Mad Rosetta - Chapter 26

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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 26

Even Seedlings Require Careful Watering (9)

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“…getting ahead of yourself, are you.”

“….”

“Why should we wait for someone like you?”

Inside the moving carriage.

Bargo, the second son of Gaildo, spat out crude words through his twisted mouth, his barbs aimed squarely at Marmint.

Not the eldest son, he could not inherit the family business, and unlike his grandfather, he possessed no particular scholarly brilliance either.

Thus Bargo was barely on the verge of graduating from the Academy.

“If you’re living off others’ charity, you should know your place. What’s the point of dealing with someone who’s never even drafted a contract before? Really….”

“….”

“So Benatra’s troublesome headache is as worthless as they say, I see.”

Bargo’s relentless insults, though directed at Marmint, extended toward Rosetta as well, yet neither Gaildo nor Marin, his mother, made any move to stop him.

They seemed uncomfortable, clearly displeased that their own welfare now depended upon the young girl.

Perhaps their meager pride simply would not allow them to suddenly treat kindly the girl they had spent so long neglecting.

‘What experience does he have?’

Marmint recalled Rosetta, who had trained her rigorously, making clear that being young would not earn her any favorable contract terms.

So it seemed foolish for the dim-witted Bargo to speak at all, she thought bitterly.

“You don’t actually believe the Princess holds such high expectations for you, do you?”

“…Are you saying the Princess was lying, then?”

“What? Have you lost your mind?”

Bargo’s eyes blazed with fury, his gaze cutting like that of a Faceless Ghost.

Marmint’s true nature was far from docile.

And they had known this fact long ago.

Yet during her years in the Beaumont Household, Marmint had protested against injustice countless times, only to find their attitudes unmoved and unchanging.

Exhausted by this, she had simply resigned herself to a life of compliance.

It was obvious that no matter what she did, she would never truly win their favor.

So if she was going to be criticized anyway, wouldn’t it be better to speak her mind and accept the consequences? Marmint thought with bitter irony.

As Marmint’s eyes flashed with renewed defiance, Bargo’s anger finally boiled over into further accusations.

“You should understand that the Princess only entrusted you with this because you happened to assist Grandfather’s research. This is why the uneducated are so quick to get ahead of themselves…! You need to know your place! Do you really think you’ve become someone important enough to handle such a significant task?”

“…If you disliked it so much, why didn’t you stop the research long ago and do it yourself instead? I’m sick of potions and manufacturing!”

“What, what did you just—?”

“Ah, that’s right… Your second brother barely scraped into the Academy, didn’t he? I suddenly remember how disappointed Doctor was by that.”

Marmint’s sarcasm struck directly at the inferiority complex Bargo had harbored toward her all along.

Dr. Dravu Beaumont had hoped that among his children and grandchildren, someone would display scholarly talent like his own.

From childhood, Bargo had boasted that he would become a great scholar like his grandfather, and the Doctor had regarded him with pride.

But when Bargo later failed to meet those expectations, all he received from his grandfather was a gaze mingled with disappointment and displeasure.

– “From now on, you will help me and live together in this household as my child.”

So when I saw that child a few years ago, led by the hand of my grandfather, shyly revealing his face for the first time.

The displeasure Bargo felt was beyond description.

When Dr. Dravu Beaumont casually mentioned that he had taken in the child because she showed exceptional talent in herbalism, Bargo was struck with profound shock.

It was unmistakable betrayal.

“…Is this really happening!”

The anger Bargo could not express to his grandfather was ultimately directed at the innocent Marmint.

As Bargo’s palm rose threateningly into the air, Marmint reflexively squeezed her eyes shut.

– “Never lose your spirit. Never.”

But Marmint soon opened her eyes wide and screamed without hesitation.

Someone’s reproachful advice—to always be prepared to drown them—suddenly came to mind.

“Don’t hit me!”

When Marmint jerked her body forward and cried out sharply, Bargo’s hand flinched.

Her small fists, clenched with desperate determination, were trembling.

Though tears threatened to spill at any moment, Marmint no longer lowered her gaze before them.

“Don’t you dare hit me. And don’t you dare speak rudely to me!”

“Wh-what’s gotten into you….”

