-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: A Foreseeable Accident (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“What I want to hear isn't an apology, but why Rosette was there.”
“*Hiccup.*”
Joseph, who had been weeping nonstop, finally composed himself and began to explain the situation.
“I swear, I didn't join the Adrian knights as a squire with any ulterior motives. I can guarantee you that much.”
“If you're not a spy, then why did you do it?”
“My sister, Melody, was taken hostage.”
He spoke, panting for breath, yet trying his best to calmly recount what had happened.
He explained how the people who kidnapped Melody while she was out playing in the fields had blackmailed him, ordering him to sprinkle a magic potion on the Duke's carriage. He also mentioned that they had recently told him to move the plan forward, knowing that Daniel was starting to catch on.
And so.
“But I told them I couldn't do it. I swear.”
Duke Adrian proceeded, assuming for the moment that his words were true.
“Then how did you end up following me with Rosette?”
“I suspected for a while that there was another spy in the mansion besides me. I thought they might have tampered with the carriage as originally planned, so I went to the carriage house to check. That's when the young lady found me.”
“Rosette?”
“Yes. The young lady already knew the whole plan and was trying to stop me.”
Looking bewildered, Duke Adrian rubbed his face with his hands.
“How did Rosette know?”
“I don't know that either. However, the young lady believed the target was the young lord.”
“Daniel?”
“Yes. And when she found out the real target was you, Your Grace…”
“She came to save me.”
“That's right.”
After a moment's hesitation, Joseph Oser asked.
“Is the young lady… all right?”
“That's none of your concern.”
“But…”
Joseph's lips parted, but he said nothing more and lowered his head. He didn't have the gall to mention that Rosette had promised to save his younger sister, Melody.
But then, as if reading his mind, the Duke asked.
“What happened to your sister?”
“…I don't know.”
Tears welled up in Joseph's eyes again.
“They said that if I didn't complete the mission, I would never see Melody again. But Lady Rosette told me my sister would be safe.”
“…”
“I hope she's safe, but I don't know if she can truly be rescued…”
The Duke's resolve softened. As far as he knew, Joseph's sister, Melody Oser, was eight years old, the same age as Rosette.
Besides, if Joseph's story was true, it meant he had helped him, prepared to lose his own sister.
If all this was true, it was only right to help Joseph, who had shown him loyalty. He couldn't keep someone who had once tried to bite the hand that fed him in the House of Adrian, but the innocent Melody had to be saved.
However.
“I can't trust your words just yet. But I will look into it.”
“Your Grace, truly?”
Instead of answering, Duke Adrian gestured to the knights waiting behind him.
“Take him away.”
“Yes, sir.”
The faces of the knights leading away their former colleague, Joseph, were grim.
After they were completely gone, Duke Adrian gave an order to his informant, who was hidden in the ceiling.
“There's a rat hiding in the mansion. Find it, and quickly.”
The informant leaped down from the ceiling and prostrated himself before the Duke.
“Understood.”
“And find out who is behind this incident.”
“Yes, sir.”
Once the informant had vanished, the Duke let out a sigh.
For now, he had done all he could. All that was left was to wait for Rosette to wake up.
***
[Bbi-bbi, bbi-bbi!]
Bbi-bbi, who had been missing all morning, came fluttering in. Lucas, who had been secretly looking for the bird, welcomed it.
“Hey, Peeps! Where have you been? I was looking all over for you.”
Over the past week, he had grown quite fond of the little bird that refused to leave Rosette's side, even bestowing upon it the name ‘Peeps.’ The reason was that its chirping sounded like a chick's.
[Peep!]
Little did he know that every time he called it by that name, Bbi-bbi was retorting, ‘My name is Bbi-bbi!’
“Yeah, Peeps. You should be honored I was worried about you, right?”
[Peep!]
“But what's that?”
[Chirp!]
Bbi-bbi landed on Rosette's chest and placed a small, white flower it had been carrying in its beak.
Unlike the flowers grown in the Adrian estate's greenhouse, it was a wildflower from the fields.
Lucas stared at the flower, intrigued.
“Oh, are flowers blooming already?”
[Chirp!]
A week had already passed since Rosette fell asleep. She hadn't woken up.
In that time, the month had changed to March, and the season was shifting from winter to spring.
“I was planning to take the little squirt out to play when spring came.”
Muttering gloomily, Lucas picked up the flower Bbi-bbi had brought and tucked it behind the sleeping Rosette's ear.
“You silly squirt. Hurry up and wake up. Peeps even brought you a flower.”
[Peep! Peep!]
“You have to hurry up and train with me, too…”
Lucas couldn't continue and lowered his head. Tears trickled from the corners of the boy's eyes, his chin trembling.
“Don't die, squirt.”
