Second Arc (His Art of War) - 86. Same Feeling Different Interest
Angel pulled Rose closer, carried her out from the bathroom and laid her on the sofa.
"I don't like my bed getting wet, so I'll do it here," he said casually as he sat beside her. Since he knew Rose would try to run away if he released her from his dark aura, he decided to interrogate her in this state.
While Rose thought otherwise, she thought Angel would rape her before killing her. Her heart pounded even faster. She struggled to get away, but in vain.
"Angelus Raizel, if you want to kill me do it, but you shouldn't disgrace me like this!" she said in a panic. Her face was turning pale.
Angel smirked and ignored her scream, instead he brought his face closer.
"You must answer all my questions honestly or I will tell the others that you are trying to seduce me and peek at me taking a bath," he whispered. He knew reputation was everything for a princess, so he knew Rose wouldn't want her reputation to be ruined.
Rose stopped to struggle and stared at him in disbelief.
"W-what ?!" Her voice stammered in confusion and embarrassment that her guess was wrong, which proved he wasn't as bad as she thought. Even though she was relieved that Angel didn't kill her, she also didn't expect her plan to backfire like this. Besides that, she was also confused about why he suddenly wanted to interrogate her.
He pulled his face away.
"First question, could you tell me about the Slyhelm Town rebellion?"
Rose frowned in confusion.
"Slyhelm Town rebellion? Why do you want to know about it?" Previously she had guessed that Angel would ask about her family's secret poison, but it turned out that her guess was also wrong.
"Your job is to answer my questions, not asking me back," replied Angel in a relaxed tone.
She responded by looking at him in confusion. The rebellion had passed several months ago and had nothing to do with him, besides that even though the rebellion had something to do with Ilex but wasn't Asteria already defeated?
Since Rose didn't respond, Angel sighed and almost got up from his seat.
"Since you didn't answer me, I'll tell everyone that you barged in to see me take a bath."
"W-wait! I'll answer it!" she said in a panic. She was not afraid of death, but this was something else. A princess barging into the bathroom to see the king of her enemy kingdom taking a bath would really make her look like a cheap woman and definitely would destroy her reputation as a royal family. And like all royal families, it was better for her to die with honour than to have to curry favour her opponent.
"Say it." Angel knew that this time Rose would answer his questions, like it or not.
Rose told everything that happened there, how she released the hostages, the Asteria troops' sudden appearance, the black-robed rebel leader and also how she found Ivetta who was almost raped at that time. In addition, she also told what General Ferand told her.
From Rose's story, Angel could already guess that the black-robed rebel was Ivetta. Unfortunately, from Rose's attitude earlier he could also guess that her relationship with Ivetta was too close just like a sibling.
"Do you recognize someone among the rebels or hostages?" he asked after Rose finished her story.
"I only know Ivetta. I don't know the others."
Angel tapped his index finger down his lips as he was deep in thought.
'Even Rose doesn't know anyone there. It seems like there were no other nobles present. '
Seeing Angel in deep thought and driven by her curiosity, Rose finally asked.
"Why do you want to know about that incident?"
"That rebellion and today's rebellion were masterminded by the same person. So I thought I could find some clue from you."
Rose almost didn't believe what she heard, since it meant Angel not only wanted to protect the city and castle for a while but also wanted to take care of her kingdom rebellion seriously.
"Why are you doing this? Why are you helping us?" she said in disbelief.
He let out a short chuckle.
"I have no interest in taking over a chaotic kingdom," he said lightly.
Rose pressed her lips. Somehow she felt disappointed with his answer.
"Second question, how many rebellions have happened since your uncle took the throne?" He knew Zephyrus was hit by revolts for a long time, at least he wanted to know how much had happened since King Eudon started to rule.
Rose closed her eyes for a moment, trying to remember.
"If I remember correctly, it's about twenty-three times. But I only counted large rebellions where we had to send troops from the castle. Minor rebellions were usually handled directly by the military leaders that scattered throughout Zephyrus," she said as she opened her eyes.
'Twenty-three times in seven years is not a small number ...' he thought. Somehow he could understand King Eudon's decision to set her up with Artheur. That decision not only saved Zephyrus and Rose from him but also from the rebels.
"Third question, when the biggest rebellion occurred and how was the impact?" He decided to compare the biggest rebellion to the one that had just occurred.
Hearing the words of the biggest rebellion, Rose's mind returned to five years ago. Because that was when the biggest rebellion happened.
Angel noticed her eyes trembled with emotion and could already tell this rebellion had wounded in her heart.
Finally, she opened her mouth.
"The biggest rebellion occurred five years ago. At that time we were unable to anticipate it, the rebellion spread to the Eastern border and the rebels almost took over the capital, while we were in Asteria to attend the peace alliance meeting."
Angel gasped as soon as he heard her words since it means that the rebellion occurred when he met her for the first time.
"Then ... what happened?" said Angel as he continued to look at Rose. Even though he could already guess why Rose didn't keep her promise five years ago, he wanted to hear it from her mouth.
"We were forced to return to Zephyrus early, so I broke my promise to someone I wanted to meet at that time. When the rebellion ended a month later, I received the news that he was dead and also ... the cause of his death was because he fulfilled his promise to me to win the hunting competition, "said Rose, staring at Angel deeply.
Seeing Rose's expression, Angel realized that she felt guilty about his death. She thought she was the one who caused Ilex to execute him.
"I won it because I had no choice but to kill the main hunt to save Ilex. From the beginning, I didn't plan to win, because King Gervis had ordered me to lose. At that time, I was only a prince without a right to be a king, I had to carry out orders without mixing my personal feelings. "
He was silent for a few moments, his mind drifted away. His feelings returned to his heart.
"But I must admit ... That day I searched for you at every corner of Golden Light Castle to see you once again," he confessed.
Rose startled when she heard his bold confession. Their hearts were beating fast. They looked at each other, like something that could not be explained in words about how they felt five years ago. But they understood one thing ... Their feelings at that time were not unrequited, they did have feelings for each other.
"Then may I know why do you want to kill me? Didn't you already know my reason why I attacked Zephyrus?" He already knew why Rose hated him but he had spared her and her uncle's lives, also dealt with the rebels and intruders in her castle, wasn't that enough to show her his good intentions?
"For my kingdom ... I will do anything." She could only look at Angel sadly. Even though she knew Angel had been kind to her, but for her, her kingdom freedom was the most important thing now. The Heart family did not have strong support from the nobles, coupled with this incident, her family would be eliminated from the throne while she did not know how the new ruler would reign, nor how Angel treated her people.
He brought his face closer once again.
"I spare your family lives and clean up the rats. Am I not showing my kindness enough?" he asked straight to the point.
Rose stared at Angel's cold face in front of her. His sharp eyes were filled with intimidation.
"I thank you for that ...but I'm doing this to free my kingdom from you ...." She was silent for a moment as her eyes stuck to him.
"Otherwise ... I don't even want to kill or fight you ..." she confessed. She was aware that her feelings for Angel were still remains but she kept suppress it.
Angel pulled his face away and sighed as he understood Rose's fear. She was afraid that he would invade her kingdom and treat her people as slaves for his kingdom.
"I promise I won't oppress your people or treat them badly. I will discuss all things with your uncle first. Could you trust me?" He didn't know whether Rose would believe him or not, but at least he tried.
"Do I have any other choice?" Her eyes looked at him deeply.
"No."