Mad Rosetta - Chapter 31

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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 31

Too Spicy for a Spring Flower (5)

* * *

“You seem to be eating too little. Why don’t you have some more?”

“…I don’t have much of an appetite.”

If it weren’t for you, I would have cleaned out two bowls completely, damn it.

Still saying I looked too thin, I responded to Cessia’s repeated urging to eat more food by wiping my mouth instead.

Sing also sneered beside me, saying he had no face to share a meal with Fordicus right in front of us.

I nodded in agreement and suggested to Cessia that we should get up now.

For the past few days, Cessia had been persistently sending letters saying it would be good to meet once before the Spring Stage began.

Since I couldn’t keep making excuses about being busy, I eventually agreed to his request.

‘Ah, if only I had heard news about Marmint a bit sooner, I wouldn’t have made this appointment.’

With the Debut Tante right around the corner, I was in an extremely sensitive state.

I couldn’t just wait endlessly for the antidote, so I needed to prepare at least some backup plan.

Therefore, I intended to do some adaptation training so I wouldn’t lose my composure, at least in front of Cessia.

‘Especially since I’ll obviously have to touch Fordicus as his partner, ugh…’

I couldn’t possibly think I’d be able to endure that horrible moment.

“This place is beautiful whenever I visit. It’s elegant and scenic.”

“The gardeners tend to it every day, so it has to be.”

The spring sunlight that had just entered the afternoon was warm.

After having lunch with Cessia, I had agreed when he suggested we take a stroll through the garden.

Some were salmon-colored, others purple.

Still others were dyed in very pale pink, with roses in full bloom showing off their rainbow of colors.

Due to the rose cultivation rights, no one in the Arkanis Empire could plant rose varieties in their gardens without my permission.

Therefore, Benitra’s Rose Garden was probably emitting such a nose-tingling fragrance to prove its authority.

“When I told Mother that you, Rosetta, had recovered from your sickbed and regained your strength, she was pleased. She had been very worried, but now she seems relieved.”

Walking slowly through the garden, Cessia chatted quietly.

‘Of course she would be.’

I knew the Marchioness had been constantly worried that I might become an obstacle to her son’s future.

In the past, I would have been happy just to hear his voice and would savor every word.

But now I just wished he would stop this trivial conversation.

‘But why is this guy following along without saying anything?’

More than anything, I was inwardly concerned about Sing, who was standing to my right and falling behind with each step.

Normally he would have thrown around petty jokes and commented on every word Cessia said, but for some reason he wasn’t opening his mouth at all now.

I wondered if he had become dejected by the sudden mention of the Marchioness.

“…Ah.”

At that moment, a strong wind blew with a whooshing sound.

But that wasn’t exactly why I stopped walking.

“Are you alright, Rosetta?”

Nor was it because Cessia blocked the leaves that were flying toward me in the wind with his large hand.

“…Yes, it feels nice and cool.”

I replied as calmly as possible and continued walking.

The reason I hesitated was simply because Sing…

It was because Sing had grabbed my hair.

‘What are you doing, really…’

Did he want to play some kind of prank?

He was holding onto the ends of my wavy hair and wouldn’t let go.

It was very distracting to have a handful of hair floating in the air.

The sight of him holding onto it tightly and not letting go as I walked reminded me of a child obediently following while holding their mother’s hand.

Would it just look to Cessia like my hair was moving naturally in response?

Or maybe he thought it was swaying in the cool breeze.

Regardless, I was so bewildered that I couldn’t concentrate on my conversation with Cessia and kept glancing at him.

‘Do you want to fight by grabbing hair or what? Let go of that right now!’

Only after I kept shooting him looks with that meaning did Sing meet my eyes.

He then smiled very quietly.

【There was a leaf stuck in your hair.】

“…”

【I tried to remove it, but it’s not coming off easily…】

Still, seeing this leaf attached to such red hair, the praise of being truly the Rose of the Empire seems appropriate, Sing said teasingly.

Just as I was the only one who could touch him, I was also the only tangible thing Sing could touch.

Just one small leaf.

Would he make such an expression just because he couldn’t brush off something so trivial?

“…Rosetta? Just a moment.”

