The Youngest Daughter Of The Great Wizard Of The Famous Swordsmanship [EN]: Chapter 34

34. The Meaning of Family (2)

“Me?”

“Of course.”

“But I haven’t done anything yet.”

“You don’t have to *do* anything to be a wonderful Adrian. You are already perfect just by being you.”

“Hmm.”

Rosette struggled to understand what the Duke was saying.

The Marquis of Dallas had told her that to become a perfect Dallas, she had to be stronger than everyone else.

But a perfect Adrian without doing anything? It didn’t make sense.

She couldn’t understand it, but at least Duke Adrian didn’t seem to be lying.

‘Besides, Dad seems to care about me.’

Gaining a little courage, she asked,

“Then, aren’t you going to praise me?”

“Praise?”

“Yes. I worked hard.”

Duke Adrian quickly understood what she meant and gently pinched her cheek.

“Of course, I should. Good job, Rose.”

“Hehe.”

“But in the future, don’t overdo it and just follow what Mrs. Noir tells you to do.”

“Yes.”

“Understood? Rose, you are Rosette Adrian, no matter what anyone says.”

Rosette Adrian. She repeated the name in her mouth several times.

It seemed like there were many things she needed to learn, in a different way.

‘First of all, I should stop comparing my family to the Dallas family.’

I know now. The Dallas family was full of bad people. But the Adrian family is different.

Everyone is kind and warm.

So, I will live well without being tied to the past.

That day, for the first time, Rosette broke free from her past.

* * *

“How can you be so beautiful?”

Joan fussed as she brushed Rosette’s wet hair after her bath.

Rosette’s cheeks, already warm from the bath, flushed even more. It was a compliment she had been hearing every day for over two months, but she was still embarrassed.

But there was a change. In the past, she would have said, ‘Don’t say that. I know I’m not pretty,’ but now she just dangled her legs and listened to the compliments.

Joan was pleased with the change.

‘I don’t know why you ever thought you were ugly in the first place.’

Rosette was pretty enough to be considered one of the most beautiful women in the empire if she grew up like this. She was pretty in a different way from Isabel.

Why was such a child so insecure? Even if that wasn’t the case, children should always be confident.

So, Joan and the maids praised Rosette every day. Thanks to that, Rosette gradually regained her confidence.

“Thank you.”

Rosette smiled shyly and looked in the mirror. In the mirror, there was a pink-haired girl with chubby cheeks.

But there was one problem.

‘I don’t like it.’

She touched her pink hair with a dissatisfied expression.

The symbol of the Adrian family was platinum blonde. The eye color varied, but Duke Adrian and his three children, who inherited the Adrian bloodline, all had platinum blonde hair.

Only one person. Only Rosette, who was adopted, had different pink hair.

In the past, Rosette hadn’t liked her hair color either. It was because of Elisha Dallas, who often criticized her pink hair for being dull.

But now it was different. Thanks to the compliments and her determination not to be tied to the past, Rosette had come to love her hair color.

But these past few days, she was sad that she had a different color from her family.

‘Of course, it’s natural because I’m not a real Adrian, but……’

If possible, she wished she had been born with platinum blonde hair too. If she had, wouldn’t she look more like family to others?

Rosette, who had an idea that would surprise her family, immediately jumped off the chair. Then she ran to Celine.

Celine was in her lab. She beamed when she saw Rosette, who timidly opened the door and peeked her head in.

“Lady!”

“Celine, Sister.”

“What brings you here this morning? There’s still time before class.”

Rosette hesitated before getting to the point.

“I want to change my hair color.”

“Hair color?”

Celine’s eyes widened in surprise.

“What do you mean you want to change your hair color?”

She quickly approached Rosette, took the child’s small hands, and asked,

“Why did you suddenly think that?”

“Yes?”

“Did anyone say anything?”

Rosette instinctively understood what Celine meant and shook her head.

“It’s not like that. Everyone said my hair color is pretty.”

Celine breathed a small sigh of relief.

“Then why do you suddenly want to change your hair color? Did someone else’s hair color look prettier?”

“Umm.”

What should she answer? After thinking about it, Rosette decided to just tell the truth.

“Sister, I want to have the same hair color as you and my brothers.”

“Ah.”

Celine understood immediately.

“You’re upset because you’re the only one with a different hair color?”

When Rosette just nodded silently, Celine became lost in thought.

‘What should I do?’

Of course, there was magic to change hair color. If she wanted, Celine could change her hair color right away. Also, it wasn’t a very difficult magic, so Rosette could learn it and do it herself soon.

The problem was that the other Adrians wouldn’t want that.

‘Especially if the Duke finds out, he’ll be sad.’

