"This is fun!" Greta giggled.
Greta and Rozalia were in the kitchens, making cookies. Greta was having fun spreading vanilla frosting over the cookies, licking her fingers all the while. Then she giggled as she made cute animal faces with sprinkles.
"Those faces are really cute," Rozalia chuckled, mixing the rest of the batter.
"I hope everyone will like it," Greta said with a smile.
"I bet they will," Rozalia agreed. "That's why we have to make them extra special."
"Yup!" Greta grinned and then glanced up at Rozalia. "Are you enjoying it here, Lady Rozalia?"
"Yes, you all have been very kind," Rozalia smiled.
"You aren't lonely at all?"
"Why, no," Rozalia answered, looking down at her. "What made you ask?"
"Well, it's just that I was wondering the same about Conrart," Rozalia sighed as she spread frosting.
"Conrart?" Rozalia asked, stopping her mixing. "Is there something wrong with Conrart?"
"Well, no, not really," Greta answered. "It's just that everyone has someone. I have Yuri and Wolfram. Gunter has Gisela. Gwendal has Anissina whether they like it or not. But Conrart doesn't have anyone. I asked because I didn't know if you had anyone either."
Rozalia paused. This little girl thought that Conrart was lonely. Rozalia wondered if he was really lonely as Greta had assumed. "Conrart is very lucky," Rozalia said as Greta turned to her, "to have a sweet girl like you to worry for him."
"I suppose," Greta smiled. "But what about you?"
"I'll be alright, Princess," Rozalia said quietly. "I… I'm going to get married, you know."
"Oh!" Greta smiled with wonder. "That's exciting! I hope you'll be happy."
"Thank you," Rozalia said, attempting to give her a convincing smile.
"You know, I think Conrart should get married, too," Greta sighed. "That way he won't be lonely."
"Do you have someone in mind?" Rozalia giggled.
"Well, I was thinking maybe you could marry Conrart," Greta said and Rozalia's eyes widened in shock. "But I guess because you're marrying someone else, you can't do that. These cookies are going to be super yummy!"
Rozalia smiled and went back to mixing her batter. Yes, the cookies will be super yummy.
Years and years ago:
"Oh, dear me!" Lady Cel giggled, got up, and hurried to the door. "I seem to have forgotten the cookies. Please do excuse me."
The door closed and yet not a word was spoken. Julia sipped her tea silently and looked at the woman in front of her. Rozalia didn't say a word. She sipped her tea and looked out the window.
"Do you insist on ignoring me, Rozalia?" Julia asked.
"I don't know what you mean."
"You're angry at me," Julia sighed.
"I'm not angry at you, Julia," Rozalia told her tonelessly. "How could I be angry at you?"
"I suppose you're being sarcastic," Julia said sadly.
"Julia, please."
"We must talk about this," Julia insisted.
"We have nothing to talk about," Rozalia insisted.
Julia paused and put her tea cup on the table. "I believe you misunderstand my relationship with Conrart," she said.
Rozalia sighed. It seems that Julia was determined to have this conversation. "There are things you don't know, Julia," she told her.
"Perhaps," Julia conceded, "but I do know that it's me that's putting a strain on your relationship with him. I never wanted that."
"It's there nonetheless," Rozalia swiftly answered.
"You doubt his feelings for you."
"No," Rozalia argued. "His feelings about me have been assured a long time ago. But you know as well as I do that old fancies get replaced by newer, more fascinating ones. I feel that I'm being… replaced."
"You can't mean that," Julia insisted. "There's no way Conrart could do something like that."
Rozalia put her tea cup on the table and walked to the window. "You can't possibly understand," Rozalia began. "You're beyond beautiful, intelligent, kind, and loved by everyone who meets you. It's not surprising for me or for the women around you to feel so inferior."
"You really don't feel that way, do you?" Julia said worriedly. "Conrart would never do that to you. I know it. He isn't like that."
Rozalia clenched her fists and shut her eyes. "Please don't presume to know everything about Conrart after knowing him for mere months," Rozalia said, trying to reign in her anger.
Julia watched her shake with anger. "I am greatly saddened by this," Julia sighed. "You have nothing to fear from me, Rozalia. Adelbert is my fiancé, my only love."
