Mad Rosetta - Chapter 53

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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 53

The Cowardly Man (5)

* * *

“Hah—ugh! Cough! Cough, ah—!”

The moment my eyes opened, a maddening pain erupted from my throat.

My mouth was parched as though I had never escaped from the heart of that inferno, and my entire body burned and throbbed with soreness.

When I tried to rise hastily, dizziness and nausea overwhelmed me.

Just as I nearly collapsed off the bed, someone caught me firmly, and I lifted my head.

“Rosette! Coco! Come to your senses, will you? Do you recognize me? Do you know who I am?”

“Ah… Father.”

I gazed at my Father’s ashen face, his hands still gripping my shoulders without release.

I could not distinguish whether this was the moment when Mother had passed away, or the time after I had escaped from the shop.

The resemblance to Father’s appearance on the day he lost Mother was unmistakable.

Had I not glimpsed Penny and the other children behind the Physician, who sternly warned me against rising prematurely, I might have mistaken this for a dream.

“Still, to think you’ve awakened in just a single day—how is this possible? What happened? When I received word, I could barely… barely…”

“Father, Father. Sob… I…”

I remembered the day Mother passed away.

I had meant to say exactly that, but the moment I met Father’s eyes directly, I abandoned that resolve entirely.

The emotion dwelling in Father’s gaze was nothing short of terror.

The helplessness of a man who nearly lost both his wife and child in the same tragedy.

I could not burden Father, gripped by such terror, with the suspicion that the Duchess had been murdered by someone—at least not now.

In that moment, I grasped Father’s trembling hands as they shook like those of a man afflicted with palsy.

“Ah, Father. I’m fine, *cough*! I’m fine. Look… *retch*.”

“Your lungs may be severely damaged, so you mustn’t speak so hastily, Lady.”

“…Ah, in any case. I’m perfectly well.”

“You are not well. Please, simply rest.”

…Such a cold Physician he was.

If he spoke so gravely, the situation was truly dire. I kept my lips sealed and refused to release Father’s hand.

Father then exhaled a sigh tinged with lamentation, his eyes reddened.

“He speaks truly. I have already heard the detailed circumstances from Bonita and Montague Estate, so Coco, you must prioritize your recovery.”

But what good is hearing it from them?

I opened my lips to protest, but closed them again just as quickly.

Though I could prove the arrow that struck so suddenly by having witnessed it with the Shop Owner, I could find no way whatsoever to present pine resin powder as evidence.

‘Now that I think of it, what became of the Proprietor?’

I asked Father this as he was about to leave, and received a swift reply.

“He is being well cared for at the Internal Infirmary of the Public Security Department, so do not worry. There are inconsistencies in his statement, so it will take considerable time to uncover the truth.”

“Ah, yes.”

“…According to him, he owes his life to you, Coco.”

“Ha ha, is that so?”

“Are you in your right mind?”

“…What?”

Unable to grasp the context, I stared at him with a bewildered expression.

Father’s brow furrowed deeply, his face etched with profound disapproval.

“Did you truly believe I would take pride in you saving another’s life at the cost of your own?”

“….”

“As a member of the Nobility, I taught you to protect the weak and fulfill your duty to public order. When did I ever tell you to recklessly gamble with your own life?”

“No, Father, I—”

“Had you at least possessed martial prowess comparable to the Knights, I might have understood. But you, fluttering about like a moth to flame without even knowing your own limitations?”

“….”

“It seems you fail to comprehend the weight your name carries, Coco. Spend the next two weeks in confinement and reflect upon yourself.”

The absurdity of it all left my mind momentarily blank.

What? Excuse me? Father?

Faced with Father’s relentless barrage of cold reproach, I found myself speechless, left to lie awkwardly upon the bed.

Even the Physician and Penny, diligently working the gauze despite the oppressive atmosphere, seemed admirable to me.

For the first time in Rosetta Coco’s life, I had actually received a confinement order.

* * *

“Then please rest, Lady.”

“….”

“…I’m telling you again, absolutely safe-”

“I understand.”

