The Youngest Daughter Of The Great Wizard Of The Famous Swordsmanship [EN]: Chapter 38

38. Encounter (1)

2023.12.08.

Rosette mumbled, a hint of embarrassment coloring her cheeks.

“It’s nothing. It’s really easy.”

“Let’s make some for Daniel and Isabel too! And Father’s!”

“Yes!”

The two children, engrossed in their task, busily crafted flower rings together. They asked Bbi-Bbi to deliver the delicate gifts to their family members inside the mansion without delay.

Duke Adrian sent back a note, conveyed by Bbi-Bbi, which read, ‘Tell me if there’s any gift you desire,’ as a gesture of gratitude. Daniel, in turn, dispatched candies via the reliable little bird.

“Okay, last one for Isabel! Please do a good job again!”

[Bbi!]

Bbi-Bbi, full of energy, zipped towards Isabel, who was somewhere within the sprawling mansion.

“So, what should we do now?”

“I don’t know.”

As the two children pondered their next activity, a figure approached them from behind.

Lukas, noticing the sudden shadow, turned his head to see who it was. He was immediately taken aback.

“Y-Your Highness, the Prince?”

Rosette was even more surprised than Lukas. Her eyes widened as she spun around to face the newcomer.

Rosette carefully observed Joshua Ernhardt, who stood a few steps away.

He appeared younger than she remembered, yet the echoes of his past self were still discernible.

His fine silver hair shimmered in the sunlight, and his golden eyes, the unmistakable mark of royalty, shone with an intense light. However, his face remained expressionless, possessing a dignity that seemed beyond his twelve years.

“Your Highness, I wasn’t aware you were coming?”

Lukas, flustered, quickly bowed to Joshua. However, Joshua’s piercing gaze remained fixed on Rosette, ignoring Lukas entirely.

His eyes held the predatory intensity of a hunter sizing up its prey. Rosette felt a shiver of unease and instinctively stepped back. As she unconsciously clenched her fist, the white clover flower she held was crushed between her fingers.

“Hey, kid. What are you doing? You too, quickly….”

Lukas whispered urgently to Rosette, who stood frozen in place. But Rosette couldn’t bring herself to move.

It wasn’t a matter of lacking the proper etiquette for addressing royalty. Her mind had simply gone blank, rendering her incapable of any action.

Because Joshua’s cold eyes mirrored the very gaze that had condemned her in the past.

“I’m….”

A desperate urge surged within her to kneel before Joshua, to weep and beg for his forgiveness. She wanted to confess that she had been adopted into the Adrian family and was striving to change everything, pleading for absolution for her past actions.

But Joshua doesn’t remember the past. So, begging like that would be meaningless.

But how…….

In Rosette’s moment of paralysis,

“Lukas, can you go and bring Daniel?”

Joshua murmured the request quietly. His tone, though seemingly polite, carried the weight of an unspoken command.

Lukas, glancing uncertainly at Rosette, disappeared into the mansion at Joshua’s urging.

“I too……!”

Rosette started to follow Lukas, but Joshua’s voice stopped her.

“You stay here.”

*Why me?*

Rosette inadvertently looked up at Joshua, then quickly lowered her head in surprise. Joshua was standing much closer to her than she had realized. Rosette belatedly bent her knees and offered a greeting.

“Greetings, Your Highness….”

[Bbit!]

As if on cue, Bbi-Bbi, having completed its delivery, landed on Rosette’s shoulder. The moment Joshua saw the white bird tilting its head inquisitively, a spark ignited in his eyes.

He muttered in a chilling voice.

“It really is you.”

Then he asked sharply.

“Why are you here?”

Rosette didn’t fully grasp the meaning behind his question. She assumed he had mistaken her for a servant and replied.

“I was playing here as a member of the Adrian family….”

“I’m asking why you are in the Adrian family.”

“……Pardon?”

“You, of all people, how dare you.”

The moment she heard those words, laced with barely suppressed anger, Rosette understood.

*‘He knows.’*

This man knows everything she did to the Adrian family in the past.

Killing Duke Adrian and Daniel, and ruining the Adrian family because of it.

How he knew wasn’t important. What mattered was that he knew the past that should have been forgotten.

“I’m…….”

Rosette instinctively knelt down before Joshua. Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks without warning.

“So, I’m…….”

*What should I say?* She didn’t know. She had never considered the possibility of someone remembering the past, and she hadn’t prepared for this moment.

Should she simply apologize? Should she beg for forgiveness?

*What should I say?*

Rosette remained silent, tears streaming down her face.

“Kid! What’s wrong!”

Lukas, who had returned to the garden with Daniel, cried out at the sight before him. He quickly pieced together what had transpired in his absence when he saw Rosette kneeling and weeping.

*‘His Highness must be angry because she didn’t show proper respect!’*

Lukas, completely misunderstanding the situation, stepped protectively in front of Rosette, spreading his arms wide. He intended to shield his beloved younger sister from Joshua’s perceived wrath.

Rosette is kneeling and crying in front of Joshua! He could roughly guess what had happened while he was away.

