Rosie's Games

Chapter 119: Live 7

Rosalind tilted her head. She had been drinking with Lucas for a few hours now and it seems like the alcohol had finally shown its famous effects. She was getting sleepy.

"There is a way to cure it?" she asked. "How?" They were talking about dark curses and cursed weapons. She told him about the curse that she left on Dorothy and he said that there was actually a way to heal it. How?

She had never heard of a method like that before.

"The weapon that was used to inflict the wound could be purified by the light Blessing and could be used to heal the person."

"But— "

"You are underestimating the Blessing of the light too much."

She frowned. How come she had not heard of such a method in the past?

"As I said, the Blessed families are hiding a lot from the normal population. Did you really expect them to tell the citizens all their secrets?" he snorted. "They are hiding the fact that they could heal the curse because they wanted to keep it as a secret weapon against the dark lord's people, against the ones who want to end them."

That made sense. But… how come Martin did not tell her about this in the past?

Perhaps it was because they did not want her to learn everything about the Blessing? They wanted her to be dependent on them so they could continue using her. And when she suddenly lost her Blessing, they just ignored her and treated her like trash.

Irritated, she finished the wine in her glass and put it on a small table in between them.

**THUD**

"Why does that upset you?" he asked.

Why? She could not tell him the answer to that, so, she chose to change the topic instead.

"Are you not scared that beasts will walk into the encampment? The fire and the smell of meat could easily attract them," she said.

"There is no need to be frightened. You are next to me, I would not let them harm you."

She blinked. Then she blinked again. Was he… jesting? josei

"Hey, how come you know so much about the Blessings?" she could not help but change the topic yet again. She wasn't too sure if he was drunk or not. His face was not showing anything aside from that slight smirk that was starting to irritate her.

"Why wouldn't I?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes.

"The Blessing is not something that astonishes me. You will understand this when you are in the North," he said. "In the South, anyone with a Blessing is worshiped and has been treated like a god, but when they reach the North, they realize that they are just like normal people. Up there, everyone is a soldier trying to fight off the beasts. Blessed or not, you are going to fight the beasts to save your home."

He added, "When they realized this, they stopped going to the North. Is that something that the Goddess would have wanted them to do?"

Rosalind frowned. She recalled Mathies's words about the Goddess's cruelty. She stared at the Duke's side profile. Lucas was looking outside the carriage, his lips thinned, his eyes deep and mysterious. She could not help but wonder what was he thinking.

"Hey… there were rumors that you always wear your mask even when you are sleeping," she said. "Is that true?"

"True."

"Then the first time that we met…"

"I just decided not to wear it."

Again, she was speechless. Most people would become more talkative when they were drunk. This man was the exact opposite.

"Why don't you give me another glass?" she asked. "I have been waiting."

"You are drunk. You should sleep. Since your maid is still on her way— "

"Milith is alive?"

"Milith is safe, but she cannot come with you to the North. You cannot bring anyone from that place to the North."

"Oh— "

"I have picked a few maids that will serve you. They are going to arrive tomorrow morning. For now, you must do everyone on your own. I have asked my people to prepare water— "

"But I still want to drink," she said. "I am not drunk yet."

"No drunk would say that they are drunk."

She pouted.

"That look does not suit you," he said nonchalantly. "It would have worked if I did not know that you could wield the Darkness and use it to incapacitate anyone."

"You— "

"You should rest. You have had enough wine for the night." He was about to leave the carriage when Rosalind suddenly pulled his arm. Rosalind expected him to fight back and use his strength to stay rooted on the spot, after all, he was obviously stronger than her.

But he did not. Instead, he let her pull him back into his seat.

His action caused her to lose her balance. She closed her eyes as she expected to fall and embarrass herself. But again, her expectations did not happen. Instead, she felt herself fall forward and then land straight into… something hard.

His chest.

She opened her eyes before she froze.

"I— " he was close— too close, she could feel the calm beating of his heart. It was the exact opposite of her own. She took a deep breath. He smelled like a mixture of citronella, vanilla and something spicy. It was warm and sweet and comforting.

"For someone so small, I did not expect you to be this heavy," his words pulled her out of her stupor. She immediately frowned when she realized he was smirking. Again.

"Are you calling me fat?"

"I am not calling you skinny."

"I am not fat. I am perfectly normal. You only say that I am small because you are— a giant," she glared at him.

"Well, this giant is your husband, so before your husband does something that husbands do to their wives, you should probably get up and let me leave this carriage. Don't you think?"

....

5/5

I will update the edited version in a while.