The Youngest Daughter Of The Great Wizard Of The Famous Swordsmanship [EN]: Chapter 142

142. Thankful for You

March 21, 2024

Rosette glared at the oblivious familiars, but Bippi and Silver, paying no mind, raised their voices even louder.

They were already a well-matched pair, but they were even more in sync at times like this.

Joshua, hearing Silver’s words, didn’t directly press Rosette, but his gaze at the letter was intense.

Rosette mumbled defensively.

“Your Highness wasn’t usually interested in letters, was he?”

“Wasn’t I?”

Joshua replied as if he’d never heard such a thing before.

“I mean, I’ve been sending letters all this time, and I haven’t received proper replies, and…”

“That’s because there are many eyes in the Imperial Palace. I’ve always read your letters carefully.”

Joshua, offering what sounded like an excuse or explanation, added softly.

“Would you believe me if I said I was always waiting for your letters?”

“Your Highness, waiting for my letters?”

“Yes.”

Joshua glanced sideways at Silver, who wagged his tail and barked, proving that Joshua was happy every time he received Rosette’s letters.

‘His Highness was waiting for my letters,’ she thought.

Apart from being embarrassed to give a heartfelt letter, she felt a little uplifted.

“So, won’t you give me the letter now?”

Rosette hesitated, then slightly loosened her grip on the letter. Silver, quick to notice, snatched the letter and handed it to Joshua.

Joshua scanned the surface of the letter, covered with Bippi’s footprints, then carefully tore open the seal.

In fact, the letter didn’t contain much.

Along with sincere birthday wishes, it simply contained heartfelt words wishing Joshua all his dreams would come true and that he would be happy. It wasn’t very long either.

In some ways, it was no different from Bippi’s letter.

Yet, Joshua read the short letter over and over.

Joshua, murmuring the closing remark, ‘From Rosette, who is always worried about Your Highness,’ folded the letter, put it in his pocket, and smiled slightly.

Rosette, feeling embarrassed for no reason, mumbled.

“The letter isn’t long, but the content is sincere. I hope Your Highness will be happy.”

Unlike the past.

Those unspoken words lingered in Rosette’s mouth.

*I hope that you, who lost your beloved mother, respected teacher, and dear friends, and sat on the cold stone floor crying like a child, will be happy from now on without any worries.*

As Rosette murmured the words she couldn’t write in the letter, Joshua asked.

“I feel the same way.”

“Your Highness too?”

“Yes.”

Joshua tucked a stray strand of hair behind Rosette’s ear and whispered softly.

“I hope you will be happy.”

“…Me?”

She didn’t expect these words to come out. When Joshua said, ‘I feel the same way,’ she thought he was wishing for his own happiness.

“Now that I mention it, you looked very sad that day.”

Without explanation, she seemed to know what ‘that day’ referred to. Joshua was talking about the last time Rosette had met him before she turned back time.

In this moment, wishing each other happiness in the same space, the two were recalling the same past.

After returning to the past and realizing that they both remembered the same past, Rosette and Joshua shared and talked about many things.

But there was one thing they had never talked about: their last meeting.

Perhaps they had intentionally avoided the memories of that day.

So Rosette had no idea how Joshua had looked at her on that night when sadness weighed heavily, and what her own image had looked like in his eyes.

The Pandora’s box that had not been opened for over 10 years was now being opened at this moment.

“To be honest, it was infuriating. That you, who had killed so many people, who had even taken away my precious people, had a face that looked like you were about to cry.”

She fully understood Joshua’s feelings. If Rosette had been in his position, she would have thought the same thing.

For example, if Marquis Dallas cried and repented in front of her? Just imagining it gave her goosebumps.

But Rosette didn’t say such things and silently listened to Joshua’s words.

“I couldn’t forgive you, but I thought that if you atoned, Master and Daniel would forgive you. Unlike me, the two of them are kind and generous.”

-Even if you die, the two of them won’t come back, but you can honor their spirits. If you have even a shred of guilt, atone until the moment you die.

‘So, that’s how you felt when you said those words,’ Rosette thought. She recalled his voice, which she still couldn’t forget, and became sentimental.

“Shamefully, I couldn’t do anything at that time either. All I could do was pour out my anger on you. And when I fell into a light sleep and woke up, I was back in the past.”

