HST 36

Chapter 36

For the past three years, Demon had treated his daughter, Roze, as if she didn’t exist. He couldn’t understand Roze, who had turned her back on her parents and chosen the enemy of their family. On top of that, her marriage partner was none other than the infamous Eric, leaving Demon’s heart utterly shattered. So he erased his daughter from his life, thinking it was better not to have a daughter at all. That was why he would fly into a rage whenever Rivera brought up Roze. He didn’t care how Roze lived, so she should never speak of it.

The Duke had a vague sense of the situation within the Serviat family. He told Roze, “Count and Countess Serviat are worried about you,” but that was only Rivera speaking on behalf of Roze’s mother.

“Hic… snif… darling, let’s lay Roze down first.”

Rivera wiped her tears from Demon’s arms and spoke in a trembling, fragile voice. Her fingertips clutched Demon, visibly shaking.

“……”

Demon didn’t react to her words. He just stood there silently.

“Demon…?”

Rivera’s eyes flickered anxiously, sensing something odd in his response.

“You… you wouldn’t just let our Roze go, would you?”

It had been three years since they last met. And now Roze appeared, not in a healthy state, but looking as if she were about to die. And Demon looked at her so indifferently…! Rivera’s fear surged as she read the coldness in Demon’s eyes, thinking he might drive Roze away at any moment. The Duke felt the same unease.

‘I knew Count Serviat had a sharp personality… but…’

Even seeing his collapsed daughter, he could maintain such a cold gaze… Could he really intend to ignore his suffering child and send her away? The thought made the Duke frown.

‘If I step in, I’ll have to push through.’

If Demon wouldn’t step aside, the Duke planned to push him aside to check on Roze. It was more important to see her condition than to politely persuade him.

“Ugh…”

At that moment, Roze let out a faint groan. The three people surrounding her locked their eyes on her—Duke, Rivera, and even Demon, whose thoughts were unreadable.

“Excuse me.”

Without waiting for Demon’s answer, the Duke pushed forward. But Demon deliberately blocked his way. Could he really remain unmoved even at the sight of his sick daughter? Seeing Demon stand in his way, the Duke’s expression hardened.

“Count Serviat, what on earth is this…!”

Duke Artium raised his voice. But Demon ignored him and, as if snatching Roze from his arms, lifted her and bolted into the mansion with a crashing commotion. The Duke froze where he stood, watching Demon run off, heart-wrenchingly desperate at the sight.

Roze lay on an old bed, a cold wet towel on her head. Beside her, Demon sat, bowed low with helplessness. He couldn’t leave her side for even a moment. Watching her limp hand, his heart ached.

“You pitiful thing… after three years, this is the only sight you show me.”

Demon’s low voice was laced with both grief and resentment. He carefully held Roze’s hand. Unlike before, her fever had finally broken.

“Haah…”

Demon’s quiet sigh echoed in the room. He stared at her small hand, now grown, and fiddled with it gently. He had truly become a father when he first held newborn Roze—the moment her loud cries clung to him.

“Waaah!”

Though Roze cried loudly, Demon managed to calm her with just one gentle word.

“Roze, it’s Daddy.”

“Oh my, it seems Miss Roze recognizes the Count,” said the nanny and maid, smiling softly.

“How clever.”

Roze, trembling at the fear of the world, calmed at Demon’s voice, becoming remarkably quiet.

“Oh my! Look at her!”
“She’s smiling at the Count!”

How could a newborn smile? Demon gazed at her in awe as she wriggled in his arms.

Unlike before, Roze now wore a calm expression, seemingly smiling just as they said. The Duke felt a pang of regret at how quickly she was growing—so beautiful and lovely that he could never fully take in every moment. She was the only daughter he had cherished more than life itself. Watching her teeter on the brink of death had been agonizing. For the first time, he wanted to take on someone else’s pain instead of hers. He prayed daily that he might suffer in her place. That was how deeply he loved her. So when Roze turned her back on him and left, it felt like the sky itself had fallen.

“Instead of this fragile one… let me suffer in her place.”

Even now, he prayed to God, asking to endure the pain instead of Roze. He had never abandoned his treasure, Roze, for a moment. Every second, he waited for her to reach out first. Not a day went by without thinking of her, wishing for her happiness.

The Duke approached behind Demon, speaking softly:

“Don’t worry too much. According to the physician, she’ll regain consciousness soon.”

“…Thank you, Your Grace,” Demon replied, looking up.

“What exactly happened?”

He had been too busy laying Roze down and calling for the physician to ask why the Duke had brought her, why she was alone, or anything else. The Duke hesitated, choosing his words carefully.

‘Better to tell the truth.’

Roze had smiled faintly, saying she had “divorced” just before collapsing. The Duke decided to relay what he had heard without holding back. Rivera returned, having escorted the physician out, and silently observed, curious.

“I happened to meet Roze in the square,” the Duke began.
Normally, he would have said “madam,” but now that she was divorced, there was no need.

“She was standing alone. When I asked, she said she’d divorced.”

“Divorced?”

Rivera and Demon responded in unison.

“Is that true?”
“Our Roze… divorced?”

They stared at the Duke in disbelief. He understood their reaction, having felt the same shock when he first heard the word “divorce” from Roze herself.

“She didn’t even have a carriage, came bare-handed, yet looked incredibly free.”

“That wretched…”

Demon’s face darkened. To think they had essentially abandoned his daughter…! Though it was good she was no longer with Eric, it still stung. They hadn’t given Roze any consideration until the end. Demon, feeling shamed, couldn’t contain his anger. His fists clenched, veins bulging, the room heavy with tension. Rivera, too, could not hide her fury. How could her daughter be treated this way? She could not forgive the Vance family for this.

“…There is not an ounce of decency in them,” Rivera said, her voice trembling.

When Duke Artium tried to comfort her, Rivera suddenly spoke with quiet fury:

“That wretched Vance family, spewing insults at my daughter… and that’s just the start. Their heads are full of nothing but nonsense. I’d hang them upside down and feed them to the crows, and it still wouldn’t suffice!”

The Duke froze at this side of Rivera he had never seen.

‘…Did I just hear that?’
The image he had of Countess Serviat was of a delicate, graceful woman.

‘…I guess she was really shocked to see her daughter return in such a state. Count Serviat must be even more surprised than I am.’

He realized his concern for Demon was unnecessary. Demon nodded along with Rivera, clearly in agreement.

“That’s too mild a punishment for those wretches who verbally abused my daughter.”

He spoke with familiar conviction, supporting Rivera. The Duke blinked in surprise as she finally noticed him, then quickly changed her expression into a polite smile.

“Oh, forgive me. I showed you such a harsh side. Please forget what you just saw.”

Rivera’s shy, gentle manner was just like the Duke remembered. The sudden flip in her demeanor left him even more confused.

‘…Could that really be Countess Serviat?’

The Duke said nothing, staring in daze.

“W-wat…er…”

At that moment, Roze’s cracked voice faintly echoed.

“Water! Mommy will bring it right away!”

Rivera immediately rushed out upon hearing Roze’s voice. After lying as if dead for half a day, Roze had regained consciousness. She struggled to lift her eyelids, blinking her eyes slowly.