Then Cessia, excusing himself, plucked off the leaf that Sing couldn’t handle and showed it to me with a shake.

I had intended to prevent that guy from touching even a single hair of mine.

But I had been so distracted by Sing, who had been fiddling with the ends of my hair, that I missed the moment to be upset.

…Why was that?

His smile just made me feel strangely bitter.

* * *

Anyone would think that one month was woefully insufficient time to develop a new medicine.

Therefore, no matter how much of a genius she was called.

I too had to worry that a contract with a girl who had barely passed ten years old might not be properly fulfilled.

“Plant-based poisoning symptoms basically require two types of treatment in parallel.”

However, making my days of worry seem pointless, a few days later.

I was once again sitting face to face with Marmint in the reception room of my room.

“So I included both medicine with excellent neutralization reactions and herbs that can protect damaged metabolic organs.”

“…Yes.”

“And most importantly, since it’s crucial to administer the medicine while monitoring progress, you must take them in order. Do you understand? I’ve marked them in three stages like this.”

I couldn’t take my eyes off the three empty bottles in the box that Marmint had handed me.

Was it because of the various herbs used? The reddish-brown liquid in the transparent bottles looked just like muddy water.

Even so, I held the box tightly in my hands as if I were storing something very precious.

At this point, with less than a week left until the Debut Tante, Marmint had finally given me the gift I had been desperately hoping for.

I was so proud that I felt like bowing to the girl in front of me.

“…Are you actually listening to what I’m saying?”

Marmint, who had been continuing her passionate explanation about how to take the antidote like a real doctor, narrowed her eyes and asked.

Sing was playing silly pranks behind me, saying things like this had gone beyond the usual doctor games that children play, and that I needed to listen properly to the teacher’s words to be a good patient.

But feeling like I could fly, I replied with a hint of laughter.

“Of course, Marmint. One bottle every three days in order. At first, I might get a fever or feel nauseous. Right?”

“…That’s right. But you absolutely must not vomit, and you shouldn’t wash with cold water even if you feel hot.”

Marmint said the antidote she had made worked by combining poison with neutralizing components to render both components harmless.

She added that to properly continue this process, we needed to repair and protect the damaged metabolic organs, including the nervous system that had already been severely damaged by the Panilnia poison.

She looked at me with worried eyes, saying that the first stage would be the most difficult because she had included plenty of herbs that promote toxin elimination.

“And this…”

From her small pouch bag, Marmint took out something and placed it on the table.

A strange purple color rippled inside the glass bottle, instantly putting my nerves on edge.

My solar plexus twisted hotly for no reason and my throat felt like it was burning, so I forced myself to shift my gaze to Marmint.

I knew the identity of that thing better than anyone.

“This is the remaining Panilnia flower concentrate. I have no reason to keep it…”

“It’s leftover panilia flower essence that I used. I have no reason to keep it myself….”

“…Yes. If you do, I’ll take it.”

What Odette and Cessia had shoved down my throat.

The very poison that had made me scream at the top of my lungs and crawl through the backyard was right before my eyes.

Though it was a chilling sight just to look at, its usefulness was clear, so I decided to obediently accept the bottle of concentrate.

Ah, if I were to divine the day I first met Marmint, it would surely be the luckiest day of this year’s fortune.

“Thank you.”

“…It’s not like I did it for free, so don’t mention it.”

“Still, I can’t skip expressing my gratitude. You’re no different from my benefactor.”

“…”

“Right, then… Since I’ve properly received a prescription from the doctor, I should pay the medical fee, shouldn’t I?”

Saying this, I pulled out a considerably heavy jewelry box from under the long table.

Then I opened it in front of Marmint to show her.

Inside, thick gold coins were neatly stacked, busy showing off their splendor.

‘Take the jewelry box as a bonus.’

Since I was handing over a bundle of money anyway, putting it in some mere pouch wouldn’t befit Benitra’s dignity.

“Three thousand for the commission fee and two thousand for research costs. That’s a total of five thousand shillings, Marmint.”

“Ah…”

Upon seeing the cash so abundant it was daunting to count, Marmint’s blue eyes widened greatly.

“However, I think I need to attach a few conditions.”

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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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