Mad Rosetta - Chapter 122

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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 122
The Child of Confession (5)
“The matter is this: I would recommend that you refrain from coming down to the inn for about a week starting tomorrow.”
“…Pardon?”
What was this about?
I immediately searched my memory for any action that might have drawn criticism.
I even worried whether some accident had occurred downstairs.
The Innkeeper Woman, seeing my bewilderment, continued speaking more rapidly.
“Therefore, if you require anything, please inform the staff member who brings your meals. We will assist you immediately once our preparations are complete.”
“…Wait a moment, Innkeeper Woman. I would like to hear what this is about.”
“That is… the details are classified, I’m afraid.”
The word “classified” emanated such suspicion that the back of my neck grew cold.
My instincts had awakened.
“Beginning tomorrow, I can only tell you that a person of very high standing will be staying at this inn in the vicinity.”
This was the intuition that made me want to embrace the Innkeeper Woman with joy.
“Therefore, I hope you will inform Knight that it would be best to refrain from hunting expeditions starting tomorrow.”
“…I shall do so.”
“Please forgive me for being unable to share more than this.”
I sent the Innkeeper Woman off with a bow, offering her my warmest smile and assurance that all was well.
How could it not be well?
‘Damnably swift.’
The Emperor had arrived at this place—the one I had been waiting for.
After kindly dismissing the Innkeeper Woman, I immediately opened the bedroom door.
The figure sitting right beside the doorway looked up at me.
“You heard?”
“…You look excited, darling.”
“You should be too.”
Our next move now rested entirely with Sing. That was what I meant.
Despite my stern reply, Sing said nothing.
‘The one who smiled so brazenly even when I wanted to meet the Empress Dowager…’
From his face, now stripped of all composure, nothing was visible.
Neither anger nor concern.
He seemed solely focused on the moment ahead, carefully considering only the stance he would take.
Troubled by his demeanor, I eventually sat beside him and asked.
“Have you decided what you want to say?”
“I’m not that lazy, darling. We have plenty of time.”
“…The Emperor won’t harm you, will he?”
“If it’s the one I know… perhaps not.”
“…”
“Your face is brimming with worry.”
As if he didn’t know it was his own doing.
I let out a deep sigh, as though telling him not to state the obvious.
I was anxious.
Unlike the Empress Dowager, who clearly had leverage to threaten me with, Jeremiah did not.
I’d considered following him out of curiosity, but I restrained myself through rational judgment.
We had made an agreement to provide convenience according to what my Household desired.
But what if he discovered that I had deceived him?
Jeremiah would face his dealings with Sing harboring the feeling of betrayal from the very beginning. There was no other way.
‘…I almost want to tell him to strike first.’
If I attempted to harm the Emperor while in Cessia’s form, it would be summary execution, and since Sing was a ghost anyway, he could simply slip away.
In that case, the Empress Dowager, enraged at Jeremiah for killing Cessia, might devise a scheme of her own.
Of course, the possibility of the two of them attacking each other and dying miserably was far too slim, so I had long since discarded that plan.
“…Have a safe journey. This time, finish quickly. I hate waiting all day like before.”
As I grumbled, he finally let out a low laugh and took my hand.
“What should I do….”
“”
“This time, it really seems impossible.”
With his face buried in the back of my hand, he murmured softly.
His voice sounded as though he were sobbing.
* * *
“Your Majesty, you have walked quite considerably.”
“Is there not still ample time?”
“Considering the time to descend, it may become somewhat tight. Has not the Imperial Princess requested to dine together?”
At the Captain of Imperial Guard’s urging, Jeremiah’s jaw tightened for a moment.
Even he, who attended the Emperor from the closest position, was eager to wield control over a mere mountain excursion, which displeased me.
Yet Jeremiah, as though he had never been so, turned back without looking and replied in a gentle voice.
“Very well, then let us begin our return.”
It was close to resignation—that exerting force would only exhaust himself.
Thus Jeremiah turned his body to head back to the lodging.
