The Youngest Daughter Of The Great Wizard Of The Famous Swordsmanship [EN]: Chapter 140

140. Joshua’s Birthday Party

March 19, 2024

“Rose.”

“…….”

“Rosette Adrian.”

“Huh?”

Rosette, who had been unconsciously observing Joshua, belatedly realized that Michael was calling her and turned to him. In that short time, Michael had skillfully composed his expression.

Michael moved closer to her, smiling gently.

“Are you close to the First Prince?”

“You…”

Rosette was startled and looked around. Fortunately, no one seemed to have heard Michael’s disrespectful address.

She lowered her voice.

“How can you say that like that?”

“I’m not an Imperial citizen, after all.”

“That’s true, but if someone else had heard, it would have been very awkward. Of course, even if His Highness had heard, he wouldn’t have said anything…”

“So, Rose, are you close to His Highness the First Prince?”

Michael willingly corrected his address. Relieved, Rosette hesitated for a moment before cautiously answering.

“I don’t know.”

“Then you’re not close?”

“We’re not even in a position to discuss friendship in the first place. He’s a prince, after all.”

“What if His Highness the First Prince wasn’t royalty?”

It was a hypothetical she had never considered.

‘If His Highness wasn’t a prince…’

Would their relationship be different from what it is now?

Looking back, there were many restrictions between them because Joshua was a prince.

When they were young, they often had to meet and talk to change the future, but since it was difficult for Joshua to leave the Imperial Palace, Rosette had to enter the palace under the pretext of visiting Ophelia.

Otherwise, they would meet in the forest at night, or if that wasn’t possible, they would only talk through Silver.

And that wasn’t all. The two of them spent much more time apart than together in the capital, and they couldn’t even exchange letters properly during that time.

Because the Imperial Palace’s censorship was so strict, Rosette couldn’t send letters as often as she did to her family and friends. She occasionally wrote letters, but she didn’t write anything sincere for fear of being seen.

The same was true now that she was an adult. They still had things to deal with, but they had almost no opportunity to talk alone. They met even less often than when they were children.

‘But what if His Highness was just a regular noble?’

Wouldn’t they have been able to meet often since they were young?

They could have interacted between families, met Ophelia often, and joked around with Joshua as equals.

And perhaps a future with Joshua…

Rosette snapped out of her thoughts at that point.

“If His Highness wasn’t royalty, we might have been closer than we are now. I’m also close to his family. But it’s a meaningless hypothetical.”

Her voice was a little sharp. It was a kind of defense mechanism. A defense mechanism to hide feelings she didn’t want to be discovered.

“Anyway, I’m going to go see my family. You should socialize a bit too.”

“Wait, Rose…”

Rosette headed towards Lucas as if fleeing, afraid that Michael would pry further. Lucas, who was talking with his friends, greeted her happily and introduced his friends.

“Hey, brat, these are my friends. You might recognize some of them.”

“Yeah.”

In fact, she recognized a couple of Lucas’s friends who had been close to him since childhood. As Rosette exchanged greetings with them, Lucas warned his friends.

“Don’t any of you get any funny ideas about our little brat.”

“Oppa [older brother figure].”

Rosette covered her forehead in embarrassment and tried to stop him, but Lucas paid no attention.

Rosette couldn’t stay there any longer and moved to another spot.

She talked with Daniel and Ines, then headed to Isabel, who was with Lord Roten.

In truth, she wanted to go to Joshua and wish him a happy birthday, but he was already surrounded by so many people that she couldn’t.

‘I want to go to the Empress too, but there are too many people.’

As she spent her time like that, the party atmosphere heated up, and the time to give birthday presents approached.

The representatives of the families approached Joshua, who was sitting in a chair, one by one and gave him presents.

Joshua didn’t open the presents and immediately handed them over to a servant, so she couldn’t see the contents, but the packaging alone was already luxurious. The sizes were all large.

‘The contents inside must be expensive too.’

As the presents piled up, Rosette became more and more dejected.

Soon, it was Daniel’s turn. He carried a box longer than his arm and knelt down in front of Joshua on one knee.

Joshua, who had been receiving gifts with an expressionless face, suddenly showed interest.

“What is this?”

“It’s a sword. I had it specially made because I thought it would suit Your Highness.”

Joshua gestured to the servant who was habitually trying to receive the box, then stood up himself. Daniel opened the box and showed the contents, taking the place of Joshua, who had approached him.

