The Youngest Daughter Of The Great Wizard Of The Famous Swordsmanship [EN]: Chapter 43

Rosette blushed slightly and straightened her back.

“I’m sorry.”

“There’s no need to apologize. Let’s go then.”

Joshua led the way to the Empress’s Palace. Isabel glanced at Rosette to see if she was alright, then walked with her back straight, as if she were familiar with the place, while Rosette shrugged her shoulders a little and looked around.

“Straighten your shoulders and back. And don’t look around for no reason; just look ahead.”

“Yes.”

“Have confidence. You’re an Adrian too. There’s no need to be intimidated.”

“Yess.”

The three soon entered the Empress’s Palace. The guards, who were initially wary, saw Joshua’s face and let the children in.

After entering the Empress’s Palace, the Empress’s maid personally led them to the drawing room.

As the three children entered, the Empress stood up and greeted them.

“Welcome, everyone. Was it difficult getting here?”

Ophelia Ernhardt, the Empress of Ernhardt, was a woman with the same silver hair and amethyst-like purple eyes as Joshua. And she was more beautiful than any woman Rosette had ever seen.

‘Wow.’

Rosette, who had been staring at her in a daze, belatedly followed Isabel and curtsied [a respectful bow with bent knees].

“We greet Her Majesty the Empress.”

“We greet the Empress.”

“Yes, you may both rise.”

Ophelia took the two children’s hands and led them to a large round table. There were various snacks on it.

“You sit too, Joshua.”

“Yes.”

Ophelia, Isabel, Rosette, and Joshua sat around the table in a clockwise direction. Rosette, who inadvertently sat next to Joshua, became very nervous.

Ophelia noticed this and smiled softly.

“There’s no need to be nervous. Don’t think of me as the Empress; just think of me as a friendly aunt.”

“How can I do that…”

“If Vanessa, that child, were alive, she would have adored you as her youngest daughter. Vanessa’s daughter is also my daughter. So you can relax.”

But how could that be as easy as saying it? Rosette nodded, saying she understood, but she couldn’t relax the tension in her body.

Ophelia poured black tea into Isabel and Joshua’s cups and hot chocolate into Rosette’s cup.

“By the way, Isabel. You haven’t been coming around lately.”

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. It’s hard to find the time.”

“Yes, taking care of the mansion is not an easy task. Besides, you have to learn swordsmanship.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

“Has your swordsmanship improved a lot? You seem to have grown a lot taller since I last saw you.”

“I’m still far from good enough. Everyone says I’ll grow tall because I take after my father.”

“It’s good for a swordsman to be tall. How is Lucas doing?”

“That child is doing too well.”

Ophelia chuckled.

“It’s good that he’s doing well; why are you saying that? If I had known, I would have told Lucas to come too.”

After that, Isabel and Ophelia exchanged simple updates.

“I heard the Duke of Adrian was almost in big trouble?”

“Yes. I’m so glad he’s safe.”

“Yes, I’m really glad. I was so surprised when I heard the news that I couldn’t sleep properly.”

“I’m sorry. If I had known you were so worried, I should have come to see you and told you first.”

“I’m not blaming you, so don’t apologize.”

After chatting with Isabel, the Empress suddenly called to Rosette.

“By the way, was the Princess’s name Rosette?”

Rosette, who was biting into a cookie with her front teeth, was so surprised that she hid the cookie behind her back.

“Yes, that’s right. My name is Rosette Adrian.”

“It’s a name that suits the Princess. Was it named after her hair color?”

“Yes. They said it was named Rosette because it resembled a pink rose.”

Rosette, who answered shyly, plucked up her courage and raised her head.

“Your Majesty!”

“What is it?”

“Please, please call me Rosette too!”

Isabel rubbed her temples, and Ophelia smiled.

“Oh my, is that alright?”

“Yes!”

“Okay, Rosette. You have such a kind heart.”

Rosette didn’t know which part of her was kind, but she just smiled.

“Okay, Rosette. I heard that your magic skills are considerable.”

She was now used to the praise from her family and the people at the mansion. But she was very embarrassed to hear praise from someone she was meeting for the first time. Rosette’s face turned as red as a tomato.

“I-It’s nothing special.”

“It’s not nothing.”

Isabel muttered.

“You can even summon a familiar. Celine was very surprised too.”

She pretends not to be, but she subtly brags about Rosette. This is similar to Lucas.

“Oh my.”

Ophelia showed interest.

“You can even summon a familiar?”

“Ugh, yes.”

“Oh my goodness, that’s a really amazing thing. I heard that our Joshua is quite talented in magic, but he hasn’t summoned a familiar yet.”

“Oh, but…”

The Prince already has a familiar.

Rosette was about to mutter that, but she instinctively closed her mouth.

She glanced at Joshua and saw him shaking his head secretly.

Apparently, it was a secret that he had summoned a familiar.

Rosette mumbled vaguely.

“I think the Prince will be able to summon a familiar soon because he is so skilled.”

“I hope so. More than that, can I see your familiar?”

“Of course!”

Rosette immediately summoned Bbi-Bbi.

“[Bbit?]”

Bbi-Bbi, who was suddenly summoned, looked around. It was a face that was unfamiliar with the scenery he saw every day.

