Mad Rosetta - Chapter 29

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Mad Rosetta

 

Episode 29

 

Too Spicy for a Spring Flower (3)

 

* * *

 

Creak-

 

In the dark of night, on the third floor of Rose Manor, a door opened with a very quiet sound and quickly closed again.

 

It was one of the rooms where Rosetta’s three servants resided.

 

With everything around shrouded in darkness, her cautious movements were exactly like a cat quickly fleeing after stealing food.

 

From east to west.

 

She finally knocked on the door of the second-floor room in Lili Hall where Odette would be.

 

Soon the door opened, and the light that had only been seeping through the crack now brightly illuminated the surroundings.

 

“…Welcome, Vicky.”

 

“I apologize for visiting so late at night, Lady.”

 

“It’s fine if it’s you, Vicky. If not at this hour, there wouldn’t be a proper opportunity to visit, would there?”

 

It was Odette, having finished preparing for bed and receiving a hair brushing from her maid.

 

She still showed her back while greeting through the mirror.

 

“So, what brings our Vicky here today?”

 

“…Lady Rosetta asked me to recommend accessories to wear for the Spring Stage. So I selected the Arcos pearl necklace from Marandranché, and received orders to prepare it.”

 

“Yes, I see. After all, standing out at a Debut Tante would be frivolous… Moreover, Sister Rosetta tends to stand out quite a bit even when she’s just sitting quietly.”

 

“Yes, your words are correct, Lady.”

 

“I’m truly worried… Sister needs peace of mind, yet suddenly she says she’ll attend a banquet. These days, she hasn’t been troubling you, Vicky, or the other children, has she?”

 

Vicky briefly pondered how to answer Odette’s question.

 

– “Everyone worked hard.”

 

– “I’ve arranged for your dinner to be prepared separately in the kitchen, so go and eat.”

 

The day she had enthusiastically cleaned Rosetta’s room that had become a mess, together with Marahan.

 

Vicky felt that she seemed somehow different, but tried to dismiss it as her imagination.

 

The tyrannical behavior she had witnessed so far and the servants’ complaints because of it were still vivid in her memory.

 

– “I hope you, Vicky, will take good care of Sister Rosetta by her side. It must be very difficult… Sister engages in dangerous behavior if no one watches over her. Okay?”

 

So Vicky had applied for the position of Rosetta’s servant upon receiving Odette’s instructions, and made constant efforts to somehow gain her trust.

 

But as time passed, how should I put it…

 

Although Rosetta maintained a somewhat stern attitude, she didn’t seem to be someone who would cause trouble over trivial matters.

 

Of course, occasionally she would grab her own head and scream, or when she was about to get angry, she would reluctantly send the servants out of the room, so her temperament seemed unchanged.

 

“…She does seem particularly more sensitive these days without Penny Haffner around.”

 

But even this, Vicky decided to deliberately ignore.

 

At this, Odette showed an utterly cheerful smile despite it being the middle of the night.

 

Vicky couldn’t help but think that her judgment was indeed correct.

 

“Hmm, Michelle?”

 

Eventually Odette called to the maid who had been brushing her hair.

 

Then Michelle immediately went inside Odette’s room and soon came out carrying a small box about the size of a palm.

 

She opened the box in front of Vicky to show her.

 

Then faintly glittering powder contained in a very small glass vial revealed itself.

 

“It’s powder that was used long ago. It’s so irritating that skin rashes appear immediately.”

 

“Ah…”

 

“Could you put this on the accessories that Sister Rosetta will wear?”

 

“This…? If I do that…”

 

“Yes, she’ll develop a rash on the day and won’t be able to go to the banquet. Even if she insists on attending, she’ll have to return immediately because of the itching.”

 

“…”

 

“I didn’t want to resort to such methods with Sister Rosetta… I don’t want to see Sister go all the way to the imperial palace only to be humiliated. If that happened, I think my heart would ache too much.”

 

You can do it, can’t you, Vicky?

 

To Odette asking this, all Vicky could offer was an affirmative nod.

 

Even now, wasn’t her family living a relatively comfortable life thanks to Odette’s support?

 

She thought that if the day came when she could stand by Odette’s side like that maid, she would surely gain incomparable honor as well.

 

When Vicky said she understood as if making some solemn resolution, Odette smiled with satisfaction.

 

“If it’s a Marandranché product, it would be a set with earrings, right? Then it would be better to put that on the earrings too. Since the rash will only appear where it touches the accessories, Sister will think it’s a product problem and complain to the store.”

