Mad Rosetta - Chapter 100

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Rosette Gone Mad
Chapter 100
Loyalty and Conquest (1)
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A mansion so vast that the word “grand” scarcely sufficed.
Servants who moved at a single person’s whim, and estate dwellers who swayed at their master’s command.
Shoes that gleamed without a speck of dust, and dresses that had never once shown wear.
“I will become a noblewoman.”
She repeated those words like an incantation, making everyone believe she truly could live that way.
Lianna Londry.
In that remote village of the Eastern Region where only two towns bore names within the estate, everyone knew her name.
“Lianna is the most beautiful in our village!”
Such was the trivial reason.
She was either envied and resented by her peers, or showered with favor.
The adults would make tiresome jokes about her, wondering what face the man who would become her husband might have.
“Your daughter, you say? Hmm… well, she does take after her mother—quite striking, I’d say. Why do you ask? Are you interested?”
“Oh, no, it’s not like that…”
Among people who all knew each other through countless connections, a household that had built its reputation over generations naturally had to maintain a respectable appearance.
Lord Londry was one of the knights my father had brought into our service.
A butler was expected to learn at least basic self-defense, even if he possessed no exceptional talent.
Under the teaching that this was how one could prove useful to their master in the future, Lord Londry’s entire daily routine consisted of overseeing my training.
“If we were to marry her off to the young master of the Bardam Family, what an auspicious occasion for our household! How exciting!”
“Ugh… I told you that’s not it!”
I harbored an inexplicable aversion to Lianna’s name whenever it reached my ears, however infrequently.
Of course, Lord Londry’s teasing played no small part in that.
But fundamentally, it was because I had not yet learned that what one sees is not all there is—I was secretly looking down upon others who were captivated by such trivial matters.
“Wow, a direct hit.”
“…”
“Hmm?”
Before long, I came to realize just how arrogant I had been.
Clear and radiant green eyes.
The moment I first met Lianna’s gaze—eyes that seemed to contain the very essence of midsummer—I felt profoundly ashamed.
I had believed myself different from others.
It was shame for all those days I had considered myself a noble soul, untouched by mere appearances.
I feared that if I dared to gaze directly at her, the object of my attention might burn away.
She shone with such brilliance.
If one could call it first love, then it was.
“…Did I startle you?”
As my face flushed crimson and I could not even meet her eyes, Lianna asked with concern.
According to Lord Londry, she had only just turned nine, yet her voice carried a composure that belied her age.
…This is our household.
Her attitude of considering me as though this were her own home struck me as rather peculiar.
Yet I found no inclination to point it out.
That was my first meeting with Lianna.
I later heard that Lianna had persistently pestered Lord Londry until he finally obtained permission from my father, the head of our household, and brought her to the Manor.
“Goodness, so she really did visit where the young master resides.”
“…I was somewhat taken aback.”
“…Young master. Though she is my daughter, I would advise you to maintain a proper distance from Lianna. She likely wants something from you.”
Lianna had always been that way, he said.
The look in Lord Londry’s eyes as he spoke was far too grave to be merely ironic praise of his daughter.
Whenever Lianna, who rarely engaged in deep interactions with her peers, suddenly surrounded herself with a particular person, it invariably meant she desired something from them.
Lord Londry remarked that her talent for disguising it as coincidence was far too cunning.
I could tell his concern was genuine.
Indeed, having only recently become acquainted with her, what she wanted from me was abundantly clear.
“When nobles take vacations in summer, how do they usually manage meals? If they don’t have a villa in that region, do they eat alone in their assigned rooms?”
“…That question seems rather odd, Lianna.”
“Tell me, Lawrence. Will you?”
Nearly every moment I spent alone with Lianna began with a question and ended with one.
Lianna would ask about nobility, and only eventually would I counter with, “Why on earth are you curious about such things?”
She had so many questions about the nobility.
Or rather, nearly all her questions pertained to that subject alone.
“I prefer to cut bread and eat it at home. But I noticed others tear it apart messily with their hands?”
“…Well, Lianna. Bread is typically considered proper etiquette when eaten by tearing off small pieces with one’s hands.”
“Oh?”
“It’s easy to be confused. Don’t worry about it.”
There was a time when I corrected Lianna’s etiquette as she boasted about what she knew.
I never imagined that day her complexion would turn ashen and rigid.
Watching her dejected back as she left without a word, I regretted what I had said.
But the next day.
Lianna came to find me with an expression that was almost solemn, and she grasped my hand.
Strangely, I felt only embarrassed and pleased.
“Lawrence. I was truly mortified yesterday. I was taught that even if one possesses knowledge, rather than speaking carelessly, one must first learn to bow one’s head. I still have so many shortcomings.”
“…No. That very attitude of self-reflection is already more than enough.”
“Won’t you teach me, Lawrence?”
“…What?”
“I want to learn noble etiquette. Will you? Teach me, Lawrence.”
To serve a noble, one must possess the same refinement as a noble.
Only then can one naturally point out a master’s mistakes and prevent them from suffering embarrassment.
Dining etiquette, the purpose of each room, clothing that varies by season and region, fashion.
