The Youngest Daughter Of The Great Wizard Of The Famous Swordsmanship [EN]: Chapter 9

9. To Be a Child, Part 2

Adrian hesitated, searching for a response. He rose from his seat and sat next to Rosette, pulling her into a tight embrace.

It felt different from Jane’s soft, tender embrace. It wasn’t as comforting, but it felt sturdier, like it could shield her from all the storms of the world.

Rosette instinctively buried her face in the Duke’s arms.

“There’s a difference between not eating and being unable to eat, Rose.”

“……”

“You shouldn’t force yourself to eat what you can’t.”

“Will I be scolded then?”

“From now on, yes.”

“Yes.”

The Duke gently patted Rosette’s back.

“And what’s wrong with being a bit picky? It’s okay not to eat what you don’t like. That’s what children do.”

“……”

“So, is there any food you dislike?”

“……Carrots.”

“Carrots? Anything else?”

“No. I eat everything else well. Really.”

“Alright.”

The Duke released Rosette and examined her arm.

“To scratch your arm this much, you’ll really get a scar.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t do it again.”

“Yes.”

“I was going to introduce you once you were more familiar with the mansion, but I suppose I can’t wait. Today, I’ll introduce you to your teacher.”

Rosette’s eyes widened.

“My teacher?”

Duke Adrian smiled and tugged at her nose.

“Yes.”

He pulled the bell cord, instructing Sebastian, who was waiting, to summon someone. A moment later, a woman with fiery red hair entered.

Rosette recognized her immediately.

‘It’s the Witch of Fire?’

The Witch of Fire, Celine.

In her past life, she was a mage who had been desperate to take Rosette as her disciple.

-Why don’t you come to me? You’ll learn more from me than from that rigid Marquis Dallas.

What had she said to her back then?

-I’m not interested in mages weaker than me.

Looking back, it was an incredibly arrogant response. But it was the only warning she could give.

Don’t come to me. If you covet me, Marquis Dallas might kill you.

In truth, Rosette had quite liked Celine. That’s why she did it.

However, Celine persistently approached Rosette.

-Little one, aren’t I better than that old man? Come with me. Huh? This older sister will treat you well.

Eventually, she died in a mysterious accident. The cause of the accident was never revealed, but Rosette could guess that Marquis Dallas was behind it.

It wasn’t entirely because of her. Celine was a quite skilled mage, and her presence made it difficult to attack the Adrian Duchy. Celine likely died due to various complex interests.

So, Rosette didn’t feel guilty about her death. But she did feel a bit empty.

To be honest, Rosette had hoped to meet Celine when she came to the Adrian Duchy. But to meet her already!

As Rosette looked up at Celine with a curious face, Celine greeted her lightly.

“Greetings, Your Grace.”

“Yes.”

“But who is this lovely young lady? She’s practically overflowing with mana.”

As expected, Celine showed interest in Rosette once again.

“Let me introduce you. This is my youngest daughter.”

“Oh my, did Your Grace have a hidden princess?”

Duke Adrian frowned slightly, and Celine corrected herself.

“Just kidding. So, this must be the famous one from the rumors in the mansion. Hello, little lady. I’m Celine.”

“Hello, Sister.”

Rosette greeted her, recalling the title Celine had used for her in the past, and Celine burst into hearty laughter.

“My goodness, Your Grace. Did you see that? The young lady called me sister!”

“Is it……not okay?”

“Not okay? Of course, it’s okay. Do you want to learn magic? This older sister will teach you everything.”

“Before that, please look at her injury.”

“Injury?”

Celine, belatedly noticing Rosette’s arm, made a fuss.

“Who did this? Such a pretty arm has a wound.”

“It seems she scratched it because it was itchy due to an allergy.”

“If you leave it like that, it will scar. Just a moment.”

Celine crouched down in front of Rosette and manipulated mana. Light gathered at her fingertips and seeped into Rosette’s wound. Soon, her arm was clean as if she had never been hurt.

Rosette wasn’t surprised. What was there to be surprised about when she had seen this magic countless times in her past life? But Celine seemed to find it strange.

“Oh my, young lady. Aren’t you amazed?”

Oops. Should she have acted amazed? Rosette was wondering if she should make a ‘wow’ sound now when Duke Adrian interjected.

“Rosette has already used healing magic herself.”

Celine’s eyes widened like saucers.

“What did you say? Healing magic? Please explain in more detail!”

Adrian told her the story of Rosette healing Jane. Celine listened intently with a consistently surprised expression, then ran her hands over her face.

“Unbelievable. How could such a thing……”

“Is it really that unbelievable?”

“Theoretically, it’s possible, but is it really, I mean, is it really this little lady who did it?”

“Yes, I confirmed it.”