Joshua unbuttoned one of his shirt buttons, grabbed the necklace he was wearing, and broke it. Rosette placed the necklace that Bippi had delivered on her palm and examined it.

It was a pendant made of a jewel reminiscent of opal, with small black spots here and there.

“This is…?”

“You asked how I was the only one who remembered the past, right? I think it’s thanks to this magic stone.”

“This is a magic stone?”

Rosette looked at the pendant seriously once again. Come to think of it, a faint mana [magical energy] was flowing from the pendant.

“Yes. It’s a heirloom of the Ivelin royal family that Mother gave me. She told me to always carry it with me because it would save me someday. This magic stone, which always shone brightly, was black when I returned to the past. Now, the color has returned to some extent.”

“So that’s why Your Highness wasn’t affected by my magic. But why are you telling me this? It seems like no one knows about it except the Empress and Your Highness.”

“I thought I could tell you.”

Joshua’s story didn’t stop there and continued.

“Even after I found out that you were the one who turned back time, I didn’t trust you. I thought your purpose in Adrian was impure. Even though the person in front of me was just a small and timid child, I couldn’t believe it easily. I knew that people don’t change easily.”

“I understand.”

“It may have been hurtful to you, but I don’t regret telling you to leave Adrian immediately. That was the best I could do at the time.”

She understood that too. Joshua’s words were shocking even now, but considering Rosette’s past behavior, it was something he could 충분히 [sufficiently] say.

“But now, I’m grateful that you didn’t leave back then and are still living in Adrian. Now, I can’t even imagine Adrian without you. If my actions have ever hurt you, I want to apologize at this moment.”

Rosette’s cheeks flushed.

She didn’t turn back time to receive praise or apologies from anyone.

She used ancient magic with only her belief that she would correct all her wrongdoings.

So Joshua didn’t need to be grateful, and there was even less reason to apologize.

But she felt strange. She wanted to tell him, and only him, the innermost thoughts she had hidden until the very end.

After moving her lips for a moment, Rosette opened her mouth.

“That day, my father, the Duke of Adrian at the time, told me to go back. He said I was like a daughter to him. I couldn’t kill someone like that. I didn’t want to kill him. So I was going to go back, but…”

“…”

“My body didn’t move as I intended. I don’t even remember what happened after that. I don’t even remember meeting Daniel. When I came to my senses, Your Highness was in front of me.”

Tears fell from Rosette’s eyes, which had been lowered, without warning.

“The moment I saw Your Highness crying, the air pressing down on me was too heavy. My sins, which I had been trying to ignore, were strangling me. There was no grand reason for turning back time. I just wanted to give back the lives of the people I had ruined.”

“…”

“I didn’t care what happened to someone like me. It was okay to die as the price of magic. I was going to die anyway, and I was a human being who wasn’t even worth living. But Your Highness, I…”

Rosette smiled as she wiped away her tears with her palm.

“But I’m glad I didn’t die back then and lived. I’m glad I could change my father’s life, Daniel’s life, and the Empress’s life, but I’m also glad I could change my own life. And…”

Her reddened eyes curved like a crescent moon.

“I’m so glad that the person who remembers my past is Your Highness, not someone else. No, I’m really happy that Your Highness remembers everything.”

There were definitely times when she was afraid that Joshua knew everything. There were times when she was scared that he would reveal everything to her family.

But now, she was grateful that Joshua was by her side.

That she didn’t have to fight the lonely battle alone, that she had someone to confess everything to and atone to.

She had wondered what it would have been like if someone other than Joshua Ernhardt had remembered her past.

But the conclusion was always the same.

She was glad that Joshua Ernhardt knew everything about her.

Joshua, who was mesmerized by the tears flowing down Rosette’s eyes, slowly approached her. His slightly cold fingers wiped away her tears.

“Rosette.”

His low murmuring voice was filled with heat, and his gaze looking down at Rosette was filled with desire. It was an intense emotion that could not be mistaken for anything else.

Rosette, who had read Joshua’s longing that could no longer be hidden, slowly closed her eyes.

Soon, Joshua’s lips slowly and carefully landed on Rosette’s trembling eyelids.