The Rose Caged in the Conservatory - Chapter 9

“Annerose, were you waiting for me here?”

How long had she been standing there in a daze?

Before she knew it, a warm hand had settled over her outstretched fingers.

It was Iver, who had returned after finishing his duties. Holding Annerose’s hand, Iver gently moved his fingers against hers and smiled softly.

“…Yes.”

Annerose hesitated for a moment before answering, but Iver smiled brightly as though he had been waiting for those words. He pulled her into his arms.

“You came back early. Was it a difficult day?”

“Yes. Difficult enough that I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I spent the entire day longing for evening to come so I could see you.”

Annerose’s face flushed at Iver’s words, spoken softly as though he were holding his breath against her.

As his warmth seeped into her body, a pleasant sensation spread throughout her.

“You missed me that much?”

“Yes. So very much. What did you do today? Shall I try to guess?”

Iver brought Annerose’s fingers to his lips and, with his eyes closed, breathed in the scent lingering on her fingertips.

“Roses and earth… You must have been tending the garden today.”

“It never ceases to amaze me that you can tell just by smelling me?”

“Yes. It’s quite easy to tell.”

“I’m amazed by it every time.”

Iver’s senses of touch and smell were several times more sensitive than those of an ordinary person. Annerose gazed at him in wonder, amazed that he could tell what she had done all day simply from her scent.

The ability to learn information about someone simply by smelling the scent lingering on their body.

Since she couldn’t sense any magical power, it didn’t seem to be magic.

Watching Iver behave exactly as her blind former lover once had, Annerose wondered if she might have unconsciously told him about her former lover’s habits while half-asleep.

She looked down at Iver as he held her hand.

‘Perhaps one of the servants hiding nearby reported what I did today. He looks pleased, so I should just praise him a little.’

The greenhouse was the only place where Iver could sleep soundly. So it wouldn’t be strange for imperial guards to be stationed around it, even if they were hidden from sight. The only servants who ever entered and left the place also seemed to have undergone special training.

Perhaps Iver had people planted nearby to keep track of her actions.

Annerose took the thought lightly. As the Crown Prince, Iver naturally had plenty of political enemies. It was easier to believe that having a few people stationed around him was simply a matter of course.

‘That’s why assassins can’t make it this far. And thanks to that, I’ll be protected along with him.’

When her thoughtful gaze met Iver’s, Annerose looked at him as he returned to the gentle, innocent boy he seemed to become whenever he was with her.

It was hard to believe that he never showed this innocent smile to anyone else. She found herself wondering what kind of expression Iver wore within the imperial court.

“Isn’t there anything you’re curious about, Annerose?”

“……”

“Annerose?”

“Huh…? Oh! Ah, you worked hard today, too. Are you finished with everything?”

“Yes. It was another exhausting day. I’ve been handling the Emperor’s duties lately, too. There are so many territories to manage that my desk is always buried beneath stacks of paperwork.”

“That sounds exhausting. You should hurry back to your room and rest…”

“Annerose.”

Before Annerose could finish telling him to go back, Iver suddenly took her hand.

As though he hadn’t wanted to hear those words, Iver smiled at her with his eyes and declared that he wasn’t going back to the imperial palace.

“But I’m happy because I get to see you, Annerose. I’ve finished everything urgent, so praise me for doing well. I worked hard because I wanted to see you.”

At the sight of Iver rubbing his face against her hand, asking to be praised, Annerose eventually let out a small laugh and stroked his cheek.

It wasn’t behavior befitting a Crown Prince, but apparently no one outside could see him like this, so she decided to overlook it.

This conservatory, and her arms, were Iver’s only sanctuary.

Iver Dio Costeria had become Crown Prince by stepping over the blood of his own brothers and sisters.

Fortunately, the story that the famously emotionless Crown Prince was wrapped around a woman’s finger seemed to have reached no one beyond his closest confidants.

After being stroked for a long while, Iver’s eyes lit up.

He took Annerose’s hand and led her into the greenhouse.