“……”
Rosetta roughly gestured. He didn’t particularly need help. But somehow interpreting that meaning, Puti called a mage.
“Mage-nim.”
The mage quickly treated Rosetta’s throat and stepped back. Puti stepped back with him and said.
“Then we’ll withdraw now. When Angel-nim arrives, shall we bring her directly here?”
“Yes.”
After Puti and the mage disappeared and they were alone in the room again, Rosetta sat beside the man and grasped his hand.
‘It’s neither hot nor cold.’
Fortunately, the man’s face looked comfortable. Just as the mage said, since there seemed to be no major problems when looking at the surface, his anxious heart gradually calmed down.
The man’s hand was very soft.
“It seems he didn’t grow up doing rough work.”
Unlike his worry that he might be very poor since he only ate things that didn’t seem like proper food every day, the man’s hand was as soft as if he’d never experienced hardship.
Seeing the callus embedded in the middle finger of his right hand, it seemed he’d actually studied a lot.
Rosetta kissed the callus and buried his face in the man’s hand. The man’s texture, scent, voice, appearance—everything pleased him.
And the moment he felt this man with his entire body, his greed began to swell even larger.
***
Upon hearing the news that Rosetta was urgently summoning her, Angel hurriedly headed to the imperial palace.
‘If he’s calling me now, there’s only one reason.’
Something related to his fated partner.
Since the Emperor, who seemed to be not just fallen for but entranced by the person in the mirror, couldn’t possibly fail to bring his fated partner here, the partner had probably been dragged here by now.
‘And problems would have started occurring somehow.’
Could he not accept being suddenly dragged here? Or perhaps he resented the Emperor?
In the carriage that shook roughly from moving quickly, Angel laughed until her stomach hurt while pondering what to do going forward.
‘First, I should pretend to help.’
That way, she’d continue to be summoned to the imperial palace in the future and could directly witness Rosetta Borealis suffering.
Rosetta Borealis being hurt and struggling because of his fated partner—nothing could be more thrilling than this. Angel recalled the words she’d heard when she first visited him.
‘They call you the daughter of god, but you’re just a messenger?’
Up to this point, it hadn’t been that unpleasant. But Angel had been greatly hurt by the words that followed.
‘Isn’t it pathetic to act as if you’re actually his daughter just because you’re absurdly connected a little?’
All the more because those words weren’t entirely wrong.
The title of daughter of god was merely what humans had given her; the god didn’t actually call her daughter.
She’d conveyed the god’s words to people only when she first became a Holy Maiden and when giving Rosetta his middle name.
That’s why she might have visited him gladly when he received his name. She thought she’d gained a companion who would understand her.
But unlike his sweet-sounding name, Rosetta was cold, indifferent, and had a bad personality.
‘It’s surprising he didn’t let that temper show until revealing his identity.’
She remembered that originally, when living as a princess, he’d made excuses about being quiet and very shy. People, enchanted by that beautiful appearance, naturally loved the princess.
‘And after receiving power, he revealed his true nature.’
Rosetta grew rapidly. As a person loved by god and as an emperor loved by the empire.
Angel’s insides twisted at that trajectory. That he was loved, that he had no great interest in that love—it displeased her even more.
So when she learned about the mirror, she persuaded the temple people under the pretext of finding a partner for the emperor loved by the empire. In reality, the Emperor had no one in this world connected to him by a red thread.
‘I thought it was a useless ability.’
Angel raised her hand and traced around her eyes.
Fated partner.
The red thread connected to one’s ankle from birth.
People who had red threads connected to each other were called fate. But just because they were fate didn’t mean the two people were always happy, and connections weren’t always formed.
‘Because it’s not over just by being connected.’
Connected threads could wear out and disappear depending on each person’s actions, or become stronger and more solid. Fate is initially ordained by god, but it’s humans who develop and nurture it.
And those who had been dragged here through the mirror to their fated partners had all become unhappy. In the end, there were even cases where the thread of fate went beyond wearing thin and snapped.
‘That’s why the mirror hasn’t been used for a long time.’
Of the two books Angel found along with the mirror, she burned the second book containing the miserable ending and erased it from the world.
And with only the first book containing instructions for using the mirror, she persuaded the temple people. Rosetta Borealis being abandoned by his fated partner and suffering?
