Chapter 9

****

Rosaline hastened to speak.

“Your Majesty, I don’t think you’ll regret helping Marquis Su. If you think about it, when this case will spread, you’ll have the chance to get your hands on other spies as well. Besides, I’m assured this will make the Queen Mother anxious.”

Cahir raised his eyebrows, as if it was unimportant. He concurred with Rosaline’s suggestions and reasoning. He had anticipated it, so he did not complain about Rosaline’s readiness to support him. Thanks to her perseverance, public sentiment towards the imperial family would improve and Cahir would become a benevolent emperor in people’s eyes. This happened not once or twice, but almost every time. She had a keen judgement of his vexation, and in each instance, she directed his anger towards the right course. Of course, the outcome was always satisfactory.

“It’s really strange, isn’t it?”

“What?”

Cahir stared at her without replying. Rosaline took a sip of tea and her mouth curled up into an alluring smile. Then she pushed an untouched cup towards him.

“Your Majesty, the tea has cooled down. Just at your favorite temperature.”

Cahir picked up the cup and took a sip. As Rosaline said, it was just the right temperature. Not too hot, not too cold. She had this way of doing things every time. She savvied his taste and preference impeccably.

“Rosaline, I’ve been wondering for quite some time now.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Please tell me.”

“How do you know me so well?”

‘Oh, I’ve read it in a novel. Thanks to the writer, there’s nothing that I don’t know.’

She stifled this reply that was about to blurt out. Rosaline smiled at him.

“Gwa, gwa, because I’m interested!” (*T/L: not sure what sounds she made here.)

The intonation was strange and she was stammering, but Cahir didn’t take it as an issue.

“Well, that’s not what matters, it’s the birthday feast, isn’t it?

“You want to please the Queen?”

“Well, it’s good to keep the Queen in a good mood. Oh, don’t get me wrong, it’s not because I like her. It’s because I want to keep her calm….You know?”

“I don’t know. How dare you speak ill of the Queen in front of me?”

Cahir grinned and said it as if to punish Rosaline. She glanced at him. Cahir drank his tea and spoke in a long, muffled tone. He hated banquets. He utterly detested the pretentious laughter and the formal language that people used at banquets.

However, Rosaline still made the decision to do so. The options she picked and her discernment was infallibly for Cahir’s best interests.Also, , she has Cahir’s permission to “do as she pleases”.

‘Phew, that’s enough.’ Rosaline sighed into her cup, pretending to drink tea.

‘Finally, we’ve got all the conditions to meet the heroine.’

Although she would have to double the workload.

***

“Good night, Your Majesty.”

The night fell.

Rosaline, Derek and Cahir struggled with their work in the office until late at night. It was not until Rosaline coughed and banged her head on the desk, they got up and took some break.

“That’s all for today.” Cahir said.

Rosaline smiled inwardly when she saw Derek’s face suddenly light up. She could bet all her fortune on the fact that he was going to Hui’s room instead of his. Derek quickly left first.

“Rosaline, aren’t you coming?”

Cahir turned around, still holding the doorknob. Rosaline was planning to finish all the left-over tasks and to organize the mess in the office before leaving.

“Oh, I have some work left to do…”

Cahir wrinkled his forehead. He strutted up to her. The air around them contracted, and Cahir felt uncomfortable. What is it again?

“Is there any important task left to do, Your Majesty? I’ll stay and work on it,” she said, examining the pile of papers she had worked on to see if anything was overlooked.

Whether it was due to her fatigue or due to her own carelessness while scanning the papers in a haste, she accidentally cut her finger with a piece of paper.

‘It hurts more to get hurt like this.’

She pouted unconsciously, while eyeballing the red blood which was oozing out from her finger.

“Rosaline.”

When she tried to suck her finger, Cahir held back her hand.

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

“The servant who delivered this paper.”

“Yes?”

“Kill him.”

“What?”

What did he dislike about the servant? Did he cheat or commit treason? Or did he stab his pride? Rosaline had a pack of questions to ask, although she was unable to ask a single one; for Cahir had put her finger in his mouth.

“Your Majesty!”

Rosaline screamed in astonishment. Cahir held Rosaline’s fingers in his mouth and was surprised: How could her hand be so small? Did she carry all those papers in these tiny hands? A sudden surge of exasperation engulfed him; he realised that he didn’t know her very well.

‘It’s not fair,’ he thought.

As the time went on, Rosaline became Cahir’s ideal subordinate. She toiled as if she were another Cahir. She understood his thoughts and predicted his actions ahead of time. Howbeit, he was unable to predict Rosaline at all. He was only aware that he liked the flavor of the tea that Rosaline presented him and the frequent breaks he gets by her recommendation.

“Your Majesty, it’s dirty!”

Rosaline quickly pulled out her finger. Cahir pressed his lips with regret.

“It’s getting late. Go get some rest. Wasn’t there supposed to be a delegation from Queensbury tomorrow?”

