The Youngest Daughter Of The Great Wizard Of The Famous Swordsmanship [EN]: Chapter 122

122. Isabel’s True Feelings

March 1, 2024

To be precise, I couldn’t pinpoint anything particularly different about Isabel, but I did notice a subtle shift in the atmosphere around Lord Roten as he looked at her.

He always seemed like a genuinely nice person, but when his gaze fell on Isabel, his aura softened, becoming fluffy like a marshmallow.

It was the kind of gaze described in the romance novels Melody and I used to devour with our friends back at the academy.

‘Really?’

Rosette widened her eyes and looked at Lucas, who grinned knowingly.

His expression seemed to confirm her suspicions.

At the same time, a similar smile played on Rosette’s lips.

Isabel frowned as she looked at her two younger siblings.

“What is it? Rosette, why are you making that face too?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Yeah, it’s really nothing,” Lucas chimed in.

Rosette and Lucas both feigned innocence, but Isabel didn’t seem convinced.

Rosette avoided her gaze and quickly changed the subject.

“How is His Highness doing? I mean, the First Prince.”

Lord Roten smiled gently.

“Yes, His Highness is doing well.”

“And Her Majesty the Empress?”

“Yes, I heard that Her Majesty has now fully recovered.”

“That’s a relief.”

Rosette sighed in relief.

‘But why hasn’t Joshua contacted me?’

Since seeing Ophelia and Joshua at the Empress’s palace, Joshua hadn’t contacted her even once. She thought he might at least send Silver [a messenger, likely a bird or other animal] to update her on Ophelia’s progress, but nothing. It was strange.

Rosette even considered sending a message first, but she stopped herself. She figured Joshua must have a good reason for not contacting her.

“By the way, is His Highness not going on another monster subjugation? Daniel said he’s not going.”

“It seems he’ll be staying in the capital for the time being to look after Her Majesty. He didn’t tell me specifically, so I’m not sure. Either way, it’s good for me.”

“Did Lord Roten also participate in the last monster subjugation?”

“Yes. I came back with His Highness when he returned to the capital this time.”

Lord Roten’s subtle gaze drifted towards Isabel. Isabel flinched almost imperceptibly when she met his eyes, then turned her head to look out the window as naturally as possible.

Watching her, Rosette covered her mouth to stifle a giggle.

‘Maybe…’

Maybe Lord Roten’s crush wasn’t one-sided.

Lucas must have sensed what Rosette was feeling, because he chuckled and nudged her arm with his elbow.

Isabel lightly ignored her siblings’ behavior, as if she had no intention of questioning them one by one.

Rosette pretended not to notice her sister’s reaction and continued to talk to Lord Roten.

“So, how was the monster subjugation? Was it difficult?”

“Well, it would be a lie to say it wasn’t difficult, but we overcame many crises thanks to His Highness.”

“I see.”

Rosette nodded as if she understood.

‘Well, His Highness’s skills have improved a lot too.’

Just as Rosette’s magical abilities had improved significantly compared to when she was twenty, so had Joshua’s.

In the past, he had talent in both swordsmanship and magic, but unfortunately, he was mediocre in both. Neither skill was particularly outstanding.

But now it was different. He had trained swordsmanship extensively under Duke Adrian instead of magic, which had limitations, and as a result, he had acquired a high level of swordsmanship.

He had reached a fairly high level with swordsmanship alone, and thanks to his memories of his past life, his magical abilities had also become quite decent. Thanks to that, he was gaining fame as a magic swordsman.

‘Maybe that’s why people support His Highness so much more than in the past.’

After that, Lord Roten continued to recount stories about the monster subjugation. It was a story that Daniel hadn’t bothered to tell because he considered it boring and lacking in exciting details.

Lucas and Rosette listened with great interest, and Isabel pretended not to be interested while looking out the window, but she was secretly listening.

“Then there was an incident at the Imperial Palace, and we had to return urgently.”

“I see.”

“Is there anything else you’re curious about?”

Rosette, who had been listening intently with her chin resting on her hands, asked cautiously.

“Come to think of it, how did you and Lord Roten first meet?”

“Pardon?”

Lord Roten was taken aback for the first time.

