The Youngest Daughter Of The Great Wizard Of The Famous Swordsmanship [EN]: Chapter 56

56. Anthony Huxley

It couldn’t be.

Rosette had become so healthy that she was unrecognizable from her days in the orphanage. Of course, her hair was also glossy.

And yet, a scrawny pony?

But Rosette was still too timid to question a boy she was meeting for the first time. She fidgeted with the end of her hair, which Joan had neatly braided, and mumbled,

“I’m not…….”

“What do you mean, you’re not? You’re supposed to be the same age as me, but you’re so short.”

“That’s!”

She couldn’t exactly argue with that. Rosette was still a bit smaller than her peers.

“But I’ve grown a lot.”

“What, how small were you before? Did you not get enough to eat before you went to Adrian’s?”

“No. I ate well even before then.”

The boy, whose name she didn’t know, snickered. His mockery was so obvious that Rosette quickly changed the subject.

“By the way, who are you?”

“Me?”

Then the boy’s face twisted strangely.

“You don’t know me?”

“I don’t.”

“You don’t know Anthony Huxley?”

Ah, so this boy’s name is Anthony. But so what?

Rosette, who had been blankly thinking, realized something and widened her eyes.

‘If he’s a Huxley, he’s the one who kept following Elisha around because he liked her, right?’

In the past, the Huxley family had proposed a marriage to Elisha. However, Duke Dallas neither accepted nor rejected it, putting it off indefinitely.

‘Duke Dallas’s ultimate goal was to make Elisha the empress.’

In any case, the mere thought that the boy named Anthony in front of her had a connection to Elisha made her body stiffen.

‘No. It has nothing to do with me anymore!’

Regardless of the past, Rosette currently didn’t know Anthony. So, she mustered her courage and said,

“Isn’t it possible not to know you? Do people have to know you?”

“Wh-what?”

“You didn’t know my name either.”

“This, really……!”

Anthony shoved Rosette’s shoulder. Rosette momentarily lost her balance and fell on her bottom.

Anthony, as well as the children watching, burst into laughter. No one helped Rosette up.

Just as Rosette was about to get up on her own and retort to Anthony,

[Beep!]

What? Who’s bothering our Rosette!

Bibi, who had been looking around for a moment, sensed something was wrong and flew over.

[Beep!]

Hey, kid! Wanna taste my beak?

Anthony burst into laughter at the sight of Bibi.

“Puhahaha, what’s this bird? You carry something like that around?”

“My, my familiar!”

Even children who didn’t study magic usually knew about familiars.

Rosette didn’t want to brag that she had summoned a familiar, but she couldn’t stand Bibi being ignored.

‘If they know Bibi is a familiar, they won’t ignore her at least.’

Bibi seemed to know this, puffing out her chest on Rosette’s shoulder.

[Beep!]

Ahem. I am Bibi, Rosette’s familiar.

However, Anthony showed an unexpected reaction.

“What? A familiar? This thing?”

Then he laughed even louder than before.

“Puhahaha! You’re so pathetic that even your familiar is pathetic!”

[Beep…….]

Bibi felt sad.

I wish I was a scary animal like Silver. I don’t have sharp teeth or claws. My wings are too small compared to other birds.

Rosette tickled Bibi’s chin.

‘Even though you don’t have sharp teeth or claws, you are a better familiar to me than any other familiar.’

As if understanding her thoughts, Bibi chirped happily.

[Beep?]

Really? More than Silver?

‘Yes, much more than Silver.’

Pleased with the answer, Bibi sang a clear song.

Even then, Anthony was still laughing. Not satisfied with that, he started calling his friends.

“Hey! Come here and look at this! I thought familiars were supposed to be amazing, but I guess not.”

Six or seven children surrounded Rosette, observing her and Bibi. Bibi puffed up her feathers as much as possible to look bigger and chirped.

Rosette, who had unknowingly shrunk back from the children’s teasing, recalled Isabel’s words again.

-Your name is Rosette Adrian.

-Just remember that. Then you’ll be able to get through today safely.

At first, she briefly thought it meant not to tarnish the name of Adrian, like Duke Dallas.

However, Rosette quickly dismissed the thought. Isabel wasn’t the type of person to say that.

Then why would Isabel remind Rosette of her name, which she already knew?

It meant.

‘It meant there are people protecting me.’

Adrian is behind you, so do as you please. If there’s a problem, Adrian will protect you.

In the first place, it didn’t make sense for the children to ignore Rosette.

However, to the children, Rosette being a commoner was more significant than her being an Adrian.

That’s why they were teasing her like this.

If she got scared and backed down here, they would look down on her even more.

‘I can’t let that happen.’

Rosette straightened her shoulders and glared at Anthony.

“Don’t make fun of my familiar.”

“What?”

“Bibi may be small, but she’s much smarter and more capable than you think.”

Anthony flinched for a moment, then shouted again.

“Liar. What can she even do?”

“You know what? Bibi can breathe fire.”

“What?”

Anthony was momentarily flustered. Seeing this, Bibi opened her beak as wide as possible.

[Beep!]

However, nothing came out of her small mouth. 1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds. Silence flowed.

