The Youngest Daughter Of The Great Wizard Of The Famous Swordsmanship [EN]: Chapter 204

204. Epilogue (5)

2024.05.22.

“Your Imperial Majesty, Her Imperial Majesty, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!”

My two friends pushed me from behind, and before I knew it, I was shoved toward Joshua.

The first to greet me was the Emperor. He approached me even before Joshua did.

“Isn’t this the Adrian Duchess?”

“The Empire’s sun……”

Before I could even bend my knee to show respect to the Imperial Family, the Emperor opened his arms wide and embraced me tightly.

“……!”

People murmured, and Ophelia covered her mouth in surprise. Joshua, standing next to her, frowned, unable to hide his displeasure.

But no one was more surprised than I was.

“Y-Your Majesty?”

“I was able to rest easy thanks to you, Duchess. I wanted to call you to the palace sooner, but Duke Adrian strongly dissuaded me, so I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

“Your Majesty.”

Duke Adrian, who had approached unnoticed, bowed before the Emperor.

“There are many eyes watching. Please allow my daughter to properly greet Your Majesty.”

It was a polite remark, but everyone in the hall knew it was an expression of ‘Let go of my daughter quickly.’ Duke Adrian’s aura was quite fierce as well.

The Emperor burst into a hearty laugh and released me. He didn’t seem uncomfortable at all.

I took a deep breath and quickly bowed.

“Greetings to the sun of the Empire.”

“There’s no need to be so formal, Duchess. Everyone in this Empire knows that you and the Crown Prince are in a special relationship.”

“Well……”

“If you are special to the Crown Prince, you are special to me as well. I don’t have a daughter, so I feel like you are one to me. Perhaps you will be soon.”

Duke Adrian responded to that remark.

“Your Majesty, while I am grateful for your kind words, my daughter is still lacking. I still have much to teach her.”

“Lacking? Is there anyone in this Ernhardt who doubts your abilities, Duchess? And the Duchess is an adult; there’s no need for the Duke to keep her under his wing forever.”

“Your Majesty.”

This time, Joshua interjected.

“Everyone is waiting. Shouldn’t we allow them to enjoy the banquet comfortably?”

The Emperor clicked his tongue as if he understood Joshua’s feelings, but he soon agreed with his words.

“I was lacking in consideration. Today is a day to celebrate the Crown Prince, but I acted like the main character. Then don’t worry about me and enjoy yourselves. And Duchess Adrian, I have many things I want to say to you, so please come to the palace again soon. I’ll send a carriage.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

The Emperor looked back and forth between Joshua and me, then went to sit on a raised chair at the front of the hall. Ophelia also patted me on the shoulder once before heading to the Emperor’s side.

“Hoo.”

Only then did Joshua relax his expression and approach me. Other nobles showed interest and approached us, but they stepped back, sensing Joshua’s discomfort.

Duke Adrian read his mind and smiled.

“Relax your expression, Your Highness. Isn’t today a joyous day?”

“It should be a joyous day, indeed, Master.”

He glanced at the Emperor and sighed.

Duke Adrian smiled once more and patted him on the shoulder. Then, as if realizing something, he bowed to show respect to the Imperial Family.

“Master?”

“I am formally greeting you now, Your Highness. I sincerely congratulate you on becoming the Crown Prince.”

“Please rise, Master. I cannot accept such excessive greetings from you.”

“I am not greeting you as your master, but as the head of Adrian.”

Joshua thought for a moment and nodded.

“If that is the case, thank you, Duke. I gratefully accept your congratulations.”

“I too……”

As I was about to pay my respects next to the Duke, Joshua grabbed my hand and stopped me.

“Rose, I don’t want to receive such greetings from you.”

“But……”

“But can’t you congratulate me as Rose, my lover, rather than as Duchess Adrian?”

I couldn’t help but glance at Duke Adrian. The Duke, who had been smiling all along, was looking at the two of us with a slightly troubled expression.

“Your Highness and Rose, I can still see your young faces from when you were little, but so much time has already passed.”

The Duke sighed softly and bowed again.

“Then I’ll be on my way. Talk about the things you haven’t been able to share. Rose, don’t worry about us and do whatever you want to do.”

“Yes, Dad.”

As soon as Duke Adrian stepped aside, Joshua grabbed my hand and pulled me away.

“Now we can finally be alone.”

He kissed the back of my hand deeply and smiled.

“Shall we go, Rose?”

“……Where to?”

“You’ll see when we get there.”

Joshua led me out of the hall while I was still saying, “Huh, huh?”

* * *

“But you know, isn’t Joshua the main character today? Is it okay for us to come out like this?”

I asked as we walked down the darkened path.

“It’s fine. The party is just a formality anyway. Everyone would rather talk to His Majesty than to me.”

“Still, we have to dance later.”

“Everyone will dance on their own. It’s not like they can’t dance without me.”

Joshua replied nonchalantly, as if it were none of his business, then asked carefully.

“Do you perhaps not like being alone with me like this?”

“Of course not!”

I shouted without realizing it.

“I like it very much. I only saw you for a very short time last time. I’ve been wanting to see you ever since that day, but I don’t want to cause any trouble because of me……”

Joshua stopped walking as if he couldn’t bear it any longer and kissed me hastily. He whispered with his lips still touching mine.

