He intends to take advantage of that mind.

‘I feel a little sorry for Prince Michael for thinking that, but no, she’s probably being deceived by Prince Michael, so I’d better dispel the illusion quickly.’

Many people don’t realize it, but Prince Michael was a cruel man. He knew that once he had achieved his goal, he would dispose of Rosetta one way or another.

If he didn’t divorce her as he wanted, he would kill her to get her away from him. So….

‘She’d better wake up beforehand because if she gets her hopes up now, it’ll be harder to separate.’

This was a good thing for Rosetta, too. It would be devastating to fall in love with a man she thought was in love with her, only to have him stab her in the back.

The thought made Patrick’s mouth water.

To think of taking advantage of Rosetta Whirsen. She was a victim of Lady Carulias once. …. Well, she was a victim, so maybe it’d be easier to get away with it.

Anyway, if they weren’t coming from that direction, this was the way to go.

‘I have to take off that shaved head.’

It was a mistake to bring Gerald into the discussion with Logan. He was Rosetta Whirsen’s brother, he was also her cousin, their family’s adopted son, and that caught him off guard. He didn’t realize he was so sincere.

‘Don’t interfere with her marriage…. What delusions do you have?’

No matter how hard Gerald tried to protect them, Michael and Rosetta’s marriage would break down in time. There was no way Prince Michael was in love with Rosetta Whirsen.

Patrick clicked his tongue as he looked at Gerald, who was still giving him the occasional glance during training.

“…Lord Lansfield?”

Rosetta, who was writing a letter in her study, was puzzled. Patrick had never been in the house before, and now he was here unexpectedly.

‘Why?’

“He’s downstairs now. Do you want me to send him upstairs?”

“For what?”

“He hasn’t said.”

The maid’s words made Rosetta think.

Even though he was staying in the northern castle, she didn’t think she’d run into him unless she left the main castle. Even if she went out of the castle, if she called for a carriage in front of the mansion…, even that coincidence would not happen.

‘If he happens to be out and about when Michael isn’t around….’

It was no secret to anyone in the ducal household that Michael spent most of his mornings at work and all of his afternoons with the duchess, so to visit her at this time of day meant that he had chosen a time when he wasn’t around.

She didn’t want to see him, but it was ridiculous that she would avoid guests in her own home.

“Send him upstairs.”

“Yes, my lady.”

The maid stepped out the door, and Rosetta began to write the rest of the letter with the pen she was holding. She didn’t want to put everything aside just because Patrick was here.

Knock knock

“Come in.”

The door opened at Rosetta’s words. Rosetta turned to see Patrick enter, pen in hand, accompanied by a maid. Patrick frowned, feeling the same strange sensation as before.

The sight of Rosetta in her elegant gown of white and ivory was so appropriate for the occasion.

There was an aristocratic nobility about her that made her feel as if she had always been a duchess. Yet she was only Rosetta Whirsen!

“Lord Lansfield. May I help you?”

Rosetta said, handing the pen she was holding to the maid. The maid deftly arranged the pen and stepped aside. Patrick glanced around the room.

There were five maids in this room alone, and the spaciousness of the room and the colorful dresses were enough to give an idea of the kind of life she led.

She must be enjoying her life as a duchess quite a bit, huh?

Patrick looked at Rosetta with an uncomfortable expression.

The seat did not belong to Rosetta Whirsen. It belonged to the saintly Iris Leon. She was the woman he loved, and he had no intention of losing her to Michael, but seeing Rosetta in Iris’s place twisted his judgment.

“…I hope you’ll forgive me for coming here so suddenly. I thought we’d run into each other at least once by chance, but it’s been a while since I’ve seen you, as if you’ve been avoiding me.”

The maids looked at Patrick in astonishment at the rude remark. Although he was the heir to the marquisate, Rosetta was technically the wife of the Duke of Arden.

Even if he were a marquis, he could not speak to her in such a manner.

“Is there any reason why I should come face to face with a mere knight?”

Expecting to be embarrassed and excused, Rosetta only blushed slightly but answered resolutely. Patrick didn’t like the laxity. It wasn’t like him to do this, he realized, so he couldn’t help but be grumpy.

“I know. You’re wearing something that doesn’t fit, so you must have been busy.”

The hand that rested on the hem of her dress seemed to strain. Rosetta averted her eyes, feeling her face heat up, and Patrick smiled arrogantly at her.

“You seem to be doing well. Ahem, I am truly sorry to hear about Lady Carulias. I didn’t think she’d be like that, neither did anyone else, and I don’t think I’m the only one who’s…. Ahem. I was very surprised and disturbed to hear that you were falsely accused.”

He was about to say that he was sorry that things in the past were now wrong, but he was bothered by the maids who were sending him cold glances from earlier.

But Patrick, who had been the unwitting recipient of reproving glances from the young ladies before, was not about to let it go.

Of course, that didn’t mean he wanted them to see him apologize to Rosetta.

“Before I tell you…. I’d like you to send the maids away, we’re going to have to talk about something private, and I’m not comfortable with that.”

Rosetta wondered if she’d forgotten to breathe for a moment in her anger. How in the world could he make such a demand of me! Thankfully, he was neither her friend nor her colleague.

