Rosie's Games

Chapter 208: Alive and Well

"You scared them," Fraunces said when they heard that the Crown Prince and Duke Moller had retreated. With them gone, Leonardo had already revealed himself and started rearranging the current servants. Not long after, the Count woke up. "It was you you scared them."

Rosalind said nothing. She was currently checking the Count's body, and after making sure that he was already fine, she got up and sat opposite Fraunces.

"You are not going to tell us how you did that?" Fraunces said.

"You are too noisy."

"You just scared the Duke and the Crown Prince. I want to know what you did."

"I stabbed the Countess with a cursed dagger," Rosalind smiled. "Do you know how easy it is?"

"You- " Fraunce's face paled.

"They did not leave because of that," Rosalind added. Those people did not exactly care about the Countess, they cared about this territory and Lonyth. There was no way that they would leave this estate just because of that.

"Then they must have other plans," Fraunces frowned. "Why were they in a hurry? Do you think they knew that the Duke would soon arrive?"

"You have recovered," Rosalind ignored Fraunces and turned her attention to the Count instead. "Your wife is probably going to start suffering tonight. You should be with her, do not leave her side and show everyone that you are a magnanimous Count."

The Count nodded and soon excused himself. With the incident that just happened, the Count needed to do a lot of things. Obviously, Rosalind told him about the wine and the food. While the Count told her to keep it, she chose to return the food and some wood that she was able to save from the fire, but kept the wine.

Not long after, the Duke finally arrived with two of his people. Hearing the news, Rosalind, Fraunces, Denys, and the rest waited for his arrival at the main entrance of the mansion.

"Your Grace!" Fraunces ran towards Lucas when she spotted him. Seeing this, Rosalind just stood there as still as a statue. Lucas was walking. There were no carriages or horses nearby.

Then their gazes met.

Before Fraunces could reach Lucas, he suddenly vanished and reappeared in front of Rosalind. Without saying a word, he examined her from her head to her toes.

She narrowed her eyes at him and wondered what he was up to. Why was he doing this in front of everyone else? If this was for show then, it was clearly working.

"You seemed fine," he said.

"You looked alive," she clapped back.

He chuckled. "Were you worried?"

"I should be asking you the same thing."

"I was not," his lips lifted into a smile. "Not many people can kill someone like you."

"I do not know if that is an insult or not," Rosalind said. She was aware that she was not in the best mood to argue with him, she had already lost sleep and then her cake. She felt weak after using her light and dark Blessings at the same time.

Using her Blessing was not really for her, she thought inwardly. She would be better off somewhere gardening or eating.

"It was a compliment."

"Thank you," she said. To her surprise, Lucas suddenly held a hand towards her. She frowned.

"Shall we go inside?" he asked. Before she could answer him, he was already holding her hand. He looked at the other people around them. "Ah Count Caldarera. I am glad to see you are still alive."

"Thank you, Your Grace," the count awkwardly said.

"Hmmm" the Duke nodded and started walking towards the mansion.

"Your Grace," Denys greeted and followed him inside.

"Send the others to Wugari," the Duke ordered. "Francheska and the maids will leave today."

Hearing this, Denys nodded and disappeared without saying another word.

"Why?" Rosalind asked.

"Let us talk about it in the Count's study."

"Your Grace, wait"

Their steps halted when they heard Fraunces's voice. Lucas turned around.

"Is something the matter?" he asked.

"I I do not want to go back to Wugari yet."

"You have no other option, Dame Francheska."

"But what about you?"

The Duke blinked.

"I mean what about you, Your Grace? I promised to protect you and"

"Do I look like someone that needs your protection, Dame Fraunces?"

"I" Fraunces swallowed before turning her head away. "No, I misspoke. I will leave with the others today."

"Two other people will be escorting you. Wugari is not that far from here." Hearing the seriousness in Lucas's tone, Rosalind could not help but wonder what happened. Was the situation dire?

Rosalind watched as Fraunces and the other maids left before she followed the Duke inside the study.

"The King of Lonyth had been infected with a dark curse," Lucas started the moment they closed the door. A wine and a wine glass appeared in his hand. He then poured some wine and handed it to Rosalind. Right now, there were only three people inside the room; The Duke, Rosalind, and Count Caldarera.

"What about the others?" the Count asked. "The Baron and the knights, the King's supporters."

"I instructed them to hide. They are currently not going in or out of their estate."

"It seems that the Crown Prince came here because he wanted to make sure that the territory belonged to him before he ascended the throne," the Count surmised.

"I think so too," Lucas confirmed and then looked at Rosalind. "The King is not dead yet."

She nodded at that. So, the Duke needed her.

"I did not expect that the North would be as turbulent as the South."

"The North is different from the South," the Count said. "In this part of the continent unbelievers are normal and sorcerers can be considered a norm too. Meaning, using a sorcerer to deal with your enemy both inside and outside the palace is acceptable," the Count explained.

"So, it would not matter if people knew about it?"

"The people of the North no longer believe in the Goddess. Sorcerers are real people who can command beasts, create diseases, and end lives. To the people here sorcerers are more real than the Goddess herself. At the end of the day, all the people cared about victory."