“I have to return exactly what he said to me.”
Those indifferent eyes from that day and the contempt for her contained within them.
‘Isn’t it pathetic to act as if you’re actually his daughter just because you’re absurdly connected a little?’
It would be very pathetic to cling to the absurd fact of being connected as fate and struggle desperately to win the fate’s heart.
The temple people were greatly impressed that the perfect emperor could become more perfect and entrusted all matters to Angel, who had first proposed this. And now that the fated partner had been dragged here, results would come out in some way.
‘Yes, if I just wait a little longer.’
Angel desperately hoped that result would be the worst. It was her inner heart full of jealousy and malice that she couldn’t tell anyone.
Angel pressed down her pounding heart and put on the face of a gentle and kind Holy Maiden.
***
Puti anxiously waited for Angel in front of the Emperor’s palace. Since Rosetta was in a very sensitive state, he had to bring Angel back as quickly as possible.
‘Surely she won’t be late again with that ridiculous excuse about having a schedule this time too?’
If she sent back the messenger he’d sent in that way, this time he was planning to go directly and drag her here by force.
As Puti was wandering around the Emperor’s palace anxiously, mage Aris, who had been staying by his side, asked.
“Why are you so anxious?”
Puti looked with displeasure at Aris, who hadn’t listened when told to return with the other mages and had started using informal speech at some point.
“You don’t need to know. But why do you keep staying by my side?”
Of course, there were aspects that were convenient in various ways since he stayed by his side. Especially on days like today when Rosetta called for a mage. But still, what was annoying was annoying. At Puti’s question, Aris answered with a grin.
“Because you’re interesting.”
What kind of nonsensical talk was that? After looking at Aris as if he were strange, Puti lost interest in him.
Now wasn’t the time to give attention to that man, but to focus on Rosetta and his fated partner, and Angel who hadn’t arrived yet. Puti said a bit sharply.
“I won’t stop you from being in the imperial palace itself since you belong to the palace, but still, don’t be around me.”
“Why?”
“If you’re by my side, you’ll learn many of His Majesty’s secrets. That won’t do.”
Aris stared at Puti with eyes full of curiosity.
“You really like His Majesty, don’t you?”
Puti didn’t deny Aris’s words.
“Of course. He’s the one who gave me a good job, and if you cater to his mood appropriately, he’s generous with rewards.”
And Rosetta’s power was soon Puti’s power.
Puti loved power and didn’t dislike Rosetta, who was close to perfect. As he was satisfied with his own answer, Aris asked again.
“Is that all?”
Puti wasn’t so clueless as to tell someone he wasn’t very close with that he actually loved power. For someone in Puti’s position, he mustn’t openly show that he pursued power.
Puti snorted.
“Then what else should there be?”
“Who knows.”
“Hmph.”
As Puti sharply turned his head to stop dealing with him, Aris kept throwing questions.
“But the fated partner is a man?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Since he’d continuously heard the words “he” and “man” from Rosetta, he’d known from the start that the fated partner was male.
In the first place, the empire wasn’t an atmosphere that cared much about who you met, whether man or woman. Of course, it was a bit regrettable that His Majesty’s child wouldn’t be born.
“Does His Majesty not care about gender?”
At Aris’s question, Puti shrugged.
“I don’t know either. He’s never had relationships approached sexually.”
“Huh?”
At Aris’s reaction as if hearing this for the first time, this time Puti asked as if incredulous.
“Isn’t it famous? That His Majesty has no interest in that direction.”
It was a rumor that had been circulating since before Puti became the Emperor’s direct attendant, and a famous story widely spread in the imperial palace and noble society.
In fact, as Rosetta’s direct attendant, Puti had served him most closely for several years, but had never once seen Rosetta show interest in that direction.
‘At first I wondered if there was a problem with his sexual function, but…’
Since he occasionally discovered stiff traces in the morning, that worry quickly disappeared. As Puti’s thoughts were drifting elsewhere, Aris asked again.
“Is that true?”
Puti nodded, blowing away his stray thoughts.
“Yes.”
“But he’s so desperate like that?”
Puti had been very surprised too. But since it was something he’d always seen over the past few months, he didn’t have any particular thoughts about it anymore.