Gritting her teeth, Rosetta opened her mouth and the words came out rather quickly. Perhaps she wanted to avoid this moment.

“…It was quite a while ago, but I have a bruise from when your lordship grabbed my arm.”

Patrick was momentarily embarrassed by the invocation of the past. A cold look came over Rosetta’s face, one he’d never seen before in the presence of Michael.

“I know what your chivalry is all about, so I will not make my handmaidens leave.”

The duke’s maids were skilled at hiding their expressions. But they couldn’t hide their disdain.

Patrick’s face heated up instantly.

He hadn’t expected Rosetta to bring it up first. It was something he knew he should apologize for once and move on.

‘A bruise, with only that?’

He’d never grabbed a woman’s arm like that before, not even once.

It was then…. Iris’s repeated bullying had made him sensitive.

It was rumored in social circles that Rosetta was using Patrick to bully Iris, and Patrick was furious.

When he was told he was wrong, he was both embarrassed and annoyed.

“At the time, I thought it was because I misunderstood…. I misunderstood Madam, didn’t I?”

“…….”

Rosetta lowered her gaze. She didn’t even want to look at Patrick’s face. It was so different from the way she’d greeted him with Gerald that Patrick felt like he’d been slapped in the back of the head.

‘What, you don’t like me anymore?’

When she was with Michael, she’d been flirtatious in front of her husband. Patrick felt both disgusted and sick to his stomach. It wasn’t his fault in the first place. He wasn’t the only one who had been deceived. Rosetta had done more than one thing wrong, and….

‘I never thought I’d see this coming…. At this rate, I’m going to be kicked out of the ducal residence before I can get to the bottom of Michael’s plans.’

That was awkward. Ultimately, it was Lady Carulias who was to blame, but she had run away, and she was the only one who was here now.

‘I don’t like it, but…. I’m doing this for Iris.’

Rosetta Whirsen was now a duchess, not a lady of a count. As the heir to the Marquis’s throne, he was untouchable.

But now was the time to bend.

As much as he resented it, he could not back down. Patrick looked at Rosetta with a frown, then picked up his pace.

Her hand tightened as he drew closer.

Honestly, he didn’t make Rosetta feel excited, and she felt uncomfortable because all she’d ever seen him do was mock or scowl at her. He was also scary.

Patrick stood eight paces away from Rosetta and dropped to his hands and knees. His knees must have been pretty sore, but Rosetta only raised an eyebrow, not surprised. It was the maids who were surprised. Patrick gritted his teeth and opened his mouth.

“What can I do to make you forgive me?”

‘Forgiveness?’

Forgiveness, with those fierce eyes? She couldn’t bring herself to laugh. Rosetta had always been afraid of Patrick’s gaze, the way it seemed to kill her.

“Are you threatening me?”

Rosetta’s words irritated Patrick. How could a person say something like that when he was on his knees…. Just as he opened his mouth to scowl, Rosetta jumped to her feet.

Her face was as red as it had been when she was with Michael. She looked angry.

“I’ll be honest with you, I’m terrified of you, horrified to be honest, and I don’t even want to see your face.”

The look on Rosetta’s face threw Patrick for a loop because she looked like she was about to cry. He’d been conscious that she’d be angry, but he hadn’t expected her to say she didn’t want to see his face or that she was scared.

“I’m….”

“You want to be forgiven? Why should I forgive you? If you’re unhappy, it’s because you’ve done something wrong, not because I haven’t forgiven you!”

At the sight of Rosetta screaming, Patrick was at a loss for words. She had always cowered in front of him, frightened, and he had never given her much thought, for in him she had always been the aggressor, the strong one.

The one hurting the weak one, Iris.

Never once had Rosetta been the weak one in him.

“I am afraid of you, and I hate you, so never ask for forgiveness again, and never appear in my presence, for I feel terrible!”

Shouting, Rosetta stormed across the room and out of the room, as if she could not bear to be in the same room with Patrick. Patrick jumped to his feet in panic but didn’t dare to run after her.

It always, always made him uncomfortable to see Rosetta.

When he found out she was bullying Iris, he thought he hated her because it was unpleasant, but when he realized it was all a lie…. Even then, Patrick hated Rosetta. It was uncomfortable.

‘…If you’re uncomfortable, it’s because you’ve done something wrong, not because I haven’t forgiven you!!!’

Patrick felt his face heat up. By what arrogance did he think Rosetta still liked him? She was a wounded woman.

He’d hurt her by trying to break her away, and now he’d torn her apart.

‘After the disgusting letter, is it harassment?’

What did Rosetta’s face look like when she was startled by his vicious grab?

He doesn’t really remember, because he never really cared about her feelings. But if he imagines what it must have felt like to have the man she had once given her heart to accuse and threaten her with such words….

‘It’s not all about the physical pain. Where did she keep her mind during those months?’

Patrick’s heart sank as he remembered his mother’s words. He knew how Rosetta had been treated.

Her friends, even her family, had shunned her, despising her for her foolishness as she isolated herself and continued to pay for her ‘evil ways’.

Once, she overheard some of the young ladies chattering.

‘Lady Whirsen is crying.’

‘If she’s going to cry like that, why does she come to the ball every time?’