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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Sweeter Than Syrup (2)
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The place Lucas spirited Rosette away to with a triumphant shout was the dining hall.
“It’s a known fact that good people are the ones who give you delicious food!”
He spouted words Rosette couldn't comprehend before eagerly giving instructions to the head chef.
A moment later, the breakfast brought by the maids was starkly different from yesterday’s.
Instead of being served on individual plates, the food was laid out on platters in the center of the table, buffet-style, for everyone to serve themselves.
As Rosette gaped at a mountain of pancakes, Lucas, seated beside her, said proudly.
“We eat like this sometimes when Father isn’t around. No need for formalities, you know.”
He helped himself to a pancake the size of his face and drenched it in maple syrup. Then, he cut off a large piece and stuffed it into his mouth.
It was hard to tell whether his goal was to feed Rosette or to satisfy his own hunger.
Rosette watched him eat for a moment before her gaze shifted to the food spread across the table.
Next to the mountain of pancakes was a platter of crispy bacon and glistening sausages.
Beside that was a thick omelet filled with cheese and minced vegetables, and next to that, roasted vegetables. There were also salads, cheeses, and many other things to eat.
Rosette could swear that in her entire life—no, in all her past lives combined—she had never seen so much food laid out at once.
As Rosette sat blinking, fork in hand, Lucas, who had already devoured a whole pancake, asked.
“What are you doing? Not eating?”
“I… I don’t know what to eat first.”
“What do you mean you don’t know? Just eat whatever you want first. What do you want to eat most?”
“Uhm…”
Rosette fell into deep thought.
In her entire life, no one had ever asked for her opinion on food.
Not in the orphanage where food was scarce, nor in the Dallas household; she had always just eaten what was given to her. She had never once asked for something she wanted to eat first.
In fact, very few people had ever asked for her opinion on anything at all.
Rosette glanced at the pancake crumbs around Lucas’s mouth before finally managing an answer.
“I’ll have the same thing… you had, brother.”
“Really? I’ll get it for you.”
Lucas, looking rather smug, placed a pancake on Rosette’s plate.
“What do you want on top?”
“The same thing you had…”
“Alright, I’ll put some maple syrup on it for you.”
After pouring the syrup, Lucas continued to ask.
“What do you want with your pancake? Cream? Fruit?”
“Fruit…”
“What kind of fruit? Banana? Strawberry? Blueberry? Kiwi?”
She had managed to follow Lucas’s lead up to the syrup. But now came a question where she couldn't simply copy him.
And why were there so many choices? Rosette felt her head spin. She felt that a wrong answer here might disappoint Lucas.
But she didn't even know what she wanted to eat. In the end, Rosette mumbled.
“I… I don’t know.”
Her voice was slightly thick with unshed tears. Lucas was visibly flustered.
“Hey, hey. Don’t cry over something like this. It’s no big deal! Fine, eat it all. You can just have all of it.”
He brought the entire platter of fruit over to Rosette and served her a portion of each kind.
Rosette’s eyes widened.
“Can I eat all of this?”
“Of course!”
“Really?”
“Yup! Eat as much as you want!”
Lucas grinned, then helped himself to another pancake and a portion of each fruit on his own plate.
“Here, let’s eat together.”
Only then did Rosette nod, relieved.
“Okay!”
She carefully brought a piece of pancake to her lips. The pancake, practically pickled in syrup, was so sweet it honestly made her tongue tingle. It was so sweet that she couldn't taste the sweetness of the fruit she ate afterward.
And yet, it was so delicious it brought tears to her eyes. Or perhaps, what was truly making her tear up was Lucas’s kindness.
Once again, as Rosette sniffled while spearing a piece of fruit, Lucas asked with a pleased look.
“It’s good, right?”
“Yes.”
“I’m the best, right?”
“Yes.”
“You like me more than Daniel, right?”
“…”
Rosette couldn't answer that question. She didn't have any special feelings for either of them to say she liked one more than the other.
But, misinterpreting her silence, Lucas grumbled.
“I even made you my special pancakes, and you still think he's better? I don’t get why everyone likes Daniel more.”
“That’s not it!”
Rosette hastily swallowed the food in her mouth and denied it. Lucas asked again, a hint of hope in his voice.
“Then?”
Rosette mumbled softly.
“I like… everyone.”
“So you like me too, right?”
“Yes.”
“Well, that’s good enough for me.”
Lucas, whose ears had turned a bright red, scratched his cheek.
“Hurry up and eat. When you’re done, I’ll give you a tour of the mansion.”
Rosette nodded and began to eat her pancake with gusto. As if in a competition, Lucas started shoveling food into his mouth.
Only the two of them were unaware that the household staff were watching the siblings with fond smiles.
***
As if desperate to feed her, Lucas kept piling food onto Rosette’s plate.
Not only that, but every time Rosette cleared her plate, he would praise her for eating well.
*This feels nice.*
Rosette loved listening to Lucas’s cheerful chatter, so she ate and ate. She only put her fork down when her once-flat stomach had become a small, round mound.
“I can’t eat anymore.”
