Chapter 661 Visiting in-laws (5)
As for what followed, it wouldn’t be something that could be done in just a few days.
The duke would be sending the soldiers that he wanted to be trained as wyvern riders to my territory in the future.
It was there that they would pick out their wyverns and train with them to become wyvern riders.
So before that, there was nothing else that could be done.
Since I was here to visit my in-laws, I spent a week with Veronica and her family.
By the time that we left, the duke was holding me by the shoulder like I was his real son and the duchess was telling us to visit more. It seemed that we had made quite the impression on them.
It seemed that we would have a good relationship with the duke and duchess in the future.
But all things had to come to an end and we returned to my territory.
When we returned, there was something that I had to discuss with Rose.
As we sat down alone in our room, Rose looked at me with a confused look as she said, “What is it? What did you need to talk to me about?”
She had been surprised when I called her to talk alone right after coming back.
At the same time though, there was a trace of worry that filled her when she saw the serious look that I had on my face.
But I didn’t speak right away after we sat down.
It wasn’t that I didn’t know what to say, it was just that I didn’t know the best way to put it.
After all, this was a topic that Rose had been avoiding the entire time, so I didn’t know how to bring it up.
The longer that I stayed silent, the more nervous Rose looked.
Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore and said, “If you have something to say, just say it. Is there anything that we can’t talk about between us?”
I was surprised by the tone that she had, so I didn’t speak right away.
But after a moment of silence, I said, “After visiting the duke and duchess, I’ve realized something. That is what I wanted to talk about with you.”
When Rose heard this, there was a bitter smile that appeared on her face before she said, “You’ve realized that I’m not good enough to be your wife and you want to have someone else as your wife? I understand, but I hope that you will allow me to at least remain as your concubine.”
My chin dropped the moment that I heard this as I looked at Rose with shock.
I never would have expected her to suddenly say something like this…
But after that moment of being caught off guard, I quickly shook my head and said, “No, no, it’s nothing like that at all. I would never think something like that.”
Rose just said with a bitter smile, “There’s no need to beat around the bush. This is something that I’ve been aware of for a long time, so there’s no need for you to make excuses. I understand that in terms of status, someone like me shouldn’t be with someone like you. It was just my…”
Before she could finish, I suddenly raised a hand to put a finger over her lips before saying, “I would never think something like that. I don’t care about rank or status, all I care about is you.”
There was a touched look that appeared in Rose’s eyes, but then she quickly shook her head to say, “No, someone with your status should be with someone better or else others will look down on you. I am nothing more than a disgraced wife of a baron, so…”
Once again, I put my finger over her lips and said, “Is this what you’ve been worrying about? I’m sorry that I never talked to you about this before.”
I stood up and moved over so that I was right beside her before taking her hands and saying, “No matter what happens, I will never leave you. That is how I feel about you. So please don’t ever think about things like this.”
I never realized that Rose had such thoughts…
She had been so focused on developing our territory that I had almost taken her for granted…
She didn’t just do this because she cared about our territory, but rather she was working so hard to show what she was capable of. As I gained more and more prestige, the pressure must have become greater and greater on her to be someone that could match me.
It was my fault for not noticing this and talking to her about this sooner.
Though there was a very touched look on Rose’s face, there was still a trace of hesitation as she said, “But…you really should think about your own image…”
I shook my head before coming closer to say to her, “Since the beginning, I’ve been in love with you. No matter what, I will never let you go.”
After saying this, I went forward to hook her chin with one finger and moved closer to place a soft kiss on her lips.
For a moment, it was as if there was nothing but the two of us in this world.When we separated, Rose finally had the look of confidence restored on her face.
At the same time, there was a very strong blush that appeared on that beautiful face of hers.
Seeing this, I asked, “Do you finally believe me?”
Rose just gave a slight nod before lowering her head in embarrassment.
With a sigh, I said, “Why would you ever doubt me in the first place?”
Rose revealed an awkward look before saying, “You’re the one that started talking like that, so I thought…you had brought me here to talk about this.”
With a serious expression, I looked at Rose and said, “I would never do something like that.”
After a moment of being dazed, Rose gave a slight nod and said, “Then what did you want to talk about?”