The Youngest Daughter Of The Great Wizard Of The Famous Swordsmanship [EN]: Chapter 29

28. Joshua Ernhardt’s Circumstances (2)

2023.11.28.

Daniel chuckled, seemingly pleased just to hear his sister’s name.

“Yes, Rose is the nickname. Her formal name is Rosette.”

“Rosette? Did the Master [Duke Adrian] give her that name?”

“No. Rosette is her original name. I don’t know who named her, but I think it’s because her hair is pink like a rose.”

“Pink? Are her eyes blue by any chance?”

“How did you know? Yes, they are.”

“……”

“What’s wrong, Your Highness?”

“Nothing.”

Joshua composed himself and asked the final question.

“Was it not Celine who saved the Master this time, but that youngest Princess?”

“……”

Daniel was still terrible at lying. He subtly avoided Joshua’s gaze and smiled sheepishly.

From that reaction, Joshua concluded that his suspicions were correct.

* * *

Joshua watched Daniel leave Sapphire Palace, lost in thought. The flood of information was overwhelming.

‘The past has changed again. Why?’

In the past he remembered, it was Daniel Adrian, not Duke Adrian, who suffered the mysterious carriage accident.

Daniel, a promising swordsman, was left with a lifelong limp from the accident, so he was sure he wasn’t misremembering.

That’s why Joshua risked suspicion to warn Daniel.

But the one who had the accident was Duke Adrian, whom he hadn’t been concerned about at all.

Moreover.

‘The timing has shifted subtly.’

In the past, Daniel’s accident occurred after the social season had fully begun. But this accident happened before spring even arrived.

He wondered if there were still forces targeting Daniel, but that didn’t seem to be the case. What were the odds of two identical carriage accidents happening around the same time?

So Joshua concluded that the target had changed to Duke Adrian for some reason.

And there was another difference.

‘They said they caught the culprit this time. Baron Shane, was it?’

In the past, Duke Adrian was furious and searched the empire thoroughly but couldn’t find the culprit. This time, they found the mastermind relatively easily.

Was this even possible? Joshua groaned softly.

In fact, this wasn’t the first change to occur in the Adrian family. The past had already been altered once.

‘Rosette Adrian.’

A girl suddenly adopted into the Adrian family.

Joshua sat at his desk, savoring the name.

He already knew a girl named Rosette with pink hair and blue eyes. However, the full name of the girl he knew was ‘Rosette Dallas.’

The girl who was the adopted daughter of the Dallas family in the ‘past’ he remembered.

‘Come to think of it, Duke Dallas adopted her around this time too.’

Rosette wasn’t a common name. Could there really be two people with the same rare name and the same appearance? Moreover, the timing of their adoption was similar. They were both skilled in magic as well.

No matter how he thought about it, he came to the conclusion that the girl he knew and the youngest Princess of the Adrian family were the same person.

‘If Adrian’s second Princess is really Rosette Dallas that I know.’

Why is that girl in the Adrian family instead of the Dallas Marquisate [territory ruled by a Marquis] ?

He was confused.

Why was the very person who led the Adrian family to ruin there?

What was surprising was not Rosette’s presence, but the fact that Duke Adrian had decided to adopt her. If Rosette had approached him first, he would have suspected her ulterior motives, but circumstances suggested that wasn’t the case.

‘I should consider that fortunate.’

Was this an arrangement by the Goddess Asherah, or a curse from an evil god?

‘Either way, if it’s really Rosette Dallas, I have to get her out of the Adrian family.’

Joshua clenched his fist so tightly that his nails pressed painfully into his palm, recalling the still-vivid past.

* * *

That day was an ordinary, peaceful night like any other. He was about to fall asleep late after finishing paperwork when his aide rushed in urgently.

“Your Highness, something terrible has happened!”

“What is it?”

“The Adrian estate has been attacked.”

Until then, Joshua was indifferent.

“Is that something to report urgently this late at night?”

It wasn’t the first time assassins had infiltrated the Adrian estate. Most of them were caught by the guards.

Even if they managed to break into the mansion, they posed no threat to the Adrians. All four members of the Adrian family were among the best swordsmen in the empire.

So he assumed it would pass without incident this time as well. Joshua was about to head back to bed when.

“Duke Adrian and Lord Daniel have been murdered.”

“……What?”

“The Duke and the first son…! Ugh!”

The aide felt as if he was being choked by the murderous aura emanating from Joshua, who had suddenly approached him. Joshua spoke to him slowly, one word at a time.

“I asked you what you just said.”

“The two of them have passed away…”

“If you don’t speak properly, even you won’t be safe.”

“It’s… true.”

It couldn’t be. The Master and Daniel? This couldn’t be happening. But he needed confirmation.

Joshua didn’t even bother to dress properly and headed to the estate in just his shirt and trousers.

