The Youngest Daughter Of The Great Wizard Of The Famous Swordsmanship [EN]: Chapter 3

3. Duke Adrian (1)

Is there anyone else who has to face the person they killed, besides me?

No one taught me what to do in situations like this. Even the books I secretly read behind Dallas’s back didn’t cover this sort of thing.

Rosette moved her lips slightly and instinctively mumbled.

“…I’m sorry.”

“Huh?”

“I’m sorry.”

Duke Adrian looked bewildered.

“About what?”

“Just, everything.”

Rosette, who had briefly stopped crying, burst into tears again.

“I’m just sorry for everything.”

The man before her has no memory of it. But the fact that Rosette killed him once remains unchanged.

-Don’t cry, child.

-Never go back to that man.

Moreover, Duke Adrian was worried about her being used by Marquis Dallas until the moment Rosette killed him.

Rosette killed such a kind person.

Joshua’s tears were the final trigger, but Rosette had been suffering from guilt ever since she killed Duke Adrian.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

Duke Adrian looked at Rosette, who was kneeling before him and crying, with pity.

He could understand Rosette’s feelings. Commoner children around Rosette’s age would often be intimidated just by seeing a noble and would apologize.

However, Rosette seemed different from them. Although she looked like a child of only six or seven, she seemed as sorrowful as an adult carrying the weight of life.

Duke Adrian felt an inexplicable sense of pity for her and helped her up.

“Stop crying. You’ll get exhausted, no, you’ll collapse.”

Rosette shook her head, resisting getting up.

“The wind is cold. Let’s go home now. Where is your home?”

At that moment, Jane, who had regained her senses, was horrified to see him.

“Oh, a n-noble sir!”

Jane guessed the situation from Rosette’s crying and knelt beside her.

“I-I don’t know what my sister d-did wrong. P-Please, just forgive her. P-Punish m-me instead.”

Duke Adrian looked bewildered and muttered to his aide, who was standing behind him, with a smile.

“What affectionate sisters. It’s a good sight.”

“Master, I heard they are children staying at a nearby orphanage.”

“An orphanage, you say?”

“Yes. The orphanage affiliated with the temple you were going to visit.”

“That’s good.”

Duke Adrian lifted Rosette up with a swift motion. Even though Rosette was smaller than others her age, he looked as comfortable as if he were lifting a feather.

The aide, who was watching, helped Jane up, who was next to Rosette.

“Now, stop crying and let’s go back.”

Rosette nodded quickly to get away from him. Thanks to that, she returned to the orphanage in a carriage with Jane and Duke Adrian.

Not knowing what Duke Adrian was thinking, just trembling with fear.

“Goodness, what happened to you?”

The head sister of the orphanage exclaimed in surprise at the sight of Jane.

Jane’s body was now covered with blood clots.

Only then did Jane let out a questioning “Huh?” in a loud voice.

“That’s strange?”

She touched her body here and there.

“I definitely got hit by a rock, but it doesn’t hurt!”

“A rock? What rock?”

“No, people said I stole snacks and threw rocks at me, calling me a thief…….”

“What? These people, really!”

The head sister narrowed her eyes. She rolled up her sleeves, ready to run to the village right away. Jane quickly grabbed her waist.

“Sister, I’m okay! It doesn’t hurt!”

“How can it not hurt when you bled so much? I have to call a doctor right away!”

“I’m telling you, I’m fine!”

Jane lifted her bangs and showed her clean forehead. The head sister’s eyes widened, and then she showed her arms and knees.

“How can this be…….”

“I don’t know! I lost consciousness for a moment and woke up like this! Sister! Could it be that the Goddess protected me?”

Unlike Jane, who was innocently muttering, the head sister had already seen much of the world and lost her innocence. She didn’t believe that this was like the Goddess’s blessing.

“You said Duke Adrian came.”

Duke Adrian. He probably brought a magician with him. Since he brought Jane and Rosette, he must have felt sorry for Jane and healed her.

“Jane, when you meet Duke Adrian later, thank him.”

“Huh? Why?”

Jane flinched at the mention of the Duke’s name. As expected, nobles were objects of fear for children.

“Because the Duke seems to have healed you.”

“The Duke? Why me?”

“Because he’s a kind person, he couldn’t just ignore you.”

“Nobles are all bad!”

“Shh, I told you not to say things like that…….”

“I partially agree with that statement, but there are still good nobles. For example, Duke Adrian.”

At the sudden interjection, the three people simultaneously turned their heads towards the voice.

