Chapter 25
Henry, his face a mask of panic, started to chase after the fleeing servant. But Roshanne’s firm grip on his arm stopped him in his tracks.
“Let him go.”
“If we let him go, rumors will spread through the manor that you and I are involved in something improper!” Henry protested.
“And you mind?” Roshanne asked, her tone flat.
Henry’s gentle green eyes flickered like leaves caught in a storm. “My lady’s honor—! …Wait, what?”
“Do you mind?” she repeated, her voice steady and unyielding.
There was no breeze, no twinkling stars to set the scene. Yet, in the moment their eyes met, Henry was swept up in a strange, indescribable emotion. It was as if Roshanne’s fragrant hair brushed against his nose, tickling it, and her sapphire-blue eyes gleamed like stars in the night sky. This wasn’t a simple, one-dimensional feeling—it wasn’t love. It was something akin to awe, a sacred reverence, as if she were a figure to be worshipped.
Having been raised to serve House Railaten, Henry was keenly attuned to such an extraordinary aura.
“If you don’t mind, just let it be. I don’t care,” Roshanne said, her gaze lingering on Henry’s dazed expression before she released his arm. “Besides, you wouldn’t catch him anyway.”
“What?”
“Not with those scrawny legs of yours.”
Roshanne clicked her tongue and turned away.
Scrawny? Henry glanced down at his legs, indignant. “Do you know how strong my legs are?!”
The awe and reverence he’d felt moments ago vanished in an instant, swept away by her blunt words.
“Oh, is that why you got trounced by me last night?” Roshanne shot back, pulling out a chair and sitting exactly where she had the previous evening, her eyes fixed on Henry.
“Have you told anyone about last night? Even the duke?” she asked.
“…No,” Henry replied.
“Really?”
“I swear on my family’s honor,” Henry said, setting the book he’d been holding on the table and placing his hand over his heart, as if pledging to the gods.
Roshanne pressed her fingers against her forehead. Getting caught by someone else wasn’t part of the plan…
At least he wasn’t a spy—that was something to be grateful for.
She gave Henry a quick once-over. Soft brown hair that seemed like it might melt at a touch, emerald-green eyes that sparkled with innocence, and an air devoid of any malice.
I could take him down in one move. If it comes to it, I can just kill him…
“Are you thinking about killing me right now?!” Henry blurted, his voice sharp with alarm.
Perceptive, too.
Roshanne subtly shifted her gaze to the side.
“…!! You were, weren’t you?! No wonder my hair was standing on end!” Henry exclaimed.
“…Ahem,” Roshanne cleared her throat.
“I have no intention of spreading your secrets, my lady. I don’t know why you’re keeping them, but…” Her eyes sharpened for a moment, and Henry quickly added, “And I don’t intend to find out!”
Roshanne rubbed above her eyebrow, her face contorting slightly. “So what exactly are you trying to say?”
“I want to help you,” Henry said earnestly.
“Help me?” Roshanne’s fingers, still lingering on her brow, froze.
“The Austen family has served House Railaten for generations… but that tradition ended with my generation,” Henry said, clenching his fist tightly. “Do you think, when I’m older, I could serve the duke again? …No. Once you’ve been cast out, it’s not easy to return. I thought working diligently as a librarian was a way to serve House Railaten, but still…”
Henry lifted his head, meeting Roshanne’s gaze with resolve. “I don’t want to tarnish my family’s honor. I want to serve House Railaten.”
He extended a hand, pointing respectfully toward Roshanne.
“No thanks,” she said, rejecting him outright.
Henry, who hadn’t expected to be rejected at all, lowered his hand with a flustered expression.
“Why, why do you dislike it?”
“I don’t need someone to help me.”
Roshanne had lived like that until now.
Always alone, without anyone to help. Always by herself.
So, she had no intention of borrowing the hand of someone she didn’t truly need.
“But I’m capable.”
“Oh, should I praise you?”
“I’m very good at running errands.”
“River is sufficient for errands.”
“I know your secret, miss.”
“Are you threatening me right now? Asking to be killed?”
