Mad Rosetta - Chapter 25

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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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Rosetta Gone Mad

Chapter 25

Even a Seedling Deserves Careful Watering (8)

“I hear that Marmint served as an assistant to the late Doctor and received her education through him, is that correct?”

At the sudden mention of her name, Marmint flinched in surprise.

“Well, at best I only helped with menial tasks. I’m not sure why you would ask such a thing…”

Gaildo deflected awkwardly with a forced smile.

His two grown sons, seated beside Marmint, glared at her as though blaming her for the trouble.

It was truly pathetic—grown men unable to contain a single child, desperate to pin her down.

“Is that so? How unfortunate… I had hoped to make the continuation of the Doctor’s research a condition, but given that Marmint is such a young lady, I suppose it would be unreasonable.”

“What do you mean specifically by entrusting the research…”

“Never mind. Using Gaildo’s own words, it seems it would not be of much benefit to me. Let us forget what I just said.”

“No, no! This child—I mean, my youngest daughter is quite brilliant despite appearances. That is precisely why my father arranged for her adoption and kept her close to teach her!”

“But didn’t you just say she only handled menial tasks?”

“I, I was merely being modest, fearing you might be disappointed if your expectations were too high. She is a devoted child who follows her grandfather closely and applies herself diligently to her studies—she will surely be of great use. Isn’t that right, Marmint? Isn’t it so?”

I watched the child as her adoptive father spoke to her with a gentle tone, even as his eyes gleamed sharply. I found myself wondering what thoughts occupied her mind.

I grew curious.

“Yes, Princess.”

“…”

“I will devote myself entirely to the research and strive to be of service.”

I immediately regretted it—if I’d known she could smile like that, I would have found another way.

Marmint laughed with a self-deprecating edge, as though genuinely wounded.

My chest ached with a dull throb, and I felt as though I’d made a mistake with her. My mood soured considerably.

I’d intended to grant her access to Bomonge’s Research Lab while ensuring the other family members couldn’t interfere.

An uncomfortable feeling lingered, but the milk was already spilled.

“Indeed. Since the youngest lady is so capable, I shall place my trust in her as well.”

“Then, if I may ask—what timeframe did you have in mind?”

“For now, I’ll grant a month’s grace period. You did say ‘provided it proves helpful,’ after all. Whether I extend the grace period further depends entirely on Marmint’s results. I do hope you’ll do your best.”

Finally, I compelled them to sign a clause stating that I would hold them accountable if any conversation witnessed or heard in this room leaked to the outside.

Using the research commission as a pretext, I dismissed them and kept Marmint behind.

Marmint’s expression was sullen, as though questioning why I’d summoned her when she already knew what research needed to be done.

“You’re wearing quite the insolent expression.”

“…Why? Do you have more to say?”

“Do you maintain that attitude with your family as well?”

“…Are you concerned about that now?”

“I’m wondering if it’s only toward me. Keep that attitude when you go home too.”

“What…? Pardon?”

I beckoned Marmint with a curl of my finger.

The child approached, her eyes betraying confusion.

“When someone once scorned becomes one’s lifeline, people’s reactions typically divide into two categories.”

“Pardon?”

“Either groveling desperately to win their favor, or applying greater pressure to ensure they harbor no second thoughts—crushing them beneath your heel.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“Which path do you think your family will take?”

Marmint fell silent, as though the choice were too difficult to contemplate.

Or perhaps she had arrived at her answer far too quickly to require any deliberation at all.

“From where I stand, I’d wager the latter. So I offer you this counsel.”

“….”

“Never lose your nerve. Never.”

Marmint’s eyes trembled with bewilderment, her pupils quivering with uncertainty.

Her expression betrayed her confusion—why would he speak such words?

“Mark my words: someone within your family will surely resent the burden now placed upon you—the weight of the entire household’s expectations. And such people, the moment they sense their pet dog rising above its station, begin plotting to strike it down.”

“….”

“So you, Marmint, must always be prepared to bite back. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Though I pressed for an answer, Marmint offered none.

She merely clamped her lips shut, her gaze fixed upon the floor with a melancholic gleam in her eyes.

“Even now, when they should be coating you in honeyed words to curry your favor, they may instead seek reasons to belittle you—pride, habit, or simple convenience—and treat you with contempt.”