“No, how……”

Celine kept repeating ‘how’ like someone who had lost their language skills.

It was natural for Celine to be surprised. Duke Adrian didn’t know much about magic, so he thought Rosette had instinctively used healing magic, but in reality, it wasn’t easy to use magic instinctively.

In fact, Rosette had used healing magic by using formulas she already knew, so it was virtually impossible to ‘instinctively use healing magic.’

But what could she do? She couldn’t say, ‘Actually, I learned magic in the past, so I could use magic.’

Rosette roughly agreed with the Duke’s words.

“I wanted to save Jane.”

“……”

“I prayed earnestly to the Goddess, and Jane lived.”

“Goodness, so it was really possible! Your Grace, the young lady is a genius!”

“Yes, it seems so.”

Duke Adrian’s face was filled with satisfaction as he replied.

“So, about that! May I teach the young lady?”

“Of course. That’s why I called you here.”

“You can’t take that back! There, did you hear that, young lady? I am now your teacher.”

“Yes, Sister.”

“Oh, you’re so cute.”

Celine hugged Rosette tightly. Rosette mumbled in her arms.

“But when do we start lessons?”

She wanted to create a mana core [a magical energy center within the body] and use magic as soon as possible. But with her current body, it was difficult to create a mana core alone, so she needed someone to help her.

‘Besides, I have to pretend to learn magic so that I won’t be suspected when I use magic.’

Daniel’s accident was not far off. She would try to prevent the accident in other ways as much as possible, but in the worst case, she had to be prepared to heal Daniel’s legs with healing magic.

However, Celine, unaware of her impatience, said nonchalantly.

“Not yet. You can’t create a mana core with such a small body.”

“But……”

“Let’s learn magic after you eat a little better and grow bigger.”

“When I get chubby?”

Celine chuckled.

“Yes, when you get chubby.”

She stroked Rosette’s gloomy head and stood up.

“You must be tired, so rest well. I’ll be going now.”

“Yes, rest well. I have somewhere to go as well, so I’ll be leaving. If you need anything, call the maid.”

“Yes.”

Alone, Rosette jumped onto the bed. She recalled being scolded by Duke Adrian with her arms spread out.

In fact, she still didn’t quite understand why he was so angry.

But she thought she shouldn’t force herself to eat shrimp in the future.

Besides.

-Rosette Adrian.

Rosette smiled, recalling the name Duke Adrian had uttered.

She was clearly being scolded, but strangely, she laughed.

Not Rosette Dallas, but Rosette Adrian.

She finally felt like she had truly become a member of the Adrian family.

‘It’s really changed.’

Before she died, she thought that if she were adopted into a family like the Adrian family, her life might change. Could her life change this time?

That person’s life, and her own life.

And.

-What did my teacher and Daniel do to deserve to be killed! Why!

“Could that person’s life change too?”

The First Prince, Joshua Ernhardt, who cried like a child in front of her. Could he be happy without losing his loved ones?

Rosette closed her eyes, thinking of the man whose face she hadn’t even seen properly.

She didn’t know why that man, whom she had no acquaintance with, came to mind. Was it because he was the last person she saw before she died, or because he was the reason she turned back time?

‘Maybe I’ll meet him someday.’

He was the Duke’s disciple, so wouldn’t he come to the Duke’s residence at least once?

Rosette closed her eyes with a slightly excited heart.

Was it because she woke up early in the morning? She soon fell asleep.

* * *

Duke Adrian canceled all his appointments and headed back to the orphanage.

“What’s the matter?”

The director was quite surprised when the Duke, who had left with Rosette just a few hours ago, returned alone with a stern face. He led the Duke to the director’s office, sweating profusely.

It was common for children to be returned a few days after being adopted. So, he wondered if this was another such case, but it was strange that Rosette wasn’t there.

“Is something wrong with Rose?”

“Did you know that the child has allergies?”

“Allergies……?”

The director pondered for a moment before shaking his head.

“No, not as far as I know.”

“The child had a shrimp allergy.”

“Is that so? We never fed her shrimp, so I didn’t know.”

Duke Adrian’s eyes gleamed sharply.

“You really didn’t know?”

In that moment, the director felt like a herbivore standing before a predator. He understood that he was being questioned, but he couldn’t understand why he was receiving such questions.

He swallowed hard and barely answered.

“I didn’t know. But why are you asking that?”

“The child knew she had allergies.”

“That can’t be. Rose came to our orphanage not long after she was born. How could Rose know about allergies that we don’t……”

“Not only that, but she knowingly ate shrimp, even though she knew it would make her sick, and became ill.”

The director was startled.

“Oh my, is she alright?”

“Fortunately, it wasn’t a severe allergy that would endanger her life. However, I came to find out why the child did such a thing.”

“……”

“Did you pressure the child to eat food against her will?”