Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Roze Also Heads to the Academy
“Apologize! Apologize right now! Apologize to Solomon!!”
“Ugh…! W-why are you doing this, Count?!”
Roze, furious to the point her hair seemed to stand on end, grabbed Sylvia by the throat and raged.
Evangelin, Sylvia’s master, quickly cast a spell in shock.
“Personal Area!!”
“Ghk!”
Roze was pushed back by an invisible shockwave and separated from Sylvia.
When she tried to approach again, Evangelin blocked her.
“Have you lost your mind, Roze? What is wrong with you?”
“That bitch insulted Solomon! Didn’t you hear?! I’m warning you—make her apologize right now. Otherwise, I’ll kill both of you.”
“Do you even know who I am? I am West. My Endless possesses the strongest defensive power. Do you really think you can kill us?”
“Make her apologize to Solomoooon!!!”
“…You’re impossible to reason with!”
Roze attacked without hesitation.
The two wielders of Endless, who should have united for humanity, clashed fiercely against each other.
After nearly half a day of brutal fighting, the result was Roze’s defeat.
The deciding factor was Sylvia.
Evangelin blocked every attack, while Sylvia exploited openings to strike.
It was a perfect combination Roze could not overcome alone.
In the end, Roze collapsed miserably.
“If Solomon were alive, he would never have lost to the likes of you.”
“Hmph!”
Sylvia kicked dirt into Roze’s face.
“I showed you respect because you’re a Count, but you really don’t know your place! If one sacrifice can save the country, isn’t that a good thing? What exactly did I do to make you this angry?”
“I won’t forgive you, Sylvia…”
“Whether you forgive me or not, I don’t care.”
“Sniff… sniff…”
Unable to take revenge through strength, Roze submitted a petition to her friend and sovereign, Queen Elizabeth.
She demanded punishment for Sylvia for insulting the hero Solomon.
Elizabeth summoned Roze quietly and spoke.
“Roze… how could I not understand your grief?”
“Then please punish Sylvia.”
“What punishment do you seek?”
“Execute her.”
“…That is impossible.”
“Why?”
“Sylvia is the guard knight of West. Killing her would greatly weaken our nation. Moreover, her words cannot be interpreted as purely insulting Solomon.”
“What… what do you mean, Your Majesty?”
“To die for one’s country… is that not the greatest honor? I believed you would think so.”
“…Ha…”
The Roze Elizabeth knew—
was the same Roze who once thought that way.
But now, she was different.
Honor?
Country?
Loyalty?
What use were those things?
What meaning did they hold?
They meant nothing anymore.
All that remained in Roze’s mind was Solomon.
The man who died for her.
The man who died in her place.
Honoring him was everything.
“You will not execute Sylvia?”
“I do not judge her crime worthy of death.”
“You seemed quite close with Solomon… yet your feelings for him are only this much?”
Roze spoke even to the queen with reproach.
If anyone else had heard it, it would have been considered treason.
But Elizabeth understood Roze’s grief.
“Public duty and personal feelings… must be separated. Roze, even though Solomon is gone, you still have me. Let us protect the Aurelia Kingdom together.”
“…………”
Instead of answering, Roze quietly kissed the back of the queen’s hand.
And until the day she died at seventy-three,
she never met the queen again.
To Roze, anyone who did not grieve Solomon as deeply as she did—
was an enemy.
“They’re happy.”
“Everyone is happy.”
People celebrating victory.
People smiling.
People living normally.
She found them all disgusting.
“This peace came from Solomon’s death… so why are they happy?”
“They should be grieving…”
“Solomon is dead.”
“They should be crying…”
“Why aren’t they in despair like me?”
“Why aren’t they in pain like I am?”
“So you’re happy with this peace bought by his death?”
“…I see.”
“Then I will no longer protect you.”
“If no one mourns Solomon—”
“Then I will mourn enough for the entire world.”
And so, Roze lived grieving Solomon on behalf of the world—
until she died.
She thought everything had ended.
But when she was reborn,
her heart shone with joy.
She could start over.
She could meet Solomon again.
She was ecstatic.
Overwhelmingly happy.
And so she waited twenty years.
Only for the moment she would meet Solomon again.
—And finally, the day that meeting should have been recreated arrived.
Or rather, it should have.
She didn’t know where things went wrong.
She had followed her previous life exactly.
Pretended to be rude, incompetent—
ensured no one would volunteer as her guard knight.
Even went as far as asking a slave trader for help.
So that Solomon, who once worked under him, would appear.
“I’ll meet Solomon again… Solomon… Solomon. Finally, I’ll see him again… Ah! I’ve waited so long for this day!”
She decorated the mansion like a party hall.
Prepared delicious food for him.
But instead—
Sylvia appeared.
‘Why?’
‘Why are you here?’
‘Why are you in my life again?’
“Greetings, my lady. I am Sylvia Alesta, here to serve as your guard knight.”
At that moment—
Roze fainted from shock.
She couldn’t understand why fate was tormenting her like this.
“Where… where did it go wrong…?”
There is a concept called the butterfly effect.
A small change causing a massive shift.
Roze wanted to know what had altered history.
So she interrogated Sylvia.
Revenge from her past life was just a bonus.
“Answer me, Sylvia. How did you come to my house?”
“The slave trader Peter said the Count’s family was recruiting a guard knight… so I volunteered.”
“Were there no other applicants?”
“I… was the only one.”
“That’s a lie!”
This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.
In her past life, both Solomon and Sylvia had applied and fought.
Solomon should have won.
“There must have been someone else… for example…”
She couldn’t say his name.
At this point, she shouldn’t know Solomon.
She couldn’t risk distorting history further.
“…There was someone I considered a rival. His name was Solomon.”
“!! Then… what happened to him?”
“He knew about my past. So… he gave me the opportunity.”
“…………”
For a moment, Sylvia saw flames burning in Roze’s eyes.
Like hellfire.
Roze was overwhelmed with rage.
‘You call that an explanation?’
‘You’re saying it’s your fault Solomon isn’t here…’
‘Do you want to die?’
She almost killed Sylvia right there.
But—
meeting someone who knew Solomon
restrained her.
She wanted to hear more.
“That… Solomon. What is he like? Is he handsome?”
“…Yes. He is.”
“Right?”
Roze smiled like a child.
Sylvia was stunned.
So she could smile like that.
“Solomon… he’s tall, muscular… even among slaves, he stood out like a shining presence.”
“Hehe…”
Roze blushed as if she herself had been praised.
It made no sense, but it was better than being glared at.
Sylvia continued.
“I formed a sworn friendship with him… and we promised to meet again someday.”
“What? You’ll meet again?”
Roze’s eyes gleamed dangerously.
“How? Where?”
“We didn’t decide… just that someday, somewhere…”
“So you’re his friend?”
“Y-yes…”
Roze fell into thought.
If Sylvia truly was Solomon’s friend—
killing her would be dangerous.
She might lose her only link to him.
Worse—
what if Solomon hated her for it?
If that happened, she couldn’t go on living.
‘…I’ll spare her.’
‘Solomon might get angry.’
But then—
what should she do now?
How could she meet him again?
There was no time.
Tomorrow was the academy entrance ceremony.
She was supposed to go with Solomon.
But now, she didn’t even know where he was.
‘Sylvia was originally Evangelin’s partner… then who did Evangelin choose now?’
After thinking it through, Roze decided—
she needed to meet Evangelin.
Maybe she could pass Sylvia to her.
After all, only Solomon could be her guard knight.
To meet Evangelin, she had to go to the academy.
That was where Evangelin would surely be.
In the end—
Roze, too,
would attend the academy.