Chapter 5: Betrayal and Tears
Translated by Vine
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At that time, Rose was planning to ignore even telegrams and stay holed up in her boarding room since it was a holiday anyway.
But Rose was devastated by Catherine's unexpected death, and she eventually went to Arthur's house and cried in his arms.
He comforted and soothed Rose, who was crying hysterically as if they had never fought, and that winter, Arthur formally proposed to her. Their wedding was set for the end of October of the following year, during the Seowoon Festival.

It felt strange that all of this felt nostalgic, but it hadn't even happened yet.
Still, Rose thought that all her problems would be solved if she saw Arthur's face, so she hurried her steps towards the office.

"Ah, ah...! Ah!"

The first floor of the Vuron Building was a general store, and the second floor was the general store's warehouse.
And ominously, as she got closer to the third floor, the embarrassing sounds became clearer.

Rose stared at the door in front of her with a stunned face.
[Hukerd & Blavatsky Psychic Research Institute]

In front of the office with a brass signboard that looked impressive, costing a lot of money as the business smelled like a scam.
And the loud noise was not just leaking from behind this expensive signboard, but it was booming as if a loudspeaker had been placed.

No matter how sick someone was with a disease of only positive thinking, they wouldn't think, 'Someone must be borrowing our office to have a hot time.'
The moment she acknowledged reality, Rose felt her blood rush to her head.

Even when she turned the doorknob, the door opened wide. They were doing such a thing boldly in broad daylight without even locking the door. They must have been in a hurry.
Well, it didn't matter because she would have broken the door down even if it had been locked.

The two were so engrossed in each other that they didn't even notice the door opening and were entangled on the sofa for entertaining guests, which was placed facing the inside.
The two people's figures were not clearly visible because of the rather long backrest of the sofa, but Rose's heart was thrown to the floor at the sight of the two legs sticking out over the armrest.

Ah.
I was so heartbroken because of this guy?
I spent a hellish week worrying about this guy and praying for this guy?

"Oh, Arthur! I love it..."

The protagonist of the sound that had been heard from outside said desperately.
The flirting is at its peak.
Tears didn't even come out of her eyes.
Those two had clearly sold their sanity to a pawnshop.

"Ah, I feel like I'm going to die...!"

"Then die."

In the end, Rose couldn't resist and coldly responded to the woman's coquettish voice.
Only then did they notice the presence of a third party, and a cold silence fell.

"How did you get here..."

Arthur Granfield's stupid face, with red rouge smeared on his lips, popped out from behind the backrest.

"Arthur Granfield."

"Ro, Rosie...! Wait, I'll explain everything!"

"It's okay. You've prepared the audio-visual materials very well so that it's easy to understand at a glance."

"Rosie, this, actually."

Rose understood with her whole body the saying that when you get extremely angry, you become rather calm.
Otherwise, there was no way to explain how Rose's rising anger had cooled down to this extent.

Since they met again at seventeen, Arthur Granfield had truly 'protected' Rose.
They did everything a couple would do, but they never went all the way.
She had thought the contradiction of blushing while dreaming of the first night, which would be the first for both of them, was pure, and she respected him for his great patience and self-control.
But after a fight with his lover, he calls another woman right away in broad daylight?

How could you do this to me when we've had so much time together?

"You're trash."

A sneer came out on its own.
"No, trash is a bit much."
Rose took a breath and continued.

"Trash would be more noble than you."

"…What?"
The woman, who was silently getting dressed, had red curly hair.
If she turned her head slightly, she could see the woman's face directly, but she couldn't because of her pride.

"Rosie... I'm sorry."

"Yes. You should be sorry. If you don't even have that shame, you're not human."

"Rosie, you know. Mythos... Mythos whose Umbelt has been broken need to periodically manage their magic..."

"Yes. I know very well that your magic is overproduced and needs to be released periodically. But."

Rose looked at Arthur, who was desperately making excuses with his head down, with a cold gaze.

"You told me you could handle it yourself? I had no idea that meant calling a prostitute."

"Rosie. Griselda isn't a prostitute..."

"Ha!"

You're defending her because you slept with her once? No, it might not be just once.
"Whether it's Griselda or Grizzly, I'd like you to disappear from this office before I skin you and make you into a floor mat. Arthur, you too."

Rose snapped coldly at the two people who couldn't say anything.
Then, she stopped as she turned to the open door.

"Ah, right. Arthur Granfield."

For a moment, he raised his head with the expectation that he might get a chance to explain.
But that wasn't why Rose called his name.

"Let's close down the Hukerd & Blavatsky Psychic Research Institute."

"...What?"

Arthur was taken aback by the sudden announcement of closure.

"I told you yesterday. I can't work with you because our business directions are different."

"Rosie. You can't even keep the books properly by yourself."

"Do you think I'm naive enough to trust a man who betrays his lover like this?"

"We're booked up until next month!"

"I can do the show by myself, and we only need to attend important events."

Rose turned her body as if she didn't want to see any more.
"In the first place, we can't go back to the way we were before after seeing this messy scene, Arthur Granfield."

Rose said, reciting each letter of his name clearly.

"…"

"You know it too. We can't be business partners anymore."

What kind of office was that?
It was a space that contained all the time they had spent together. It was an office that they had built together, brainstorming and discussing ideas from the beginning.
What kind of sofa was that?

It was our perfect sofa that we had picked out together at a used furniture store, pointing at it at the same time and saying, "That's the one!"
But how could you be doing that with another woman there?
As time passed, anger and resentment boiled up.

Right now, walking along the main street, Rose suppressed the urge to scream and cause a scene with superhuman patience.
As an educated civilized person, she couldn't do that.
Well, she did see a gentleman and a lady who had thrown away civilization in the office and were having a barbaric time, though.
Honestly, just not crying on the spot was a great act of patience. Isn't it a virtue that's hard to find in this day and age? Yes, yes it is.

"Virtue..."

Ha! It's not even funny.
What's the use of virtue in the face of a lover's betrayal?
Just returning to the past was overwhelming enough.
The fear that this might be an illusion.

The anxiety that she might not be able to prevent Catherine's death even though she knew about it.
The suspicion that she might have finally gone crazy still lingered.
But because Arthur was there, because he was there, she thought everything would be fine.
He would support her and give her confidence, as he had always done.

But what Rose faced was a terrible betrayal.
Of all things, to see them intertwined so nakedly. Her head was in such a mess that she wanted to give up and let things happen as they would.

As Caroline said, it seemed like a good idea to drink heavily and cry all night, grabbing the two of them and lamenting about Arthur, no, that bastard.
Or how about casting a gloomy curse on that traitorous guy and that woman, whether she's Grizzly or Grilled?

But as long as the blackened ruby ring existed, she couldn't turn a blind eye to the fact that she had regressed.
"Damn it... Why don't I have time to be angry even though I've come back in time?"
In the end, the tears she had been holding back burst out.

Her vision was so blurred with tears that she didn't even know where or how she was walking.
Her face must be a mess of tears and snot right now.
Her face was red with anger, her eyes were bloodshot and swollen...
Rose was so tired from crying that she stumbled and staggered as she walked towards the public school.

To walk crying all the way to the intersection in front of the Fellows department store branch, which was always crowded with people. It was an eccentric act that she couldn't even argue with if it appeared in the newspaper tomorrow.
As she continued to walk forward.
Thump!

Suddenly, a scent filled her chest and a large hand wrapped around her waist.
"...Miss! Are you alright?"