Soon he would descend and dine in a harmonious atmosphere with his lovely child.
“…Your Majesty?”
Had it not been for the red-haired man who appeared with an innocent face, accompanied by the sound of twigs being trampled, it would have been so.
In that instant, the Knights of the Imperial Guard suddenly drew their swords in unison against Sing, who had emerged abruptly.
Sing, appearing startled despite my questioning, hastily raised both hands to show he harbored no hostile intent.
“Your Majesty, is it not you? How come you are in such a place….”
The Captain of Imperial Guard’s voice, issuing a stern demand for identification, buzzed in Jeremiah’s ears.
‘…Why is Montague here?’
Rather, that was what I wished to ask.
– “Yet it was truly only incomprehensible words. ‘Should unexpected footprints be left upon Winter Mountain, let the wanderer stay,’ or some such thing.”
– “….”
– “Then perhaps I could hear an answer to that remark: ‘Even in death, we shall not meet in the same place.’ Or so I thought….”
The moment Jeremiah heard such words from the Princess of Benatra, he could no longer maintain his composure—let alone his reason.
Footprints on Winter Mountain, wandering travelers—such trivial matters ceased to concern him entirely.
But the words that tumbled forth next struck him with such force that his mind went blank, as though his skull had been cleaved in two.
It was a confession so desperate, so utterly solitary, that no soul in this world yet knew of it save himself.
‘…Could it be? Could the Montague Estate have sent word through me?’
That day, after Jeremiah sent Rosetta away, he wandered for a considerable time.
It seemed he had turned those cryptic, inscrutable words over in his mind hundreds of times.
He tormented himself a thousand times between the desire to confirm whether someone had discovered his deed and was employing some sinister stratagem, and the urge to flee from that very knowledge.
Yet in the end, he made his decision, and Jeremiah came to this place.
Fearing harm might befall his daughter, he had stationed an Imperial Guard of unusual caliber at Julia’s side before departing.
“…It is done. A familiar face, indeed.”
Having swiftly assessed the situation, Jeremiah raised his hand in a measured gesture, mediating the hostile atmosphere.
And he gazed intently at the figure before him, who exhaled a small sigh as though relieved.
For a moment, he recalled the Princess who had responded with such brazen ease, and suspicion was more than warranted.
Yet the fact that the two of them had reached the point of breaking their engagement did not align with the context.
“The Montague Estate, I see. What brings you to this place?”
“Ah, I came to Balmora for rest and recuperation. It is winter, after all.”
“…Where are you lodging? When did you arrive?”
“It is quite a distance, Your Majesty. I traveled this far road merely to soothe an aching heart…. Yet, it seems all the nearby lodgings were fully booked. I arrived just over a week ago.”
What was this sense of déjà vu?
Jeremiah’s fist clenched involuntarily at Sing’s peculiar composure, which bordered on unpleasant.
He had encountered Cessia, who had undergone his coming-of-age ceremony, quite frequently at the Imperial Palace Banquet Hall.
Each time, Cessia had endeavored to conduct himself with maturity, yet could not conceal the awkwardness that betrayed his tension….
But what was this manner of speech—polite, yet possessed of a composure that bordered on insolence?
“…Then one would expect you to hunt in the vicinity of your lodgings. Yet you have wandered far, Youngsik.”
“The area where I am staying seems to have driven all the beasts into hiding, for none appear. And so, as I continued walking, I found myself traveling quite a distance.”
“….”
“…I feel rather like a lost traveler, Your Majesty.”
Thump. Jeremiah felt as though his heart had plummeted to the depths of his chest.
There was no other explanation for the way his blood ran cold.
There was no reason why the cheerful smile of Youngsik, so much his junior, should make him tremble so violently.
“…Do you have other plans, Youngsik?”
“If Your Majesty would deign to guide me, I would consider it a great honor.”
He had to confirm it.
He had to uncover the truth—that this unease he felt was nothing of consequence.
“Then, as the weather is cold, come and share a cup of tea with me.”

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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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