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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Duke Adrian (3)
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After that, Rosette fell ill again. It was a side effect of using magic.
Mages create a mana core within their bodies from the moment they begin learning magic. This mana core makes it easier to use magic and reduces the aftereffects.
Having used a high-level healing spell in a body that had never used magic before, and without such a mana core, a seven-year-old child's body couldn't possibly withstand it.
Jane fretted, staying by Rosette's side. She wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and neck with a cool, damp cloth and trickled water into Rosette's mouth with a spoon.
Rosette was grateful to Jane, but she didn't even have the energy to say thank you. She groaned in her fever, sleeping for nearly the entire day.
The priests, worried, tried to infuse her with divine power, but it was no use. A normal fever could have been brought down with divine power, but Rosette's case was different.
There were two ways to lower Rosette's fever without a mana core.
One, wait patiently for the mana to settle on its own. Two, have a more skilled mage artificially calm the mana.
Thus, the priests' divine power was bound to be ineffective.
The flustered priests called for a physician, but there was little a physician could do. They gave her a fever reducer, but even with the medicine, her fever showed no signs of breaking.
Neither medicine nor divine power worked. All she could do was lie down and wait for time to pass.
*I thought it would settle down quickly.*
In a daze, Rosette drank the water Jane offered her. Although she lacked a mana core, she knew how to manage the mana in her body.
She thought that if she could move her mana while resting to form even a small core, her body would recover immediately.
The variable was that her body was even weaker than she'd thought. Since her body couldn't handle it, she couldn't form a mana core, and without a mana core, her body couldn't recover.
Still, after a full day of rest, her fever had dropped a little compared to yesterday. Her mind was clear enough to thank Jane for her devoted care.
“Unni, thank you…”
But Rosette couldn't finish her sentence. It was because of the person before her. She had expected Jane, but someone else was sitting there.
Platinum blond hair, conspicuous even in the dim room. It was Duke Adrian.
Startled, Rosette took a sharp breath and ended up choking on it.
As she coughed, unable to breathe properly, Duke Adrian gently patted her back. Was it because he had three children of his own?
His handling of Rosette was quite practiced.
“Are you all right?”
“I… *hic*, I…”
“I apologize if I startled you.”
Rosette tried to catch her breath, shaking her head vigorously. A nobleman apologizing? It was unheard of.
But she couldn't even manage to tell him not to apologize. Rosette just darted her eyes around, wishing Duke Adrian would leave quickly.
“May I hold your hand for a moment?”
Duke Adrian, who had been observing her, suddenly asked. Startled, Rosette extended her hand without knowing why he was making such a suggestion.
Duke Adrian carefully took her hand. His hand was easily twice the size of hers, and it was warm.
Soon, a warm energy flowed from the Duke's hand, enveloping Rosette's body. It was his mana.
“I'm not a mage, so I'm not sure if this is the right way to do it.”
A Sword Master, unusually, knew how to wield mana. His mana gently enveloped the rampaging mana inside Rosette's body.
Before long, Rosette's mana settled quietly near her navel. The nausea she had felt just moments before subsided.
“Are you feeling better now?”
Lying back down, Rosette desperately pulled the covers up to her nose and nodded. Duke Adrian gave a bright smile.
“Do you dislike me that much?”
Rosette shook her head. It wasn't that she disliked him. She didn't have the right to dislike him in the first place.
“Then?”
“…”
“Are you afraid?”
*Nod, nod.*
“Because I'm a nobleman?”
*Shake, shake.*
“Then why are you afraid?”
“…”
Duke Adrian let out a small sigh.
“If you don't wish it, I will give up on the adoption.”
Rosette's eyes widened.
“Instead, I was thinking of sponsoring you so you can pursue your dreams. What do you think?”
“Sponsor… me?”
“Yes. With the Adrian family's sponsorship, you can go to the academy and learn magic.”
“…”
It was an appealing offer. But she couldn't bring herself to answer.
As Rosette blinked silently, Duke Adrian stood up.
“Of course, if you're willing, you are always welcome in the Adrian family. Now, get some rest.”
With those final words, he left the room. At the same time, a sudden drowsiness washed over Rosette, and she fell asleep.
***
Perhaps thanks to Duke Adrian, Rosette woke up from her nap feeling perfectly fine, as if she had never been sick.
She ate breakfast and sat under the shade of a large tree, watching the other children play with a ball.
Dust kicked up and it was noisy, but she didn't want to go inside. In truth, she had rather missed this chaotic scene.
Paradoxically, Rosette found comfort in the commotion.
“Hello?”
Just then, an unfamiliar voice came from above her. She slowly lifted her head to see a boy standing before her.
A child with pale platinum blond hair and violet eyes. Unlike the grimy orphanage children, he exuded an air of nobility from head to toe. Anyone could tell he was an aristocrat.
It wasn't just his appearance. His expression held the characteristic confidence of the nobility.
From his somewhat familiar features, Rosette could easily tell he was from the Adrian family.