"I never said he wasn't."
Julia smiled. "Conrart talks so fondly of you all the time. I feel like I already know quite a lot about you. I wish we could be friends," Julia chuckled. "It's true that I do not know Conrart half as well as you do but believe me, I only wish for your happiness together. In retrospect, I believe that you should put more trust and faith in the man you love."
"Hey, what's going on here?"
Rozalia and Greta turned towards the doorway. They found Yuri walking toward them, Conrart following him.
"Hi, Yuri. Hi, Conrart!!" Greta laughed, pulling both of them into the kitchen. "Are you done with your studies?"
"For now," Yuri snickered. "What are you guys doing?"
"We're baking cookies!" Greta said. "Do you want to help?"
"We'd love to help," Conrart said, immediately taking up a spatula.
"Right, so why don't you stand over here next to Lady Rozalia and help her mix the batter and Greta and I will take these cookies and give some to everyone," Yuri said, pushing Conrart towards Rozalia.
"Well, I-ʺ
"Come on, Greta!!" Yuri said, interrupting Conrart, taking Greta's hand and a plate of the frosted cookies, and running out of the kitchen.
"How odd," Rozalia commented.
"Yes," Conrart agreed, took up a bowl of unmixed batter, and began to mix. "Shall we begin?"
Rozalia watched him and shook her head with a chuckle. "You're movements are sloppy," Rozalia lectured.
"What do you mean by that?"
"You move like a complete soldier," Rozalia continued. "Choppy and sharp movements. You can't mix like that. You have to be gentle but firm, quick but careful."
"I'm being careful," Conrart said and frowned as some of the batter spilled over.
Conrart looked over and watched Rozalia raise an eyebrow at him. "Oh, yes, very careful," she said. "Will you allow yourself to be taught now?"
"I suppose so."
"Move your hands in a smooth circular motion," Rozalia instructed and frowned at what he was doing. "That's too jerky! Conrart!"
"I'm doing the best I can."
"Here," she said and folded her hand over his, guiding him, "like this."
Conrart watched her hand enveloped around his. He hadn't felt her hand touching his in a long, long time. Conrart could feel his heart beat a slight faster and he tried as best as he could not to blush.
"Oh, I… I see…"
"There," Rozalia chuckled. "Now isn't that better?"
Conrart and Rozalia turned their heads toward each other at the exact same time and found themselves staring into each other's eyes. Rozalia's breath caught in her throat. She hadn't been this close to him in an exceedingly long time. She had forgotten how remarkably bright his brown eyes were. Her eyes were wide with anticipation. Rozalia felt giddy butterflies in her stomach. My goodness, she thought, I've never felt anything like this in such a long time.
Conrart never saw Rozalia's eyes so brilliant. They hadn't changed. He felt the same unexplainable nervousness that he felt about her. He felt his cheeks grow warmer and he felt his stomach grow in knots. Conrart felt an urge to touch her smooth face. He felt himself lean closer to her without thinking. Conrart saw Rozalia's eyes flutter to his lips and his stomach only tightened further in anticipation.
They got closer and closer…
"Lady Rozalia!"
Conrart and Rozalia sprang apart, blushing furiously. "Y-Yes, what is it?" she asked.
"Lady Rozalia, you have a visitor," the guard said.
"W-Who is it?" Rozalia asked, careful not to lay her eyes on Conrart.
"It's your fiancé, Lord Conradi, my lady."
Conrart's gaze snapped up, shock lighting up his face. He looked over at Rozalia. She was staring at the guard, horrified.
"Shall we turn him away, my lady?"
Conrart watched her and he couldn't be certain but he swore he could see a shadow of loneliness come over Rozalia.
"No, of course not," Rozalia said, slowly removing her apron. "I'll see him."
"Your Majesty, it's such a spectacular honor to meet you," Holter von Conradi bowed.
"No, no, you don't have to bow," Yuri chuckled uncomfortably.
"Lord Holter Conradi is Lady Rozalia's fiancé," Gwendal said tightly.
"F-F-Fiancé?" Yuri stammered.
"I hope his highness will honor us with his presence at our wedding," Holter said charmingly.
"Uh… yeah… sure."
