Mad Rosetta - Chapter 117

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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 117
Lingering Echoes (6)
“Stop your pretense, Carina…. Didn’t the Former Emperor have another child?”
I was furious.
At Carina, who had so brazenly challenged the authority of the legitimate heir.
At my own damned life, stolen from me by her in the end.
And most of all, at the bitter irony that the reason I had searched for, finally found, and chosen to live was to care for the people of the Empire….
There was not a single thing that didn’t deserve my rage.
“…If you’re speaking of Selina Ashe, she has already—”
“Yes, she became a descendant of God. But she was male, wasn’t she?”
“…!”
“How long do you think it’s been since I passed away, Carina?”
The reproach carried the implication that I had been watching all this time.
Was it because she felt that the very person she had despised had been observing her?
She glared at me as though seized by a chill.
“Above all, it was Selina who was female when she pledged herself to me…. I never granted permission for the Third Prince’s allegiance.”
“…That’s sophistry. They are the same person.”
“I mean you should not take the people of the Empire hostage as justification to hold your position.”
“….”
“Even if the stubborn ministers object, they will bring Selina forth. Once I reveal that your throne was built upon treason.”
As my justification was mercilessly torn apart, Carina let out a low groan of frustration.
But it was only momentary. She lifted her head once more.
Her lips curved in a smile that was somehow composed yet self-mocking.
“You don’t think for a moment that I would abandon Cessia.”
“…Enough games. You love this child, don’t you?”
“…Hah, hehehehe.”
At her dismissive laughter, irritation struck my chest so sharply I nearly gasped.
She remained, as always, arrogant and yet possessed an authority I could not afford to underestimate.
“Perhaps it’s because you died so young…. Your way of thinking is quite romantic.”
“….”
“Yes. Even I can see that you valued Cessia more than Jeremiah…. Yes, that much is clear.”
“…Pointless talk.”
“But understand this. Not all parents in this world love their children with such devotion.”
Carina’s eyes widened.
There was a glint of grim resolve in her gaze.
“I trust you don’t truly believe I would cast aside everything I’ve built merely to protect a single illegitimate child.”
“….”
“Your naïveté is almost pitiable.”
What could I do?
It was an unexpected turn of events, but that hardly meant I believed her words.
Had my years of observing her been shorter, had I not known of her affection for Fordicus Cessia Montague, I would surely have wavered.
“Besides, I have yet to receive proof that Cessia is alive.”
“Ha, so you’ll believe me if I prove it? I suppose I should be grateful you don’t dismiss it as mere performance.”
“…You and Cessia flow from different bloodlines, so as his mother, I would recognize him even now.”
“Moments ago, you claimed a bastard child hardly warranted such consideration. Don’t strain yourself so.”
“….”
“I trust you won’t test my patience further.”
As I pressed forward with cutting sarcasm and unyielding resolve, she seemed to realize her machinations would not succeed.
The confident bearing drained from her, and Carina’s shoulders sagged.
“…I have but one question. Why Fordicus Cessia Montague?”
“….”
“If ruin was your aim, shouldn’t you have seized Jeremiah or my own body instead?”
…Yet even so, it was not simple.
The unexpected question left me momentarily speechless.
I had lived with such certainty that I had overlooked the doubt I should have harbored from the start.
Would it not have been easier—even trivially so—to seize Jeremiah and Carina’s bodies?
But my plan had been founded upon Fordicus being among Rosette’s targets for vengeance.
There had been only one choice from the beginning.
‘…One careless slip and Fordicus’s condition would be exposed.’
With such thoughts, I leaned deeper into the sofa’s embrace and crossed my legs.
As my charming beloved once said, performance is momentum, and persuasion springs from shamelessness.
“I never expected the conversation to stretch so long…. Carina. In the end, it was Jeremiah who betrayed me.”
“…What do you mean.”
“If I must assign blame, I would direct it toward one far more deserving of my hatred.”
“….”
“You urged rebellion—a grave sin indeed. Yet I spoke truth when I said that should you follow my will, I would spare your life in consideration of your service.”
Had you simply refrained from such transparent schemes.
As I invoked the Medium, she averted her gaze like a child caught in wrongdoing.
When one has been driven into a corner, a single merciful step backward appears as a lifeline worth grasping—such is the nature of the human heart.
I continued with measured calm.
