The Youngest Daughter Of The Great Wizard Of The Famous Swordsmanship [EN]: Chapter 77

77. Reunion (2)

January 16, 2024

Rosette, having already tasked Bbibbi with entertaining Silver, wandered through the library.

Silver, with Bbibbi perched atop his head, trailed closely behind her.

After a while, Rosette settled across from Joshua, a stack of thick books in tow.

She flipped through the covers and glanced at the table of contents, but found it impossible to focus. The letters seemed to dance on the page, all because Joshua’s gaze was fixed on her from across the table.

Rosette, eyes glued to the book, finally asked, “Why… why are you looking at me like that?”

“Just because. It’s a little strange.”

“What is?”

“You seemed bigger the last time I saw you, but now you look smaller. Why is that?”

“That’s…!”

Rosette looked up, protesting, “It’s because Your Highness has grown much more than I have.”

Joshua chuckled softly.

“So, you’re finally acknowledging my presence?”

“Pardon?”

Joshua leaned back in his chair, a picture of relaxed amusement.

“Anyway, it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other in person.”

“It has been a while, Your Highness.”

Silence stretched between them for a moment before Rosette looked down again, speaking softly. Although they had exchanged words through Silver a few times, this was their first proper face-to-face meeting.

“How have you been?”

“Didn’t we already discuss that?”

“But this is the first time we’re talking face to face.”

“Are we really talking face to face right now?”

Rosette looked up again, a hint of exasperation in her voice.

“Yes, this is what it’s like to talk face to face.”

“……”

Feeling teased, Rosette pouted slightly, and Joshua gently tapped her forehead with his index finger.

“What should we do now, anyway?”

“Pardon?”

“I don’t really know how to play with a child.”

“Don’t treat me like a child!” Rosette exclaimed, her cheeks flushing.

“At least Your Highness knows I’m not a child, even if I look like one…”

“I know. You lived to be twenty and came back.”

“……”

“But you know, living with Mother [likely referring to the Queen Mother or a similar figure], I felt like a child because my body was younger and I was constantly being protected. Didn’t you feel that way too?”

“That’s true.”

Rosette nodded in agreement.

Certainly, at first, she had been acutely aware of her past life, of having lived to twenty. That awareness had been strong when she saved Jane, who was dying near the orphanage.

Perhaps it had lasted even until she arrived at the Adrian mansion.

But as she grew up surrounded by the love and unwavering protection of Duke Adrian and his three children, she truly began to feel like the cherished youngest child.

“Sometimes I’m so content with the present that my time at the Dallas estate feels like a dream.”

“……That face again.”

“Pardon?”

Joshua stood up and gently cupped Rosette’s cheeks, his thumb brushing lightly beneath her dry eyes.

“What’s wrong with my face?”

“Well…”

Joshua frowned slightly.

“You look like you’re about to cry.”

Rosette touched her eyes and lowered her head, avoiding his gaze.

“I’m not crying.”

“Yes, so it seems.”

Joshua sat down again and asked, “How did you live in the Dallas estate that makes you make that face whenever the past is mentioned?”

“That…”

Rosette hesitated, moving her lips as if to speak, then stopping.

*Should I tell him?*

Her past as Rosette Dallas was not a pleasant memory. It wasn’t something she readily shared with anyone.

In fact, there was no one she *could* tell. Her family must never know.

But there was one person, Joshua, who shared a connection to that past, to whom she felt she *could* confide.

In Rosette’s mind, the desire to keep her embarrassing past hidden warred with the urge to unburden herself to Joshua.

*Is it really okay to tell him?*

While Rosette wrestled with her thoughts, Joshua subtly inquired, “Is it difficult to talk about?”

“Well…”

Rosette offered a small, bitter smile. Joshua quietly observed her expression.

*She’s making that face again.*

Joshua didn’t truly know the details of Rosette’s life with the Dallas family.

He only knew, instinctively, that she had been mistreated and thoroughly exploited by the Marquis.

Beyond that, he knew very little about the person Rosette had been.

What he *did* know was Rosette after the regression [time travel/reincarnation].

A confident girl who, despite trembling with fear in his presence, still spoke her mind to protect Adrian.

At the same time, the eight-year-old Rosette he had met again was just like any other child her age.

But the child before him now wore a face that seemed burdened by the worries of the world, a face that should never be seen on a child.

Seeing that, he was reminded of the weight of their shared past.

Rosette, who had been silently enduring Joshua’s gaze, finally spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. “I don’t think it’s a story worth telling Your Highness.”

“Is there such a story?”

“Still… You’re a precious person.”

Joshua burst out laughing, the sound tinged with a hint of irony.

“You know how I lived, and yet you say that?”

“But…”

Rosette’s voice trailed off.

*I guess so.*

Joshua held a high position, but he had also endured his share of hardships.

He had lost his mother at a young age, struggled with the sudden appearance of his half-sibling, and eventually lost Duke Adrian and Daniel as well.

It couldn’t be said that he had always been treated as precious.

