Mark stayed quiet as he listened to her, and little by little the warmth of his smile faded, giving way to a far more serious expression.
"You don’t have to worry about that..." he said after a few seconds of silence. "Things will continue exactly as planned."
"I’m glad to hear that."
"The only difference is that you won’t be coming with us anymore."
"...What?"
Rose looked at him with her eyes slightly wide, as if she wasn’t sure she had heard correctly.
"I’ll take Yuki in your place," Mark explained calmly. "She can handle any threat that cos up on the way, and she’s discreet enough that we can travel without drawing attention... While you stay in the palace, with the others."
Rose frowned and pulled back from him.
"Wait a mont... Didn’t you just say, literally one second ago, that things would continue exactly the sa as before?"
"And they will. Nothing has changed," Mark replied calmly. "The only difference is that Yuki will go in your place while you stay here looking after the kingdom."
Rose looked at him in silence, and little by little the softness of her expression disappeared.
The warmth she had carried throughout the entire conversation went cold all at once, replaced by a mix of indignation and sothing deeper that Mark hadn’t expected.
"I see..." she said in a tone that had turned sharper. "So now that I’m pregnant, I’m suddenly nothing more than a nuisance."
"Rose, you know—"
"Is that it?" she continued without letting him speak. "Am I a burden now? Sothing better left stored away in the palace so it doesn’t get in the way of important matters?"
"Please don’t say that," Mark said firmly. "You know perfectly well that’s not it... The only thing is that I’m worried about you."
"Oh, really?" Rose replied with a laugh that had nothing happy in it. "And your way of showing how worried you are is to treat as if I suddenly can’t take care of myself anymore?"
"..."
"I’m just as capable as I was yesterday, last week, a month ago. I haven’t turned to glass just because—"
"Rose!"
Mark raised his voice slightly, just enough to stop her before she kept going.
Rose went quiet.
"You know perfectly well that nothing you’re saying is true," he said, looking her directly in the eyes. "Not once, not a single ti, have I thought of you as a nuisance or a burden. And I’m not going to stand here listening to you say those things about yourself when we both know they’re lies."
There was a brief silence between them.
Rose held his gaze for another second before lowering her head, and when she spoke again, the harshness from before had completely disappeared.
"I’m sorry," she murmured without lifting her eyes from the floor. "I know you’re right and that you don’t an it that way, but... I can’t help feeling like this."
Mark looked at her for a few seconds.
Seeing Rose like this, so unlike the serene, self-assured woman she always was, made all the sternness from before dissolve.
And without a word, he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her.
"Rose," he said in a much softer tone. "Look at ."
She slowly raised her eyes.
"You’re not staying because you’re less useful," Mark explained. "You’re staying because you’re the most important thing I have right now, and because I need to know you’ll be safe while I’m away... If I take you with and sothing happens to you, I’d never forgive myself. Do you understand?"
"..."
"So do a favor, and don’t think of it as leaving you behind," he continued, gently stroking her back. "See it as you doing the enormous favor of taking one worry off my shoulders. Alright?"
"...Alright," she replied quietly. "I’ll do it for you."
"Thank you," Mark replied, kissing her on the forehead.
Both stayed like that for a mont, holding each other in the middle of the room, until Rose finally pulled back and discreetly wiped the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand, slowly recovering her usual composure.
"Right," she said, clearing her throat. "If Yuki is going in my place, then soone has to let her know so she can start preparing... I’ll go find her and explain the change of plans."
"I’d appreciate that," Mark said. "And, Rose..."
"Hm?"
"Thank you... for everything."
Rose gave him a small smile.
"Don’t thank just yet, Master," she said, walking toward the door. "You still owe a very long conversation about baby nas when you get back. And I’m warning you, I have no intention of giving in easily."
"I’ll keep that in mind," he replied with a short laugh.
After that Rose opened the door and left the room, but she had barely taken a couple of steps down the corridor when she stopped dead.
Leaning against the wall, right beside the door, was Emilia.
The queen had her gaze fixed on the floor, completely absorbed in her thoughts.
She didn’t even seem to notice the door had opened or that Rose had stepped out of the room.
The slight frown and the tension in her expression made it clear that sothing was weighing on her.
Rose looked at her for a mont, puzzled to see her there.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, confused.
Rose’s voice brought Emilia back to the present.
The queen raised her head, blinked a couple of tis, and looked at her with a certain confusion — as if she had only just realized what was in front of her.
"...Nothing," she replied quietly, looking away. "I was just leaving."
And without another word, she turned around and started walking quickly down the corridor, her head slightly lowered.
The vampire stood by the door watching the queen disappear down the hallway, growing increasingly convinced that sothing wasn’t right.
Emilia’s lost gaze, her silence, and the haste with which she had left were too strange to ignore.
"What the hell is going on with that woman?" she muttered to herself, still looking toward the spot where Emilia had disappeared. "I swear she gets stranger every day."
Rose finally let the matter go and, with a shrug, continued on her way as if nothing had happened.
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