Mad Rosetta - Chapter 109

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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 109
Loyalty and Conquest (10)
“There’s no need for formalities, Lady. I can scarcely imagine how heavily your heart has weighed upon you.”
“…If you had only given me a hint. Just me. Then none of this would have happened.”
“Pardon? But surely you are still quite young, are you not?”
“….”
The anxiety that had gripped me all this time suddenly dissolved, and I found myself whimpering like a petulant child. Brown’s expression hardened at once.
“You’ve only just endured a terrible ordeal. How could I possibly burden you further? No, absolutely not.”
His resolute demeanor left me utterly deflated.
Yet if I were being honest, I did not entirely trust Brown. The situation merely appeared convincing from an objective standpoint.
Anything connected to the Epsilon Mother and Daughter had proven treacherous hundreds, thousands of times over, no matter how cautiously I proceeded.
Those days had been nothing but an endless succession of waiting.
I had yearned so desperately for Father’s safe return, and two days later.
The moment word reached me that a carriage bearing the Household crest had crossed the Manor’s entrance, I lost all composure and bolted outside.
“…Father!”
“Coco, you…!”
And only when I finally beheld Father hurrying down from the carriage—not in imagination, but in reality before my very eyes—
Could I at last weep freely.
I wept with such urgency that I nearly retched.
Those four days had been defined more by the terror of nearly losing him than by relief at having preserved him.
* * *
“Stop this at once, Coco…. Goodness, you’re not a child, yet here you are crying so….”
“What if you become dehydrated, Lady?”
I gulped down the cold water Stilling offered, and my insides felt wonderfully relieved.
Though his voice carried concern, my sniffling nose remained unchanged.
I gripped Father’s wrist with stubborn intensity.
Odette had apparently orchestrated something—I had searched the Room for evidence. I had believed she’d used Brown to harm Father, but it turned out that wasn’t the case….
From the moment we reached the Main Gate, I had poured out my story through tears and sobs, so Father and Stilling had brought me directly to the Study without even changing their clothes.
“But, but still. Father, there was a carriage accident in Jedo, and, sob. Two people died, of all things, two….”
“Was I among those two, Lady?”
“Be quiet, Stilling…. Yes, I can well imagine you were frightened. Compose yourself. You must explain this clearly so I can punish those who made my Coco cry like this.”
“I, I already handed Odette over to the Security Bureau two days ago. I sent the evidence as well, and sent Brown as a witness, sniff, sent him….”
“…My daughter manages to accomplish things so smoothly even in dire circumstances.”
I saw Father’s awkward smile, as though he’d momentarily lost his way.
Strangely, only after hearing myself speak those words did I truly feel that the threat had completely passed.
That Father was breathing alive before my eyes at this very moment, while the Epsilon Mother and Daughter were both confined.
‘Those wretched creatures…. Damn them all!’
My heart felt so refreshed that I asked Stilling for another glass of cold water, wanting to savor that feeling once more.
A more thorough investigation would surely be necessary. But with this incident, the chances of Lianna and Odette escaping had become exceedingly slim.
Before the extended detention period from the reinvestigation even ended, the fact that Lianna had orchestrated a murder came to light, so it was only natural that her charges multiplied.
Odette, who had been caught attempting to kill the same person again during her confinement period, faced the same fate.
‘…Well, it should be this way. If she slips away again this time, nightmare or not, I’ll just kill her with my own hands.’
The mere absence of those two terrifyingly dreadful women from the household brought me such peace of mind.
Yet there remained the possibility that they might claw their way back in some unforeseen manner, clinging with desperate tenacity.
I must not lower my guard. With that thought, I turned my gaze toward Father.
“By the way, how much have you been informed about?”
“From what I heard in the Imperial Capital, Bonita was attempting to harm you again—”
“Don’t call her that.”
“….”
“I’m telling you not to call her Bonita anymore.”
Though I had spoken only a few words while glaring sullenly, Father seemed to grasp my meaning immediately.