Joshua held the sword with a serious face. The sword’s surface, which had a subtle silver color like Joshua’s hair, sparkled in the light of the chandelier.

Every time Joshua slowly turned the sword, the reflected light reached the people. Rosette was among them. She squinted slightly at the dazzling light, but steadily looked at Joshua.

“A fine sword indeed.”

Soon, Joshua put the sword back in the box with a satisfied smile.

As he told the servant taking the box to be careful, he suddenly raised his head, and his eyes met Rosette’s.

Joshua looked at her for a moment without avoiding her gaze. It couldn’t be, but his eyes seemed to be asking, ‘Rosette, what kind of present did you prepare?’

Rosette lowered her gaze and fiddled with her handbag. When she mustered the courage to look up again, Joshua was looking elsewhere.

The last person to approach was Joshua’s half-brother, Louis Ernhardt.

“Happy birthday, Brother.”

Louis, who smiled like an angel, gestured, and his servant approached with a box.

The box was very small compared to the previous gifts. It was smaller than the size of two palms put together, but the surface of the box was decorated more lavishly than any other.

“Every year when your birthday approaches, I worry a lot about what kind of gift I should give you. Fortunately, a large diamond was found in the Lilis Duchy mine this time.”

When the servant opened the box, the diamond inside was revealed. Exclamations erupted from the people who looked at it.

“Oh my, a diamond of that size.”

“I’ve never seen anything like that before. I’m seeing it for the first time.”

Although she didn’t show it, Rosette was honestly very surprised. As a member of the Adrian family, she had seen enough expensive jewelry to be tired of it, but the diamond Louis presented was surprisingly large.

However, neither Joshua, who was looking at the gift, nor Ophelia, who was sitting next to him, had a good expression.

Rosette belatedly grasped the meaning behind Louis’s gift.

‘He said it was a diamond from the Lilis Duchy.’

At Joshua’s birthday party, which Ophelia also attended, he deliberately gave a gift that evoked the Lilis Duchy. What that meant was clear.

‘It’s a battle of wills.’

But Joshua soon gestured to his servant with a nonchalant expression.

“Thank you. I’ll entrust this diamond to a jeweler to make a necklace and give it to Mother. Actually, today is my birthday, but shouldn’t Mother be the one receiving congratulations? If it weren’t for Mother, I wouldn’t be here either.”

“That’s… right.”

Louis answered a little awkwardly.

‘His Highness is not easy either.’

As Rosette admired inwardly, Louis stepped back. Soon, Joshua looked around at the people and said.

“My birthday has come again this year. Time flies so fast. I would like to express my gratitude to all of you who attend the party every year without getting tired of it. I hope you all have a good time.”

The party, which had been paused for a moment with applause, resumed. Everyone gathered in groups of three or five and enjoyed the party.

Joshua sat on the platform and talked with Ophelia, who was sitting next to him. If a stranger saw him, he would look so calm that he wouldn’t know that he was the protagonist of the birthday party at all.

Rosette glanced at him even while talking to people. Each time, their eyes met as if Joshua was also observing her.

Joshua moved his lips and said something. But Rosette couldn’t recognize the shape of his mouth.

Rosette widened her eyes and asked what he meant, but Joshua just chuckled and continued talking to Ophelia.

‘But is the Empress okay?’

Rosette unconsciously looked at the Lilis Duchess, who was standing like the main character in the middle of the party hall.

She, who had been secluded in the mansion for a while, attended today’s party. She was dressed up as splendidly as if to show off.

She was already noticeable because of her hair color, but even her dress and accessories were so flashy that she looked like the main character of the party at first glance.

It was in contrast to Ophelia, who was wearing a dress with a calm design, although it used high-quality fabric.

‘His Highness the Second Prince is also still here. I didn’t think he would attend.’

In fact, it was natural for Louis to attend.

Although his family affairs were complicated, Louis Ernhardt was Joshua’s brother as a formally registered prince. It would have been more scandalous if he, as his younger brother, did not attend the birthday party.

Even though she knew that, Rosette somehow didn’t like it.

If only those two weren’t there, everyone she loved would be happy. No, such a tragedy wouldn’t have even happened in the first place.

As she was thinking that, Louis suddenly looked in her direction. Finding her, he slowly walked towards her.

Rosette tried to run away towards Lucas, feeling a surge of anxiety, but Louis was faster than her.

He approached her and greeted her with a bright voice.

“Long time no see, Lady?”