“Do you wonder why I trouble myself with such tedious affairs? If I wished to expose your secrets, I could accomplish it easily enough in this form.”
“….”
“I’ll be honest with you. I wish to see your elder brother meet his end by your hand.”
“…Ha. What a wretched disposition.”
“…There was a time I admired you.”
Perhaps pathos had struck true. I could not say.
Her eyes, grown wide and round, merely appeared so naively innocent that I found them repulsive.
“Once the deed is done, you shall not set foot upon this land again…. Yet I may show clemency and send you to some distant foreign realm.”
“….”
“So think carefully and make your decision. Jeremiah or Fordicus.”
“…But right now-”
“You have Selina, do you not?”
“….”
“I would advise against attempting any foolishness with Selina. Should you do so….”
“….”
“Yes, the traitor’s corpse might well surface upon the sea.”
Whether it was the sinister implication delivered so deliberately, her complexion had grown as dark as a sunset.
It was the shadow of one who had finally resolved to bear some burden.
Yes. Had she possessed the capacity for remorse, she would never have attempted treason in the first place.
So let her at least regret abandoning my youthful heart. Let her rue that decision made that day, again and again.
Until she fell utterly.
“If….”
“Hmm?”
“…If I follow your words, what becomes of you?”
Her eyes were trembling with profound anxiety.
Perhaps she feared I would pursue her even to the depths of hell itself. Such was her worry.
A shameless human who could not be satisfied with mere survival.
Though she was utterly despicable to me, I resolved to humor her for the greater cause.
“A vengeful spirit whose grudge is finally laid to rest has nowhere else to go. I shall return to my proper place.”
“….”
“When you make your decision, contact me. We shall discuss what comes after.”
I rose from my seat without bothering to announce my departure.
There had not been many times when I could move only by another’s permission.
“I hope you will help grant me release.”
Even if one searches desperately for escape from a place surrounded by cliffs on all sides.
The very ground beneath one’s feet would crumble—it was only a matter of time.
* * *
Beyond the Imperial Palace Walls, crowds gathered almost immediately.
Winter brought early darkness, and though evening had not yet arrived, the voices of people seemed unusually loud.
They belonged to the living.
‘I fear I have kept her waiting far too long.’
The meeting with the Empress Dowager had taken longer than expected, and I worried for her who waited.
I hastened my pace and entered the alley near the Palace Walls.
Though the Imperial Palace loomed near, shops could not be established so close, making it a place of sparse foot traffic.
As the voices of people grew distant, the sound of footsteps upon the ground grew louder.
It was truly no different from a secret meeting.
The moment I turned the corner of the alley, I could not help but smile with genuine delight.
“…Did you curse me out for ten years’ worth all at once? Why did it take so long?”
My beloved, who had finally given up and crouched upon the ground, was the first thing to catch my eye.
After I revealed the secret meeting place of the palace attendants, there she sat—so small and pitiful in her quiet waiting.
Her radiant dress clashed terribly with the floor, so I lifted her to her feet, tired of watching her fidget.
“I would have simply left if you hadn’t come.”
“Don’t make the person who waited for you regret it.”
“That was meant as a compliment, darling.”
“Tch… Did you manage to say what you needed to? How did it go?”
“I broke into a cold sweat more than once… but I said everything I intended to. Now I suppose I should savor the art of waiting.”
“How confident of you.”
Rosette clicked her tongue, acknowledging that she too understood the Empress Dowager’s unforgiving nature.
As I gazed down at her, our eyes inevitably met.
This body of Fordicus was utterly repugnant to me.
I knew full well that she was looking at me, yet I could not accept it.
To quell the burning thirst, even momentarily, I pressed my forehead against hers, and my beloved blinked once.
But soon she met my gaze with a serene expression—as if to say she would overlook it, though she was somewhat displeased.
“I ask out of curiosity… surely you don’t find this face to your taste?”
“…How dare you speak such nonsense as a jest?”
“I apologize. That was genuinely vulgar of me.”
When I asked her forgiveness for my own pettiness, Rosette clicked her tongue once more, displaying a generosity as boundless as the sea.
I could not fathom how she could be so kind.
I longed to stand beside her with confidence at last. I missed those days when I clung to her relentlessly as a ghost.
As if unaware of the time we spent apart, I yearned for her with desperate intensity.

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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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