“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”

“Just curious. You two seem quite close.”

“Well…”

Lord Roten glanced at Isabel, and when she didn’t say anything, he began to tell the story.

“Actually, there wasn’t much to our first meeting.”

As his story continued, Rosette clenched her fists without realizing it, filled with anger.

“There were people who were ignoring my sister?”

Lord Roten smiled awkwardly.

“There are always one or two people like that wherever you go.”

To summarize his story:

As soon as Isabel turned twenty four years ago, she took the Imperial Knights entrance exam and passed at the top of her class with overwhelming results.

Rosette remembered being very happy when she heard the news in a letter from the academy.

But the story didn’t end there.

‘My sister was discriminated against.’

Although Isabel had changed perceptions quite a bit, there were still very few female knights when she joined.

It was generally believed that women were physically inferior to men. When she beat all the male knights and entered at the top of her class, some people started to resent her.

Some claimed she had used tricks, while others gossiped that she had received benefits from the Adrian family.

However, Isabel did not respond to any of the rumors. Her reason was that she didn’t need to waste her time on nonsense.

Of course, Rosette didn’t know any of this. Lucas’s occasional letters only said that Isabel was adjusting well to the Knights.

‘It was Lucas’s consideration. I would have been very upset if I had known that Isabel was going through such things. There’s nothing I can do in the Ivelin Kingdom anyway.’

Rosette thanked Lucas for his consideration in her heart and continued to question Lord Roten.

“So what happened?”

“Well…”

Lord Roten, who had been talking smoothly, ruffled his hair as if embarrassed. Isabel spoke bluntly in his place.

“This foolish Lord Roten went around challenging people to duels.”

“Duels?”

“Yes. It was a really foolish thing to do.”

That was all Isabel said, but Rosette could easily piece together what had happened.

‘Lord Roten challenged the people who were ignoring my sister to duels.’

Lucas also asked in surprise.

“Did you really go around challenging people to duels for my sister’s sake?”

Lord Roten was startled and waved his hands dismissively.

“It’s not exactly that… I just didn’t like seeing fellow members gossiping and being jealous of each other.”

“But it’s true that you dueled because of my sister, isn’t it?”

“If you look at it that way, yes, but…”

“So, I’m saying it’s really foolish. Why are you responding to them one by one?”

Isabel said bluntly, and Lord Roten retorted, a little defensively.

“I don’t understand Adrian’s actions either. Why are you just listening to those insulting words?”

“What am I supposed to do if I don’t stay still? Even if I win a duel, nothing changes. Do you think those people will see me differently if I beat them? They’ll just be resentful.”

“But…!”

“Besides, Lord Roten’s position within the Knights has narrowed because of those duels, hasn’t it? It’s only thanks to His Highness keeping Lord Roten by his side that he’s doing okay. Otherwise, Lord Roten’s path to success would have been blocked.”

“I didn’t do it for success…!”

Lord Roten, who was about to argue, stopped and clamped his mouth shut.

Clearly, Isabel’s words were a bit harsh. But Rosette, who knew her well, seemed to understand why she was reacting this way.

‘She cares about Lord Roten.’

Isabel always hides her true feelings.

Even to Rosette, who had just been adopted into the Adrian family, she hid her true feelings and gave her seemingly harsh advice. But that advice always stemmed from affection.

Just now, Isabel clearly described Lord Roten as ‘foolish.’ She wouldn’t have used that expression if she truly didn’t care about him.

Isabel was an Adrian. Even if people gossiped behind her back, no one would openly ignore her in front of her.

But Elliot Roten was different. As far as Rosette knew, the Roten family was not particularly influential in the Empire.

Lord Roten didn’t say it, but he was probably openly ostracized within the Knights because of his actions.

That’s why Isabel said he was ‘foolish.’

‘But Lord Roten doesn’t seem to know my sister’s true feelings yet.’

At this rate, Lord Roten might get discouraged and leave.

Rosette opened her mouth to prevent the worst-case scenario.

“But you were grateful to Lord Roten, weren’t you, Sister?”

“…”

Rosette smiled as she looked at Isabel, who was silently looking out the window again.

“You said nothing would change, but you didn’t hate Lord Roten for understanding you, did you?”