The Youngest Daughter Of The Great Wizard Of The Famous Swordsmanship [EN]: Chapter 69

69. Long Time No See, Silver!

January 8, 2024

Adrian’s mansion in the capital, which I visited after five years, was almost exactly as I remembered.

“Welcome, Master.”

Sebastian, the Adrian family’s butler, greeted me. It had been five years since I’d last seen him. Lucas waved cheerfully.

“Sebastian! Long time no see! How have you been?”

“Very well, Master Lucas. Though I do get the occasional back pain when it rains.”

“I’ll get you some good medicine. Don’t worry.”

“Thank you, Master.”

After the brief reunion, everyone headed to their respective rooms. Rosette ran to greet the maids who were waiting for her.

“How have you all been?”

The maids, except for Joan, Rosette’s personal maid, had remained in the capital. Rosette called out the names of the maids she hadn’t seen in so long, asking how they were doing.

“That’s right! I bought you all presents.”

She rummaged through her bag and handed out the gifts. The wrapping paper on the presents Rosette had wrapped herself was a bit crumpled, but the maids found even that charming.

After catching up, they enjoyed refreshments together. The maids were amazed at how much Rosette had grown in the past five years.

“You’ve grown so much! You used to only come up to my waist.”

“Uh-uh, I wasn’t up to your waist! I was bigger than that.”

Rosette, taking a big bite of her favorite egg tart, mumbled, sounding a little upset.

“But why am I still so small? Lucas and Isabel are so big.”

“You’ll grow soon, Miss. You just need to eat well and sleep well, right?”

“Uh-huh.”

Another maid placed a macaron on Rosette’s plate and whispered in amazement, “Miss, you seem to have become so much brighter.”

“Really?”

Rosette twisted a strand of her hair, feeling a little embarrassed.

‘Have I changed that much too?’

Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t really noticed, but looking back, I could feel that my personality had changed quite a bit from before.

When Rosette first came to Adrian’s mansion, she was timid and easily intimidated. It wasn’t so much her natural personality as it was one that had developed while living with the Dallas family.

She had only ever heard harsh words from Duke Dallas and Elisha, which was difficult for a child to bear.

But the people at Adrian’s mansion, noticing her emotional wounds, had taken care of her with warmth and kindness. The people of the territory were the same.

Thanks to their constant care and affection, Rosette was able to love herself a little more. Her personality also brightened up considerably. She could joke with Lucas without hesitation and laugh at Isabel’s blunt remarks without feeling intimidated.

She would also approach Daniel and Duke Adrian first and act spoiled.

It was the same now. She didn’t feel shy around the maids she hadn’t seen in so long, but instead went up to them and hugged them.

Her change must have been even more noticeable to the maids who remembered Rosette from five years ago.

“It’s all thanks to you guys.”

Rosette mumbled, blushing slightly. Her expression was the same as it had been five years ago, which made the maids chuckle quietly.

It was still a peaceful day.

* * *

[Beep!]

That night, Pipi, who was settling on the pillow to go to sleep, suddenly flapped her wings excitedly.

Rosette, who was having trouble falling asleep in the unfamiliar bed, jumped up.

“Could it be…?”

[Bleep!]

That’s right! It’s Silver!

Rosette, hearing Pipi chirping excitedly, looked out the window. A silver wolf entered the terrace, nudging the slightly opened window with its nose.

“Silver!”

Rosette shouted happily and opened her arms wide. Silver ran to her in an instant, embracing her. Rosette fell backward from the impact, but she just laughed.

Silver licked Rosette’s face all over like a puppy.

“Ahaha, it tickles! Stop it!”

Rosette grabbed the face of the silver wolf she hadn’t seen in so long and looked at him from side to side.

Familiars don’t grow or age. Pipi hadn’t changed at all in the past five years.

So Silver must be the same as he was before. But somehow, he seemed even more majestic.

“How have you been?”

Silver howled. Rosette was surprised and grabbed Silver’s snout tightly.