“Really? Just have a little more.”
“I really can’t. If I eat any more…”
She couldn't bring herself to say that she might throw up everything she had eaten.
Lucas seemed to understand her unspoken words and didn’t press further. Instead, he quickly finished the food on his own plate and stood up.
“Alright. From now on, I’ll show you around the mansion!”
It was then that a displeased voice came from the entrance.
“Where do you think you’re going looking like that?”
It was Isabelle Adrian. She must have just washed up after her dawn training, as the scent of floral soap wafted from her as she approached.
Lucas pouted.
“What? What’s wrong with how I look?”
Isabelle snapped.
“You stink.”
Lucas looked horrified and sniffed his arm. His face immediately flushed red.
“I do not stink!”
But contrary to his words, he began to slowly back away from Rosette and Isabelle.
“Kiddo, I’m gonna go wash up, so wait here—no, wait in your room! I’ll come get you soon!”
With that, he shot out of the dining hall. Rosette, who had been stifling her laughter at his retreating figure, suddenly felt a gaze on her and turned her head. Isabelle was staring at her intently.
“Wh-what is it?”
“Nothing.”
She muttered indifferently.
“Just wondering how you got so close to that idiot so quickly. Have you had breakfast?”
“Yes. With Lucas… my brother.”
“I can already picture it. He probably ate a mountain of food like a brute.”
Rosette quickly shook her head, but Isabelle clicked her tongue as if she knew better.
“Anyway, what’s with the way *you* look?”
“Ah…”
Rosette looked down at herself, clearly dressed in what looked like borrowed clothes from an older sister, and mumbled.
“I wore the smallest one…”
Isabelle gestured to her personal maid standing behind her.
“Summon Mrs. Wyde. As soon as possible. She needs to be fitted for clothes.”
“Yes, my lady.”
As if that instruction wasn't enough, Isabelle stepped a little closer and gathered a handful of Rosette's hair.
“Even if we can’t do anything about the clothes for now, you should at least carry yourself properly. What is this mess? Your hair looks like a bird's nest.”
Feeling a little intimidated, Rosette pressed down on her hair with her palms. Rosette’s natural hair texture was fine, but due to poor nutrition and lack of care, the ends had become coarse.
Still, back at the orphanage, her hair had been the nicest, but compared to Isabelle's silky strands, the difference was stark.
While Rosette felt awkward, Isabelle began to comb through her hair with her fingers. Then, with surprising skill, she braided it and tied it off with the ribbon from her own hair.
After letting the braid fall over one shoulder, Isabelle nodded.
“There, that’s better.”
With those parting words, she sat down at the table and began to eat.
Rosette fiddled with her new braid. She was prickly, but it seemed Isabelle was just as good a family member as Lucas or Daniel.
***
Daniel had headed to the imperial palace with Duke Adrian early that morning. It was to see his long-time friend, Prince Joshua.
When his father, Duke Adrian, had suggested they go to the palace so early, Daniel thought he had misheard. He was quite surprised by his father’s next words.
-His Highness the Prince was startled by a nightmare?
-Yes. He didn't say what he dreamt, but he urgently asked after your and my well-being.
-He’s not one to be fazed by a mere dream. How strange.
-He didn’t specify what the dream was about, but it must have been a truly terrible nightmare. He mentioned he would come to see you soon, but as his subjects, how could we make His Highness the Prince come and go at our convenience?
That was precisely why the two of them had entered the imperial palace first thing in the morning.
Though Duke Adrian wasn’t one to do so, Daniel thought his father was exaggerating. After all, the Joshua he knew was not someone who would be shaken by a mere dream.
Joshua Ehrnhardt was arrogant and cynical. As befitting someone educated in the ways of kingship from a young age, he was not swayed by trivial emotions.
For such a person to be disturbed by something like a dream, of all things, was hard to believe. So, until he saw Joshua in person, Daniel had assumed his friend had just made a lighthearted joke about wanting to see him.
But…
“Daniel!”
The moment they met, Joshua rushed forward and threw his arms around him. Though it had only been a week, Joshua acted as if they hadn't seen each other in a long time.
“You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”
Joshua gripped Daniel’s shoulders and looked him up and down. Daniel shrugged.
“As you can see, I am perfectly fine, Your Highness.”
“Your legs? How are your legs?”
“It seems I must have injured my legs in your dream.”
Daniel, who had made the joke with a smile, grew serious upon seeing Joshua's grave expression.
“As you can see, they are perfectly fine.”
“Are they? Walk for me.”
Though he thought it an absurd request, Daniel did as he was told and walked across the room. Befitting an aspiring knight said to be unmatched among his peers, his gait was smooth and disciplined.
Joshua, who had been watching him while stroking his chin, spoke as if it were nothing.
“No problems there.”
Daniel sat back down and laughed it off.
“Were you teasing me?”
“Only figuring that out now? Your wits have gotten dull.”
Joshua smirked and lifted his teacup. Only then did the Joshua that Daniel knew reappear. Relieved, Daniel changed the subject.
“By the way, what kind of dream did you have to make you so worried about my father and me?”
