The Youngest Daughter Of The Great Wizard Of The Famous Swordsmanship [EN]: Chapter 66

66. Five Years Later (2)

January 5, 2024

Nothing particularly eventful happened over the past five years. Under Duke Adrian’s protection, the four siblings grew up, sometimes freely, sometimes under strict guidance.

Clara and Theresa’s visits were the biggest events.

And Rosette turned thirteen a few months ago.

In the intervening years, she had grown noticeably. Her arms and legs had become longer, and her chubby cheeks had thinned out a bit.

However, she was still smaller than her peers. Rosette wondered why she didn’t gain weight despite eating well, and why she was still small compared to the rest of the Adrian family.

One day, Duke Adrian also voiced a similar question.

“Our children were a hand taller than this around this age, but why is Rose so small even though we feed her well?” To which the family doctor replied, “It seems she was born with a small frame.”

He added that the reason she doesn’t gain weight or muscle easily is also due to her innate constitution.

Upon hearing that, Duke Adrian comforted Rosette, who was feeling down, saying, “Our Rose was destined to be a mage, not a knight. All the better, isn’t it?”

“Well, she has grown a lot compared to when she was at the Dallas estate.”

There had been a lot of development in other areas as well as her physique.

First of all, Rosette had now completely adapted to aristocratic society. She had fully mastered etiquette and studied subjects such as history and geography extensively.

Her magical skills had increased significantly. Rosette turned thirteen last winter, and thanks to her hard work, her mana core [the center of a mage’s power] had grown a lot. It was about the level she had been at sixteen years old in her previous life.

However, strangely, her embroidery skills did not improve. Rosette spent much more time practicing embroidery, but Isabel was still better at it.

‘I really have no talent for crafts.’

Rosette glared at the handkerchief embroidered with crooked stitches.

It was a gift for Daniel.

This year, Daniel turned nineteen, which meant he was of age according to imperial law. And as soon as he came of age, he declared that he would participate in the martial arts competition he had been planning for.

So Rosette began to make a handkerchief to give him as a gift, wishing him luck in the competition.

However, her skills were lacking, and she had already ruined several handkerchiefs.

Even Lucas burst out laughing when he saw the embroidery. He said that even Pipi could do better than that.

Pipi even chimed in, saying, “Should I try making one instead?” which made Rosette even more sulky.

‘And then he asked me to make one for him. As if I would.’

Rosette pouted and began to embroider again. Hearing Pipi chirping and cheering her on from the side, she felt energized.

As she was concentrating on her embroidery, the door burst open and Lucas came in.

“Hey, shorty!”

Rosette was so surprised that she hid the handkerchief behind her back.

“You startled me!”

“What are you so surprised about?”

Lucas chuckled. Lucas, who was now fifteen years old, had completely shed his childishness and become a young man.

Thanks to training in the sun every day, his skin was moderately tanned, and his body was quite sturdy.

However, he still loved to tease Rosette. His playful expression was the same as ever.

Rosette puffed out her cheeks.

“You came to tease me again, didn’t you?”

“Not teasing. So, is it going well?”

“I’m not going to show you.”

Rosette huffed and quickly put the handkerchief in the drawer. Lucas clicked his tongue as if he was disappointed.

“Instead of that, do you want to go watch Daniel practice sparring?”

“Sparring?”

“Yeah. The swordsmanship competition is in two months. It’s the final practice.”

“Okay!”

Rosette headed to the training grounds a little away from the mansion with Lucas. Daniel and a knight were already sparring there.

“Lucas, Rose.”

Isabel, who was standing at the edge of the training ground, gestured. Rosette ran to her side and admired Isabel anew.

‘My sister has grown a lot too.’

Isabel, who was sixteen this year, was tall, as expected of an Adrian. The last time she measured, she was over 170cm [approximately 5’7″], which was much taller than the imperial average.

Besides, her arms and legs were slender and long, so Rosette was reminded of a jaguar she had seen in an animal encyclopedia whenever she saw her.

‘I want to be like my sister too…….’

She compared Isabel’s shadow with her own with a sullen look.

Compared to her other tall siblings, Rosette was small. She was just over 150cm tall [approximately 4’11”], which was small even considering that she still had growth spurts left.

‘Of course, when I was at the Dallas estate, I didn’t even reach 150cm when I was an adult…….’

She envied Daniel and Lucas, but when she saw Isabel with her well-defined muscles, she couldn’t help but want to grow taller. Before she knew it, Isabel had become Rosette’s idol.

“What are you looking at so intently?”

“Because you’re so cool, Sister.”

“What?”

“Hehe.”

Isabel turned her head away when Rosette smiled. But her ears turned red. She was still an honest sister.

Lucas, oblivious, began to tease Isabel.

“Wow! Sister’s face is red!”

“Can’t you be quiet?”

Still, when Lucas made strange noises and laughed, Isabel picked up the wooden sword she had placed on the floor.

“If you keep……!”

“No!”

Rosette spread her arms and stepped between them.

“We came to watch the sparring. Right?”

Isabel glanced at Rosette and then put the wooden sword down again.

“Just know that I’m letting you off because of Rose.”

“Hmph.”

Lucas stuck out his tongue and sat down under the shade of a tree. Rosette also sat next to him and watched the sparring.

