Chapter 26
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Ambush 2 (3)
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Splash!
A heavy splash echoed soon after, as if he had settled back into the water.
"Then would you mind helping with my back? I can't quite reach it."
"Pardon?"
"My back."
Rose stared at him, utterly dumbfounded. She had expected him to dismiss the absurd request outright, yet here he was, granting permission so readily?
Regardless of her disbelief, her body moved on instinct.
"If you'll excuse me."
Rose poked her head past the partition. Dane was sitting in the bathtub, his back turned toward her.
Squelch.
She stepped carefully over the bloodstained floor. Just as she finally reached the tub,
"......"
Her eyes met Dane's as he turned his head slightly to look at her.
"Your face is beet red."
"--!"
Rose jumped back on the spot. She wrinkled her nose with all her might before grumbling.
"That's the nickname I hate the most."
"Is it now."
"Yes. They've been teasing me with it since I was little."
Her vivid red hair and emerald eyes were the perfect combination for vegetable-themed nicknames. On top of that, Rose's cheeks changed color easily with her emotions, making "beet" a particularly common taunt.
"I like beets, though. They're delicious."
But his casual remark made her thoughts grind to a halt for a moment.
"......Pardon?"
"But since you dislike it, I'll keep that in mind."
Had she just heard something monumental? Or was it her imagination?
As Rose floundered, Dane pointed to the small of his back.
"My arm doesn't reach there."
"Ah, yes."
Rose snapped back to attention and picked up the towel from the floor. She approached his back.
Wow...
Even clothed, she had sensed it, but Dane's body was perfection incarnate. His well-trained physique and densely packed muscles blended in perfect harmony.
The art students at the Academy coveted him.
There had been countless pleas for him to model just once.
But he was a Schmichael. No student dared make such a bold request to the family's sole heir.
And now, she could see him naked up close like this. She could even attend to his bath.
This can't be real.
It felt too dreamlike to believe.
Rose took several deep breaths. She couldn't even bring herself to look beyond his shoulders.
His back alone was overwhelmingly stimulating. Steadying her trembling hands, she slowly pressed the towel against him.
"Here?"
"Mm."
Rose carefully rubbed the towel along the muscles of his back. Then she noticed.
What are these scars...
There were far too many.
From his shoulders to his lower back, tiny scars dotted everywhere. The largest was a long gash that diagonally crossed his back.
Sliced from behind?
Imagining the moments these wounds were inflicted, Rose diligently continued scrubbing.
To fight without a single scar now, he must have endured countless pains and battles. And she understood why he had allowed her to assist.
His forearms...
It might be presumptuous to say of him, but they were monstrously thick. The massive muscles clinging to Dane's forearms restricted his arm movement.
No wonder he can't reach his back. Good thing I offered to help.
Rose nodded to herself and thoroughly cleaned his entire back.
She would make him spotless—that was her sole goal. No room for other thoughts.
And so engrossed was she in her task that she didn't realize her hand had slipped past his side toward the front.
Thud.
Rose froze as Dane suddenly grabbed her wrist.
"Are you doing this on purpose?"
"......Pardon?"
Dane's eyes gleamed with an inscrutable light as they met hers.
Meeting his gaze quickened her breath. It felt like being pinned under a predator's claw—or caught by one poised to pounce.
She didn't yet know what kind of tension this was, why her back prickled and her toes curled.
The bathroom had fallen eerily silent.
Drip.
A drop of water fell from the towel in her hand,
"Step back."
and Dane's languid voice soaked the spot beneath it. At the same time, the hand gripping her wrist released.
"......Yes."
Rose set down the towel and retreated behind the partition. Only after steadying her breath and regaining her composure did she realize how strangely tense she had been.
What... was that just now?
He had merely grabbed her wrist and said a few words. Not even tightly.
Yet her ear, where his voice had brushed, burned hot. Her wrist still felt warm where he had held it.
Swish.
The sound of skin and fabric rustled. Dane seemed to be donning the spare robe nearby.
"Madam."
Dane pushed aside the partition and stepped out. Rose's gaze was stolen by the water droplets falling from his damp hair, but
"Yes, Your Excellency."
she finally turned to look at him.
"Surely the maids from your family are here."
The sudden topic made Rose instinctively guess what he would say next. Sonya's unnaturally pale face flashed in her mind.
"Yes, one. A girl named Sonya."
"How much do you trust that maid?"
"......"
Her hesitation wasn't from trust in Sonya. It was from uncertainty—how much of her past memories and present suspicions to reveal.
"It's been mere days since my bedroom changed. Yet the assassins knew exactly that I was in the marital chambers."
Rose squeezed her eyes shut.
......As I thought.
This confirmed it—Sonya had leaked her information outside.
"Several hypotheses are possible."
Dane swept back his wet hair as he spoke.
"First, your maid passed information to another family. Second, your maid passed it to the Vicander family, and they informed others."
"......"
"Finally, the third."
Dane's eyes glinted coldly.
"The Vicander family heard from the maid and sent the assassins."
Rose clenched her robe tightly.
If it's Sonya...
She wasn't loyal to Rose, but neither did she hate her enough to kill.
Especially the terrified Sonya she had seen earlier—that was the face of someone who hadn't anticipated this.
She's not clever enough for that.
Sonya had simply reported Rose's news to the Vicander family as ordered, oblivious to the consequences.
"First, let me say this: what I'm about to tell you isn't to defend me or my family."
"Continue."
"Of your hypotheses, the third— the Vicander family doesn't have the funds to hire that many assassins."
Dane's cold gaze wasn't aimed at her, allowing Rose to speak calmly from the heart.
"As for the first, there's no sign Sonya has contacted other factions recently. She hasn't been here long."
"Mm."
"Finally, the second. Sonya likely received orders from my stepmother before leaving Vicander Castle—to report everything she learned about me."
Her breathing steadied and conviction filled her voice as she spoke. But the next sentence felt slightly uncomfortable.
"......And my father has met Sir Henrik Schmichael."
Still, Rose said it without hesitation.
"I'm certain he orchestrated this assault."
Henrik Schmichael.
Dane Schmichael's uncle, the next in line after him. And in her previous life, his mortal enemy to the very end.
"......"
Dane's eyes darkened more intensely than usual. Rose couldn't read what that deep gaze meant.
"......Madam,"
Soon, the corner of Dane's mouth curved slyly upward.
"sometimes I can't tell if you're bold or just fearless."
"Pardon?"
"Do you know how dangerous that statement was?"
Step.
Dane took one step toward her. Just one step, yet his shadow expanded in an instant, engulfing her.
"You're essentially accusing your own family of collusion."
"......"
"Aren't you afraid of the repercussions? What do you think I'll do?"
Rose exhaled softly, struggling to maintain her composure.
"I believe facts shouldn't be hidden."
"Even if those arrows turn back on you?"
She had braced for this question from Dane the moment she learned of her father's ties to Henrik Schmichael.
So she answered with firm conviction.
"You've already ruled me out as a suspect."
"......"
"You thought it was the maid acting alone, not on my orders—even though you could suspect me first."
Dane neither affirmed nor denied. He merely nodded for her to continue.
"I believed Your Excellency would hear me out without twisting my words. That's why I spoke honestly."
"So, what will you do now?"
The first thought that had struck her like lightning upon discovering Sonya's betrayal: risky, but a massive gain if successful.
"I'll use that maid against them."