 

If that happened, the shop would only present a certificate saying there was no problem, and there was a high probability the situation would end inconclusively, Odette added reassuringly.

 

“You can’t imagine how much peace of mind it gives me to have Vicky by Sister’s side.”

 

“…I too am happy to be able to work for Lady Bonita.”

 

“Hehe, Vicky even speaks prettily. I’m sorry for making you come at such a late hour. Please return carefully for today.”

 

Having seen Odette’s elegant gaze, Vicky bowed her head and then walked toward Rose Manor.

 

Her grip on the thick shawl was tightly clutching the powder vial.

 

Worried that someone might discover her wandering around the Duke’s Mansion in the middle of the night, Vicky walked diligently with an anxious heart.

 

Finally returning to the room where she stayed, Vicky felt relieved that she hadn’t been caught by anyone and immediately locked the door firmly.

 

“Where should I hide this…”

 

But who could have known?

 

That sometimes invisible beings follow servants who sneak out, and even monitor by passing through walls.

 

Sing only returned to Rosetta’s room after confirming that Vicky had finally put the vial inside her pillowcase.

 

“How did it go?”

 

Rosetta walked toward him sluggishly while yawning as if she was dying of sleepiness.

 

So Sing decided to deliver news that would satisfy her.

 

* * *

 

“So, only Vicky…”

 

【The other women had long since departed for dreamland.】

 

Sing answered nonchalantly while settling on the sofa.

 

From when we decided to seriously search for Epsilon mother and daughter’s minion among the three servants, Sing had been leaving my room every night.

 

He continued surveillance to see what they were like when I wasn’t watching, and whether there were any suspicious movements.

 

And it wasn’t long before we caught a tail.

 

Sara, Vicky, Reina.

 

Among these three, only Vicky was spotted regularly visiting Lili Hall.

 

【Shouldn’t we exclude Sara and Reina from the list of suspects at this point?】

 

“That would probably be best. Above all, those two didn’t choose Marandranché accessories.”

 

I replied thus and brought out the Drandri Jewelers box I had kept in the wardrobe as a decoy.

 

Inside were Marandranché’s pearl necklace and Ceramimi’s diamond necklace densely set with morganite gems.

 

‘Looking at them again, they really did well copying the originals…’

 

These were the replicas I had commissioned with Penny previously.

 

At first, I was anxious about what moves they would make to ruin my Spring Stage.

 

I was also worried about what would happen if their sharp hands turned toward Lady Etienne’s dress.

 

Then wouldn’t it be fine to create choices for them?

 

– “Vicky? From watching so far, your taste seems the best. So I’d like you to choose the accessories to wear for the Spring Stage.”

 

I smiled quietly and showed Vicky the two necklaces.

 

Actually, I hadn’t only given her the choice.

 

During my all-night discussions with Sing, if any child other than Vicky had continued suspicious behavior, even Sing wouldn’t have been able to confirm it.

 

So to prepare for any possibility, I had all three servants choose accessories.

 

As a result, Vicky recommended the pearl necklace, while the other two servants recommended the diamond necklace.

 

‘I never expected her to so blatantly choose Marandranché accessories.’

 

I was once called the Rose of the Empire.

 

A servant of the Duke’s house who couldn’t be unaware of that symbolism, among two distinctly different accessories, recommended the pearl-colored necklace over the rose-colored gems.

 

Moreover, since it particularly didn’t match the pure white dress, it meant she harbored that much hostility toward me.

 

【So what will you do now? Your dear sister personally gave evidence to the servant. You’ll have to wait until she uses it.】

 

“Well, since the day to go up to Jedo isn’t far off, I have no intention of causing an immediate commotion. What kind of powder did you say it was?”

 

【According to Odette’s words, the time for skin rashes to appear seems quite fast.】

 

“Where the hell does she keep finding out about stuff like this?”

 

Maybe only those born for evil deeds could do such things.

 

No matter how much she was moving within my plans, the schemes Odette was trying to pull made my teeth chatter.

 

How on earth did she know about and obtain things I’d never even heard of, like Panilnia flowers or powders that cause skin poisoning and were discontinued early in production…?

 

“…It’s not enough.”

 

【Huh?】

 

“Simply having the Spring Stage end and going ‘You’ve revealed your own sins!’ isn’t enough somehow. It doesn’t satisfy my anger.”

 

I felt like announcing to the whole world that Odette, not I, was the villainess of the century.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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