The Youngest Daughter Of The Great Wizard Of The Famous Swordsmanship [EN]: Chapter 47

47. Acknowledgment (1)

2023.12.17.

Rosette looked to her three siblings for help. However, they kept their mouths shut, likely having been forewarned by the Duke. Even Lucas, who usually loved to meddle in Rosette’s affairs, remained silent.

Rosette had no choice but to speak.

“I looked around the apothecary [a place where medicines are prepared and sold] when I went to the Empress’s Palace today.”

“The apothecary? Why there?”

“Pipi is very interested in plants.”

Lucas couldn’t help but chime in.

“I know! Pipi always brings back all sorts of wildflowers. She seems to really like plants!”

“Lucas, Father is speaking,” Daniel scolded, and Lucas snapped his mouth shut with a “Hmph!”

Duke Adrian urged Rosette again.

“So?”

“I showed Pipi various tea leaves, and she suddenly said something was wrong. She said there were kisch tree leaves in the tea leaves, which aren’t usually used.”

“Kisch tree? What’s that?”

“It’s a plant native to the Owen Kingdom. The fruit is mainly used as a digestive aid…”

Rosette, who had been explaining excitedly, shook her head.

“That’s not the point. Anyway, Pipi found the kisch tree leaves and showed them to me. They looked just like Evan flower leaves.”

“Evan flower, you mean the herb that’s good for sleep.”

“That’s right. So, when I told him about it, the Prince was furious. He said someone must have deceived them by selling them fake tea leaves. Evan flower leaves are expensive, so they must have used useless kisch tree leaves.”

“So?” Lucas urged, listening with great interest.

“So, I said, ‘Your Highness, it’s fortunate that nothing has happened to the Empress so far. Kisch tree leaves can be poisonous if eaten with honey.'”

“And then?”

“And then the Prince got very angry… After that, I just did as the Prince asked.”

“What did he ask you to do?”

“That…”

Rosette closed her mouth.

“To say I wanted to drink tea.”

“Did he also tell you to drink tea?”

“No!” Rosette shouted urgently.

“He didn’t say anything like that at all. I just acted on my own, seeing the situation. And before that, Pipi had removed all the kisch tree leaves.”

Duke Adrian rubbed his forehead.

“Rose, why did you do such a thing?”

“I’m sorry. But I really didn’t intend to drink it.”

“I understand. I’ll ask His Highness the Prince for more details.”

“…Yes.”

“And you are grounded for the time being.”

“Yes?” It wasn’t Rosette who was surprised, but Lucas. He had been planning to take Rosette out to play, and he protested with a disgruntled voice.

“But Father! That’s too much! Rosette didn’t do it on purpose, and she didn’t cause an accident. She saved Her Majesty the Empress!”

“I’m fine,” Rosette reassured Lucas. In fact, she didn’t object to being grounded.

‘It’ll be a bit boring for a while, but there are plenty of things to do in the mansion.’

However, there was something she was curious about.

“Aren’t you angry?”

“Why would I be angry with you, Rose?”

“But…”

“Father was just worried.”

Adrian smiled slightly, finally relaxing his expression.

“Father is fine as long as you are safe.”

Then he added briefly,

“And regardless of doing something dangerous, you did well to solve the case. I’m proud of you.”

Rosette was finally able to relax. But she couldn’t completely rest assured.

‘The conversation with the Prince isn’t over yet.’

She saved the Empress as she had told Joshua she would.

Would he allow Rosette to stay in the Adrian family?

* * *

That night, in the early hours when everyone was asleep, Joshua’s wolf came again, as he’d said he would.

Joshua conveyed only that one word. Rosette, who had been rubbing her sleepy eyes and trying to stay awake, mumbled.

“I’m grounded.”

“I guess so.” She hadn’t been caught meeting Joshua a few days ago either.

Rosette hesitated for a moment, then put on her gown and climbed onto the wolf’s back. The wolf left the mansion today without being noticed by anyone.

The wolf, having arrived in the forest, this time dropped her off directly at the clearing instead of in the middle of the forest.

“Thank you, Wolf.”

Rosette, getting off the wolf’s back, stroked the animal’s back. Pipi also sat on the wolf’s head, no longer frightened.

Rosette watched the wolf settle down in a corner of the clearing and lie down, then approached Joshua. She had many questions for him.

“How did it go?”

Joshua handed Rosette the documents he was holding.

“First, we are interrogating Gritta’s family, the Dozer County family, and the attending physician, Lord Largo. So far, there is nothing special.”

Rosette skimmed through the documents. As he said, there was nothing special.

“How is the Empress?”

“She seems to be very shocked. Gritta hasn’t been in the Empress’s Palace for very long, but Lord Largo has served Mother for over 10 years. Frankly, I’m also quite shocked. Even though I investigated so thoroughly in the past, I never thought Lord Largo would do such a thing.”

“I see.”