The Adrian estate was more chaotic than ever. Knights from the Imperial Guard had already arrived and surrounded the mansion.

“Who’s there…? Your Highness?”

“Move.”

“The investigation is still underway. Even Your Highness cannot enter…”

“Didn’t you hear me say move?”

Joshua brushed aside the tip of the spear of the knight blocking his path with his finger. Even though it was just a slight push, the knight fell backward.

Joshua walked inside without even glancing at the knight who had fallen on his rear.

The inside of the mansion was even more of a mess. The bodies of the guards were scattered on the floor, and red blood was splattered everywhere.

Joshua passed through the gruesome scene and headed straight to Duke Adrian’s study.

“Master!”

But he was greeted only by Lucas’s heart-wrenching cries.

“Father! Open your eyes, Father!”

Duke Adrian was cradled in Lucas’s arms, who was kneeling on the floor. He had his eyes closed as if he were sleeping soundly, but his left chest was stained red.

It was a sight he couldn’t believe even after seeing it. Joshua stood blankly at the door, involuntarily stepping back.

Lucas turned to him, sensing his presence. His cheeks were already covered in tears.

“Your Highness.”

“……”

“Father… , sob.”

Lucas cried like a child. Joshua belatedly approached him. He knelt down on one knee and placed his hand on the Duke’s neatly pierced chest.

He couldn’t feel a heartbeat. Desperate, he used healing magic. The wound began to heal from the edges, soon disappearing without a trace.

But the heart that had already stopped did not think about beating again. Joshua began to perform CPR [Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation], which he had learned sometime in the past. He repeatedly pressed hard on the Duke’s sternum with both hands.

But there was no response. The Duke, who always smiled kindly at him, no longer smiled.

“Please stop, Your Highness. My father is already…”

Only when Lucas stopped him, unable to watch any longer, did he stop CPR. He stared blankly at his blood-stained hands, and belatedly, tears began to fall.

“Master, why…”

Joshua first met Duke Adrian when he was three years old.

At the time, Duke Adrian’s wife, who was still alive, was the first friend Joshua’s mother, Ophelia, made when she came to the empire.

Duke Adrian was reluctant to teach Joshua but started lessons at his wife’s request.

He was a strict and sometimes kind teacher. Joshua admired Duke Adrian more than the cold and unaffectionate Emperor. Sometimes he felt like he was his father.

Duke Adrian was the strongest person he knew. Both externally and internally. Perhaps that was why Joshua never thought he would die so suddenly.

After crying for a long time, Joshua finally gathered his emotions and stood up. The next place he headed was Daniel’s room.

Isabel was sitting next to Daniel, who had collapsed. Unlike Lucas, she didn’t cry. She was just staring blankly at Daniel. She didn’t even turn around as Joshua approached.

Joshua silently looked down at Daniel. He had died with his eyes only half-closed.

Perhaps it was because he had already seen Duke Adrian. Tears did not come out. He just let out a hollow laugh.

Joshua carefully closed Daniel’s eyes and asked in a low voice.

“Who did this?”

Isabel replied with a still-blank face.

“We don’t know yet.”

“The assassin? Did they escape?”

“No. They were caught.”

“Caught? How did you catch them?”

The opponent was the one who killed Duke Adrian and Daniel. But they were caught so easily. It was unbelievable.

“When I and the knights arrived here, the assassin was just standing in front of my brother’s body.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

Isabel covered her face with both hands. She took a deep breath and continued.

“It’s a young girl.”

“What?”

“A child who doesn’t know why she got involved in this. I don’t even know if she really did it. Please find out the truth.”

“You’re talking as if you’re really worried about that child.”

Isabel stood up and muttered bitterly.

“Because that’s what my father would have done.”

Perhaps that was true. Duke Adrian was weak against children.

Then Joshua suddenly noticed the difference between Duke Adrian and Daniel.

‘There were no signs of a struggle with the Master. Daniel has other wounds.’

The only wound left on the Duke was a hole in his left chest. It was nonsense, no matter how skilled the assassin was.

That meant Duke Adrian hadn’t resisted in the first place.

‘He must not have been able to attack because he was careless because the opponent was a child.’

If so, it was even more despicable. It meant they had exploited Duke Adrian’s nature.

Joshua clenched both fists tightly.

“In the name of Joshua Ernhardt, I will find out the mastermind without fail.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

Joshua looked at Daniel one last time before leaving the mansion.

He felt like all his insides were burning, but now was not the time to grieve.

Thirteen years ago, when his mother, Ophelia Ernhardt, died, he was only twelve years old. He wanted to uncover the truth behind her death, but he was too young to step forward himself.

But it was different now. He was now an adult and had the power to wield.

He would find them without fail.

So that there would be no regrets this time.