But Anthony, realizing that nothing would come out, smirked and pressed Rosette’s forehead.

“Hey, kid. Where did you learn to lie with that tiny body?”

“Don’t call me kid.”

That’s a nickname only Lucas Oppa [older brother figure] can call me. And sometimes Prince Joshua too.

“Oh, I’m so scared. Did you think I would say ‘I’m scawed’?”

“Bibi.”

At Rosette’s signal, Bibi once again cried out with all her might.

[Beep!]

“So, what fire…….”

That was the moment Anthony scoffed. Fire burst from Bibi’s mouth.

The fireball that came from Bibi’s body grew larger than Bibi’s body and grazed Anthony’s face.

“Hick!”

Anthony’s curly reddish-brown hair was charred black. Smoke rose.

Anthony turned pale and stepped back.

“H-h-how?”

“I told you. Bibi can breathe fire.”

[Beep!]

Bibi, who was surprised at first, was now triumphant.

“Should I show you what else I can do?”

“No! It’s okay!”

Anthony hurriedly ran to where his friends were.

The children’s gazes towards Rosette were slightly different from before. It was still not friendly, though.

‘I guess I won’t be making any friends.’

But she wasn’t sad. For Rosette, protecting Adrian was more important than making friends.

‘And I have Bibi.’

Rosette stroked Bibi, who was happily saying, ‘I defeated him!’

Of course, the fireball Bibi breathed was created by Rosette’s magic. Thanks to growing her mana core over the past few months, she was able to use this level of magic.

In fact, Bibi didn’t originally have such abilities.

‘Father told me not to use magic until my body is bigger, but.’

This much is okay, right?

No, I think I’ll get scolded if I get caught.

Rosette whispered to Bibi.

“Today’s incident is a secret from Father.”

[Beep.]

“What’s a secret?”

“Kyaa!”

Rosette screamed and turned around at the sudden voice.

Joshua was standing a few steps away. He had swept back the bangs that usually covered his forehead and fixed them in place.

“Y-you surprised me.”

Rosette clutched her pounding heart.

“How long have you been here?”

“Hmm. Since you said that bird can breathe fire?”

Then he saw almost everything. Rosette asked with a hopeful heart.

“Are you going to tell Father everything?”

“Hmm. Depends on how you act.”

“Ugh. What brings you here?”

“My mother is hosting a party, so I came. I also heard you were coming. But it seems you made a very hot debut. Literally.”

Rosette groaned. Joshua chuckled and gestured to the table.

“Go sit down. Mother will be here soon too.”

“Yes.”

Rosette watched Joshua, who was instructing the servants, and sat down in a random seat.

Soon after, Joshua sat down in a specially prepared, ornate chair.

Soon, the children began to sit down one by one. They all filled the seats farthest from Rosette first.

When only the seat next to Rosette was left, the children who couldn’t sit down looked like they were about to cry.

At this point, Rosette felt like she had become an uninvited guest.

‘Did I cause trouble?’

She was starting to regret not holding back her anger a little when.

“What, is everyone scared?”

A girl with fiery red hair jumped up. Then the blonde girl next to her carefully stood up as well.

“Don’t be so timid. Let’s go over there, Theresa. Is that okay?”

“Yeah. If Clara is okay with it, so am I.”

The two children sat on either side of Rosette as if to show off.

The red-haired child, called Clara, propped her chin and stared at Rosette.

“Hello?”

“Uh, hello.”

“I’m Clara Zeller. The second daughter of the Zeller family. I have an older sister. This is my friend Theresa.”

“Hello? My name is Theresa Southern. I’m the youngest. I only have two older brothers.”

Zeller and Southern. She had never heard of those surnames. That meant they weren’t families involved with the Dallas family in the past.

She felt a sense of liking for them.

“Hello, I’m…….”

“I know. Rosette Adrian. That idiot Anthony introduced you earlier.”

Clara grinned. Her mischievous expression was somewhat similar to Lucas.

“Your familiar is really cool. Breathing fire. It was like a dragon from a fairy tale.”

Theresa whispered calmly. Rosette was overcome with a slight sense of guilt for deceiving these kind children.

After hesitating, she whispered so softly that only the two children could hear.

“You know, Bibi can’t actually breathe fire.”

“What?”

“But she breathed fire earlier?”

Rosette’s voice became even smaller.

“I did it.”

Will they hate me for being a liar? I thought we could be friends.

Rosette was feeling dejected when Clara exclaimed in admiration.

“Wow, even cooler.”

“Huh?”

“That means you can already use that kind of magic. Right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“I’ve always wanted a wizard friend.”

Theresa quietly agreed.

“Me too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! Our Zeller family has been a family of knights for generations.”

“Our Southern family is a family of scholars.”

“Uh-huh. Our Adrian is…….”

“I know! A family of great knights!”

Clara grinned. It was a pleasant laugh to hear.

“That’s why it’s even more amazing. A wizard in Adrian! You must have an incredible talent for the Duke to bring you here, right?”

It was true, but she was embarrassed to admit it directly.

“N-not really.”

“Of course it is!”

Clara laughed coolly. It was a pleasant laugh to hear.