Oh, th- thank you …”

Standing there, bewildered, Rosenia stuttered while thanking the man.

The man slowly blinked his eyes once and then bowed his head slightly toward her in a very polite manner.

Unlike Alex, the man was very courteous.

‘Come to think of it, I think I’ve seen him somewhere. Ah!’

Rosenia soon remembered where she had seen him. He was the man who showed up with Henry at the villa!

‘I was so distracted at that time that I completely forgot.’

Now that she thought about it, she didn’t know who this person was or what his name was.

‘How should I ask?’

Rosenia hesitated and pondered with agony, but thankfully the man spoke first.

“I am Hayden Croft. I am the commander of the Knights of Villequier, who serves the Duke of Rasiane, but you can call me by my given name.”

“By your name … So, Hayden?”

“…”

‘Oh, did I cross a line?’

Rosenia quickly corrected herself.

“Sir Hayden or should I call you Sir Croft?”1

Hayden Croft looked at her silently with his bright blue eyes and replied.

“Please call me Sir Hayden. I think that would be the most comfortable.”

“All right, Sir Hayden.”

When Rosenia answered with a grin, Sir Hayden, who was staring at her, smiled slightly.

It was just a faint smile, but the small smile on his dull face made him look like a different person for a moment.

As Rosenia was standing there, staring blankly, she heard Alex’s nervous voice.

“So, what bug was it?”

‘Do you really have to ask that?!’

Rosenia was looking at Alex with an absurd look when she heard Sir Hayden’s answer.

“I don’t remember.”

“What? That’s ridiculous.”

“Go and finish your training, Alex.”

Pushing Alex’s back, who was still babbling, Sir Hayden, glanced back at her.

She smiled a little as a token of her gratitude, as she noticed that he had answered in consideration of her.

Then Sir Hayden smiled and began to go somewhere with Alex. They were probably going to the Training grounds.

‘I’d better get out of here.’

One thing seemed certain.

It was Sir Hayden who held that scoundrel Alex’s leash.

* * *

Time passed and finally, it was Friday.

The current head of the Mage Tower and her father had come earlier than expected.

The momentum of the head mage was so terrifying that their arrival seemed more like an invasion than a friendly visit.

Her father, the former head of the Mage Tower, Cloud Hill, just stood beside her brother with an awkward look.

“Where’s Rosenia?”

Everyone was shocked by the reckless attitude of the head of the Mage Tower, who frantically looked for his younger sister. Soon, the sound of light footsteps came from somewhere.

“Father, my God! It’s been a while!”

Rosenia, who ran like a squirrel, snuggled into Cloud’s arms.

Rosenia’s eyes were full of affection as she was looking at her father with a moved expression.

Cloud smiled happily as he looked at his daughter, who had grown up brilliantly.

“How have you been, Rose?”

“I, well … Ah, did Brother also come with you?”

As if she had just remembered, Rosenia looked behind Cloud.

Adrian was standing a little behind Cloud. He let out a chilling aura as his eyes met Rosenia’s.

His lips moved very slowly, and an icy voice flowed through them.

“You look very good, Sister.”

“Ah, hello Brother.”

“I guess you’ve been doing well without any worries all this time?”

“Oh no, I was very worried about you, Brother.”

Seeing his sister talk to him without any shame made Adrian burst into laughter. The way she looked, treading carefully around him, was cute, but when he recalled what happened at the villa, his anger surged again.

But because of the great love he had for his sister, Adrian concluded that Rosenia had done nothing wrong. The main culprit was someone else. It was exactly …

“You’re early. I apologize for being late.”

…That bastard, Llewellyn Rasiane.

It was obvious that that wicked sly bastard had lured Rosenia. He should have properly warned Llewellyn when he started bothering him with letters saying he wanted to meet Rosenia.

Llewellyn Rasiane was crazier than Adrian had initially thought. Adrian didn’t expect him to be persistent enough to really risk his life. Even if he was crazy, this was just too crazy.

“Nice to meet you. I am Llewellyn Rasiane.”

“I’m Cloud Hill. Nice to meet you, too.”

When Llewellyn only regarded Cloud and ignored Adrian, as if he wasn’t there, the atmosphere began to permeate tension.

It was the castle’s butler who noticed this dangerous tension first. Despite having a timid personality, he quickly showcased his wits with the conviction of protecting the castle that had a long history of fights and battles between the Rasiane castle’s duke and the wizards.

“My Lord, and guests. You can now go to the parlour right away. The servants have prepared refreshments for you.”

