other knights aside, William, Patrick, and Gerald would have to take up rooms in the duke’s manor. It was a matter of status and family.

‘It’s all right. Rosetta will be with me twenty-four hours a day, and the castle is huge.’

“The butler will show you to your room.”

“Very well, Your Grace.”

William bowed and retreated. Patrick and Gerald would be waiting for him in the doorway, unable to enter the manor.

Eventually, they would be allowed inside, but Michael was more than a little upset about that.

???

“Sir Patrick Lansfield?”

Rosetta’s face lit up at the news from her maid. It wasn’t from excitement or joy; it was from the words she spoke, and the shame and humiliation that came flooding in as she remembered her past.

She was angry, but Rosetta was good at hiding it. But shame is not so easy to suppress, and she could not hide her flushed face.

‘Why? What was he thinking? Didn’t he despise me?’

The Rosetta of today had no feelings for Patrick Lansfield. She never grew up with him, and when she read the original novel, she didn’t really feel anything for him.

In both the first and second installments of the original story, he wasn’t a particularly well-crafted character.

In the first game, he was the savior, but he was only a minor character, and in the second game, he was just a jealous sub-male lead #1.

Since it was Michael who was the center of attention, there wasn’t much interest in him.

‘When I actually met him, he wasn’t as nasty as I expected.’

‘There are limits to using me as a tool, so isn’t it time to let me go?’

That’s what he said when we first met. It was the second day of her possession.

From then on, she avoided him at all costs, as he would glare at her ferociously if they made eye contact, and she found him intimidating.

When she got involved with Iris….

‘After the disgusting letter, is it harassment?’

Rosetta felt heat rising to the tips of her ears as he grabbed her arm and sharply questioned her. She hadn’t written a single line of that letter, but the world knew she had.

Now that she was in the body of the original Rosetta, she remembered its contents. It was a childish letter.

[I want to be pierced by your sharp nostrils, like shooting stars in the night sky….]

‘Ugh!’

The content was close to a mental attack, and Rosetta almost tore her own hair out at the thought of it. Patrick seemed to have read at least one of those letters, considering his grumbling about the disgusting letter.

She really doesn’t want to meet him. She honestly wishes Patrick would just die somewhere. She didn’t even want to be greeted. For Rosetta, Patrick Lansfield was a living, breathing piece of her dark history.

“T, they’re not staying at the mansion, are they?

It was the main house where the Duke and Duchess were staying, and since they were knights escorting them, they would be staying at the northern castle, but there was still a chance they might run into each other. As long as they stayed within the same enclosure.

‘I’m really going to have to stick with Michael.’

There was no way in a thousand chances that Patrick would ever want to talk to her, and that was the last thing Rosetta wanted to do.

Patrick Lansfield was terrible now.

???

“…Sir William and brother-in-law and Lord Lansfield will be staying at the north castle. Do you wish brother-in-law to stay at the main castle?”

At Michael’s question, Rosetta shook her head. She was not close to Gerald in the first place, and she would not want him to be set apart from the other knights.

“No, because there should be equity with the other knights….”

As a matter of equity, there was the option of having William and Patrick live in the castle as well, but neither Michael nor Rosetta would say anything about that. They wanted Patrick Lansfield as far away as possible!

‘Why the hell is he here? He didn’t volunteer for it, and…. Could it be His Majesty?’

The Emperor did. Patrick Lansfield was one of the best knights in the empire, in the top five alongside Gerald.

Rosetta shivered involuntarily at the feeling of being followed this far by her dark history.

“Rosetta, are you cold?”

“Oh…. A, a little….”

“I’ll have to get a fire going.”

Michael got up from his seat and went to pull the rope. Rosetta, meanwhile, was thinking about Patrick Lansfield.

‘If he had any shame, he should have not come. What was he thinking….’

He must have used most of them for kindling, as he said himself, but she could not imagine how many he had opened; and to think that he must have laughed with his servant and by himself, as he read them, made her shudder with shame even in her sleep.