“By the way, what did you tell Master [Duke Adrian]?”

“Oh, I told him I was looking at the apothecary and Pipi happened to find the kisch tree leaves.”

Rosette briefly explained her conversation with Duke Adrian.

“Good job.”

Rosette handed him back the documents, adding cautiously,

“Father also said he would hear the details from the Prince.”

“I was thinking of visiting Master anyway. Either way, I dragged you into it, so I have to apologize to Master.”

Joshua, who replied as if it were natural, examined Rosette’s face.

“By the way, did you get scolded a lot?”

“Yes?”

“I thought Master would be angry, so I asked if you got scolded a lot.”

“Well, I think Father was angry, but I didn’t get scolded that much. Oh, I was grounded, but I hardly ever go out anyway. And…”

Rosette compared the attitudes of Duke Dallas and Duke Adrian.

‘It would have been better to be scolded.’

It was definitely different from when Duke Dallas scolded her.

The Duke always vented on Rosette, but she felt that Duke Adrian was genuinely worried about her.

So, she was able to accept the punishment of being grounded more willingly.

“And what?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Silly. But you really didn’t get scolded?”

“No.”

“That’s not like Master.”

Rosette became a little interested and asked back.

“What is Father usually like?”

“He’s usually kind, but strict with mistakes. Maybe if Daniel or the others had done that today, they would have been scolded very harshly.”

Then why didn’t he scold me? Could it be that I wasn’t even worth scolding?

Rosette was digging a tunnel with ridiculous thoughts when Joshua rubbed his chin and muttered to himself.

“He seems to cherish you quite a bit.”

Rosette, who managed to understand that, was delighted.

“Really?”

“Yes. He seems to be lenient with you.”

“That’s a relief then.”

Rosette smiled, and Joshua raised one eyebrow.

“What’s so good about that?”

“Just… everything is good. The Empress is safe too. By the way, the Empress is okay now, right?”

“Yes. She apparently never drank honey with the problematic tea. Anyway, there’s still time until June 15th, so we’ll have to watch, but she’ll be safe. Everyone is on edge and watching the Empress’s Palace closely.”

“That’s a relief.”

Then Joshua whispered as if passing by.

“Thank you.”

“…Yes?”

Rosette widened her eyes, wondering if she had heard correctly.

“Whatever the reason, it’s true that you saved Mother. Maybe if I had tried to solve it alone without your help, it would have been difficult. A plant that only grows in the Owen Kingdom. And Lord Largo was in on it too.”

“…”

“Without knowing that, I was going to ask Lord Largo for help as a last resort. It was completely my misjudgment.”

Rosette touched her cheek with an awkward face.

“I didn’t really do anything. I just used my memories of the past.”

“It was possible because you were interested in this incident in the past. You also have considerable knowledge of botany. Above all, would it have been possible if you hadn’t summoned your familiar?”

[Bbit!] Pipi, who was sitting on the wolf’s head and listening quietly, bragged, ‘Ahem, I’m the best after all.’ Rosette chuckled slightly at that.

“It sounds like I’m pretty amazing when you say that.”

“I didn’t say you were amazing.”

“…”

Rosette pouted her lips. Then she realized that she still had something to say to Joshua.

Rosette finally asked the question she didn’t want to ask.

“So, what’s going to happen to me now?”

Her heart was pounding.

‘What if the Prince really kicks me out?’

When she offered to help Joshua save the Empress, Joshua said he would ‘temporarily’ postpone it. Even if she prevented the Empress’s poisoning, there was a possibility that he would kick her out.

‘I thought we got along pretty well, though.’

While dealing with this matter, Rosette no longer felt fear towards Joshua. She realized that he was also a person with emotions in his struggle to save his mother.

Also, she saw her own reflection in Joshua.

Perhaps the two were very similar in that they were working to save their loved ones.

‘Besides, he’s the only person who can share the past.’

At first, she was afraid that there was someone who remembered the past, even her shameful parts. But as she continued to talk to Joshua, she liked that there was someone who could empathize.

Until now, she often felt like she was alone in a different world.

‘But the Prince will be different.’

To him, Rosette was just a monster. Recalling that made her mouth bitter.

Joshua casually asked Rosette, who was making a face as if she was about to cry.

“What do you want to do?”

“Yes?”

“Do you still want to stay in the Adrian family?”

“Of course!” Rosette shouted before he could even finish his sentence.

“I still want to stay in the Adrian family!”

“I can’t understand. Why are you so obsessed with the Adrian family?”

“Obsessed?”

Joshua leaned down and looked at Rosette a little closer.

The golden eyes staring at her were filled with pure curiosity instead of the contempt that had been there before.

“Didn’t you spend over 10 years in the Dallas County family? That’s what I remember. So why are you so obsessed with the Adrian family, where you’ve only spent about half a year, than with Dallas?”

“The Dallas family…”

“Aren’t they family to you too?”