“You are the most important thing to me. I don’t care what anyone else says.”

I couldn’t say anything and just panted.

“You don’t know how hard I tried to suppress my instincts when I saw you at the Grand Temple.”

I asked with a hint of laughter in my voice.

“You wanted to run to me right away? Lord Roten was worried about that.”

“That’s right. I held back from running to you.”

He kissed me loudly once more and then swept me up into his arms. I let out a small gasp and hugged his neck.

“J-Joshua?”

“It’ll be faster to go this way.”

He rubbed his nose against mine again and walked faster than before.

Soon, he arrived at the garden attached to the Sapphire Palace. Silver, wearing a black bow tie, greeted us in the early spring flower garden.

[Woof! Woof woof!]

As soon as Joshua put me down, I ran to Silver. Silver ran to me and tried to lick my cheek. I desperately avoided Silver.

“Not today. I dressed up carefully to come here. Yes, good boy. Next time.”

I stroked Silver’s head as he drooped his tail in disappointment.

“I saw you with Joshua at the Grand Temple earlier. You looked great in the cape. Pipi praised you too.”

[Bbit!]

Pipi, who had followed us, sat on Silver’s head and hopped around. Each time, the small ribbon tied to Pipi’s ankle fluttered. The maids had tied it for him, saying it was a special day.

“But why were you waiting here alone today? Weren’t you bored?”

I knelt down to meet Silver’s eyes and asked, but I heard Joshua sighing behind me.

“It seems you still think Silver is more important than me.”

“No, it’s not that……”

“If it’s not that, how can you only look for Silver without looking around when I brought you all the way here?”

“Around?”

Only then did I straighten up and look around the garden. At the same time, the dark garden lit up as if it were under the light of a chandelier.

“……Huh?”

Finally, I took a good look around, and my eyes widened. The garden, which I thought only had flowers blooming, was now decorated lavishly.

The trees with tender leaves were decorated with ribbons and other ornaments, and a lavish dinner was set on a spacious table on one side.

“What is this?”

“I wanted to have some time alone with you.”

Instead of leading me to the table, Joshua knelt down on one knee in front of me, looking bewildered.

Instantly, a word flashed through my mind.

-I want to propose to you, not the other way around, in a properly prepared place.

I blinked slowly, wondering if it was possible, and Silver handed something to Joshua. It was a small box wrapped in red velvet.

“Rose. Rosette Adrian.”

Joshua’s face, looking up at me, was more serious than ever. At this moment, even the noisy Silver and Pipi were silent.

“A lot has happened in the meantime. There were days when we laughed, but there were also days when we cried and despaired.”

“……”

“I feel like I’ve said this several times already, but every time, you supported me by my side. Now I can’t imagine a life without you. If you hadn’t been there, I would have lost everything and lived in despair.”

There was even tension on Joshua’s face.

“I know that I am lacking compared to you. Even if I live my whole life for you, I can’t repay everything you’ve done for me.”

I wanted to deny it, but I couldn’t say anything.

“Maybe it’s selfish of me to say this. It might be better for you to meet someone better than me and do what you want to do freely.”

I shook my head. At one time, I said I didn’t want to be Empress, but now I wanted Joshua so much that I wondered why I had even worried about it.

“Still, Rose, won’t you stay with me like this in the future?”

Joshua slowly opened the box he was holding. A diamond ring, smaller than my pinky nail, sparkled brilliantly. On closer inspection, the diamond had a pink hue that resembled my hair.

I stared blankly at Joshua for a moment.

Even though my answer was already decided, he was very nervous. He was smiling, but I could see the anxiety in his eyes.

As my silence grew longer, the two familiars who had been listening quietly opened their mouths.

[Woof! Woof woof woof!]

[Bbiit! Bbik! Bbiiiit!]

Marry him! Marry him! Marry him quickly!

Pipi shouted incessantly. Silver’s words were probably similar.

I held back the tears that were welling up and nodded.

“Yes. I really like it too!”

Silver and Pipi cheered. A smile finally appeared on Joshua’s face. It was a happier smile than ever before, with no worries or concerns.

Joshua carefully took out the ring and put it on my ring finger. The ring fit my finger perfectly.

“How……”

“I asked Mrs. Wide.”

“You didn’t say anything to me.”

“Of course, I told her to keep it a secret.”

Joshua kissed the knuckle of my hand with the ring on it and lowered his head towards me.

[Bbit!]

Silver picked up the embarrassed Pipi in his mouth and ran out of the garden like an arrow.

Joshua’s lips carefully landed on mine as I burst into laughter without realizing it. He murmured with his lips touching mine.

“I love you, Rose.”

“I love you too.”

“I love you much more than you think.”

“I too……”

Joshua’s lips swallowed the voice of Rosette, who was about to answer the same, roughly.

I opened my eyes wide and then closed them gently.

The miracle of turning back time would never happen again. That was the only chance the goddess gave me.

So from now on, I would not look back but move forward. I would live every moment to the fullest so that I would not regret it.

But even if something regrettable happened, I was no longer afraid.

I felt like I could overcome it even if life was stained with regret if I was with my beloved lover, Joshua Ernhardt.

So now it was time to move into the future with Joshua.

The youngest daughter of the Swordmaster Family is a Magician. The End