‘If only I could hit Lansfield on the head so hard that it would wipe out his memory! I’d love to, ahhhh…….’

The original Rosetta wrote two or three letters a day to Lansfield. She hated studying to death, but she put so much effort into her letters that she memorized most of them. Apparently, Rosetta was not a bad memorizer herself.

‘I’m sure he’s looking at my face and thinking about the letter and laughing at me….’

Meanwhile, Michael returned to his seat. A servant soon appeared, and he instructed him to light a low fire in the fireplace. So that the chill could be blown away.

The chamberlain quickly had a servant light the fire. He was very skilled at letting the smell of smoke and fire escape through the chimney.

“Are you still cold?”

In the meantime, Michael had clung to Rosetta’s side, pulling her robe over her and holding her close, and his tenderness seemed to ease some of the unpleasantness caused by Patrick. Rosetta leaned her head against Michael’s chest in relief.

“Not at all.”

‘If that Lansfield bastard taunts me, I’m going to get back at him by any means necessary.’

Rosetta thought with a wry smile. Michael was worried.

‘Rosetta seems to be distracted. She’s not thinking about Lansfield, is she?’

“And… For safety reasons, His Majesty is allowing your family to stay at the palace.”

“I’m grateful, but are you sure you’re okay with that?”

It was true that Count Whirsen was an imperial cousin, but it was an unusual arrangement. Even if Michael was the Emperor’s son rather than his brother.

“It’s fine, your safety comes first, and the Empress was concerned that they might be uncomfortable.”

She doesn’t know about Endymion, but Selina would be pleased. Count Whirsen wasn’t a high-ranking nobleman, so he wasn’t invited to many imperial banquets, so she’d be bragging about this to her friends.

“The imperial knights have offered to escort the two of them and make arrangements for them to meet at the palace, so you shouldn’t have to worry about their safety.”

“Yes….”

‘Making arrangements to have the meeting at the Imperial Palace…. Mother must be thrilled.’

Rosetta smiled at Michael, thinking about writing a thank you note to the two of them. Michael smiled up to the corner of his eye at the sight, then lowered his head.

A sigh escaped her soft lips. She wrapped her arms around Michael’s waist, happily accepting this e probing tongue….

“Ahem. Duke.”

A flustered Rosetta quickly pushed against Michael’s chest and slipped out of his arms. A fire sparked in Michael’s eyes at the interruption of a good moment. He whipped his head around and glared at the butler. The butler looked away, feigning politeness.

“…What’s going on?”

It was a voice that seemed like a bolt from the blue if it wasn’t anything special. The butler coughed and looked at the two of them with his standard butler’s expression.

“Lord Whirsen and Lord Lansfield have come to thank you for allowing them to stay at the manor….”

He wasn’t just letting them stay, they were here at the Emperor’s behest, so he couldn’t kick them out. And Gerald is his brother-in-law, so he can’t help it!

“Just….”

Gerald’s presence was too much to ask. His brother-in-law. He wasn’t related to Rosetta, but he was her brother on the family register anyway.

For the sake of his relationship with his in-laws, he couldn’t afford to make a big deal about it.

“Give me ten minutes, then send him upstairs.”

“Yes, my lord.”

The butler bowed to Michael and Rosetta in turn, then quickly disappeared. Michael looked at Rosetta expectantly.

“That last one. Can we continue with that… please?”

“Um….”

“Can’t we?”

The eager look in his eyes made Rosetta feel like she was about to burst out laughing. The butler had just left, politely closing the door behind him. The servants and maids who had been stoking the fire in the fireplace had also quietly slipped away.

“Of course not, please continue.”

Michael pulled Rosetta into a relieved embrace and kissed her softly on the lips. Ten minutes seemed far too short.

???

“Father!”

The Marquis of Mirse’s brow furrowed in annoyance as his daughter burst into the room in a huff. The Marquis felt his temples prickle at the lack of decorum.

“Johanna….”

“Is it true that you seduced the prince?!”