The Youngest Daughter Of The Great Wizard Of The Famous Swordsmanship [EN]: Chapter 20

20. The Predicted Accident (2)

November 20, 2023

Duke Adrian rushed to Rosette’s room, scooping her into his arms. As he laid Rosette on the bed, the other children, hearing the commotion, burst in.

“Father, what’s wrong?”

“Is Rose sick?”

“What’s going on… Oh my! Sis! What’s wrong? Why is she bleeding?”

Duke Adrian had no time to pay attention to the three children. He knelt by the bed and examined Rosette’s condition.

Her already pale face was ashen, and her lips, usually as red as cherries, were blue. Her breathing was faint, as if it would stop at any moment, and her whole body was burning with fever.

Duke Adrian, uncharacteristically, cursed under his breath and grabbed Rosette’s hand.

Just before the carriage exploded, he had managed to deploy mana to shield them from the flames. He had no time to consider who had done this or how they had done it.

He was, after all, a swordsman and could not maintain a mana barrier for long.

As his mana faltered, the flames began to engulf him. Getting out safely was the priority.

However, the carriage door seemed to have been tampered with, as it wouldn’t open with mere force. He tried to break the door with brute strength, but each time, his concentration wavered, and the mana barrier threatened to disappear.

He had no choice but to endure, when, as if by a miracle, the flames suddenly subsided. Until then, he had assumed Celine had come to help.

-Dad!

But the voice he heard was clearly Rosette’s. In fact, it was his beloved youngest who opened the carriage and came in.

Why was Rosette even there? But before he could ask, the child collapsed.

Duke Adrian realized that Rosette had extinguished the fire in the carriage. It seemed absurd even to him, but all evidence pointed to that conclusion.

If so, could something have happened to Rosette’s body?

Duke Adrian rushed back to the mansion, frantic that something might happen to this small, fragile child.

“Rose, please open your eyes.”

He whispered pleadingly, but Rosette showed no response. Just then, the family’s physician burst through the door.

“What’s wrong?”

“The child seems to have used magic and then collapsed, coughing up blood.”

“Coughing up blood, you say?”

The physician quickly examined Rosette. He carefully pressed her abdomen with his fingertips and answered cautiously.

“It seems she has suffered severe internal injuries. We need a mage…”

“I’m here!”

Just in time, Celine rushed in, panting. Having heard the situation from the Duke, Celine took Rosette’s hand and channeled mana into her.

“Yes, the young lady did use magic. The mana within her body is disrupted. We can figure out how she used the magic later; let’s treat the internal injuries first.”

This time, she placed her hand on Rosette’s abdomen and used healing magic. As the yellow light permeated Rosette, the child’s breathing noticeably improved.

However, her complexion and color did not return. The Duke asked urgently,

“Is she alright now? When will she wake up?”

The physician examined the child again and replied,

“The injuries seem to be healed for now. She should wake up if we wait a little longer.”

However, Celine’s opinion differed.

“The young lady’s mana is severely disrupted. It may be difficult for her to regain consciousness until it returns to normal.”

“Then can’t we stabilize the mana? I’ve done that before.”

She cautiously shook her head.

“This time, she has almost no mana in her body, so tampering with it rashly could make things worse.”

“Then what should we do?”

“It would be best to wait until the young lady’s internal mana replenishes and she stabilizes it herself.”

“How long will that take?”

“At least a day, I think. However, the more internal mana the young lady originally had, the longer it could take.”

“A day…”

Duke Adrian looked at Rosette with a troubled expression.

“Is there a possibility that she might not wake up?”

“Well…”

Celine carefully chose her words.

“In the worst-case scenario, that could happen.”

Duke Adrian swallowed a groan.

“Find a way to make sure Rose wakes up, no matter what.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Before leaving the room, Duke Adrian looked back at Rosette again.

But Rosette still did not open her eyes.

* * *

“I’m sorry. I failed.”

A subordinate, clad entirely in black, knelt before Baron Shannet, head bowed deeply. Baron Shannet, who had been on edge, slammed the table with his fist.

“How could you fail? Didn’t I tell you that Duke Adrian was traveling in a carriage laced with poison!”

“That’s what we did, but…”

“But what?”

“Duke Adrian returned to the mansion alive and well.”

“Ha…”

Baron Shannet frantically ruffled his hair. Just then, the subordinate cautiously spoke.

“It may or may not be helpful, but Duke Adrian brought a pink-haired girl with him when he returned to the mansion.”

“A girl?”

“Yes. According to the informant, it’s the youngest adopted daughter.”

“The youngest daughter was with the Duke?”

“I’m not sure about that. I’m told they are investigating whether she was in the carriage from the beginning, or if the young lady followed later…”

“Are you telling me that now? You’re reporting without even finding that out!”

“I apologize.”

Baron Shannet ran a large, thick hand over his face.

