His parents were still the people he wanted to see most. But the sadness was less than before.
“Still, I’ve gotten much better. I’m not lonely anymore.”
“You’re not lonely?”
He hadn’t expected to suddenly have such a deep conversation, but since the topic had come up, it seemed good to speak honestly.
“There’s a sense of stability that the fence of family gives you, you know.”
That stickiness that friends couldn’t give—losing it had made him terribly lonely.
“I missed that. But Rosetta and I have the fence of the red thread and fate, don’t we?”
Fate—though it was an abstract concept, it was something connected just as strongly as the word family.
“Should I call it a sense of belonging, or feeling like I’m not alone. That’s why I’m always grateful to Rosetta. Is it a bit burdensome?”
Seoho, who had been rambling on without looking at Rosetta out of embarrassment, turned to look at him with a sinking feeling at the trembling breaths coming from beside him.
“Rosetta?”
And he discovered Rosetta crying with tears streaming down.
“Are you crying?”
As a flustered Seoho hurriedly wiped away his tears, Rosetta answered in a voice soaked with emotion.
“…Because I’m happy. You always say things I can’t help but love.”
Seoho let out an empty laugh.
“Where exactly was there anything to like in what I just said?”
If anything, it should have been burdensome. But Rosetta couldn’t answer anything and just kept crying. As the droplets grew thicker and thicker, Seoho became increasingly restless.
“No, I’m telling you not to cry. You really are a crybaby.”
By the end, a scolding remark finally burst out. Then Rosetta grabbed Seoho’s hands that were wiping his tears with both of his own hands and muttered in a gasping voice.
“…I didn’t know you liked me that much. I thought you’d find me burdensome instead.”
Seoho’s eyes widened as he asked.
“Why did you think that?”
“Just, just…”
When Rosetta couldn’t easily continue, Seoho’s heart felt heavy.
Well, unlike Rosetta who had been expressing his affection without hiding it all this time, Seoho had never properly expressed his feelings to him.
‘Is that why he’s so anxious?’
Though he’d pretended not to notice since Rosetta seemed to be trying to hide it, Seoho had noticed Rosetta being drastically shaken when they clearly learned what the dreams meant and when they heard there was someone from the same country as himself.
Still, he had thought things had gotten much better after they parted with the prince that day and had a conversation alone together, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.
‘What should I do….’
Even as Seoho was thinking, Rosetta’s teardrops only grew larger and larger. Rosetta was beautiful even when crying, but still, he was prettier smiling than crying.
Seoho, who had been staring intently at Rosetta’s tears while worrying about how to reassure him, put strength into the hands holding his face and raised his head.
Seoho’s lips touched his dampened eyes.
He could slightly taste the characteristic saltiness of tears. Even though he was so beautiful, he was still human after all—the thought made him smile.
Seoho, who had been giggling softly, pulled his lips away and met Rosetta’s eyes, then smiled brightly.
“Ah, it stopped.”
The tears that had been flowing endlessly had stopped.
***
He hadn’t known being special meant this. And he was happy that he had that much meaning. He was so happy and moved that tears came out.
While watching him write a letter to the concubine, Seoho’s single sentence put an end to the possessiveness and anxiety that had been creeping up again.
At the hand gently wiping his eyes, tears surged up even more shamelessly. He knew he should stop, but he kept crying because he liked those eyes looking at him with concern.
And the moment those soft lips touched his eyes, it felt like time had stopped.
‘Is this a dream?’
Maybe because it was a dream, he could hear the words he wanted to hear.
‘If it’s a dream anyway….’
He was staring blankly at those plump pinkish lips when Seoho, who had moved away again, muttered in embarrassment.
“Puti told me. He said here, if you’re close with someone, you kiss them casually enough.”
Puti—the moment that name came up, he realized this wasn’t a dream. Should he praise that guy or punish him?
Whether knowing Rosetta’s feelings or not, Seoho continued talking.
“On my side too, there are people who give light kisses casually.”
Seoho was very kindly saying this was nothing at all. Just as emptiness was filling his heart that had been full of excitement, Seoho scratched his cheek and added more.