“Yes, don’t worry about me sleeping late, it won’t affect our preparations, Your Majesty,” said Rosaline, full of energy.

Cahir was irked. He intended to say that she should be concerned about her well-being and let up. How dare Rosaline misinterpret his words! Her words came as a great blow to Cahir. The air between them suddenly turned cold. He stared at Rosaline in disbelief while holding her fingers tightly. He felt that the Rosaline in front of him was becoming more and more blurred. His face was full of disappointment.

***

Rosaline lay on her bed. She couldn’t get Cahir’s face out of her mind.

‘He looked so dejected…’

She wondered what was it about? After the five years in which Rosaline died in the original story, it has become increasingly tough to deal with Cahir.

Not long ago, she was his perfect aide, but now he was constantly messing up with her. She quickly realized that he had changed. It was strange that she hadn’t noticed sooner, as she was a very intuitive person. Cahir’s cheeks puffed up and his brow furrowed like a heartbroken person. She would feel better if he was angry with her, like he was with everyone else and would have told her what she missed out on. However, he kept his mouth shut.

Then he did something that Rosaline couldn’t comprehend. He grabbed her wrist and took her across the corridor of the imperial palace; he suddenly cancelled the whole afternoon’s schedule and drove her to her bedroom for a nap.

He pushed her into the bedroom. Then he added a few words.

“Don’t leave until I come to wake you up in the morning. Get a good night’s sleep. Do you understand?”

Cahir growled with sharp eyes. Rosaline nodded her head in bewilderment.

‘I don’t know what to think anymore,’ she said, sticking her hand into her lavender hair and scratching it around annoyingly. Her luxuriant hair soon became tangled.

‘Why! I can’t sleep!’

She turned and lay on her stomach and thumped the bed with both feet, her paper-cut finger bothering her. Cahir’s tongue was curling around her fingers, the moist feeling was vividly repeated. Her stomach felt warm. She tried to erase the thought, but alas, it was of no use. The more she tried to forget, the more vivid Cahir’s big hand that held hers, his mouth that sucked her fingers, and his scarlet eyes that encountered hers kept occupying her mind.

***

That day, Rosaline stayed awake all night. Her face was a mess because of it. Cahir looked at her, clicked his tongue and shook his head. Nevertheless, he wasn’t angry. Rosaline was relieved.

The same thing repeated several times. Cahir suddenly would pop up where she was or throw her into the bedroom when she worked all night…

Still, Rosaline prepared Azela’s birthday banquet. Derek was exhausted from having to deal with so much work, and as usual, Rosaline aided him without saying anything. Thanks to her hard-work, the preparation of the feast was not strenuous. There were times when the preparation was almost interrupted: it was when Cahir saw the dark circles under Rosaline’s eyes.

He yelled: “If you’re going to look like that just to please the Queen, then stop!”

Rosaline applied lemon as a beauty water and glamorized her make-up. When the eyebags were gone and the color under her eyes seemed to have returned to normal, Cahir had no choice but to allow the banquet preparations to go on.

Finally, after many twists and turns, the day of the feast arrived. Rosaline rallied the maids of honor who would be her hands and feet at the feast.

“It’s about to begin! You know it, don’t you? It’s the first banquet to be held in the palace in a long time. We have to satisfy all the guests. Who’s the best of them?”

“The Queen?”

“The sun of our empire, His Majesty!”

Rosaline laughed and joked, and the servants giggled. She clapped her hands. The noisy atmosphere was quietened in an instant.

“So, ladies and gentlemen, let’s make today a success!”

There were little shouts of joy everywhere, everyone was excited about the long awaited banquet.

****

Rosaline, stood in front of Cahir with a very troubled look on her face.

“What are you doing now, Your Majesty?”

Rosaline’s gaze was cold. Cahir, leaning back on the chair and flicking his fingers, disapproved of the servants’ work.

There was little time left before the feast started. Rosaline had to make a final inspection. She was afraid that she might have missed something, but Cahir didn’t let her go.

“No, not that. Oh, yellow? Well, I prefer the purple one.” said Cahir.

“Your Majesty. Tell me what you’re doing.”

“Rosaline, stand up straight. I’d like to dress you, because I know you don’t have time for that.”

The attendants put a purple dress on in front of Rosaline. The dress matched the white lace and gave off an elegant charm.

Giving up on Cahir’s disinclination, Rosaline asked Hui.

“Hui, can you explain to me what the situation is?”

Hui hung the purple dress to one side, to which Cahir did not point out “much”. Hui took the pink dress and put it on Rosaline’s shoulders and replied.

“What do you mean? I’m picking out a dress for you.”

“A dress? For me?”

Looking at Rosaline’s confused expression, Hui sighed.

“Did you intend to attend the party dressing like that?”

“Yes? What’s wrong with my attire?”

Instead of replying, Hui scanned her up and down. Then, Rosaline looked down at her clothes.