It was a name Father had bestowed upon me personally as a commemoration of becoming family—she no longer had any right to be called by it.
– “Bonita. Bonita Odette Benatra….”
– “….”
– “It’s the name our Father gave us anew.”
Ah! Recalling how that wretched woman had mocked both Father and me, my insides churned with renewed fury.
Father nodded readily enough, but breaking a name that had become habitual would take time.
Still, the difference between acknowledging it and not acknowledging it was significant, which was why I had brought it up.
“I see…. What I was informed of was that Odette was caught plotting to harm you again, and there were aspects of it connected to my own safety as well, so Coco came searching for me urgently.”
“…Ah, yes. You said you returned immediately upon arriving in Jedo.”
Because of this, I had committed the rudeness of postponing even an audience with His Majesty the Emperor.
In the end, I explained everything to Father, starting from when I had ransacked Odette’s room.
The account was so brutal and atrocious that neither Father’s nor Stilling’s expressions eased throughout.
“…For now, this is the extent of it, but Father, you should also speak with Brown about this.”
“…What kind of people have you two been living with all this time?”
My thoughts exactly.
Stilling clicked his tongue, saying he had never encountered such horrifying tales even in classical literature.
I nodded in agreement.
“Still, please don’t worry too much. In a way, thanks to Brown, neither Mother… no, not even Lianna will be able to emerge.”
Perhaps it was because I had deliberately corrected Lianna’s title.
Father asked with a somewhat darkened expression, as if concerned.
“…Let me make one thing clear before we move forward, Coco.”
“What is it?”
“I can no longer tolerate the existence of those two.”
“….”
“And this will not change, regardless of what you may feel.”
My thoughts halted briefly at Father’s unexpected declaration, but I soon grasped his intention.
A family in its most perfect form.
I had worn a mask for a long time to achieve this.
In Father’s eyes, it must have appeared that I embraced them as family, respected them, and bestowed upon them genuine affection.
Perhaps that is why he worries I might waver regarding their fate, yet since I desire an end without a shred of mercy, he speaks to me this way.
‘What will he do if he learns that this is a game I orchestrated?’
Despite matters having reached this point, he still frets over whether my heart might rot and crumble.
I resolved to keep this affair secret for the rest of my life.
‘It would be a lie to say I never cared for them….’
But they are the ones who made me hate them as much as I loved them.
Thinking thus, I deliberately opened my eyes wide.
“Do I look like a fool to you?”
“…Pardon?”
“No, this isn’t even about being a fool. With matters having come to this, you think I might beg for mercy on the grounds that we were once family? That’s only possible when one’s head is full of flowers, isn’t it?”
“H-head full of….”
“Rather, I’m terrified that you’ll leave their treatment entirely to legal judgment. If you’ve built the Household to this extent, then use your power.”
“Um, Coco?”
“Even if you can’t send assassins, you can still end them in disgrace.”
I spoke harshly and raised my eyes menacingly, but wasn’t Father too flustered?
As I continued speaking, I found myself growing contemptuous of them again, and I let out a cold laugh.
Then Stilling, who had been staring at me blankly, finally began to clap.
“Can’t you read the room? Why are you clapping out of nowhere?”
“…It’s just so refreshing. I wholeheartedly agree, Lady.”
“Then keep clapping.”
“S-sigh, Coco…. Stilling, you stop that too.”
“Please indulge the Lady’s wishes, Duke. No one will point fingers for wielding power at a time like this.”
“That’s right, Father. Go ahead and abuse your authority.”
“W-wait, I was about to do that myself!”
Father finally raised his voice under our coordinated assault.
Stilling and I were left to suppress our laughter.
Well, though it was somewhat frustrating, I had always admired Father’s teachings.
Even with power at one’s back that knows no limits and no hesitation, he wished to bestow rather than flaunt as a nobleman.
He had lived his entire life believing that this was how one preserved one’s own dignity and that of the Household, so what could be done?
I could only trust and follow.

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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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