27. Does the heart heal when you come back to life?

How long had it been since she’d enjoyed such a peaceful morning?

‘It’s so bright……’

“Ah, Madam! You’re awake!”

Apple, who was drawing the curtains, noticed that she was up and scurried over to the bed, squealing with excitement.

“Madam, really! How could you fall asleep like that yesterday! Do you remember collapsing while standing?”

“Rose…… Ah, what happened to Rose?”

“Don’t worry. Miss Rose has regained her strength now. It’s all thanks to you, Madam!”

Apple put her hands on her hips with an “ahem,” as if she had been the one who provided the treatment. Well, Apple did work hard alongside her all day yesterday, so she deserved to be a little proud.

After getting up, she instinctively looked at the empty side of the bed, surprised by her own habit. Today, Darius wasn’t there with her.

“Yesterday, you abandoned His Highness the Grand Duke and went straight to Miss Rose, Madam.”

Apple giggled.

“He woke up early today because he was worried you might leave him alone again and go somewhere else.”

Apple lowered her voice and said, “Ahem, ‘She should know what it feels like to be left alone too. It’s quite lonely.'”

“Don’t lie. His Highness the Grand Duke would never say something like that.”

“No, it’s true!”

Apple opened her eyes wide, protesting the injustice.

“Yesterday, His Highness the Grand Duke carried you in his arms to your room.”

“What? The Grand Duke carried me?”

“Well, if not His Highness, who would dare to touch Madam’s body? Ah, all the maids in the mansion who witnessed it yesterday were talking about it!”

Carrying her probably didn’t mean slinging her over his shoulder like a sack. Surely it wasn’t the princess carry, the romance fantasy standard.

‘Aaaack, why am I blushing over something like this?’

She had always thought her face was thick-skinned, but apparently not. Her face turned into a burning tomato at the cheesy act she had unknowingly been part of.

“I can’t live with this……”

“Oh my, you’re newlyweds! What’s wrong with that!”

Because my husband isn’t my real husband.

He’s just a rented item with an expiration date.

“Lady Temeri has requested an audience to thank you for saving Miss Rose’s life. She said she’ll drag Sir Lucion and her husband, Lord Temeri, by their collars. She mentioned something about slamming those two clueless fools to the ground to make them apologize, but she said it’s not urgent, so you don’t need to meet them right away. She’ll come when you’ve recovered.”

Collars? Slamming?

She thought she heard some strange words in between, but that nice-looking lady couldn’t possibly be like that. It must just be an exaggerated figure of speech.

“I want to see Rose first.”

* * *

Long blonde hair and blue eyes. White skin with rosy cheeks. Rose Temeri, having regained her health, was a beautiful girl.

“Hello, Rose. I’m glad to greet you again like this.”

“Are you truly happy to be greeting me?”

Rose Temeri was still prim and willful.

“Seeing you talk like that, I can tell you’re very healthy. I’m glad to see you have no discomfort.”

When Anette sincerely covered her mouth in emotion, Rose burst out angrily.

“Don’t tell me you came all the way here expecting to receive thanks from me, Grand Duchess?”

Rose Temeri didn’t know why things had turned out this way. Her last memory was of getting lost in the Ash Tree Forest while searching for treasure.

〈I’ll definitely find the treasure for Brother Darius. When I find it, Brother Darius will look at me again. The people in the mansion will too. They’ll think that their Miss of House Temeri is better than that foreign woman they barely know.〉

But no matter how much she wandered through the forest, no familiar place appeared, and eventually it grew dark. With nowhere to go and no way back, she finally collapsed from exhaustion.

〈Rose, wake up, Rose!〉

〈If you lose consciousness here, it’s all over! You can’t die!〉

There was a voice desperately calling out to her, telling her not to let go of the thread of life.

〈Her fever is too high!〉

〈Change the wet towel again and prepare the bed sheets! The sheets are already too damp!〉

In her hazy memory, she was gasping with fever, and someone was comforting her.

〈It’s okay, Rose. It’s going to be alright now. Just hold on a little longer.〉

Even in that anxious and painful moment, hearing that voice somehow made her feel at ease. It really felt like she wouldn’t be sick anymore. And just as promised, Rose recovered.

After hovering between life and death for two days, what awaited Rose upon her return was a storm of scolding.

〈Rose, you thoughtless child!〉

〈How dare you run away from the mansion without fear! Do you know how many people suffered because of you alone! When I think about how much trouble His Highness the Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess went through, I’m too ashamed to hold my head up!〉

Lady Temeri, who had been by Rose’s bedside, scolded her without pause, and when Lady Temeri finished, her father, Lord Temeri took over, and after Lord Temeri left, Sir Lucion continued the endless lecture.

