I Got Possessed, But the Monster Beast Is Adorable - Chapter 98

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

#98

She hadn’t harbored special feelings for Leonhardt from the beginning.

The year Rosalin turned seven.

That day was her birthday.

However, her father and mother left the manor, leaving their only daughter’s birthday behind.

It was to attend Eldest Brother’s essay competition.

Last year, they skipped her birthday because Second Brother’s pet rabbit had died, and the year before that, it passed by unnoticed because Third Brother had fallen into the pond and gotten his clothes wet.

They were truly trivial reasons.

“Still… you could at least say happy birthday.”

Rosalin turned away from the maids offering her birthday cake and fled to the garden behind the manor.

A space that seemed somewhat abandoned rather than deserving to be called a garden.

That place, where wild weeds wrapped around her ankles, was the only sanctuary where young Rosalin could escape the heavy responsibility of being a lady and breathe alone.

“Rosalin, what are you doing here all by yourself? You look like someone who’s lived through everything in the world.”

Startled by the sudden voice, Rosalin jerked her head up.

When had he arrived?

Leonhardt was sitting on a high tree branch, looking down at her.

“…Leave me alone.”

Rosalin replied with her head deeply bowed.

Normally, she would have greeted him with a perfect noble smile, but today she had no desire to do so.

But Leonhardt showed no signs of backing down.

He swung his legs from the tree branch, looking at Rosalin with apparent interest.

“Sitting there all dejected by yourself is a waste of time. Come up here. The world will look a little different.”

“Why should I? Please just pass by.”

“Because… right now you need a genius like me.”

Leon answered playfully and stretched out his arm from the tree branch.

“Come on, come here. I’ll catch you.”

Rosalin hesitated for a moment.

Climbing a tree – it was absolutely unthinkable for a noble lady of House Ruadel.

If she were caught in such a state, being scolded by her father was as certain as fire.

…What does it matter anyway. Father doesn’t have even the slightest interest in me.

Eventually, she grasped his hand and carefully climbed up onto the tree branch.

“See, it’s not difficult, is it?”

Leon smiled as he seated her beside him.

Rosalin squeezed her eyes shut in fear.

“Rosalin, it’s okay, so open your eyes.”

At his words, Rosalin slowly opened her eyes and looked at the scenery spread before her.

“…Wow.”

“How is it? Good thing you came up, right? From up here, even your manor is just part of the scenery.”

The sky stretching high above, the forest surrounding the manor, and the paths extending beyond it.

The high walls of the manor that had oppressed her since childhood now looked like nothing more than a small, ordinary fence.

“See that place far over there? I want to see a wider world. Exploring unknown continents is my dream.”

To Rosalin, Leonhardt was nothing more than an utterly annoying good-for-nothing.

Despite his status as Avalon’s 2nd Prince, he was a scoundrel prince who had abandoned his princely duties.

Unlike him, Rosalin, who had lived under the pressure of noble lady duties imposed by her family, had always considered herself and Leonhardt to be from completely different worlds.

But in this moment, she envied his freedom to go anywhere.

“…I want to leave too. To a wider world.”

It was an impulsive answer that came out in the heat of the moment.

A noble lady of Ruadel talking about exploration – he would surely laugh at her.

“Mm, that’s a very good idea. The world is wide, and you can go anywhere.”

“Really… could I do that? Even though I’m a lady of Ruadel?”

“Lady, prince – what does that matter? If I want to go, I go.”

Leon smiled as he looked at her.

Leon’s golden hair, sparkling in the sunlight, shone brilliantly.

As Rosalin gazed at him, a smile unknowingly crept onto her lips.

It was a ‘real’ smile, not the fake smile that was Rosalin’s specialty.

* * *

Rosalin, who had been lost in old memories for a moment, now had to face the Leonhardt before her.

To think that he, who rarely showed his emotions, would have such a face filled with anger.

Is that woman so precious to you?

“Y-Your Highness. How did you get here…!”

“I asked first. What is this behavior supposed to be?”

“Pardon…? Oh, i-it’s nothing! My hand just slipped…! Lady Blanc also said it was fine…”

Leonhardt ignored Bianca’s clumsy excuse outright and approached Zoe.

“Leon… no, Your Highness. How did Your Highness come to be here…”

“…Master, you’ll catch a cold.”

Avalon’s autumn wind, with its distinct four seasons, was quite chilly.

Because of this, Zoe’s body, soaked through with tea, was trembling slightly.

Upon noticing Zoe’s lips gradually turning blue, Leonhardt immediately removed his coat and carefully draped it over her shoulders.

Then he slowly caressed Zoe’s swollen hand.

“Let’s go to the royal palace quickly. I’ll have the court healing mages on standby.”

As if her wounds were his own, his eyes shook violently, having lost their composure.

At his desperate expression, which she had never seen before, Rosalin’s face hardened.

Leonhardt usually threw flirtations at all the ladies he met with an endlessly frivolous attitude.

Because of this, society called him a playboy, a libertine.

But Rosalin knew.

All of it was to solidify his sister the 1st Princess’s claim to the throne.

That his reckless actions were nothing more than a mask he had created for himself.

That was why she felt a strange kinship with him.

No one else would think so, but Rosalin believed that she and he were alike.

But his attitude toward that woman was clearly different from the ‘fake’ he had shown until now.

Why…?

That woman is just a baroness living in the northern frontier.

No matter how much she’s the benefactor of the beastfolk, their ruler, she’s still just a country noble…

And I was there first.

I was the first to build a bond with you, to share special feelings with you.

The person who should be with you isn’t that woman. It’s me, Rosalin Ruadel!

Rosalin bit her lower lip and glared at him.

Then, as he was about to leave the party hall with her, he murmured toward Rosalin in a low voice.

“For a noble lady to engage in such childish behavior… Others might be one thing, but Rosalin, I never knew you could act so vulgarly.”

“Y-Your Highness…”

“Listen well, all of you. Zoe Blanc will soon become my fiancée. So remember clearly what happened here today, in Avalon’s name.”

Leonhardt’s cold gaze, delivered in a deadly voice, slowly swept over the faces of the ladies attending the tea party one by one.

It was tantamount to an implicit declaration that he would remember their families in the name of the royal house.

“Eek…! Y-Your Highness. We didn’t know Lady Blanc was Your Highness’s fiancée…!”

“R-right. We were just doing this for the lady…”

No matter how much of a scoundrel prince the royal family had all but disowned, he was still Avalon’s noble 2nd Prince.

At his warning backed by power, the ladies’ faces turned pale.

“Let’s go, Master.”

“L-Leon. Wait a moment…!”

Leaving behind the icy silence that enveloped the tea party hall, he hurriedly urged his steps forward, leading Zoe away.

“G-Good heavens… This can’t be happening… Th-The Prince’s fiancée is…”

As Bianca, who had fallen out of favor with the royal family, cried out in dismay, all the young ladies’ gazes turned toward Rosalin in unison.

However, the moment they met Rosalin’s face, they all had no choice but to fall silent.

Rosalin muttered quietly while watching the retreating figures of him and her as they left the party hall, unable to hide her emotions.

“…I won’t forgive this. Never.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————