“I have no face to show ‘Him’.”

“…”

“It’s alright, though. We still have that child in our hands.”

Baron Shannet smiled bitterly. He thought of the blonde child who was probably sleeping in the villa he had purchased under a false name.

“Melody Oser, was it? That one is quite the treasure.”

“But Baron, shouldn’t we dispose of that child now?”

“Dispose of her!”

Baron Shannet shouted.

“If we send that child to Him, He might just overlook this incident. So, take good care of her. Understand?”

“Yes, I understand.”

“No. I should go see that child first.”

Baron Shannet got up from his seat and headed straight to the villa. He opened the door without knocking and went inside. The child, who had been sleeping in the room, woke up in surprise.

“Who…”

The child, Melody, seeing the large figure, wrapped herself in the blanket and trembled. Baron Shannet approached the child.

“Shh, be good.”

He grabbed Melody’s face and turned it this way and that, smiling with satisfaction. Melody asked in a trembling voice,

“Wh-when is my brother coming?”

“Your brother will be here soon. So, just wait a little more patiently. Don’t even think about running away.”

“Okay.”

Baron Shannet left the room, telling the knight waiting outside to keep a close watch.

Melody, left alone again, got out of bed and headed to the window. Watching the rising sun, she made a wish.

“Brother, please come see me soon.”

I miss you.

The child’s green eyes were filled with sorrow.

It was a lonely morning.

* * *

The entire Adrian estate became as quiet as a mouse. Everyone moved with hushed voices and worried expressions.

Duke Adrian stayed by Rosette’s side for a short while before leaving to investigate the truth of the incident, and the three siblings of the Adrian family set aside all their work to stay by Rosette’s side.

The three siblings did not know exactly what had happened. They roughly knew that Rosette had used magic to save their father and then collapsed.

“I’ll go see Father. Contact me when she wakes up.”

Daniel, who had been silent, left his seat.

“I should go too. The mansion is too chaotic, and I need to calm the employees down.”

Isabelle left the room with heavy steps. Then, only Rosette and Lucas remained in the room.

Lucas, who had been barely holding back his tears, burst into tears and grabbed Rosette’s hand.

“Hey, shorty. Wake up.”

There was no answer.

“Wake up, you idiot. Did I train you to be like this? You’re so weak. I’m going to train you even harder from now on.”

[Cheep, cheep.]

Lucas, who had been muttering to himself with no one listening, turned his head at the sound of a bird coming from somewhere. A white bird was sadly chirping in front of the tightly closed window.

He headed to the window to chase away the noisy bird. However, he softened at the sight of the unknown bird’s beady eyes. He didn’t know why, but it seemed like the white bird was crying for Rosette.

“Did you come to see our youngest?”

[Cheep!]

It was as if the bird was answering, ‘Yes, yes!’ Lucas hesitated and opened the window wide, and the bird fluttered and landed on Rosette’s head.

“Hey, don’t do that.”

Lucas waved his arms to catch the bird. The bird dodged him, soared high, and flew in circles above his head.

[Cheep, cheep.]

Lucas didn’t chase away the annoying bird and left it alone. The bird seemed to be watching him, then fluttered down and sat on the headboard of the bed.

“Okay, sit there. Just don’t bother our youngest.”

[Cheep…….]

To be communicating with a bird, he must be out of his mind. Lucas sighed deeply and stayed by Rosette’s side with the bird.

That’s how Rosette’s first day of sleep was passing.

* * *

Duke Adrian looked at Joseph Oser, who was prostrating himself before him, with a cold face. He was trying to suppress it, but the Duke couldn’t completely hide the murderous intent that was seeping out.

Although he was a promising knight aspirant, Joseph was still a youngster who hadn’t even come of age. He had never properly experienced such murderous intent before, and his body trembled.

“Tell me what happened, Joseph Oser.”

Just before, Duke Adrian had roughly heard the details from Sebastian. Joseph and Rosette had suddenly come and said that the Duke was in danger.

Because it was such an urgent situation, Sebastian hadn’t heard any further details. However, with just that short story, the Duke had quickly grasped what had happened.

“Were you trying to betray me and the Adrian family?”

Duke Adrian’s voice, asking again, was low and subdued.

He had cherished Joseph quite a bit. He was diligent despite being young, showed promise in swordsmanship, and he felt sorry for him taking care of his younger sister alone without parents.

He had planned to sponsor his younger sister when she grew up a little more and enroll her in the academy.

It wasn’t that he felt betrayed. Originally, to live as the head of a family, especially a ducal family, one should not trust anyone and should doubt and doubt again.

So, it wouldn’t be surprising even if a youngster like Joseph stabbed him in the back.

However, he was furious at the fact that he had almost lost Rosette.

“I…….”

Joseph, trembling like an aspen, apologized instead of explaining the situation.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Duke.”

However, the Duke didn’t even bat an eye at his tears.