Rosanne’s Cactus Does Not Wither

As they felt each other’s hands and breath with each other’s faces flushed, she looked up slightly at Kiehl.

“Kiehl….”

Bella was trying to whisper what it was like to be the Demon King’s companion.

Bang.

His door opened without a knock, and Iwer and Jenkins’ voices called out to Kiehl.

“Young Master!”

The door was opened so hard. If this was a dream, he thought he would have woken up to that sound. As Kiehl hurriedly looked away, Bella also turned around and fanned herself with her hand.

“Oh… Young Master, I see that you are okay.”

They came to ask how he was because he had woken up. Jenkins looked displeased as he saw the love affair before his eyes.

“Oh my, are you doing this as soon as you wake up?”

Bella stopped fanning her hand at Iwer’s words.

“Are, are you crazy?”

Doing what?

Even though she threw the book on the desk at Iwer, Iwer easily dodged the flying book, and Rinne, who was behind her, was hit instead.

“Aack!”

Iwer’s eyes sparkled, and only a sinister smile remained on her lips.

“Oh! I only asked if you were working. Why are you so angry?”

“That, that’s what I’m saying! It’s been a while since I’ve been here, so what happened?”

“Young Master, why is your button undone?”

“I didn’t do it!”

Bella turned around again, and she buttoned him up.

“I wasn’t asking the Miss…”

The thief got cramps on her feet. Bella let out her anger, her face turning bright red.

“So! Whatever!”

“No, between healthy adult men and women, that’s possible.”

“I said it’s not!”

Iwer picked up the severed tongue in an instant and laughed heartily as if she was happy about it.

“Iwer, please stop. I’m really going to die later.”

Kiehl smiled as the woman in front of him fiddled with the buttons on his shirt. Bella, who made his wish come true like a dream, was actually unfamiliar to him.

‘It’s really not a dream…’

Bella, angry at the demons, remained as she was.

…She truly accepted his heart.

He grabbed the angry Bella’s arm, pulling her slowly towards him.

And that was then.

“Your Highness. Excuse me.”

Rohan suddenly appeared from behind the crowd of people.

“It’s His Highness oka… Oh, I see you.”

Rohan appeared with a stack of papers at his side.

“I heard you need to rest for a while.”

Saying so, he walked over with long strides and placed the documents in front of the desk.

“The Crown Princess and I will share the work, so don’t worry and rest.”

Bella frowned at him. It was because, following Iwer, this guy was now getting on her nerves.

“Who divides the work as you please? I never agreed.”

“Have you discussed that as soon as you officially become the Crown Princess, you are going to be away for two months?”

If he can’t even talk, he won’t know. But since he’s a human, she can’t cut his tongue.

As she winked at Jenkins, wanting him to say something to this b*stard, Jenkins opened his mouth, holding up his hands.

“Agreed. No refutation.”

“There were even rumors that the empire was in ruin while you were away.”

Bella’s voice grew quieter as she found no excuses.

“No, I didn’t realize it had been two months….”

Kiehl grabbed the sullen cat by her shoulders and hugged her from behind. After a long period of hard work, now, finally, Bella was by his side. Sometimes, he often thought about throwing away his burdensome duties as the Crown Prince.

Fearing that Bella might get tired from work and leave, he glared at Rohan fearfully.

“She came to the human world and got married, so what’s so weird about staying at her parents’ house for two months?”

Intoxicated by the confession of love and the ecstatic kiss, he begins to step out.

“If the empire were to fail without Bella, it would be okay for it to fail.”

And he wrapped his forearms tightly around Bella’s shoulders and under her chest.

“I don’t need anything else as long as I have Bella…”

She avoided Rohan’s gaze and smiled sheepishly.

‘He doesn’t have to defend me to this extent.’

Although many of the demons had longed for Bella’s affection, Kiehl’s obsession somehow felt sweet.

Rohan turned around, speechless.

Was that what the Crown Prince of the Empire would do? He knew that that feeling would definitely be the Crown Prince’s weakness, and that was why he gave him so much ‘memory dilution medicine.’

‘…Is it time to admit defeat?’

By all accounts, it seemed like the Goddess of Fate was on their side. Some might say it was a strange blind belief.

Every time he tried to keep Bella in check, he strangely got interrupted before he even started. And although he tried to isolate her politically, Shuria Cruelle came to her defense. There was also a rumor going around that the Empire would fall due to Bella’s absence.

Moreover, when she reappeared, despite her obviously black wings, the subjects began to think of her as the empress from the founding of the country.

Although Rohan was greedy for power, that didn’t mean he lacked patriotism for the Empire. So, in the end, he thought it would be better to make Bella a proper empress now that it had come to this.

