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chapter 68
“Kirr?”
“Uh… yeah. Probably, yeah. Damn it. It’s exactly the same, isn’t it?”
Rosie muttered that as he spat out a string of harsh curses.
His eyebrows were furrowed tightly, as if this situation was bothering him somehow.
‘What on earth is?’
Emilina couldn’t understand Rosie’s attitude.
Why bring up Kirr now? This wasn’t something that should come from a friend who had just returned.
She crossed her arms and asked,
“Am I the only one who doesn’t get what you’re saying? What’s correct, and what’s exactly the same?”
“Well…”
Rosie swallowed his words.
Emilina, exercising patience, asked again.
“If you have something to say, just say it properly. There must be a reason you brought it up. What exactly did Kirr do?”
Rosie hesitated for a moment.
He brushed his bangs back and, wearing an expression of “I don’t even know,” finally said,
“I’m really curious. Did you already know?”
“Know what?”
Emilina could no longer hide her irritation.
His circular way of talking had been bothering her from the start.
“That kid. That little brat.”
“I mean, what are you even saying? You keep cutting things off and only say it like that, how am I supposed to answer?”
“Ugh, seriously! I’m asking if you knew he was the Duke!”
Rosie shouted in frustration.
Emilina, hearing such an absurd statement, let out a bewildered sound.
“Knew he was the Duke?”
“Ha… seriously, I’m losing it. I can’t even say anything… Every time I met the Duke, you have any idea how hard that was for me?”
His voice, now steeped in grievance, began to scold Emilina.
Even as he continued, he couldn’t hide his emotions, clearly showing his frustration.
“The Duke said he was looking for me, so I went to find him, and the kid wasn’t even sitting there. But that kid… turns out he’s the Duke. Ha! Yeah. That’s possible, I guess.”
Rosie glared at Emilina.
“But you? What were you thinking sending me that letter? Because of that, I really…”
There was no time to be caught off guard by his sudden outburst.
She couldn’t follow the flow of conversation at all.
“Wait, wait. Calm down. I can’t follow this conversation.”
Trying to be calm, she attempted to stop Rosie, but his mouth didn’t stop.
“Leaving everything else aside, I think you’re the worst. How could you not say a word? If you knew, you could have told me. Do you know how shocked I was when I heard your marriage news this morning?”
That, he said, was the biggest betrayal, muttered in a low, troubled voice.
Emilina, now beyond flustered, stared dumbfounded at him.
Blinking with a vacant expression, she looked at Rosie.
She was at a loss for words.
The things he was spilling felt like a blow to the back of her head.
She wanted to ask—why was he saying such absurd things to her?
She wanted to ask if he realized that she was thinking something utterly ridiculous and shocking while he was saying this.
No matter how oblivious she could be, she couldn’t help but sense something from Rosie’s words.
For example, a familiar sense of connection between two people she had been ignoring until now.
Moreover, since he said it directly, she couldn’t help but suspect.
What Rosie meant to say was clearly…
“Hey.”
“Uh, uh… yes?”
Rosie snapped to attention at Emilina’s unusual tone.
Her serious expression warned him not to continue his outburst.
As Rosie swallowed nervously and straightened his posture, Emilina didn’t wait and grabbed his shoulder firmly.
The posture was a bit awkward due to their height difference… but anyway, Emilina spoke in a grave tone.
“I’m going to ask you a question now. Think carefully before you answer.”
“Uh… yeah…”
Rosie nodded tensely.
Emilina spoke slowly.
“Listening to you, there’s a difference from what I was thinking. It feels like something’s missing… right?”
“Uh, yes… that’s right.”
“Good. Then, what did I miss?”
“Uh…”
Rosie avoided her gaze, trailing off.
He had a strong sense that something was going wrong.
A little… yeah.
‘Crap.’
Had he just stepped on a landmine?
Actually, Rosie had brought it up thinking Emilina already knew the Duke’s identity.
After all, the Duke had shown jealousy toward her, not even hiding it from him.
He firmly believed that their reunion and eventual marriage were based on past encounters.
So when he heard the marriage news, he rushed over to vent his frustration.
There were many things he wanted to question, and he wanted to ask why she hadn’t hinted at it until now, despite being married.
But since their social statuses had changed so much… he couldn’t speak easily until now.
‘Going from next-door girl to the final boss wife is a bit much.’