Rosette mustered her courage and spoke, deciding to offer a brief overview rather than the full, painful story. “It’s just an obvious story. Marquis Dallas adopted me but thoroughly used me as a tool. I wasn’t taught the culture that nobles naturally learn; I only learned magic.”

“……”

“After that, it’s as you can imagine. Because of the magic, which was no different from a curse, I did whatever Marquis Dallas told me to do, until the very moment I turned back time.”

“So that’s why you had that face then.”

“Then?”

Joshua looked at Rosette, puzzled by her question, and asked, as if it should have been obvious, “The day you made your debutante [formal introduction to society].”

Rosette’s face clouded over, her expression darkening.

“Ah, that day.”

“……”

“I’m sorry. I was so out of it that day…”

Rosette recalled the events of that day, a day she preferred to forget. It was a mess, the only time she had ventured out beyond the confines of the tasks Marquis Dallas had assigned her.

She had worn a mask to conceal her disfigured face, a suggestion Elisha had strongly encouraged.

But the mask, intended to protect her, had only drawn more attention.

Though she was completely covered, she had felt exposed and vulnerable, as if she were naked in front of everyone.

Rosette tried to suppress the memories of that day.

The only positive memory she retained was talking to Bbibbi in a garden she had never seen before. She remembered Bbibbi’s excitement at seeing the various plants, as it was his first time visiting a garden.

Until someone had approached, and she had fled in panic…

“Huh?”

Rosette’s eyes widened in realization.

*Come to think of it, that person…*

Looking back, the person had been wearing a dress far more splendid than any other noble present.

At the time, she had been ignorant of clothing and hadn’t recognized the difference. But now, she realized it was the kind of attire worn by royalty.

Since he was young, the person she had encountered must have been either Joshua or the Second Prince, Louis.

But thinking about the color of his hair, which had shone softly in the moonlight…

Rosette muttered, almost unconsciously, “I… I remember.”

“What is it?”

“I… Your Highness, have we met before?”

“Of course…”

“No. Not in prison.”

Rosette strained her memory.

“The day I made my debutante, I ran into someone in the garden, but I was so embarrassed by the encounter that I just ran away.”

“……”

“But now that I see Your Highness, I think I know. The person I saw that day had silver hair and was wearing a splendid dress.”

Rosette scanned Joshua from head to toe.

“The only silver-haired man who could wear such clothes is Your Highness.”

Joshua stared blankly for a moment before bursting into laughter.

“You remember that now?”

“Was it really Your Highness?”

“Yes.”

“Wow, I didn’t know. I thought I was meeting Your Highness for the first time right before I died.”

“I wondered about that. I thought it was rude that you ran away without even greeting me, but I guess you didn’t know it was me.”

“Although it’s late, I’d like to apologize for my rudeness that day.”

Joshua raised his hand to stop her.

“Well, it was a long time ago, so it’s okay. I wasn’t particularly upset. Anyway…”

Joshua changed the subject, asking, “Are you happy now?”

The unexpected question struck Rosette like a blow to the head.

“……Pardon?”

“You looked so sad back then.”

“So…”

“I’m asking if you’re happy as Rosette Adrian, not Rosette Dallas.”

Rosette hesitated, her mind racing.

*Can I tell Your Highness that I’m happy?*

Joshua remembered the past. He tacitly acknowledged Rosette’s place in the Adrian family, but he had made no promises to keep her secret. He could reveal the truth and cast her out at any time.

Would it be right to tell him that she was happy to be an Adrian? Wouldn’t it be like rubbing salt in his wounds?

But she couldn’t bring herself to lie. In the end, she confessed honestly, “Yes, I’m happy.”

“……”

“I’ve never been so happy since I was born. At first, I turned back time for Adrian, but now I think I did well to turn back time for myself.”

She added, watching Joshua’s face carefully, “Of course, it’s not a story to tell in front of Your Highness.”

“There’s nothing you can’t say.”

“……Pardon?”

“You’ve already done enough. How should I put it…”

After a moment of hesitation, Joshua spoke with conviction, “Yes. You seem to have become a perfect swan now. You’re no longer an ugly duckling.”

At that moment, Rosette’s heart began to beat in a way it never had before.

She had been recognized, not by just anyone, but by Joshua Ernhardt.

The man who had cried in front of her, the man who had told her to leave Adrian, had declared that she had become a true Adrian.

It was a different feeling than when her family said, ‘You’re also an Adrian.’

Her heart swelled with such overwhelming emotion that she felt as if the world was tilting. She felt dizzy and nauseous.

She was undeniably happy, but her throat tightened, and tears welled in her eyes.

“Sob…”

Rosette murmured, tears streaming down her face.

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

“……”

“Thank you so much.”

Joshua stared blankly at Rosette, who was being comforted by Bbibbi as she shed clear tears.

Over her still-young face, he saw a fleeting image of the woman he had once encountered in the garden: a woman with a sad expression, but with pink hair and sparkling eyes.

Then, he felt a strange premonition.

Joshua instinctively sensed that his relationship with Rosette might gradually change in the future.