* * *

Rohan left.

Bella moved forward, trying to get out of Kiehl’s arms, but he wouldn’t let her go.

“He… hey.”

The sweet obsession was good, too. It was embarrassing to see everyone staring at her. She was especially bothered by the fact that Rosanne was among them all.

Jenkins looked at Bella, who was in confusion and clicked his tongue.

“Well, you should have told the young master when you would be coming. Anyway, the demons are the only ones who can relax.”

“No, I really thought it had been about two weeks…”

“How much hard time did I have to go through?”

Bella glared at Jenkins with all her might.

“Hey. I’ve had a hard time, too.”

“Miss, I’m sure you don’t have a hard time.”

“Aren’t you curious about what I’ve been doing?”

“Well. Not really.”

Rohan was going to make fun of that mouth. Although she huffed and stared at Jenkins, he didn’t move.

At that time, Kiehl hugged Bella tightly and quietly muttered.

“… It’s not Bella’s fault. Everything is my fault.”

Despite his defense, Jenkins clicked his tongue and instead examined Kiehl’s body with his eyes.

“There is no place where his body is not healthy. It’s all because you came late.”

“This is because you didn’t properly escort Kiehl.”

Bella pointed her finger at her twins.

“Hey! Twins!”

Rio bowed his head, thinking it had finally come. But Rinne was confident.

“I didn’t do anything wrong. Kiehl had no intention of hunting at the hunting contest, so I went out to look for game.”

Then, she pointed her finger at Rio and slipped away.

“It’s all his fault.”

For reference, in the novel, Rio dies, and Rinne leaves Kiehl out of disappointment. While Rio was displeased with Rinne, she wasn’t wrong, so he calmly walked up to Kiehl and Bella and got down on his knees.

“I will accept the punishment.”

It was then.

“I, I will take it for him, Lady Bella.”

Rosanne, who had been watching them in silence until now, ran over and knelt down next to him. She explained the situation and supported Rio.

“It happened because of me. If I hadn’t gone to that forest… Rio was just worried about me, and while we were talking, he missed Kiehl.”

“…Rosanne. That’s okay. This is my responsibility.”

“No. I knew there was a hunting contest, but I really didn’t know it was that day.”

Bella looked at Rosanne with blank eyes.

Two months… what happened in the two months she was gone? Not only that Rosanne’s eyes were not the eyes she had known before, but she was as soft and fragile as cotton candy, and she couldn’t get her words out properly.

Bella took a deep breath when she saw that Rosanne was now speaking confidently and without stuttering. She couldn’t treat her carelessly.

“Hey, Kiehl, how…”

“Bella, do whatever you want. I just need Bella.”

He hugged her tighter and rested his head on her shoulder.

‘…No, what to do in this situation?’

In the end, she couldn’t hold them responsible.

* * *

He thought there would be a big commotion, but Rio, who passed it quietly, sighed in relief.

“Rosanne.”

“Huh?”

“Thank you for earlier.”

She placed her hand on his shoulder.

“What to thank. It was obvious.”

He looked at Rosanne, who was smiling brightly, and now let out a sigh of worry rather than relief.

‘How can she smile like that?’

She had been in love with Kiehl for a long time. How could she be so calm even after seeing the two of them together just a moment ago? Although he had never been in love, even his head couldn’t understand her mind.

Still, contrary to his worries, Rosanne finally found peace of mind when she saw the two of them together.

In fact, she could only guess about Kiehl and Bella’s relationship based on what Juan had told her, though she had never seen it with her own eyes. Until the inauguration ceremony, Bella always went out somewhere and returned late at night. After the ceremony, she disappeared and returned after two months.

And during those two months that Bella was gone, she felt uncomfortable seeing Kiehl sometimes. Even when she was traveling for the relics, she sometimes saw his face when he was depressed, and during those two months, she saw him as the most precarious person she had ever seen.

It wouldn’t be surprising if he committed suicide immediately.

‘This wasn’t what I wanted…’

Could it be that he was really cursed because of what she said?

— “Someday… I hope you get the same back.”

Additionally, when Kiehl went missing, it felt like everything was Rosanne’s fault, just as she had said when she defended Rio before. However, the moment she saw them together after Bella came to visit Kiehl and he woke up…

‘…Thank god.’

Rather than feeling jealous or hurt, she felt fortunate that they seemed genuinely good. Perhaps the reason why Rosanne’s eyes kept falling on Kiehl was because he seemed lonely and in need of comfort.

Rosanne smiled brightly at Rio, who looked at her with worried eyes.

“It’s okay. The cactus hasn’t withered yet.”

She hoped the person she liked could now smile and be happy.

Only then would Rosanne be happy.

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