Prince Joshua was bullying Rosette! He must have told her to kneel because she didn’t show proper respect.

Lukas, who had misunderstood badly, stood in front of Rosette, puffing out his chest. He spread his arms wide to protect his lovely sister from Joshua.

While Daniel was still trying to understand the situation, Lukas confronted Joshua.

“It’s wrong that the kid doesn’t know the etiquette for royalty, but it’s too much to make a kid like this kneel, Your Highness!”

Joshua let out a hollow laugh, as if he was dumbfounded. Daniel belatedly tried to stop Lukas, surprised by his outburst.

“Lukas, you can’t speak to His Highness like that. Your Highness, I apologize on their behalf. My younger siblings are still young….”

“It’s okay. It’s not the situation you think it is, so there’s no need to apologize or be surprised.”

“Then?”

Joshua glanced at Rosette, silently urging her to explain. Rosette, helped to her feet by Lukas, wiped away her tears and mumbled.

“Just a little….”

“A little?”

“I was surprised and nervous. It’s my first time meeting the Prince.”

She fabricated the excuse, grasping for anything that might diffuse the tension. To her relief, it seemed to work.

Lukas visibly relaxed and gently wiped Rosette’s wet cheeks, though his touch was a bit rough.

“That can happen. Why are you crying? I was also very nervous when I first met His Highness. Come to think of it, you cry when you’re flustered. Right?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Okay, now don’t cry and follow me to greet him. You can greet him by bending your knees like this.”

Lukas demonstrated the proper greeting for royalty. Daniel whispered.

“Lukas, that’s a man’s greeting.”

“Ah! Then I have to call Isabel…!”

Joshua waved his hand dismissively.

“It’s okay. I don’t intend to receive greetings.”

“Then would you like to come in and have some tea?”

“Since I came all the way here, I will.”

Daniel led Joshua towards the mansion.

“Let’s go too.”

Rosette followed behind Lukas, who was still holding her arm. She could hear the conversation between Daniel and Joshua ahead of them.

“But what brings you here without notice? Have you forgotten to send a servant ten minutes in advance now?”

“I just came out for a stroll and ended up here….”

“It’s a good thing Father is away. If Father had seen you coming secretly, even you, Your Highness, would have been scolded.”

“That sounds like a good experience.”

“Your Highness.”

“You don’t have to be so serious. I just came to see the youngest Princess.”

Daniel sighed deeply.

“You shouldn’t come out like this without any guards. What if you get into danger?”

“You sound like my teacher.”

“I’m saying what Father would have said. And Rose….”

Daniel turned around to look at Rosette for a moment and then looked forward again.

“I’ll tell her to go to her room since she seems to be very surprised today.”

“Do that. I’ve already achieved my purpose.”

“Purpose?”

“I have something.”

“You wouldn’t answer even if I asked.”

Daniel sighed once again and winked at Lukas.

“You take Rose to her room.”

“Okay, I got it.”

“Don’t cause any trouble.”

“Do you think I only cause trouble?”

Lukas grumbled and took Rosette’s hand.

“Let’s go, youngest.”

“Uh-huh.”

Rosette passed by Joshua with Lukas and entered the mansion first.

Joshua’s gaze remained fixed on her until she completely disappeared from sight.

* * *

“Kid, are you okay?”

Lukas scrutinized Rosette’s face, peering closely at her. Rosette gently pushed his face away with her palm.

“I’m okay…….”

“Why are you crying just because meeting His Highness is so scary? Don’t cry from now on. Okay?”

“……Yes. But, Oppa [older brother]. I want to be alone, can I go to my room alone?”

“Uh-huh? Are you sure you’ll be okay alone?”

“Yes.”

Rosette left Lukas and headed towards her room. She overheard Lukas shouting outside, “Noona [older sister]! The kid cried!”

She dismissed Joanne’s offer of assistance and curled up on the sofa in her room. But before she could even gather her thoughts, Duke Adrian entered.

“Rose, I heard from Lukas.”

He quickly approached and enveloped Rosette in a comforting hug.

“You must have been very surprised.”

“I’m okay.”

“I’ll talk to His Highness, so don’t worry about anything.”

“Yes.”

Duke Adrian stroked Rosette’s reddened eyes with a look of concern.

“Then rest. Father has to go see His Highness.”

“I’m okay, so you can go.”

“Okay.”

After he left, Rosette sank into a sea of troubling thoughts.

*‘How does he remember? Was my magic wrong?’*

That couldn’t be. She had perfectly turned back time, and there were no penalties for it yet. *Maybe there will be in the future.*

Then Joshua must have had something.

But the method didn’t matter. What really mattered was that Joshua remembered everything she had done.

*‘He must have come to see me on purpose, right?’*

Joshua, who remembers the past, would have been puzzled when Duke Adrian said he was adopting a child, unlike in the past.

And when he found out that the child was a pink-haired girl named ‘Rosette,’ he would have suspected that she was Rosette Dallas.

He must have been coming to the Adrian mansion all this time to confirm that.

*‘What is he going to do to me in the future?’*

Rosette was even more afraid because she didn’t know what Joshua would do in the future.