“Refreshments? We need to leave quickly! Let’s go, Duke!”

Rosenia quickly cooperated and so they all moved to the parlour. The overall atmosphere was still bad, but it was relatively peaceful than in the hall.

It, of course, was ‘relatively’ in all respects.

“I would like to take this opportunity to greet you properly and seek your permission for my and Rosenia’s en—”

“No.”

Llewellyn had only barely said the ‘en’ of engagement before Adrian rudely cut him off. His red eyes glaring at Llewellyn were rather terrifying.

But Llewellyn was also not an easy opponent.

“I asked my ‘father-in-law’, not you, Adrian Hill.”

Cloud was dumbfounded by the man’s audacity to call him ‘father-in-law’ after he stole away his daughter. The duke of Rasiane had a reputation for being upright and ascetic but it all turned out to be a big sham.

‘How on earth did Rosenia end up with this guy…’

Cloud looked at his daughter with mixed feelings. He was speechless when he saw her face, which clearly said, “I’m in love.”

That was not the only thing. Now that he thought about it, the Duke and Rosenia looked like a perfect couple. They fed each other snacks and looked at each other with enamoured eyes …

Feeling a bit nauseous, Cloud gulped down the hot tea.

He couldn’t help but feel bitter as a father because his daughter was already at the age where she’d fall in love. But Rosenia liked him so much…

‘… One will be happy when they’re with the person they like.’

Cloud recalled what Ilunia had told him a long time ago.

‘You don’t know how happy I am to be able to marry the person I love. I hope my daughter will also marry the person she loves in the future.’

“…”

Cloud swallowed a sigh quietly.

It seemed that the conclusion of this meeting had long been decided.

* * *

“… I’ll give you my permission.”

After two hours of persuasion by Llewellyn and Rosenia, Cloud finally gave in.

He had a hunch it was going to happen anyway, but… When he did grant his permission, a sense of strange dismay began to fill in him.

In any case, Cloud agreed that the engagement of the two would not only benefit both families in many ways but would also end their longstanding enmity.

Above all, he decided to allow the engagement because Llewellyn Rasiane seemed sincere.

If Llewellyn Rasiane had any ulterior motive or if he felt like he was trying to take advantage of Rosenia, the Ducal Castle of Rasiane would’ve ceased to exist today.

Adrian wasn’t the only one who loved Rosenia; Cloud cherished her the most too.

“No, you can’t.

And, as expected, Adrian opposed it till the end.

He gritted his teeth, glared at Llewellyn, and then spoke seriously to Cloud.

“I can’t believe the loyalty of the Rasianes who are close to the Lovicks. And we have to protect Rosenia. Do you not understand this, Father?”

Cloud let out a low sigh as he looked at his son, who remained adamant in his objection.

He knew very well how much Adrian cared about Rosenia’s safety.

Rosenia had strange things happen to her since her childhood. As if the world was rejecting her, some danger would constantly loom over her, putting her life at stake.

This was why Adrian had always been overprotective of Rosenia. Perhaps, if possible, he would even try to keep her by his side for the rest of his life.

But, one can’t stay under the shadow of their family forever.

Cloud spoke softly.

“Adrian, I understand your concerns, but Rosenia is not a child anymore. She has grown strong enough to cope with dangerous situations on her own. Why don’t you stop and trust Rosenia for once? Only then would Rose be able to stand on her own feet.”

“…”

Despite his father’s persuasion, Adrian remained silent with a firm expression.

Cloud looked at Adrian with mixed emotions. As he contemplated over what more to say, he heard the butler’s voice come from outside the door.

“Master, you have a visitor. The person says it’s very important, but it’s…”

”

”

For some reason, the butler hesitated, unable to finish. Llewellyn, who found it strange, looked at the door with a suspicious look and politely asked Cloud to be excused.

“Do you mind if I check for a moment?”

“Sure.”

When Cloud readily allowed it, Llewellyn thanked him, got up, and walked to the door.

When he opened the door, he saw the butler with a troubled look on his face. Llewellyn asked in a questioning voice.

“What kind of guest is it? What business do they have?”

“Well, do you remember Killian Oscar, your former physician? It’s  his daughter.”

“Oscar … I don’t remember. What’s with the physician’s daughter?”

“Well, that lady …”

The butler took a few breaths for a moment as if he were suffocating, and then stuttered.

“She possesses… divine power… She can cure master’s mana congestion and…”

Footnotes

In korean, the title ‘Sir’ comes after the name. That’s why Rosenia is able to smoothly correct herself. It got lost in english translation.