“If you were going to be like this, why didn’t you just say no when the Princess proposed it? Turn the carriage around right now! And ask about the penalty fee or whatever!”

“M-Marmint! What’s happened to your manners toward your brother!”

Gaildo, unable to bear it any longer, shouted what he called a rebuke, but it amounted to nothing more than accusing his daughter of being disrespectful.

Even now, Bargo whined to his mother, “Mother, I think she’s finally lost her mind,” and despite being well past adulthood, he continued pointing at Marmint accusingly.

To Marmint, such sights appeared utterly contemptible.

‘…How truly sordid.’

Yes, they were contemptible.

Their stature, their height—everything dwarfed my own diminutive frame. When I stood among them, they loomed as high as the heavens themselves, yet inspired only dread.

Naturally, I had believed my words would never reach them.

But now, everything was different.

Inside the carriage, space was cramped, and with everyone seated, there was no need to look upward.

Facing them directly, I could only marvel at how such a contemptible and wretched family could possibly exist.

“Why? Are you anxious because you might have to bear the penalty fees if you refuse now? You spent all this time deliberating when to dispose of me, and now you’ve suddenly found me useful?”

“W-what are you saying? We’re already family, Marmint.”

“Who gives a family member a warehouse as a bedroom?”

“That was because… the house simply didn’t have a proper small room. If you were upset, you should have said something at the time.”

Gaildo launched into pathetic excuses, sensing the danger in my visibly seething demeanor.

Yet such words could never reach a child who had endured years of mistreatment.

“Ha! What would have changed if I’d said anything?”

I let out a cold scoff.

That warehouse, crammed with miscellaneous junk, was truly cramped and plagued by drafts.

In winter, I would shiver so violently that I feared I might freeze to death—so I spent far more nights awake at my desk in the Academy Research Room than I could count.

– “Because they’ve always treated you this way, they’ll continue to find countless reasons to justify their contempt and mistreatment of you.”

Rosetta’s words had been right, I thought.

They would attempt to appease me, yet never once apologize.

What could I expect from people who wouldn’t even bother to humor me?

This was treatment worse than that afforded to a pet dog.

– “If they threaten you with their indispensability, if someone attempts to carve humiliation into your heart, then scorn them in return. Imprint upon them that no one may treat you carelessly.”

I recalled Rosetta’s words once more.

Dialogue rather than threats, empathy rather than contempt.

That was the virtue I had learned from the Orphanage Director, and the way I had chosen to live with confidence in myself.

Even now I agreed with the Director’s principles, yet as I overlaid Rosetta’s counsel upon the members of House Beaumont before me, I came to understand one thing.

Sometimes a threat to bite back resonates more deeply with certain people than any plea ever could.

Understanding and listening.

Such things only worked with those who regarded me as their equal.

“…That’s enough. If I wait now hoping for change, I’ll only look more foolish. Just don’t interfere with my work.”

So I laughed bitterly.

“You, Marmint! The more I hear, the more your tone becomes… how dare you!”

“Excuse me, ma’am!”

“W-what. What are you doing right now…?”

It would have been better had I kept silent all along.

Mrs. Marin, who had been stroking Bargo’s back, was about to say something when she startled, her shoulders jerking at the sharp ring of my voice.

Addressed with a crude term, as one might call out to a passing stranger.

The fact that I—who had always watched her expression so carefully—had spoken to her thus seemed unbelievable, and her face flushed crimson with shame.

But Marmint paid no mind, continuing with irritation.

“I wasn’t finished speaking. Why do you keep interrupting me?”

“You, you—!”

“What’s wrong? You’re the one who said I shouldn’t even think of calling you mother.”

So I simply found another way to address you, Marmint replied in succession.

At the girl’s words, Mrs. Marin’s expression turned aghast, though she found no suitable retort.

– “My goodness, child! Who is your mother? Don’t you dare slip up and call me that anywhere!”

That was the only scolding Marmint had received on the first and last day she ever called her mother.

Eyebrows raised in displeasure, lips twisted thin like Bargo’s—when I saw that, I couldn’t lift my face from shame.

I had only just realized how foolish I’d been, intoxicated by the joy of finally having a family.

So perhaps it was only right that I treat them as strangers now, even at this late hour.

“Honestly, breach penalties, contracts—none of that concerns me, does it?”

Utterly and completely.

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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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