The Youngest Daughter Of The Great Wizard Of The Famous Swordsmanship [EN]: Chapter 40

40. Encounter (3)

2023.12.10.

Rosette hesitated for a moment, then began to kneel. But before she could, Joshua waved his hand again.

“That’s unnecessary. Kneeling won’t change anything.”

Joshua’s voice was slightly softer than it had been during the day.

It seemed that while Rosette was sorting out her thoughts, he had also sorted out his emotions.

He gestured toward a large tree stump.

“Sit down. I have something to ask you, and I want to hear your story.”

“What story…?”

“I told you to sit down.”

Rosette hesitated before sitting on the stump.

Joshua, however, remained standing before her. His face, shadowed by the dim light, looked even colder.

“Are you the one who turned back time?”

Rosette moistened her dry lips with her tongue and replied.

“I believe so.”

“You believe so?”

“I used magic to turn back time, and when I woke up, I was in the past. Unless something unusual happened, it’s probably me.”

“I see. So you remember the past.”

*How do you remember it, Your Highness?* she wondered, but held back the question for now.

“Why did you turn back time? Were you afraid of dying?”

“No. I wasn’t afraid of dying.”

“Then?”

“I…”

Rosette looked up at Joshua’s face.

His face, thirteen years younger, was certainly more youthful than she remembered in the prison. Yet, he exuded an overwhelming presence that no child could possess.

*He’ll see through any lies I tell here.*

He was a man who had commanded authority since birth.

So Rosette decided to be honest.

“I wanted to fix everything.”

“What do you mean by ‘fix’?”

“Many things. I made many mistakes. If I had to say what I wanted most…”

Rosette spoke directly.

“I wanted to save my father and Daniel.”

Joshua let out a hollow laugh.

“Father and brother? Do you think you have the right to call them that now?”

She thought she did. She was ‘Adrian,’ recognized by everyone.

But she couldn’t confidently say that in front of Joshua, who remembered her past.

She realized once again how audacious she was. No matter that they didn’t remember, how could she presume to be their family?

When she didn’t say anything, Joshua sneered.

“You think it’s funny too, don’t you? Do you realize how absurd this is?”

“But…”

Rosette mumbled defensively, lowering her eyes.

“I know. I know I’m shameless. That’s why I initially refused Father’s adoption offer.”

“And you’re going to say that you couldn’t help it because Master [referring to Duke Adrian] kept trying to bring you here?”

“It’s not just that. Of course, there’s that too, but…”

She glared at Joshua, meeting his eyes directly. A slight change flickered in Joshua’s eyes.

Originally, looking directly at the eyes of a royal without permission was against etiquette. But for some reason, Joshua wasn’t particularly offended by Rosette’s attitude.

The way she trembled while trying not to show it made her seem both pathetic and a little pitiful.

*Pitiful, my foot.*

In the end, she was a woman who had committed countless wrongs in the past.

As Joshua steeled his heart, Rosette continued to speak. Uncharacteristically, her words were fast and lengthy.

“Father aside, I was worried about Daniel. In the past, Daniel was in a carriage accident and limped. I heard he was a promising swordsman, but he never became a Sword Master.”

“…That’s right.”

“Actually, when I returned to the past, I decided not to catch the eye of the Marquis of Dallas. If I didn’t go to the Dallas estate, Father and Daniel wouldn’t die.”

“…”

“But seeing Daniel made me realize I was wrong. The Marquis of Dallas won’t give up on the Adrian family even if I’m not there. The same carriage accident will happen, and someone will attack the Adrian family.”

“So?”

“So I decided to go to Adrian. It’s easier to protect them if I’m in Adrian. I even prevented the carriage accident!”

Rosette added weakly, with a slightly less confident tone.

“Of course, for some reason, this time it was Father who had the accident instead of Daniel.”

Joshua nodded.

“So it was you who saved Master.”

“I’m ashamed to admit it, but yes. It was me.”

“Of course, I’m grateful for that. Master wouldn’t have been safe without you. But so what?”

“Yes?”

“Just because you saved Master doesn’t change the fact that you killed Master and Daniel.”

“But that was!”

Rosette mumbled defensively.

“It wasn’t my intention. I really…”

She didn’t want to kill Duke Adrian.

If the Marquis of Dallas hadn’t placed the curse on her, she wouldn’t have attacked Duke Adrian, even if it meant dying at the hands of the Marquis of Dallas when she returned.

“What, you want to say that the Marquis of Dallas put some kind of mind control magic on you?”

“…”

“…Is that really it?”