〈Your life is practically a new gift from Lady Anette. There’s no way to repay her great kindness.〉

〈Ah, if Madam hadn’t found you in the forest, I don’t know what would have happened……〉

Throughout the scolding, Anette was constantly mentioned. They said Anette had found her unconscious in the forest and had even saved Rose’s life with proper treatment.

〈If it weren’t for Lady Anette, you would have had a huge scar on your body by now! Bloodletting, of all things—that was all your father’s and brother’s decision!〉

Anette, Anette!

Who was this woman anyway?

After Brother Lucion, now her father and mother had completely fallen for that woman too.

She had set out to establish her own merit, but the only reputation that had risen was that woman’s.

“You saved my life? Do you think I’ll believe that?”

Rose, free from her reminiscing, asked sharply, like a cat with its claws out.

“Miss Rose, the Madam worked so hard yesterday nursing you……”

“No, just leave it.”

Anette stopped Apple, who was getting upset. Despite Rose’s rude words, she was still smiling.

‘Thank goodness. Her temperament is still alive.’

Rose, who should have died, was breathing, talking, and walking.

That alone was like a miracle to Anette.

Anette was so happy to have broken the death flag set by the original work that she couldn’t get angry no matter what Rose said.

‘If she had to completely change her personality to survive, I would have been in trouble.’

If, instead of changing her destined death from the original work, the haughty Rose had transformed into a humble and shy personality, Anette wouldn’t have been able to bear the cringe.

“Why do you keep smiling like that?!”

“Because I’m happy you survived.”

Anette was delighted. Seeing Rose shouting at her with a face full of vitality gave her hope that she too could survive.

“You were growing cold in my arms. You were shaking as if you were about to die. And when we got here, you were raving with an incredibly high fever.”

On that night when she felt so powerless, Anette had made a vow. To save Rose. She kept promising Rose, and herself.

And Anette had kept that promise. This smile was a reward Anette was giving to herself.

“I don’t remember any of that.”

“It’s okay if you don’t remember. I just kept praying for one thing. That you would be safe. That something as terrible as the death of the girl I held in my arms would not happen.”

Anette tucked Rose’s fallen hair behind her ear.

“Rose, live long from now on. Stay healthy, get married. Have children.”

Do many, many things you want to do. Write your own story. A story that wasn’t in the original work.

“What are you saying to an unmarried maiden?!”

“I’m saying nice things to you. In other words, I’m blessing you.”

Rose’s face turned bright red. Unlike Rose, who was still an unmarried maiden, Anette, already a married woman, brazenly offered her good wishes.

“I’ve stayed too long. I’ll be going now.”

“I, I……”

As Anette smiled and was about to leave the room, Rose hesitantly opened and closed her mouth.

Everyone had told Rose that she owed Anette. They said she should thank her, that she should apologize with her head to the ground.

But Rose didn’t want to apologize to that woman. She would rather die than say thank you.

There’s no way that woman saved me. If it were me, I would never have helped her. Even if I did help, I would have made a big deal out of it. So that woman might be trying to use this to push me away from Brother Darius’s side. Because she’s afraid I might succeed?

〈I’m happy you survived.〉

〈Stay healthy. You need to live well from now on.〉

She expected to be scolded.

She thought she would be treated like a pathetic, childish kid.

But that wasn’t the case. Anette was genuinely caring for Rose.

She said she was happy that Rose was healthy again, that she could continue to see her. She told her to live well.

“…Th, thank you!”

Rose barely managed to grab the edge of Anette’s clothes and bowed her head deeply.

“So, for saving me! And for not getting angry at me and treating me kindly! Thank you.”

Anette stared at Rose. The tips of Rose’s fingers, holding onto her clothes, were fidgeting awkwardly.

Anette took those embarrassed hands in her own. Rose’s ears turned bright red.

“Rose, as you know, I didn’t grow up well in my home. I grew up being cautious under my stepmother. So when I see young girls, I hope they’ll be happier than I was. Because I couldn’t enjoy my childhood.”

“……Do you think that when you look at me?”

Anette’s gentle, comforting touch reminded Rose of a certain touch from her memories.

〈It’s going to be alright now, Rose. I’ll stay with you.〉

Ah, she remembered.

“Of course. I hope your days ahead are even more brilliant.”

That bright smile was…

The smile of the angel who had nursed her when she was down with a fever.

〈Hang in there, Rose.〉

Rose Temeri learned that day that she could fall in love with a woman too.

It took only a moment for Rose’s pure love, which had been directed solely at Darius for ten years, to change course.