Rosie's Games

Chapter 195: Terms of the Marriage

Rosalind had already died once.

She did not want to die again— so soon. Moreover, she did not want to die at the hands of robbers. Luckily, she did not let her spatial bag go or it would have been worse. She started thinking about these people's plans.

Again, she met the Duke's eyes.

Does this mean that he already knew about this, even before it started?

Did he agree to take her to this place because he knew about this beforehand? She watched as the Duke slowly closed his eyes. Without a second thought, she followed him and also closed her eyes.

Poisons don't work on her so she wasn't worried that she would somehow fall asleep. However, what if they worked on him? Until now, she wasn't exactly sure how strong the Duke was.

"Are they asleep?" Yohan said. This was the first time that she heard the man speak and just like his face, he too, sounded feminine. It made her think If he was a woman after all.

"They should be. That one is pretty strong."

"So?"

"Call Antolin… this one should have a lot of stuff in her spatial bag, she refused to let it go."

"Alright," Yohan said and Rosalind heard him leave. Then, she heard a loud thud.

"Get dressed," the Duke said. Rosalind got up and looked at Catya on the floor. The woman… was dead. That was clear from the large gaping wound on her neck.

She swallowed. He killed the woman in seconds!

She ignored his gaze and immediately started dressing. Not long after, they heard footsteps. Without saying a word, she used an illusion on the room, making it look like they escaped.

"Here—" the Duke held her waist, pulling her closer to him.

"This is unnecessary. They won't see us anyway."

"This is just for precaution," he murmured.

"Did you already know about this?" she asked.

"I had suspicions."

"And you did not tell me?"

"Would you have agreed to come here if you knew?" he countered.

"I—" she swallowed, irritation apparent in her eyes. "Still! I have the right to know."

"I apologize."

That was quick. Her eyes sprang back to his. Did he really apologize?

"I ought to know," he explained. "This place —"

"Where are they!?" Antolin's voice interrupted their conversation. "Tsk! I knew something was wrong with that couple! How could a man make cakes like that!? He must be a noble or a knight! Go and tell the shadow guards to find them!"

Right now, Antolin and Yohan could not see Rosalind and Lucas, who were standing not that far away. The only thing that they could see was the dead Catya.

"I— I apologize. I did not know that—"

"I told you to make sure that they were asleep before informing me!"

"But the drug was pretty potent. A normal person would have—"

"I already said that they were not normal! What are you waiting for? Inform the guards!"

"Yes, Sir."

Yohan immediately left and Antolin stayed in the room to examine Catya's corpse. Then he hurried out.

"We should follow him,' Rosalind said. To her surprise, however, the Duke suddenly carried her like a princess.

"I don't—"

"Footsteps," he answered her unspoken statement. His steps were very light and it was the exact opposite of her untrained body. She nodded at that. This was not the first time that something like this had happened.

"Then— Then on your back," she said.

"What?"

"Not like this. I will climb on your back, at least then your hands will be free to do a lot of things." Since he was carrying her like a princess, he could not really use his sword if he needed to defend them. "That came out wrong," she said. "I meant—"

"I know what you mean," he whispered. "We don't have the time." He said they were not far away from Antolin, who was running down the stairs. Because of this, she chose to stay silent to avoid distracting him.

Not long after, Antolin arrived in a room that looked like an office. He quickly got himself a piece of paper and a pen and wrote something on it. Then, he went to another room where two birds were staying.

Rosalind could only frown. A bird in an underground room? That was very suspicious!

Antolin then put the parchment into one of the holders and put it on to a bird. Then he got a necklace from his pocket and was about to once again tie it to the bird.

Before Rosalind could process what was going on, the Duke suddenly threw a dagger toward Antolin, prompting him to drop the necklace.

Despite this, he gently put her down before he approached the surprised man.

Rosalind did not hesitate to remove the illusion around them, revealing themself to Antolin.

"You— You are— who are you!?" Antolin asked. He tried to pick up the necklace but Lucas got it before he could touch it.

"A teleportation necklace," Lucas said. "I have been wondering why the likes of you could easily communicate. It turns out it was like this."

"I— I am telling you! If you kill me, those people will hunt you down and kill you— the two of you!"

"Those people?" Lucas asked.

Antolin's eyes widened with horror. He glared at the Duke before his mouth started to foam.

"It's poison!" The man was trying to kill himself! Rosalind wanted to use her light to heal the man.

"He's dead," Lucas held her hand. "It's too late for that. Even if you heal him… his brain is dead."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"All of them were like that. Somehow, they found a way to destroy their brain so that someone who knew how to heal poison could not help them." Lucas examined Antolin's body. "He has nothing," Lucas said. "All of them had nothing on them. This necklace was the first."

Rosalind frowned. She was dying to know what was going on.

"These people are all over the place," Lucas said. "They want to spread diseases, cause war and carnage, murder and kidnapping. They want to make people suffer."

"A gang of criminals?" she asked.

"No. They are too organized. Someone else must be behind them."

"What is their goal?" she asked.

"I will tell you when I find out." He looked at her, giving her a wink before he started carrying her again.

"We should stop doing this," she said.

"Doing what? Killing people?" he asked just as they left the room.

"Carrying me like this."

"Why should I?" he asked.

"Am I not heavy?"

"Heavy," he answered almost immediately.

"You! Are you calling me fat?"

"No, but it would take you months or even years to learn how to hide your footsteps. Besides, this is more enjoyable than making cakes and boats, isn't it?"

"Killing people?" she asked. josei

"Yes."

Rosalind pursed her lips. Honestly? She thought this was more fun than making cakes and boats.

"I think you are trying to corrupt my pure mind," she mumbled.

"Am I?"

"Are you not? How could you take the woman that you are about to marry on a date like this?"

"A date?"

"I—"

"I did not think of that."

Rosalind felt herself turn hot and she turned her face away.

"I did not mean it like that," she said. How could she just blurt out things without even thinking?

"You did not?"

"Well… if you do not see this as a date then…"

"Isn't this just us spending time together? Would it matter if it's a date or not?" he asked. When she did not answer, he continued. "Once married, we are going to spend more time with each other."

She lifted an eyebrow.

"Or… did you perhaps think that I would leave you in the mansion alone, all by yourself?" he asked.

"That—" That was exactly what she thought! "We should probably talk about the terms of our upcoming marriage… again."

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