Not just because she thought platinum blonde was pretty, but because she wanted to change it because she felt left out. If Duke Adrian, who cherished Rosette like his own child, knew, it would be a disaster.

* * *

After sending Rosette back to her room, Celine went straight to Duke Adrian.

“What’s going on this morning?”

“It’s about the little lady.”

Duke Adrian, who was busy processing documents, put his quill in the ink bottle and raised his head. At his gesture, Celine came closer to the desk.

Duke Adrian asked with a serious face,

“Did something happen to Rose?”

“No, nothing happened.”

“Then what is it? If you’re coming to me like this, something must have happened.”

Celine couldn’t say it right away and only moved her lips. How on earth should she convey what Rosette had said to the Duke?

After hesitating for a while, she finally opened her mouth at Duke Adrian’s repeated urging.

“Actually, the young lady came to me a little while ago. She asked if there was magic to change hair color.”

“Hair color?”

“Yes.”

Duke Adrian’s expression became even more serious.

“She said she didn’t like her pink hair?”

He had heard stories from Joan and the maids over the past few months, that Rosette hated her appearance.

Duke Adrian didn’t believe it at first.

However, after listening to the things Rosette occasionally said or seeing the actions she showed, he realized that Joan’s words were true.

The child especially didn’t like her pink hair very much. It was strange. There wasn’t a trend in the empire that particularly disliked pink hair.

Why on earth did Rosette dislike her appearance?

He wondered if she had heard bad things about her appearance at the orphanage, so he looked into it, but there was no sign of it.

In particular, Jane, whom Rosette cherished so much, said, ‘Rose? Everyone liked Rose! She’s cute! I was always jealous of Rose’s pink hair!’

“No, it’s not like that. She said everyone said her hair color was pretty and she liked it.”

“Then?”

“However, judging from the fact that she said she wanted to have the same hair color as the two young masters and Lady Isabel, it seems to be a matter of belonging. After all, she’s the only one with a different hair color in the Adrian family.”

This was completely unexpected.

“If it’s not because she hates pink hair, but simply because she doesn’t want to feel left out…”

Duke Adrian smiled meaningfully.

“Wouldn’t it be possible to make her feel a sense of belonging?”

* * *

Rosette looked at the mirror with a sullen face. It was because she had heard the answer, ‘I can’t teach you that kind of magic,’ from Celine earlier.

Even Celine, who was always lenient with Rosette, was quite firm. So Rosette couldn’t bring herself to ask, ‘Can’t you teach me anyway? Please!’

“Lady, what’s making you so sad?”

“Just……”

She couldn’t bring herself to tell the truth. She didn’t know why, but if Joan heard the words, ‘I don’t like my hair color, so I want to be platinum blonde too,’ she thought she would be sad.

Joan, who didn’t even guess Rosette’s feelings, whispered, “Why is our pretty lady sad?” and carefully brushed her hair.

It was when Joan finished brushing and tied Rosette’s hair into pigtails that the butler of the mansion, Sebastian, arrived.

“Lady, I’ve come to escort you. Let’s go have a meal.”

Rosette tilted her head.

“Where’s Lucas, Brother?”

Usually, it was Lucas who came to pick her up at mealtime. He would often burst into the room shouting, ‘Hey, kid! Let’s go eat!’

“Young Master Lucas is already waiting for you in the dining room.”

“Really? Okay.”

Rosette jumped off the chair without thinking much of it. She had been working hard on physical training with Lucas every morning, so jumping this much was now easy.

Rosette followed Sebastian to the dining room at a quick pace. Every time she did, her high pigtails shook from side to side.

But there was no one in the dining room. Only plates and cutlery were left on the table.

‘Why is no one here?’

Just as Rosette was blinking in confusion, Lucas burst out of the kitchen, shouting.

“Ta-da! Kid! Look at me!”

As soon as Rosette saw him, she opened her eyes wide and burst into laughter.

“What is that!”

Lucas’s hair, which had been platinum blonde, was dyed pink, just like Rosette’s.

Lucas, who had already come close, shook his head and boasted.

“How is it? Doesn’t pink hair suit me well too?”

“That… Pfft!”

Rosette covered her mouth with both hands and tried to hold back her laughter, but she couldn’t.

“It suits you… pfft, well.”

It wasn’t exactly a lie. She just wasn’t used to pink hair because she had only seen platinum blonde, but objectively it suited him well.

“We all prepared it for you.”

“We?”

“Yes, we!”

Lucas clapped his hands as he looked at Rosette, who was bewildered. Then, the other family members began to come out of the kitchen one after another.

Isabel, Daniel, and even Duke Adrian.

The common thing was that all three of them had pink hair instead of platinum blonde, which was the symbol of the Adrian family.