His appearance was strikingly similar to Duke Adrian's. Furthermore, his looks, which were closer to that of a young boy than a child, led her to guess that he was the eldest, Daniel Adrian.
Daniel Adrian. The man who, along with Duke Adrian, had died by her magic.
Rosette tensed, searching for an escape route. Running away wouldn't erase the past, but she wanted to avoid it all the same.
But before she could even get up, Daniel spoke first.
“May I sit next to you?”
“Um…”
*No, you can't.* That was all she had to say, but strangely, her lips wouldn't move.
Rosette looked up at Daniel with a face on the verge of tears, then quickly lowered her head. Unable to accept or refuse, she chose silence.
Taking it as a yes, Daniel sat down next to her. Rosette flinched and scooted away. Daniel seemed surprised for a moment, then moved a little farther away from her.
“Sorry. You didn't say no, so I thought it was okay to sit.”
“…”
“Do you hate that I'm here?”
Rosette shook her head. She couldn't answer when he asked if he could sit, but she could quickly answer whether she hated it.
She didn't hate it. It was just overwhelming.
“I'm glad you don't hate it, then.”
“…”
“What were you doing here all by yourself?”
*Why is he talking to me?* Wondering about his intentions, Rosette mumbled quietly.
“Just watching.”
“What?”
“The other children playing.”
“Why are you just watching instead of playing with them?”
“I like watching more.”
The conversation was continuing, but she couldn't shake the feeling that they were talking past each other.
*Is there something else he really wants to talk about?*
Rosette hesitated before mustering the courage to ask.
“Is there something you wanted to say?”
“Why don't you want to come to our family?”
“What?”
“It's just, most kids are happy about being adopted, about getting a family…”
If it had been any family other than the Adrians, she would have been.
Rosette neither confirmed nor denied, keeping her mouth shut. He could have considered it rude, yet he didn't look displeased at all.
Perhaps because she was talking to Daniel, who was closer to her age, Rosette felt a little more at ease opening her mouth.
“Did the Duke send you?”
“Huh?”
“To convince me?”
“No. I came on my own.”
Daniel shrugged.
“I heard I might be getting a little sister, so I came to see you.”
“But… aren't you against it, Young Lord?”
“What?”
“Usually, when there's an adoption, the other children don't like it.”
Rosette recalled her time being adopted into the Dallas family. Her stepbrother, Derick Dallas, and stepsister, Elisha Dallas, had not welcomed her.
Derick had mostly ignored her, which was fine. The problem was her younger sister, Elisha. She had tormented Rosette in very subtle ways.
Once, she had hidden her own necklace in Rosette's room and claimed Rosette had stolen it. As punishment, Rosette had been locked in the attic.
*There were many other incidents I could list…*
Anyway, perhaps because of these past memories, Rosette naturally assumed the Adrian children wouldn't be pleased by her presence.
Besides, Daniel already had a younger sister. There was no reason for him to welcome Rosette. And yet, this was his reply.
“But I like it.”
“…”
“Belle and Lucas will like it, too.”
“But…”
As she was about to reply, Rosette's gaze suddenly fell to Daniel's leg.
*It's fine.*
In the past, Daniel had been in an accident and walked with a limp. He always had to use a cane and, of course, couldn't wield a sword.
Because of that, there had been voices of opposition, saying he shouldn't inherit the Adrian family, a renowned house of swordsmanship.
*The Dallas family caused that accident.*
The Adrian family had never found out, but Rosette, who had been part of the Dallas family, knew.
In that moment, a realization struck her like a bolt of lightning.
*Even without me, the same future will repeat itself.*
Daniel would have the same accident and lose the use of his leg, and Marquis Dallas would find a substitute for Rosette and plot to kill Duke Adrian and Daniel.
In the worst-case scenario, they might die again.
Was it right for her to run away from that chaos, saving only herself?
Could she end everything just by living with a heart full of atonement?
Rosette gripped her worn skirt tightly with both hands.
What if she went to the Adrian family? She could change the entire future.
But that would require courage. She couldn't readily agree to do it.
But could she turn a blind eye? Could she bear to hear the news of Duke Adrian's death in the distant future and not be driven mad by guilt?
Having thought that far, Rosette shot up from her seat without realizing it.
“Where is the Duke?”
“Father? He's with the director.”
“I want to see the Duke.”
“You do? Let's go together.”
Daniel stood up and held out his hand. Rosette hesitated before taking it. As befitting a boy learning the sword, Daniel's hand was rough, but it was very warm.
Rosette tried to calm her pounding heart as she walked with Daniel toward the director's office. When the two of them appeared together, Duke Adrian and the director, who were inside, stood up at the same time.
The director looked surprised, while Duke Adrian smiled kindly.
“Rosette, it seems you've met Daniel. So, what brings you here?”
Rosette took a deep breath and declared.
“I'll go.”
“Hmm?”
“I'll go with you, Duke.”
*And I will change the fate of the Duchy of Adrian.*
Rosette swallowed the last part of her thought.