“….”

“I’m telling you that you cannot overlook this. You cannot endure it.”

Though, truth be told, I’m hardly the type to back down myself.

“…Why… why are you telling me such things?”

“Sigh… What a foolish question. Obviously because I’m worried about you.”

【…Darling really does have a talent for saying things in the most disagreeable way.】

Sing noted that the remark was a blend of a rather harsh personal attack and genuine affection, and he tactfully tried to understand Marmint’s feelings.

There was no way a ghost’s consolation could reach a child’s ears.

I was simply angry.

Angry at those who had driven the child to a point where she could scarcely accept sincere concern.

Furious that this child, who had been pushed to such extremes, was now clawing at someone who merely wished to help her.

“I promised to help you, but… I cannot intrude upon your household and monitor whether they obstruct your research or torment you at every turn. From the moment you open that door, everything depends solely on you.”

“I… I know that already!”

“No, you don’t. Look at what just happened. Even when I rudely beckoned with just a gesture, you didn’t come running.”

“….”

“No one treats as an equal someone who has already resigned themselves to defeat from the start.”

In this moment, I hoped Marmint’s pride was thoroughly wounded.

For that purpose, I wielded my words with deliberate harshness.

Let her be indignant if she must. Let her protest that I should not belittle her.

I simply could not bear to watch a child who had already suffered so much accept her reality without even knowing she had been wounded again.

“I tell you once more—I need you desperately. Urgently, even. And the same will hold true for your family, whether they acknowledge it or not. So you are free to protest all you wish.”

“….”

“Threaten me by asking if you can manage without me, and if anyone tries to instill humiliation in you, then scorn them in return. Make them understand that no one may treat you carelessly. Do you comprehend my meaning?”

I gently grasped the child’s tightly clenched fist as I spoke, and while Marmint flinched in surprise, she didn’t pull her body away.

So small. Impossibly small.

I realized her body temperature burned quite warmly, and her fist was so tiny it barely filled my palm—a child’s hand, nothing more.

Should Marmint ever escape this household, if she remained unchanged in any meaningful way, only her circumstances would shift. The girl would inevitably despise adults all the same.

…That was rather tragic, wasn’t it?

Marmint stared at her hand held in mine for a long moment, then parted her pouting lips.

“Stop lecturing me!”

“…This brat, honestly.”

“I was going to abuse my authority regardless! I’m not foolish enough to waste an opportunity like this!”

“Well, that’s rather admirable of you!”

“Ugh…! I’m leaving!”

Marmint, stamping her feet like an enraged young bull, turned her back with her face flushed crimson.

I called after her—how dare she bid farewell so rudely, what a child who’d abandoned all manners to the underworld.

“I suppose you were never taught any better!”

“Haaah…!”

She responded with an absurd, insulting roar that silenced even an intellectual’s words—a brazen display of defiance.

“Hey, where did you learn such vulgar—! Wait, I wasn’t finished! You brat!”

【…Children can be surprisingly vicious.】

The Reception Room door slammed shut with a harsh bang.

Sing, equally startled, shook his head back and forth, muttering that the world had surely come to its end.

“How could anyone say something so thoughtless? Ugh, my head is killing me.”

Marmint’s voice, already vanished from sight, echoed in my ears like a phantom ringing.

My head throbbing unbearably, I collapsed backward onto the sofa where I’d been sitting.

It just so happened that her thigh was where I landed, so I used it as a pillow—nothing more than circumstance, truly.

At this, she deliberately let out a flustered “Oh my!” and met my gaze with an embarrassed expression.

【My, you. Did today’s arrangements work out well? I was so worried whether things would go as planned.】

“Sigh, don’t even mention it. Those shameless bastards wouldn’t hand over the money and just kept stalling. And that child has such a difficult temperament—I got scolded trying to coax them into compliance.”

【Hehe, I suppose the child takes after you.】

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

My eyes flashed as I glared, and Sing awkwardly patted my head, insisting it was all just an act and begging me not to get so worked up about it.

The warmth of his touch against me was neither hot nor cold—merely lukewarm.

Combined with the sunlight streaming through the Reception Room windows, it drew me into a drowsy reverie.

By now, Marmint had surely met with the family waiting for her at the Main Gate.

“…At least become a fighting cock.”

So crow loudly then.

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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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