Even Duke Adrian, who rarely lost his temper, had finally lost his patience the other day and demanded to know from the physician and Celine why she wasn't waking up.
To which Celine had replied, ‘It seems the young lady's innate mana is far greater than I anticipated, which is slowing her recovery.’
Innate mana was a measure of a mage's power. The more one had, the more skilled they were considered.
This meant Rosette was even more talented than Duke Adrian had thought.
But no one was happy about this fact. The situation was too grim to rejoice.
[Bbi-bbi, bbi-bbiii.]
Bbi-bbi also cried mournfully, rubbing its face against Rosette's cheek, which had grown gaunt again over the week.
At that moment, no one saw Rosette's small hand twitch.
***
While she slept, Rosette had a nightmare. No, to call it a nightmare would be a misnomer. Her dream was simply showing her things she had done in the past.
Countless events flashed by. They were mostly deeds Rosette had committed for the sake of the Dallas family.
*‘No, no.’*
Even in her sleep, Rosette whimpered in distress. The dream was showing her the last evil act she had committed.
In the dream, Rosette, with her hood pulled up, snuck into Duke Adrian's office.
Having already killed several knights, her hood was soaked with dark red blood.
“You're skilled.”
Duke Adrian, having sensed her presence, had drawn his sword and was waiting for her.
“Did Marquis Dallas send you?”
“…”
Rosette gave no answer and approached him. The moonlight streaming through the window faintly illuminated her face.
Upon seeing her youthful face, Duke Adrian's expression hardened. He then ground his teeth.
“That damn bastard, sending a child like this…”
Rosette answered reflexively.
“I'm not a child. I'm an adult now.”
“An adult?”
Malnourished and overworked, Rosette had a very small frame. At most, she looked to be about thirteen or fourteen.
Duke Adrian, who was used to seeing the Adrian children who were tall for their age, found her words hard to believe.
But more shocking than Rosette's youthful appearance was her emotionless expression.
Duke Adrian easily discerned that she was accustomed to this kind of work.
“How long have you been doing this?”
“…”
Duke Adrian lowered the sword he had aimed at Rosette and asked.
“Doesn't it pain you to be used by the Marquis?”
“…”
“Looking at you reminds me of my own daughter. It's not too late. Go back. You don't belong in this line of work.”
His words stirred something in Rosette's heart.
“I…”
The truth was, she never wanted to kill anyone.
But whenever she hesitated, Marquis Dallas would control her with the magic he had implanted in her.
People would scream at her in fury as she mercilessly cast her spells, calling her a heartless murderer. Or they would beg for their lives.
But no one ever asked if she was in pain. Not a single person.
Rosette looked up and met Duke Adrian's eyes. He had already sheathed his sword and was extending his right hand.
“Or I can help you escape.”
“Ah…”
In that moment, Rosette realized. She could never harm this man.
So she turned to leave. But the moment she took a step.
“…!”
Her body began to move on its own. It turned back around, started walking toward Duke Adrian, and then reached out a hand toward him.
It was the moment Duke Adrian took her hand.
Against her will, her mouth opened and chanted a spell. Simultaneously, the mana coalescing around her formed a sharp blade and pierced the Duke's abdomen.
Blood trickled from the Duke's mouth.
*No!*
But Rosette couldn't even say the words. Instead, what came from her lips was another magic spell.
The mana blade struck the Duke again. Caught off guard and defenseless, the Duke's body crumbled.
He slammed his scabbard into the floor, managing to stay upright on one knee.
“Ah… ah…”
Her body suddenly free, Rosette knelt before him. For reasons she couldn't explain, tears sprang from her once-dry eyes.
She wanted to use healing magic, but she couldn't. Marquis Dallas had taken measures to prevent her from using healing magic, preparing for just such a situation.
“I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I…”
*I didn't want to do this. I didn't want to live like this.*
*I just wanted to be happy…*
Watching her, Duke Adrian wiped her tear-streaked cheek with his bloodstained hand.
“Don't cry, child.”
There was no trace of resentment in the Duke's expression. If only he had hated her like everyone else, perhaps it wouldn't have been so agonizing.
Rosette's tears trickled down the Duke's fingers.
“Never go back to him.”
*But if I don't go back to Marquis Dallas, where am I supposed to go? That's the only place I have to return to.*
*How can I escape this hell? No one ever gave me an answer. All people ever gave me were curses and blame.*
*So won't you give me the answer? Please, open your eyes.*
*Please.*
Rosette knelt before the unmoving Duke Adrian, weeping endlessly.
Then, suddenly, someone reached out a hand to her.
It was a large, thick-knuckled hand, covered in calluses. Anyone could tell it was the hand of a swordsman.
“It's time to get up now, Rosette.”
A warm, gentle voice.
“Your father has been waiting a long time.”