“Rather than killing me, wouldn’t it be better to keep me as your person? If you kill me, how will you handle the aftermath? If the librarian is absent for a long time, someone will come looking for me!”
That was true.
Roshanne nodded thoughtfully, stroking her chin seriously. For the first time, as Roshanne lent an ear to his words, Henry eagerly continued his persuasion.
“So, wouldn’t it be more convenient to keep me as your person instead?”
Hmm. Roshanne examined Henry seriously.
“There’s one thing I want to ask. I’d like you to answer honestly.”
“Yes?”
“If the Railaten family had other children of the duke besides me, would you have offered to serve me then too?”
Roshanne asked calmly, resting her chin on her hand. It was impossible to read her expression—to tell what she was thinking or with what intention she was asking.
Probably, this answer would decide whether he would serve as her person, attending to a child of the Railaten family, or rot away as the Railaten family’s librarian for the rest of his life.
Henry bit his lip hard.
The answer was either yes or no. The odds were just fifty-fifty.
“Honestly… you mean?”
“Yes.”
Henry clenched his fist.
“No.”
Henry answered solemnly.
“My answer is no.”
Roshanne’s expression remained unchanged.
“If the duke had other children, I would have gone to them. I probably would have begged to serve the one who would become the heir, just like now.”
“Hmm.”
“You have that much power, miss, yet you haven’t revealed it. And you asked me to keep it a secret from now on. I wonder if all that shrinking away until now was an act… but anyway, if you wanted to become the heir to the Duke of Railaten’s family, if you wanted to catch the duke’s eye, you would have shown that power.”
“Yes.”
He’s quite perceptive and quick to grasp interests. Roshanne lowered her hand from her chin and nodded.
“So, if there were other options…”
“Keep that secret well from now on. If it leaks, it’ll definitely be because of you, so you’d better be careful.”
“…What?”
“I’ll tell the duke that I’m rehiring the librarian.”
“B-but then…!”
“If you’d answered that you’d serve me even if there were other children, I wouldn’t have kept you by my side.”
Roshanne knew very well that Henry wouldn’t have said such a thing.
“You and I are strangers—how much could our hearts truly align for you to say you’d serve me until death? I don’t believe in causes born from such emotions.”
In her calm voice, there seemed to be a deep, lingering resentment.
For a moment, Henry froze like a statue, unable to respond at all.
“Your desire to restore your family’s honor. That honesty in saying you’d serve me solely to protect that—don’t forget it.”
Roshanne’s sharp gaze pierced into Henry. Under that oppressive pressure, like a stone pressing down from above, Henry’s toes tingled.
If there were other children, that person would become the heir?
Unconsciously, Henry twisted his trembling lips into a faint smile.
No.
Even if the Duke of Railaten had several other children, it would be the same.
No one could surpass this person to become the heir. No, this isn’t someone who would end up as just a family heir.
A thrilling shiver made his skin tremble.
“…I’ll keep it in mind, miss. I’ll follow you to the end.”
This is someone worth following to the end. Wherever this person is, that will become the pinnacle.
Henry bowed deeply toward Roshanne, pledging his loyalty.
“Well, this is a bit quick, but…”
Roshanne scratched her chin and swung her feet back and forth.
The oppressive feeling from moments ago vanished in an instant, as if it had been a lie.
“That servant who was cleaning earlier. Do you remember his face?”
“Yes.”
“Want to go grab him? Oh, you probably can’t catch him alone, so take some knights with you.”
“……What?”
Roshanne opened the book that Henry had set down on the desk, muttering indifferently.
“He’s a spy, you see.”
Earlier, he’d crept up from behind without even bothering to conceal his presence, so I’d nearly killed him on the spot.
Roshanne shrugged her shoulders.
“……!!”
Something like that!
She should have said so sooner!
Henry dashed out of the library at full speed.
‘Is it from the imperial palace? Or some other family keeping an eye on the duke’s house?’
Either way, he could just capture the man and interrogate him afterward. And since he wouldn’t have to dirty his own hands, it made things even smoother.
Roshanne rose with light, carefree steps and slipped out of the library.
