Shadowless Night
chapter-23

The escort knights took turns looking once at Rosaline sitting on a branch, then once at the bloody assassin. Their subtle expressions were very similar to that of Ricardis.

Rosaline said to them, “Good work,” and saluted the knights.

The senior knights were even more disturbed by her carefree attitude. ‘She is very talented, but… Ehm… Well… Is this fine…?’ After thinking, they appropriately rationalized this strange situation and left the room. Silence once again filled the room, which had been noisy for a while.

Ricardis wanted to close the balcony door and enter inside but looked back. He saw Rosaline sitting on a branch quietly. Her actions were nerve-wracking. He didn’t even know what kind of past she had.

“Sir Rosaline.”

Rosaline nodded her head. No, he didn’t need a reply, but he wanted her to come over. Ricardis called her over with hand gestures, making her expression fluctuate slightly. Rosaline skillfully descended the tree, climbed the wall, and stood in front of Ricardis. She did it in an instant. ‘Where did she get her skills after throwing away her common sense?’

Ricardis went into the room without saying a word and sat down on the sofa. Rosaline strode along with him. There was no hesitation in entering a man’s room at this midnight hour. In the past, she wouldn’t have even thought of coming in just to prevent rumors from spreading about her master. Looking at it like this, it seemed that she had really lost my memory, but looking at the behavior of others around her, it seemed as if nothing had changed at all. Ricardis handed Rosaline a glass as he stared at her eyes while she stood in front of the table.

“Are you fine with having a drink?”

“Yes.”

“Then, drink.”

She took the cup from Ricardis’ hand. Rosaline’s knuckles skimmed the back of his hand gently. While Ricardis’ eyebrows twitched, Rosaline was calm. Keeping his mouth shut, he soon brought another glass of wine and filled the two glasses by himself. Rosaline was staring intently at him as Ricardis poured the wine. It was a gaze so intense that Ricardis noticed even though he wasn’t making eye contact with her. Rosaline was the first to receive the wine, so she waited. But as soon as the other glass filled with wine, she moved faster than the wind.

The sound of high-quality glasses clashing together rang out clearly. Ricardis looked at Rosaline as if she was joking. ‘Was this the reason why she looked so eagerly at the glass being filled earlier?’

‘Just now… Did she… Did this escort make a toast with me?’ She didn’t seem to understand Ricardis’ bewilderment at all. She even looked a little proud.

After the quick toast, Rosaline thought for a while, not forgetting what she had learned from Calyx. It’s as if she could hear Calyx’s compliment. ‘Brilliant. That’s great, Sister.’ Rosaline’s proud expression was because of this reason. Of course, if Calyx had known this situation, he would have been very distressed, but Rosaline was not aware of this.

Ricardis wiped his lips. There are a lot of things that upset him these days. He thought that amnesia really changes people a lot. Whether that’s good or bad hasn’t been decided yet, but with a hum, he buried her faults. Rosaline looked so proud of herself that he couldn’t bring himself to scold her. It would only look like he was angry with a child. Rosaline’s sudden action took him off guard for a while, but the reason Ricardis took her into his room was to ask her a few questions.

‘Although her way of thinking has changed a lot, her core shouldn’t have changed much. First of all, she didn’t even hesitate to risk her life to protect me.’ To the extent that he had doubted many times whether the reports of amnesia were false. However, seeing that she had thrown away all of her basic common sense somewhere, he could no longer laugh at the word amnesia.

‘Then, why is she hanging around me?’ Rosaline would have no glory or honor. As long as Rosaline has ‘Radwiell’ after her name, Ricardis wouldn’t give anything to her.

Ricardis had clearly stated his intentions. In the past, there was a time when Rosaline looked at him with her guilt-filled eyes. He hated those eerie eyes, so he tried to push Rosaline away.

***

His silver hair, long and gently trimmed, was a mess, and his face was brittle with emotions. Ricardis was confused as to whether he was putting on or taking off his clothes. Then he was screaming like a madman.

[Leave! Disappear from my sight! I’m so tired I feel like I’m dying! Why the hell are you here?!]