The white parrotbill was especially curious about Ophelia, whom he was seeing for the first time. When Bbi-Bbi stared at Ophelia, Rosette whispered quietly.

“Bbi-Bbi, this is the Empress. Say hello.”

“[Bbiit?]”

Bbi-Bbi was startled, then stood on the table with both feet. Then, he bowed his head to Ophelia.

“[Bbiee, Bbit.]”

He had seen it somewhere, and he had one wing outstretched like a person. Then, he lost his balance and bumped his head on the table.

“[Bbiee…]”

Bbi-Bbi cried sadly. The Empress, who was stroking the spot where Bbi-Bbi had bumped, spread out her palm.

“Come up here.”

Bbi-Bbi gathered his legs and hopped onto the palm of her hand. He shook his tail feathers at Ophelia and got some biscuit crumbs.

Rosette felt a little betrayed, but Bbi-Bbi didn’t know his owner’s feelings and happily pecked at the biscuit crumbs.

“It’s amazing no matter how many times I see it. To summon a familiar at such a young age. I haven’t heard of anyone summoning a familiar at the age of eight even in my home country, the Kingdom of Ivelin.”

Rosette was very embarrassed by Ophelia’s praise.

In the past, she originally summoned Bbi-Bbi for the first time at the age of eleven. That was also a great thing, but it didn’t have a big impact compared to the age of eight.

The reason she had a familiar at the age of eight was purely because of her past memories.

It wasn’t her full ability. The mana core shouldn’t have existed yet either.

“I was just lucky.”

“You can just say thank you at times like that. Don’t be too humble.”

Rosette blushed even more at Isabel’s comment and mumbled.

“Thank you for the compliment.”

The Empress reached out and gently pinched Rosette’s soft cheek.

“How can you be so cute? This is why you need a daughter. Joshua has no charm.”

“Mother.”

“Did I say something wrong? Anyway, teach Joshua how to summon a familiar.”

“Me?”

“Yes. You’re his senior.”

To teach the Prince, even the Prince who had already summoned a familiar. It was ridiculous.

But Ophelia was looking at her with an expectant look. Rosette stammered and explained the familiar summoning method in her own way.

“Just think about wanting a friend…”

Joshua chuckled. He was definitely mocking her. Rosette wanted to cry.

“Friend? Me?”

“Or family…”

Rosette’s voice faded away. Ophelia called Joshua in a slightly lower voice.

“Prince.”

The changed title revealed that she was slightly angry. Joshua erased his smiling expression.

Ophelia whispered kindly to Rosette.

“He’s just embarrassed. You understand. If Joshua summons a familiar later, the familiars might become friends. I wonder what kind of animal Joshua’s familiar will be.”

The Prince’s familiar is a wolf. A big silver wolf.

But because she couldn’t say that, Rosette mumbled vaguely.

“I hope the Prince’s familiar is a bird.”

“A bird?”

“Yes. So they can be friends with Bbi-Bbi.”

“That’s right.”

“I’ll take care of my familiar myself.”

Joshua, who answered curtly, stood up from his seat.

“By the way, Mother. May I show the little Princess around the castle?”

“Oh my, to Rosette?”

Ophelia seemed a little surprised, but then smiled meaningfully.

“Of course, you may. There must be many interesting things to see, so show her around.”

“Thank you.”

Joshua then looked at Rosette and said.

“Let’s go, Princess.”

“Ah, yes.”

Perhaps the time had come.

Rosette tensed up instead of asking the foolish question, ‘Why are you showing me around the castle?’ and followed him.

Joshua whispered closely to Rosette.

“How much do you know about that incident?”

“I know what kind of poison was used. But I don’t know where it was put, so I have to find it. It’s probably in a place related to herbs or tea.”

“Then let’s go find out.”

Joshua went ahead and explained something Rosette didn’t know.

“The person who poisoned Mother was a maid named Sophia Cannon. She is the second daughter of the Cannon baronet family and has been in the Empress’s Palace for about 5 years.”

“Is there a reason why Sophia Cannon was named as the culprit?”

“She gave Mother sleeping incense, and then Mother collapsed. Mother had insomnia and often burned sleeping incense. Not many people knew that, including Sophia Cannon. Of course, she had no choice but to be named as the culprit, right?”

“Did she admit her guilt?”

“No. She insisted on her innocence until the end.”

Joshua gritted his teeth.

“Hypocritically.”

“Was poison found in the sleeping incense?”

“No. Coincidentally, no known poisonous ingredients were found. But the Empress’s Palace’s physician said that she must have used a new poison that has not yet been identified. However, they continued to investigate, but they could not identify the ingredient until the end.”

“But did they execute Sophia Cannon anyway?”

“Yes. I said we should investigate further, but His Majesty concluded that way. He said Sophia had a motive.”

“Motive?”

“Yes.”

Just in time, the passing maids bowed to the two of them. Joshua pretended not to notice, and Rosette nodded.

“The Cannon baronet family was suffering from debt, but they cleared their debt about a month before Mother passed away. The Cannon baronet claims to have won money from gambling, but there was no one to prove it.”

“Because gambling houses are illegal. They wouldn’t want to get involved for no reason.”

Rosette nodded.

“It’s definitely suspicious in the circumstances. But there’s a higher probability that Sophia Cannon isn’t the culprit.”