Rosette couldn’t give a proper answer and tightly shut her mouth.

*I can’t cry…*

As she recalled the events of that day, tears welled up in her eyes uncontrollably. She took a deep breath through her nose, but it was no use. Soon, tears began to fall from Rosette’s eyes.

“I can’t understand it at all. I’ve always wondered. Why are you crying? You’re the one who did wrong.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cry…”

Rosette roughly wiped her eyes with her palms.

“But I really, really regret my past and want to atone for it. *Hicc*, really.”

“…”

“You don’t have to forgive me. No, you probably can’t forgive me. But can you give me a chance to fix everything?”

Rosette knelt down in front of Joshua. She continued to cry and begged with both hands.

“I’m begging you like this. I can’t stand by and watch the Marquis of Dallas harm Father again. I’ll take care of everything.”

Joshua pressed his lips tightly together.

Before turning back time, when he visited Rosette in prison, she cried just as sadly. Seeing her like that made him angry.

Why was the person who killed Master and Daniel crying? If it was a false accusation, he wouldn’t know, but she was definitely the culprit.

This was nothing more than crocodile tears [insincere tears or expressions of sorrow].

He was the one who should be crying and demanding answers. But she acted as if she was the one who had lost close friends.

He had never imagined that there would be such circumstances. Until now, he had naturally assumed that Rosette, under the orders of the Marquis of Dallas, had killed the two of them of her own volition.

But if she didn’t want to kill them and did so because of mind control magic, then the story is a little different…

*What’s different about it?*

He bit his teeth.

*She must have other intentions.*

It was an undeniable fact that Rosette had saved Duke Adrian. However, Joshua didn’t take her words about working for the Adrian family at face value.

Before returning to the past, he had met many people as a prince. If he felt anything, it was that people don’t change as easily as you think.

But could Rosette change in an instant just because she turned back time?

*There’s no way. She must have some ulterior motive.*

Even if she was really trying to change the future for the sake of the Adrian family, there must be another reason.

Regretting and repenting for what she did? That’s ridiculous.

*Besides, her attitude might change when she meets the Marquis of Dallas later.*

Could Rosette not waver when she sees the Marquis of Dallas? After all, he was once her family.

So, for now, the answer was to get rid of Rosette, who was a dangerous element and a variable.

Joshua coldly said, deliberately turning away from Rosette, who was still crying.

“Still, nothing changes. Do you think everything will be resolved just because you cry? In any case, the fact that you killed the two of them with your own hands remains unchanged. Do you think I’ll just let you and those two live in the same mansion?”

“Then…?”

Joshua said firmly.

“Leave Adrian.”

“But…!”

“I’m giving you a chance to disappear quietly in recognition of your efforts to turn back time. If not, I would have turned the Adrian family upside down right away.”

“What if I say I’ll stay?”

“I’ll have to tell everything.”

“To whom?”

“Who else? Master and Daniel. I’ll tell them in detail what you did.”

“…!”

It was a lie. Even if Rosette said she would stay, Joshua had no intention of telling the two the truth.

It was an unbelievable story.

Of course, the two would still be surprised but believe Joshua’s words. Because that’s the kind of people they were.

*That’s why it’s more of a problem.*

Joshua knew Duke Adrian’s personality well. He was a man who had even been killed by Rosette without resistance. He would surely accept Rosette as his daughter even if he knew all the facts.

That’s why he couldn’t tell them.

*But I can deceive this brat.*

The Rosette he saw was very naive. She didn’t seem like she had remembered the past and returned to the age of twenty at all.

At first glance, she just looked like an eight-year-old kid. To put it nicely, she was innocent, and to put it badly, she was a bit slow.

*It seems that the Marquis of Dallas didn’t provide any education other than magic.*

That’s what it seemed like, judging from the fact that she couldn’t even properly greet a royal.

So this method would likely work on Rosette.

In fact, her face turned pale and she pleaded.

“Please don’t do that.”

“Then do as I say.”

“…”

“I’ll give you a week. Leave naturally so that Master doesn’t suspect anything.”

“No matter what I say, Father will think it’s strange!”

“Say you miss your friends from the orphanage you used to live in, or that you can’t stand the aristocratic life, or that you’re struggling with too much studying. There are many reasons.”

“It won’t work if I do that now!”

“That’s not my problem. You take care of the reason. Or run away secretly. I can help you with that much if you want. It’s my last mercy.”

“…”

“I’ll send my familiar [an animal or spirit that assists a witch or wizard] again in a week, so make a decision by then.”

Having said everything, Joshua turned away coldly.