A brown-haired man wearing clothes that looked as expensive as the Duke’s was standing there. The young man, who looked to be about thirty years old, pushed up his glasses and approached the three.

He nodded slightly and handed something to Jane. It was the paper bag she had been holding so dearly in the plaza.

“Ah! Snacks for Rose!”

Jane snatched the paper bag and examined the contents, her eyebrows drooping sadly.

“Oh no. It’s all broken. I bought it for our Rose.”

“Sister, I’m okay…….”

“I knew this would happen, so I prepared this.”

The brown-haired man handed over a paper bag that he had been hiding behind his back. It was three times bigger than the one Jane had.

Despite the head sister’s dissuasion, Jane quickly snatched the bag. Inside were various cookies, candies, and chocolates. The sweet smell wafted up just from opening the bag.

“I can give this to our Rose.”

The man muttered apologetically to Jane, who looked happy.

“I’m sorry, but may I take the little girl for a moment?”

*Me? Why does Duke Adrian’s aide want to take me?* Rosette looked up at Jane and the head sister with a face that said she didn’t want to go, but there was no way they could go against the words of a noble.

Even if she said she didn’t want to go, the man would have listened to them, but nobles were still scary beings to the two children. The two children looked at Rosette’s expression and carefully pushed her back.

Eventually, Rosette opened her mouth with difficulty.

“I d-don’t want to.”

“It’s not scary. If you come with me, you can have delicious snacks.”

“I want to eat snacks here with my sisters.”

The man hid his embarrassment and smiled.

“Then, I’ll come again tomorrow…….”

Just then, Jude ran over from afar.

“Rose! Head Priest is looking for you!”

“Really? I’ll go right now!”

Rosette ran away quickly to escape the current situation. If she had known who was in the headmaster’s office, she probably wouldn’t have done that.

* * *

The head of the orphanage wiped away the cold sweat as he looked at Duke Adrian sitting across from him.

Duke Adrian had only sponsored the orphanage so far, and he had never had a private meeting with him like this. He was just embarrassed that he suddenly asked for a private meeting.

‘I heard that he came with the children earlier, did the children do something wrong?’

Duke Adrian was lenient with the children. If he was questioning the children’s wrongdoings, it was clear that the children had done something seriously wrong.

The head asked with a complicated mind.

“What’s going on, Duke?”

“There is a child named Rosette here, right? A child with pink hair and blue eyes.”

“Yes, there is. But may I ask why you are looking for Rose? Did Rose do something rude?”

*Rose is quiet, so that shouldn’t happen.* The Duke made a shocking announcement to him, who was wondering.

“I would like to adopt Rosette into our Adrian family.”

“…….”

The head priest was at a loss for words at the sudden proposal. The Duke’s family already had two sons and one daughter. All three were rumored to be skilled in swordsmanship, befitting the people of the Adrian family.

Why would he want to adopt Rosette when he already has three such capable children?

The Duke’s reputation was clean. He was a Duke, and he himself was one of the best knights in the Empire, but he didn’t show it off and always tried to be humble. He was said to be faithful to his family without any issues with women.

However, there may be other sides to the rumor. It was too terrible to imagine, but the head could not help but assume the worst.

Finding a new family was a great blessing for the children, but he couldn’t put his precious child in danger.

Abuse, pedophilia, sacrifice, etc. All sorts of negative endings flashed through the head’s mind.

But as if Duke Adrian had read his mind, he smiled kindly.

“I can roughly guess what you’re thinking, but rest assured that it’s not like that.”

Then he told a strange story.

“Did you know that Rosette has a talent for magic?”

“Rose? That can’t be.”

“No, I saw it clearly. Rosette cleanly healing her sister who had collapsed after being hit by a rock.”

“Collapsed after being hit by a rock? Who?”

“I think it was a child named Jane.”

“Oh my! Jane!”

Duke Adrian stopped the head priest from getting up from his seat and running out right away.

“I have confirmed that she is unharmed, so don’t worry too much. Of course, I have taken appropriate measures against the people who threw stones at the child.”

“A rock, why would that young child…….”

“She was accused of being a thief. You can talk about that with the children later, but I want to talk about Rosette now.”

“Ah, is that so? But is it really true that Rose healed Jane?”

“Unless you doubt my abilities, yes.”

The head quickly waved his hand.

“Who in this empire would doubt your abilities, Duke? Then maybe Rose…….”

Duke Adrian nodded to the head, who was asking in disbelief.

“Yes, I want to adopt that child and nurture her abilities.”