Daniel’s sparring partner was Sir Keren. Rosette was a little nervous.

“Will Oppa [term of endearment for older brother] be okay?”

“Why?”

“Sir Keren was the winner of the Adrian Swordsmanship Competition last year.”

Isabel replied indifferently.

“Strictly speaking, he was not only last year’s winner but also a three-time consecutive winner.”

Duke Adrian held his own swordsmanship competition every year to boost the morale of the knights. A huge prize was given to the winner.

There were so many talented knights that it was as heated as the imperial-sponsored swordsmanship competition. The winner was even mentioned as a candidate for winning the imperial swordsmanship competition.

Chris Keren was a talented person who had won such a competition for three consecutive years.

‘Of course, he’s a really nice person.’

Chris often showed kindness by correcting Rosette’s and the three siblings’ postures or analyzing their weaknesses.

Besides that, he was said to be popular among his colleagues because of his good personality. She heard that quite a few maids admired him.

But he had a strong desire to win, so he didn’t hold back in sparring, no matter who the opponent was. Rosette had seen knights who sparred with Chris often shout, ‘Please go easy on me!’

Since he was such a person, would it be any different just because the opponent was Daniel? He would definitely fight with all his might.

Of course, Daniel’s skills were no joke, but there was a difference in experience.

“What if Daniel Oppa gets hurt before the match because of that…….”

Lucas laughed out loud.

“Daniel Hyung [another term of endearment for older brother]? Get hurt? By Sir Keren?”

He put his arm around Rosette’s shoulder.

“Shorty, watch carefully. See how amazing Daniel Hyung is!”

“Okay.”

Rosette carefully removed Lucas’s arm and focused on the sparring.

Chris Keren, with black hair and blue eyes, charged at Daniel with a shout. Rosette could barely follow his movements.

Rosette unknowingly covered her mouth and gasped. At the same time, Daniel blocked Chris’s sword with a sharp clang.

Chris did not hesitate at all and turned to aim for Daniel’s waist. Daniel twisted his body to avoid it instead of meeting the sword.

Admiration rippled through the observing knights.

“As expected of Young Master Daniel.”

“He doesn’t have many muscles, so he’s still a little lacking in strength, but he’s just as agile.”

Rosette turned her head and glanced at Lucas sitting next to her and Isabel standing next to him.

The two of them did not take their eyes off Daniel with even more serious faces than Rosette.

Seeing them like this, she felt that the two of them were knights by nature.

Rosette wiggled her outstretched feet back and forth and continued to watch the sparring.

After that, the sparring became so fierce that it was like a real fight.

The speed of the two people gradually increased, and Rosette could not follow the movements with her eyes. She just flinched every time she heard the sharp cracking sound of swords colliding.

A fierce back-and-forth continued, and Isabel exclaimed.

“Ah……!”

“Why, Sister? Tell me too!”

Lucas urged, but Isabel did not hear him and focused on the sparring. Lucas clicked his tongue and looked at Daniel again.

Daniel’s sword stretched out towards Chris, drawing a large arc. At that moment, sand flew in the training hall, blurring the surroundings of the two people.

Rose covered her mouth and coughed, but her eyes were wide open.

It was then.

‘Huh?’

Rosette felt the mana emanating from Daniel. The fact that mana was felt from a knight who was not a magic swordsman meant only one thing.

‘Aura manifestation [the ability to channel one’s inner energy into a visible force]……?’

As if to prove it, a yellow light resembling Daniel’s warmth was seen in the hazy sand smoke.

Rosette and Lucas stood up at the same time. Isabel let out an even louder exclamation than before. A cry of ‘Ooh!’ spread among the knights.

The sound of swords colliding was no longer heard between Daniel and Chris. The figures of the two people standing still were faintly visible.

After a while, when the sandstorm subsided to some extent, Rosette could see exactly what the situation was.

Daniel was standing with his sword to Chris’s neck.

His sword was surrounded by a yellow aura, and the aura stretched out from the tip of the sword and stopped at a place where it seemed to touch Chris’s neck.

It was a distance where his neck would be cut by the aura if he moved even a little.

Chris was stopped with his sword to Daniel’s waist.

The waist and the neck. The outcome was already decided.

After hesitating for a moment, he stepped back and readily admitted.

“I lost, Young Master.”

At that moment, a shout erupted from among the knights who were surrounding them and watching.

“Young Master won!”

“It seems that the eldest young master can now freely control the aura?”

Rosette was also excited and raised both hands high into the sky.

“Daniel Oppa won!”

“As expected, Hyung won!”

Rosette and Lucas hugged each other and celebrated the victory. Isabel smiled at the two younger siblings.

“Everyone was here?”

Daniel, who was being congratulated by the knights, wiped the sweat from his chin with the back of his hand and approached. Rosette handed him the towel and water bottle she had prepared in advance.

“Oppa, here.”

“Thanks, Rose.”

Rosette stared up at Daniel, who was drinking water. He, who was a boy when she first saw him, was now completely an adult.

His height and physique were similar to Duke Adrian’s, so it was difficult to tell who was who if you looked at his back.

‘Actually, Daniel Oppa’s face is the most like Dad’s.’

His voice had also completely finished changing, so it was lower than before. But it was still a soft and pleasant voice to listen to.