The Obituary

Rose, sitting by the window with her face resting on her knees, stared blankly at the garden covered in a white blanket for a long time.

Then, she shifted her gaze to the glass bottle in her hand.

The glass bottle was filled with a red liquid, starkly contrasting the outside scenery. It was a bottle she had received long ago during her humiliation at the hands of Clayton.

'You want to give me blood? If you're so eager, draw your blood and put it neatly into that bottle. Then I'll taste it. As you know, I'm consuming anything and everything in sight right now.'

Suddenly recalling that day, Rose was overcome with emotion again.

She resented Clayton for treating her like a wild animal, and it hurt her pride to have her blood stored in such a cheap glass bottle.

However.

Rose tightened her grip on the glass bottle. The red liquid, symbolizing her submission, disappeared from her sight.

"If my feelings could reach you even like this…"

She could endure it willingly.

She hoped that if she persevered and waited, the day would come when her devoted feelings would be acknowledged by the Duke.

So, since that day until now, during the winter, she had been sending her blood to Duke Seiyer.

Of course, in the process, she never met the Duke.

But that was something time would solve eventually. Her concern wasn't about such issues.

"Why hasn't Lloyd contacted me?"

By now, Dalia should have already given birth. Yet, contrary to her expectations, there was no word from Lloyd. As time passed, her patience for waiting for news from Lloyd was wearing thin.

She wanted to sever the connection between Dalia and the Duke as soon as possible. The longer the Duke held onto Dalia, the more delayed the moment he would open his heart to her.

She was biting her lips nervously when a knock came, and a maid entered the room.

"Miss, a letter has arrived."

"A letter? From whom?"

Rose, who hadn't paid the maid any attention, turned her head. The maid held a small envelope in her hand.

"Let's see. The sender is... oh, it says Helman."

As soon as the name Helman came out of the maid's mouth, she leapt up and snatched the letter from the maid's hand.

Rose tore open the envelope roughly and quickly unfolded the letter. Something that had been inside fell to the floor with a thud.

"This is..."

Rose bent down and picked up what had fallen. It was a bundle of silver hair tied together.

Instinctively realizing the owner of the hair, Rose quickly turned her gaze to the letter. Familiar handwriting greeted her.

[To my dearest Rose.]

The moment she saw the opening words, Rose's face lit up. It was the letter from Lloyd that she had been desperately waiting for.

Lloyd had remembered her instructions to use the pseudonym "Helman" if he ever wanted to contact her while avoiding the Duke's surveillance.

Rose began reading the letter with a bright face. However.

"...What?"

As Rose read the letter, her face gradually hardened, and soon, she covered her mouth in shock with one hand.

The hand holding the letter trembled slightly.

"The Duchess…"

A sigh-like voice escaped her lips. Her trembling hand soon turned into a full-body shake.

But the shock didn't last long. Slowly, the corners of her lips twisted into a crooked smile.

Then, as if she had made a decision, she folded the letter neatly and gave an order to the maid.

"I need to go out."

"What? To where...?"

"I'm going to the Seiyer estate."

"What? But, miss, you're not allowed to go there…"

Before the maid could finish her sentence, Rose shot her a glare that could kill, silencing her instantly. Once the maid fell quiet, Rose added softly.

"This time, he'll have no choice but to meet me."

Rose's expression was more venomous than ever.

* * *

Clayton liked winter.

It was much easier to endure the cold than the heat, and the days were much shorter.

On snowy days, the sun that plagued him would be obscured, making it easier to go outside.

But this time was different.

He wished for winter not to come. At least not until he found Dalia—that's what he hoped.

But just as time couldn't be reversed, he couldn't stop the swiftly changing seasons.

Eventually, as he stared at the white snow, his gaze was empty.

The time had come for Dalia to give birth.

Clayton looked at the snow piled up and thought of Dalia.

By now, she must have given birth.

The predicted due date that Selman had mentioned had long passed.

Was she happy when she held the child in her arms?

Thinking about it, it was an obvious question. Regardless of who the father was, it was her child, so she must have been happy.

She had always liked children.

Naturally, the image of Dalia smiling brightly while holding a young girl in her arms came to his mind. At the same time, a faint smile formed on his lips. But it didn't last long.

Suddenly, the image of a woman who died giving birth flashed across his mind.

The slight curve of his lips hardened once more.

And naturally, the scenarios he had been trying to ignore began to unfold.

'What if Dalia…'

What if something went wrong during childbirth?

The conditions for giving birth while in hiding could hardly be ideal. There wouldn't be excellent doctors like in the capital.

Furthermore.

'What if, by some chance, the child Dalia carried was mine…'

Dalia's shy voice confessing, "It's your child," echoed in his ears. Why did those words, which he hadn't even registered back then, now strike him like a sudden, painful obstacle in his heart?

As his mouth began to dry from his ominous thoughts, there was a knock at the door.

"...Your Grace, it's me."

It was Jason.

Clayton, still staring out the window, murmured softly.

"Come in."

With the Duke's permission, Jason cautiously entered the room and approached where Clayton was standing.

"A visitor has come to see you."

At the mention of a visitor, Clayton lifted his head to look at Jason, silently asking who it was. Jason, with a clearly troubled expression, revealed the identity of the guest.

"Well, it's… Lady Rose Hertz."

Just as expected, the moment Rose's name came out of Jason's mouth, Clayton's face twisted in irritation.

Ever since Dalia had disappeared, Rose's name had been synonymous with annoyance to him. He answered as if it wasn't worth hearing any more.

"I'm certain I told you not to let her into the estate."

"Yes, but… well…"

Despite Clayton's orders, Jason hesitated and stalled. Just as Clayton, now annoyed, was about to repeat his command to send Rose away—

"Let me go! I have something to say to His Grace!"

There was a commotion outside, and soon the door burst open. Rose barged into the room without permission.

"I have something I must tell you, Your Grace!"

Tsk.

Clayton clicked his tongue softly, glaring at Rose as she panted for breath. His patience for her rudeness was wearing thin.

Sensing this, Jason quickly grabbed Rose's arm to drag her out. However, "It's news about the Duchess!"

Rose shouted toward Clayton, and the impact of those words was immense.

The look in Clayton's eyes, which had regarded Rose like a street vagabond, changed.

Like the Duke, Jason was also shocked by Rose's words, and his grip on her arm weakened momentarily. Seizing the opportunity, Rose rushed toward Clayton and held out what she had in her hand.

Resting on her pale palm was a lock of hair even whiter in color.

It was a very familiar color.

"This is…"

"It's the Duchess's hair."

He didn't need her to say it. As far as he knew, there was only one woman in the empire with hair of this color.

What he wanted to ask now wasn't who the hair belonged to, but where its owner was.

Sensing his thoughts, Rose lowered her gaze and, with a voice heavier than ever, conveyed the news from afar.

"...It pains me greatly to deliver this message, but it's something Your Grace must know."

A sense of foreboding began to crawl up from beneath his feet.

"The Duchess has… unfortunately…"

As always, his instincts were not wrong.

"...passed away during childbirth."

It was the news of Dalia's death.