He couldn’t hide his emotions since young. At that time, Ricardis didn’t know if it was due to the peculiarities of the circumstances in which his only sister had died. Rosaline was on her knees in the middle of the room. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and all the furniture lay shattered around her. Her trembling, sobbing words crept between her lips.

[I will protect you, Your Highness. I will definitely protect you. Your Highness, I… Surely… Even if I have to give my life…]

Ricardis was pulling his hair and was pounding his hand against his body. Rosaline approached him to stop his self-harming actions, but Ricardis never allowed her to intervene.

[What did you say? Protect me?! How can you protect me?!]

***

Their past conversation came and went through his mind. Ricardis had never thought that Rosaline would ever be able to set foot in this room again. Unlike before, he felt strange looking at this calm Rosaline. It was truly an unrealistic sight. In the past, they weren’t even close enough to share a drink.

Ricardis saw Rosaline frowning, probably because the wine was not as sweet as the ones she had back in her county. Ricardis laughed involuntarily. The two drank without saying a word. Although Ricardis flinched as Rosaline continued to toast each time he poured the wine, he never scolded Rosaline. There were only occasional sounds. The sound of their throats swallowing as the wine slid down. The sound of glass clinking together. The sound of the rustling of the hem of their clothes. For Ricardis, who was tired all day, and Rosaline, who still struggles with human language, it was a good time for both of them.

He brought out one more bottle of wine along with another copper-colored bottle. This time it was raspberry juice, which is sweet and popular with women. Rosaline drank more than before, probably because it suited her taste. And then they had one more bottle. The appearance of this escort knight, who showed no sign of getting another bottle a few hours later, strangely aroused a sense of victory. Ricardis himself was drunk by dawn. Rosaline lifted Ricardis and moved him to bed like the way she moved Nestor the other day.

He moaned and laid his head on the soft pillow. By the time Rosaline finished covering him with the quilt and turned around, she heard a raspy voice from his mouth.

“Why…”

It was a strange question, ‘Why are you by my side?’ Rosaline had never thought so deeply. Did she do it casually? Or is it because it’s a job? Or because she had promised someone? She didn’t know. But it was firmly entrenched in her heart. ‘Protect the Master of the White Night.’ Rosaline softly whispered in reply to Ricardis, who was blinking his eyes with his flushed face.

“I will definitely protect you.”

The words coming out of her mouth were like an oath. But soon, the words dispersed with the sound of breathing. The chest under the blanket rose and fell regularly. Rosaline smoothed Ricardis’ disheveled hair and went out through the window.

It was a quiet morning with the rising sun.

***

“Haqab, you motherfucker!”

In an instant, the table, which had been tidy, became cluttered. Although many vassals were watching, Elpidio could not hide his intense feelings at all. He hurriedly threw the vase against the wall. The shards of the vase bounced in all directions with a clanging sound.

Even though it was dark at night, under his command, many people flocked to the Quartz Castle of the 1st Prince Elpidio. 2nd Prince Ricardis has discovered the identity of the new poison through the witch Katelyn. It may have already reached the ears of some major high-ranking nobles and the Emperor.

“What? Witchcraft? A mix of magic and poison?”

Elpidio’s aide couldn’t even look into his eyes. Even though they had been so careful, it would not be enough once the news became like this. As the aide expected, Elpidio didn’t seem to want to let it go. Elpidio patted the assistant’s head with his palm.

“What is he doing? What the fuck is he doing?! There’s a reason I put him in that position. Why did no one follow Ricardis’ ass to get this information?!”

“My apologies, Your Highness. Prince Haqab didn’t say anything.”

“Dirty Balta’s motherfucker! There’s no one I like anyway! How could everyone just wash their hands off this matter!”

Elpidio frowned and looked around. They were nobles who were known to support the 1st Prince. They were the heads of families with a reputation both inside and outside the empire, but they could not figure out the identity of that single poison. There was nothing funnier than this.

Staff’s Note

Wook: We’re raising a cult of Idelavhim believers here, thank you for your enthusiasm for the novel! :lmaocry: I will start releasing in piles from this point as to attract readers from NU~ Hopefully it will work… :worrypepe:

Iris: Hello readers! We are officially past the halfway point of book one! Lots of revelations in this chapter. And our heroic knight Sir Rosaline gets intimate with the suffering Prince Ricardis