“But anyway, I’m not one of them. Uh, so what I’m trying to say is that I like Rosetta that much.”
…Really, why was he like that?
‘Why does he keep making me unable to help but like him?’
Hot breath flowed from his trembling lips, so Rosetta pressed his mouth shut tight. He couldn’t reveal this desire to someone shining with such pure affection.
Rosetta bit down on his tongue and raised the corners of his mouth.
***
After Rosetta sent the letter Seoho wrote to the prince, he mustered up all his patience through dinner until Seoho fell asleep.
And when Seoho couldn’t overcome his drowsiness and fell asleep first, he finally thought this time of patience was over.
But that was just Rosetta’s delusion. Once Seoho fell asleep, he wanted to touch him even more.
‘Seoho won’t know…’
Since he was sleeping, wouldn’t it be okay to at least kiss him? But if he kissed him, it was obvious he’d want to do more.
Without realizing it, his gaze kept drifting to those plump lips. Those soft-looking pinkish lips.
“Haah.”
But fortunately, Rosetta couldn’t put his thoughts into action. When he turned his head, he could see a man with his head bowed between the dim lights.
He was one of the shadows Rosetta had personally selected.
Beyond the canopy surrounding the bed, the kneeling man noticed Rosetta’s gaze and spoke.
“We still haven’t found the spy.”
“Haven’t found them?”
As soon as he heard the prince’s words that they had been monitoring the Mirror in the imperial palace, he had commanded the shadows to find the spy through them. But even now, two days later, they still hadn’t found the spy.
‘I thought they were quite useful unlike other things…’
They were truly pathetic. The man, noticing his twisted mood, quickly added.
“…There were too many nobles who moved due to the state council meeting. If the spy slipped out taking advantage of that gap, we won’t be able to find them now.”
When Rosetta turned his body completely to look at the man, he bowed his head even deeper.
“However, the possibility has been raised that the spy might not be human.”
A sneer burst out at the ridiculous excuse.
“Not human?”
“No new servants have been deployed to the palace since that person appeared. We investigated the knights and mages, but similarly, there are no traces of contact with the prince.”
The shadow caught his breath and continued.
“Mage Aris, who received the investigation results, claimed that the prince’s magical skills are formidable. If he has the skill to send letters to the kingdom, it’s a bit difficult but he could use magic to monitor this side. And the canary Your Majesty ordered last time…”
“Wait.”
That canary that had spoken to Seoho. He wondered why he was only thinking of it now.
‘I really haven’t been in my right mind these past few days.’
Rosetta, whose eyes trembled as he glanced at Seoho, opened his mouth.
“Consult with the mages a bit more.”
“Yes. And as ordered, we’ve sent people to Iakos Kingdom as well.”
“Report back once they’re properly established.”
“Understood.”
“What about Angel and the prince?”
“For having brought the prince directly herself, they don’t seem to have any particular friendship.”
He had thought the Mirror that Angel, who hated him, gave was suspicious. But that had been dismissed the moment he discovered Seoho.
‘If I listen to what the prince said, it’s obvious why Angel gave me the Mirror.’
Surely that woman had given him the Mirror knowing everything.
‘She showed fear but not resentment.’
Yet such a woman had brought the prince. And the prince had casually revealed facts that Angel had been hiding all along.
‘…There must be more things she hasn’t told me.’
Whether Angel or the prince, he could sufficiently expect that they hadn’t revealed all the facts they knew about the Mirror to him.
‘Looking at how things are going, they probably didn’t disclose all information even among themselves.’
He remembered Angel’s expression falling apart the moment she learned the prince was a mage. The same when she heard about the concubine’s country.
Now that he knew Angel’s purpose for giving him the Mirror, he knew it would be good to deal with her now and eliminate future troubles. But…
‘Right now when I don’t know the prince’s exact purpose, it would be better to use Angel.’
Until he dealt with the prince, it was better to leave Angel as she was. The prince, about whom he still knew nothing, was a more dangerous person than Angel, whose insides were clearly visible.
“Continue monitoring both of them, and bring all information as you obtain it.”
“Yes.”
Rosetta gently brushed back Seoho’s hair and pressed down the rising impatience.