No matter how casual he was with Emilina, thinking of the Duke made him realize he couldn’t keep it up for long.
Even when reviewing her awkward writing, he had persistently questioned and pressed her for answers.
Having gone through so many ridiculous jealous incidents and quarrels, he came now hoping she’d restrain herself in the future.
But…
“Why can’t you answer?”
“No, it’s not that…”
This was maddening. He was essentially igniting fireworks in the relationship between the two.
Of course, it might pass quietly contrary to what he thought…
‘Judging by her expression, no way.’
Not at all. She seemed ready to explode on the spot.
No, he was certain.
Emilina’s calm expression gave away her readiness to get furious.
And she might go completely off—but that was Emilina for you.
‘Ah, this is bad…’
He was more afraid of the Duke’s reaction.
After all, he had already earned his share of dislike.
He often sent harsh looks and behaved violently.
Even more so if it involved Emilina—he could get seriously furious!
If anything happened between them because of this, if things went wrong… he would never leave him be.
From what he had observed, the Duke would definitely seek revenge.
Whether it was a stifling form of attention or sparring under the guise of training, he would retaliate.
He held grudges, that was for sure.
‘What should I do? Should I ask the deputy captain for help?’
But before Rosie could plan, Emilina spoke first.
“What do you mean it’s not? Can you say it properly?”
“I… uh… maybe I was mistaken.”
Emilina placed one hand on her hip and sighed dramatically.
“Phew… Rosie? Let’s not do this. You’ve already talked enough.”
She tilted her head and looked directly at him.
“Don’t play dumb or dodge the question. Let’s hear the truth. I’m starting to get annoyed.”
Though she was already annoyed… Rosie swallowed those words internally.
Emilina continued.
“If you really can’t answer, I’ll give you options. 1: Kirr is the Duke. 2: Kirr is the Duke.”
Though she called it options, it was a question with an answer already decided.
Only the numbers and letters differed, the meaning was clearly the same.
Emilina no longer even used the honorific “-nim” for the Duke.
“Ugh…”
Rosie exhaled sharply, realizing he was doomed.
“So… the two are really the same person.”
As if reassured, Emilina let out a dry, slightly incredulous laugh.
Rosie closed his eyes tightly, wanting to avoid the situation.
From the start… he regretted coming here.
He wished he had just endured his frustration and casually asked about her well-being.
Ultimately, caught by Emilina, he had no choice but to spill the truth.
With her fearsomely serious expression demanding an answer, how could he leave without replying?
The long-awaited encounter with her stern look made him shiver more than any general he had faced on the battlefield.
Emilina’s presence alone was terrifying.
She was so worked up that her expression occasionally twisted into a grim smile.
The change was so bizarre that Rosie couldn’t help but be nervous.
So he blamed his own mouth and spoke in a timid, slinking voice.
“Uh… nothing bad will happen from what I said, right?”
Though the subject wasn’t present, his question was clear.
He hoped nothing would change between Emilina and Kirrzen.
He hoped this incident wouldn’t create a rift.
But Emilina’s reply was short and firm.
“Shut up.”
As if saying, that’s not something you should worry about.
Reality was far from simple.
“Uh… okay.”
Rosie, worried about what was to come, couldn’t help but show a gloomy face.
And Emilina pondered deeply.
She crossed her arms, tapping her index finger, continuing her thoughts.
‘Kirr…’
No, Kirrzen.
She had always felt a subtle discomfort.
The resemblance between the two, situations she couldn’t understand unless Kirr was involved… she had sensed something before.
But she had deliberately denied it and treated them as separate people even when suspicious.
Why?
‘Because in the original story, Kirrzen wasn’t said to be a beastman.’
So she never even considered forming a hypothesis.
She assumed Kirrzen and Kirr were different individuals. She never thought they could be the same person.
The original story alone explained everything.
Even if a seed of doubt sprouted, she rationalized it as ‘impossible’ and crushed it.
But…
‘Hah.’
She realized she had been gravely mistaken all this time.
It wasn’t a matter of distinguishing between the two.
Emilina finally understood reality from Rosie’s words.
Kirr… had been Kirrzen Dietrio all along. The male protagonist.
The protagonist she had been trying so hard to avoid. Their fates had been intertwined from the past.
Her obsession with the original story’s setting had caused this misunderstanding.
Without even realizing she hadn’t remembered things correctly.