Even discerning a master’s state of mind from something as trivial as the color of curtains hung in a room.
I would regurgitate what I had studied, imparting it to Lianna piece by piece.
Each time she learned something new, her eyes would gleam with delight.
Watching her joy, I realized that I could find happiness simply in being useful to someone.
Father once said that when he took charge of a young ward, he found pleasure in witnessing their daily growth.
Perhaps, despite being her peer, I was experiencing something similar as I watched Lianna.
“You did wonderfully today—everything was perfect. When you leave your seat, you should hang your handkerchief on the chair, yes?”
“…Ah. Aha. Somehow, Lawrence, you’re just like my butler.”
The small Lianna, who would laugh adorably and brush it off, transformed with each passing day, growing more beautiful by the hour.
Our household often received visits from noble lords, and some of them had coveted Lianna.
They would ask if she was a servant based on her appearance, or inquire which noble house she belonged to upon seeing her dignified posture.
The moment they learned she was merely a village girl, they all sought to take her as a mistress or concubine.
“…Lianna, what are you doing?”
“Getting married.”
“…To whom?”
The Epsilon Baron, a lord, rarely made his estate rounds, but his carriage happened to cross paths with Lianna on the day she was walking home—and that was the beginning of our misfortune.
The considerably older Epsilon Baron had singled out Lianna to make her his wife.
“This is madness… absolute madness. Do you know how old that man is? If he had children, there would be more of them than you.”
“What does any of that matter, Lawrence? Age is irrelevant in marriage.”
“It matters to aging men!”
“I’ve learned something during these years living in this village. I don’t know when such an opportunity will come again. I told you, Lawrence.”
“…”
“I will become a more excellent noble than anyone else.”
An excellent person, perhaps—but what does it mean to be an excellent noble?
In my eyes, Lianna was extraordinarily special and precious.
Yet why did she harbor such intense longing and yearning only toward nobility?
That was something I found terribly difficult to understand.
“Do you know how brutal that man is? My brother didn’t say much, but if you go, Lianna, you will surely suffer.”
“Then I must naturally care for him. The previous Duchess likely failed in her duties.”
Lianna laughed with confidence, saying she would transform the Epsilon Baron.
Within mere months, she was married off.
Apart from the heartache of not wanting to let her go, I hoped the Baron would cherish her.
“Help me, Lawrence.”
…Was the rumor that the Baron beat her true?
When I visited the Epsilon Estate following my brother, I could scarcely accept the sight of Lianna—reduced to skin and bone.
Thus, I abandoned the training I had enjoyed and entered the Epsilon Estate under the pretense of learning work under my brother.
Years later, she gave birth to Odette—a beautiful child who resembled only Lianna.
Yet the Baron seized upon this to accuse Lianna of infidelity and scandal, shaming her relentlessly.
He was a wretch, lower than vermin.
Thus, my brother and I spent years at the Epsilon Estate.
One night, Lianna emerged from the Epsilon Baron’s bedroom half-mad, speaking hollowly.
“I am not the sort of woman to languish in such circumstances. You, Lawrence, would understand that.”
“…Duchess, what on earth is the meaning of this-”
“My husband was born a nobleman yet conducts himself like a beast, so it stands to reason that he should be put down accordingly.”
There was no possibility of refusing her plea to extract her from this cursed estate.
“So you must go to greater horizons. Establish yourself there, and then… free me from this place.”
What we desired was remarkably simple.
In place of the contemptible Epsilon Baron, we sought a husband worthy of becoming Lianna’s new consort.
Where did the most luminously prosperous gather?
It was then that I heard from my father that Duke Benatra’s Mansion was recruiting new staff, and I applied at once.
“You came from Badam, then?”
Unlike the pale, pallid Odette, here was a young lady of deep, vivid presence.
Such was my first impression upon seeing Rosetta.
The coexistence of practiced deference and ingenuous innocence struck me as profoundly unfamiliar.
The masters of Benatra were remarkably bright, and their love for one another was evident at a glance.
And so, from some point onward, I found myself regarding them with quiet contentment.
⌜Lawrence. Odette misses you greatly. When might we expect joyful news?⌟
But that too lasted only a few years.
During my tenure as Butler of Benatra, the letters I received from Lianna contained every detail of her plight and Odette’s circumstances.
…It was somewhat unjust.
From some point onward, whenever I beheld the masters of Benatra clinging to one another in domestic bliss, I found myself recalling Lianna withering away and Odette enduring excessive discipline.
My women languished and withered in that desolate manor, while they constructed their happiness—it was far too galling to bear.
If the Duke truly cherished his wife and children as he seemed to… surely Lianna too could find happiness, could she not?
“L… Lawrence…. How could you….”
“…Because I was wronged, Duchess.”
To her, frantically staunching the blood spurting from her neck, I spoke thus.
That position was far more befitting the elegant and refined Lianna than this reckless young lady who bore such resemblance to her.
⌜I’ll come see you soon, Lawrence.⌟
And at last, the moment Lianna descended from the carriage with Odette.
I beheld my true mistress.
Thus could I feel it.

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