Yuri laughed uncomfortably. Lady Rozalia had a fiancé? Now he felt like an idiot. He was trying to set Conrart up with a woman who was already engaged. How embarrassing. Yuri watched Holter talk to Gwendal. He sure seems like he stepped out of a storybook fairytale, Yuri thought. Blonde hair tumbling over his forehead, charming blue grey eyes, and a strong stately figure. He was like a prince!
This was the man that Lady Rozalia loved? Yuri watched Holter's easy face and obvious charm. He seemed nice enough, very friendly. But he had heard so much about how Conrart and Rozalia loved each other. Is it possible that Rozalia doesn't love Conrart anymore and is now in love with this man? But Yuri has seen so much chemistry and affection between Conrart and Rozalia. He was convinced that they still loved each other. So why was she marrying another man? He was so confused.
The door opened and Rozalia stepped in. She heard Conrart follow her in. She saw Holter turn to her and watched his face come alive. Conrart moved farther into the room, his eyes on Holter the entire time.
"Holter, this is a surprise," Rozalia said, hoping she sounded chipper.
"It seems I can't bear to be away from you for too long," Holter smiled, walking over to her and taking her hand, placing a kiss on it. "I rode over to Laurent Castle to see you and your brother told me you were here." Holter snuck a glance at Conrart who he noticed had his eyes trained on him since he entered. Holter frowned slightly. "I was surprised."
Rozalia noticed the cold glances the two men were giving each other. "His Majesty asked me to stay," she informed Holter.
"Yeah, my daughter took a liking to Lady Rozalia," Yuri chuckled.
"Lady Rozalia is really fun," Greta smiled. "We made cookies!"
"Speaking of which," Rozalia said, "Princess Greta, will you help me with last batch?"
"Yeah!" Greta said, leapt off her seat and bounded over to Rozalia.
"Yuri, why don't you help Greta and Lady Rozalia with the cookies?" Conrart suggested to Yuri with a smile.
"Come on, Yuri," Greta beckoned. "Frosting cookies is fun."
"Alright," Yuri said and followed Greta out of the room.
Rozalia hesitated and watched Conrart and Holter eye each other coldly. She didn't have a very good feeling about this. "Conrart, Holter, please..."
"It's alright, Rozalia," Gwendal said, watching the two men critically. "I'll prevent them from causing trouble."
Rozalia watched Conrart and Holter worriedly for one more second. "Thank you, Gwendal," she said and closed the door.
They were silent for a while. Conrart was rigid. Holter watched him distastefully. Gwendal stood by the window, his arms folded.
"Now gentlemen," Gwendal said strictly, "you mustn't make trouble here."
"I have no wish to fight," Conrart answered.
Holter snorted in reply. "It's been a long time, Lord Weller," he said.
"Not long enough, I'm afraid," Conrart answered. "We here at Covenant Castle were surprised to hear about your recent engagement to Rozalia."
"Just because you couldn't appreciate her doesn't mean that others couldn't as well," Holter answered coldly.
Conrart frowned at him. "If I hear that you took advantage of her broken heart to procure her hand in marriage, I-ʺ
"If it wasn't for you, Rozalia wouldn't have a broken heart in the first place," Holter said spitefully. "Selfish. To have loved two women. The arrogance! I don't know what Rozalia sees in you."
"I don't understand why you're still angry at me, Holter," Conrart declared. "It seems you've won. You're the man she's marrying, after all. Isn't that what you've always wanted?"
Holter sighed angrily. "She didn't love me then and she doesn't love me now," he said. "I don't know if she ever will. And why? Because of her undying love and devotion to you. You don't deserve her."
"No, I don't," Conrart agreed. "I agree with everything you say. But I swear to you, if I find out that you're taking advantage of Rozalia's pain and loneliness for your own selfish gain, I won't hesitate to draw my sword."
"Is that a challenge?"
"Conrart," Gwendal said warningly.
"Rozalia doesn't want us to make trouble," Conrart answered, "and I will respect that wish."
"Rozalia and I will be getting married, Lord Weller," Holter said, narrowing his eyes at Conrart. "If you so much as consider-ʺ
"If you can make Rozalia happy, I have no intention of coming between you," Conrart said, turning his back. "But if I ever hear of Rozalia being unhappy, I will take her away from you. I guarantee you that."