Chapter 271: Rose’s Story

"I think it would be better if I explain it."

The voice came from the hallway, making both of them turn at the same time.

Rose was walking calmly toward them, stopping a few meters away with her arms crossed and a serene expression.

"Wait, Rose, really, there’s no need to talk about it," Emilia hurried to say, stepping toward her with obvious nervousness. "It’s already in the past and I’d rather it stayed buried there."

But Rose ignored her.

"I beat her up," the vampire revealed without further preamble.

The words made the hallway fall completely silent.

Mark took a moment to react, and when he finally did, all he could do was look at her, bewildered.

"...What?"

"A while back, I beat Emilia up," Rose replied with a calm that contrasted with the gravity of what she had just said. "And it wasn’t just a simple fight... I left her a wreck."

"Is that true?" he said, turning to look at Emilia.

The queen looked away, uncomfortable, and after a moment nodded reluctantly.

"...Yes," she admitted quietly. "It’s true."

"When?" he asked, turning back toward Rose. "When did something like that supposedly happen?"

"Shortly after we took the kingdom," she replied.

Mark frowned, unable to process what he had just heard.

That had happened barely a few weeks ago, shortly after they’d taken the kingdom, and yet he hadn’t found out about any of it at all.

One of his wives had struck another inside the very same palace, and he had spent that entire time completely unaware of what had happened.

"That’s not possible... how the hell did I not find out about something like that?" he murmured, more to himself than to them. "How does something of that magnitude happen right under my nose?"

Part of Mark still resisted believing something this scandalous had slipped past him for so long.

But in the end, he had no choice but to accept it.

Because no matter how he turned it over, he couldn’t find any reason for either of them to lie.

Nobody confessed something this serious and compromising if it weren’t true.

And from the palpable discomfort between the two of them, it was clear they were telling the truth.

"Alright... I believe you," he said, letting out a sigh and fixing his gaze on Rose. "But then I need you to explain one thing to me. Why? Why would you do something like that to Emilia?"

Rose lowered her gaze slightly, and for the first time since she’d appeared in the hallway, her calm facade cracked a little.

She stayed silent, visibly uncomfortable, her lips pressed together, not knowing where to start or perhaps not wanting to start at all.

Seeing Rose like that, Emilia decided to step in.

"You don’t have to explain if you don’t want to," she said gently. "I already told you all of that is in the past, and I’d rather it stayed that way."

But Mark shook his head.

"Emilia, I’m not going to act like nothing happened," Mark cut in calmly, though the tone of his voice made it clear he wasn’t going to budge. "Besides, I want to understand how everything ended up like this without me noticing."

Rose stayed quiet for another moment and then sighed.

"...Can we talk about it inside?" she asked, glancing sideways at the empty hallway. "This isn’t something I want to discuss out here, where anyone could walk by and hear us."

"Sounds good to me," he replied.

The three of them went into the room and Mark closed the door behind them.

The calm of the chamber contrasted completely with the tension they had brought from the hallway.

While he took a seat on the edge of the bed, Emilia took one of the chairs and Rose chose to stay standing by the window, arms crossed.

Nobody spoke.

"Go ahead, Rose. I’m listening," he said, breaking the silence. "And don’t hold anything back... I want to know exactly what happened."

The vampire stayed quiet for a few more seconds, her gaze lost on the floor, until she finally took a breath and began speaking.

"First of all, I want to make one thing clear," she said quietly. "What happened was entirely my fault."

Emilia looked up, surprised.

"Rose—"

"Let me finish," she cut her off firmly. "Emilia only made a comment, and I can assure you there was no bad intention whatsoever behind her words."

Rose stayed silent for an instant and closed her eyes before continuing.

"But I lost control and ended up taking it out on her over something that was never her fault."

Rose turned toward Emilia, and something in her expression softened.

"And that’s why I owe you an apology," she said, looking directly at Emilia. "What I did to you was wrong... no matter what you said, you didn’t deserve me reacting like that."

The elven queen was left completely thrown off.

It was obvious that such a direct, sincere, and sudden apology had caught her by surprise.

She opened her mouth a couple of times without quite knowing what to say, clearly uncomfortable in the face of a display of vulnerability she hadn’t expected.

"I... no... don’t worry about it," she finally managed to say, waving a hand awkwardly. "I forgive you... you don’t have to... there’s no need for you to get like this."

Rose nodded slowly, with a small grateful smile.

And while the tension that had existed between them seemed to gradually dissolve, Mark knew perfectly well the story wasn’t complete yet.

"I’m glad you two were able to put that behind you, but... there’s still something I don’t understand," Mark said before turning his gaze back to Rose. "What exactly did Emilia say that made you lose control like that?"

Rose seemed to hesitate for a second, but in the end continued.

"Do you remember that time Emilia asked me if I was reincarnated?"

Mark frowned slightly as he searched for that memory.

That had been a casual comment that came up after Emilia discovered Rose could use teleportation magic, an ability practically extinct in that world.

And at the time, he hadn’t given it much thought, since he’d seen it as a simple question born of Emilia’s curiosity.

"Yes, I remember," Mark replied, frowning. "But what does that have to do with—"

"Well," Rose cut him off. "Turns out she wasn’t entirely wrong."

"...Huh?"

"And before you ask, no, I’m not reincarnated," she was quick to clarify. "I was born in this world."

"Then—"

"Just like Emilia, I’m also the daughter of someone reincarnated," Rose cut in quickly, shooting a brief glance at the queen. "Curious, isn’t it? Out of all your wives, two of us are daughters of people who came from the same world as you."

"So that’s why you’re so good with magic..." Mark murmured, starting to connect the pieces.

"Exactly," she replied, her gaze hardening slightly. "People call it a gift, but... to me it’s nothing more than something else I inherited from someone I didn’t want to owe anything to."

Mark noticed the shift in her tone instantly. That way Rose’s voice hardened every time she mentioned her father.

"So..." he said carefully. "That’s what made you react that way?"

"Yeah," Rose admitted, somewhat uncomfortable. "Though not in the way you think."

She stepped away from the wall and walked a couple of steps, arms still crossed, as if she couldn’t manage to stay still.

"When Emilia asked that, without knowing it, she was talking about the one part of myself I hate with all my soul," Rose said, biting her lip. "My talent, my magic, my abilities... all of it is an inheritance from my father."

Mark stayed attentive, not interrupting her.

"And the truth is there’s no one in this world I hate more than him," she confessed. "So when someone mentions something related to him... I can’t stand it."

"..."

"I know it doesn’t make sense and that it isn’t that person’s fault, but even so... for an instant I stop seeing who’s in front of me and only see everything he represents to me."

She stayed silent for a few seconds before finishing.

"And that day with Emilia, the same thing happened... I lost control and ended up unleashing on her years of hatred and resentment that never belonged to her," she said, looking at the floor. "That’s why I said it was my fault... because it was."

The room fell into a heavy silence.

Mark found nothing to say. After hearing Rose’s confession, he finally understood that behind that reaction there hadn’t been simple anger, but years of accumulated pain.

Emilia, for her part, stayed silent as she realized her words, though innocent, had struck a place far deeper than she ever could have imagined.

And in the end the only sound in the chamber was the faint crackle of the lamp, while the weight of Rose’s confession slowly settled over the three of them.