“Don’t howl! But I’m glad you seem to be doing well.”

[Bleep!]

Pipi landed on Silver’s head, pretending to be familiar with him.

“Pipi is happy to see you too.”

“Pipi and I have been doing well.”

After talking about her recent life, Rosette swallowed hard when she saw the necklace dangling from Silver’s neck.

Finally, she could talk to Joshua, whom she had wanted to see for the past five years.

Well, it wasn’t so much meeting as it was just talking…

‘Why am I so nervous?’

Rosette felt her mouth dry and opened it to speak.

“Your Highness? Are you listening?”

[…Yes.]

The moment she heard that short answer, Rosette was incredibly surprised. Pipi was also surprised and shouted, “Bleep?”

‘He sounds like a different person!’

Joshua’s voice, which she was hearing for the first time in five years, was completely different.

The Joshua’s voice that Rosette knew was the voice of a young child. It was slightly high because his voice hadn’t broken yet, and it sounded light.

But the voice coming from the necklace was the voice of an adult whose voice had fully broken.

‘He’s 17, so he’s obviously close to being an adult, but it feels strange.’

Rosette had seen Daniel and Lucas’ voices change as they grew up.

She was a little surprised that their voices had changed, but she wasn’t that shocked because she had seen them grow up beside her.

But Joshua was different.

‘I’m sure I’ve heard his old voice before, so why am I so surprised?’

She was sure that the last voice she heard before she died was Joshua’s.

But was it because the emotions in his voice were different from then?

It was like listening to someone else’s voice.

‘But I like his voice.’

A honey-like baritone. A voice that was neither too low nor too high. It felt like she would fall asleep automatically if she listened to it.

Rosette hesitated and answered honestly.

“Your Highness’s voice is a little unfamiliar.”

“Oh, that’s right! The Empress! Is the Empress doing well?”

“So-so?”

“Ah. I should go see the Empress sometime.”

“I hope she invites us soon.”

Rosette wiggled her fingers and asked carefully, “Has Your Highness been doing well?”

Rosette had sent Joshua about five letters in the meantime. There was nothing special in them, just introducing the three siblings, her recent life, or the Adrian territory.

Perhaps because they were trivial letters, Joshua only replied to two of them. Even then, Joshua didn’t write about his recent life in the letters.

Rosette knew that it wasn’t something to be upset about, but she was a little sad. She also felt a little resentful towards Joshua.

“Assassins?”

Rosette shouted without realizing it.

It was as if she could see Joshua frowning in front of her. Rosette shrugged.

“I’m sorry.”

Joshua sneered.

Rosette, who had been hugging Silver’s neck until then, let go of her arms and slowly backed away. Silver whined as if to deny it.

Rosette’s heart softened at the sight, and she buried her face in Silver’s neck again.

Then Joshua asked,

“Ah, that’s it. Mrs. Noir corrected me that ‘Your Grace’ is the correct title. She was very surprised when she found out that I was calling you ‘Your Highness’.”

Rosette carefully asked the voice that seemed to be dissatisfied with something.

“Is something wrong?”

Joshua paused for a moment.

“But that’s the correct title, isn’t it?”

“What’s so strange about it?”

Joshua, who had been silent for a while, said as if he had made up his mind.

“Yes? But how…?”

Joshua asked, but Rosette was still a little hesitant. Noticing her feelings, he asked,

“No, it’s not that I hate it… I’ve just been thinking about what’s different between ‘Your Highness’ and ‘Your Grace’.”

Joshua, who muttered something incomprehensible, insisted to the end.

“Yes.”

“Okay, Your Highness.”

Only then did his voice sound satisfied.

“But why did you send Silver today?”

“That’s true. Maybe Your Highness too…!”

Did you want to see me?

So, as soon as I arrived, you sent Silver as if you had been waiting?

Rosette wanted to ask that for a moment, but she closed her mouth tightly.

“It’s nothing. But aren’t you going to ask me if I’ve been doing well?”