“Very well, then.”

Despite my caustic glare, Penny paid it no mind and left the room with the Physician.

…How should I put it—I felt utterly defeated, but that was beside the point.

Since waking, I had been deliberately avoiding someone’s scorching gaze, and now I was breaking into a cold sweat.

Well, admittedly, the fever was making me perspire as well.

【Not a shred of remorse, I see.】

Sing settled into the chair beside the bed and delivered the remark with a sharp edge.

I, meanwhile, found myself unable to respond, mortified by the memory of how pathetically I had wept and whimpered before him.

And this came after all those days of tension between us.

To be precise, my escape from the fire was entirely his doing, yet my wounded pride made it nearly impossible to voice even a simple word of gratitude.

【Ha, do you even comprehend how close you came to death?】

“….”

【…Was my instruction to take at least one escort with you so amusing?】

Did he truly believe I had dismissed him so carelessly?

His voice rumbled like a beast preparing to strike.

Only then did I realize Sing was furious.

“…But I survived, didn’t I?”

Damn this wretched tongue of mine.

Even as I cursed my own pathetic choice of words, Sing’s expression hardened with a terror that suggested his anger had only been the prelude.

“How dare you speak such words when you cannot even see the state you’re in?”

With that, he seized my forearm and lifted it into view.

Though he hadn’t even pressed on the wound itself, pain flared through me instantly.

I tried to wrench my arm free in agony, but he refused to release it.

“What are you—! Cough! Ah!”

Damn it. Just as the Physician had warned, I’d inhaled far too much smoke. Whenever I raised my voice even slightly, my throat burned and my breathing became labored.

Even as Sing stared at me with an intensity that frightened me—as though he had no intention of backing down—I was forced to confront the undeniable reality of my pathetic condition.

My limbs were wrapped entirely in gauze, and each time the burned portions touched the bedding, a searing pain followed.

My hair, which once cascaded to my hips, had been singed and unevenly cut—now it barely reached my waist.

‘Damn it… I know, I know! But there was no other choice in that situation!’

I acknowledged my own mistake in dismissing Sing’s concerns so carelessly.

Yet I could not bear to watch innocent people lose their lives because of schemes aimed at me once more.

Even if saving the Shop Owner meant doing something I ordinarily could not—something that might endanger the servants of Benitra Estate—I refused to regret that choice.

Did my thoughts make me appear wronged?

Whether he sensed my words were falling on deaf ears or not, Sing exhaled a sigh—softer than before—and spoke.

“Ask the Duke to procure burn salve used by the Imperial Court. There should be medicine potent enough to heal fresh burn scars entirely.”

“How would you even know such a thing?”

“You really are…”

Exasperated by my casual, pointless question, Sing dragged his hand roughly through his hair.

His upturned jade eyes gleamed with sharp intensity.

【You seem to have forgotten entirely…. You should remember this, Rosette. Your life is not yours alone.】

“…What?”

【Since I brought you back with my own hands, half of it belongs to me, does it not?】

A sharp and sinister aura emanated from him, like that of one wielding a hidden blade.

Had I lost my mind?

Those chilling words sounded precisely like a confession.

【Promise me you will never again do something so reckless with your life as collateral.】

“…I’ll be as careful as I can. But if I simply sit here gracefully, will those creatures die on their own? Eventually, I’ll really have to—”

【Ha! Do I sound like I’m making a request?】

Sing laughed coldly, as though exasperated. Then he suddenly leaned forward toward me as I lay there.

I had nowhere left to retreat, so all I could do was stiffen my shoulders rigidly.

His voice, infinitely low, sent a chill down my spine.

【Then each time you come back injured from somewhere, I’ll do something you’d hate. If that’s still not enough, I can act against your plans instead.】

“….”

【Don’t forget, Rosette. We’re in the same boat. If this happens even once more….】

“….”

【Then I will become the greatest obstacle to your revenge.】

A clear threat.

Yet beneath it lay an absurd plea to take every precaution for my safety, and those intensely cold eyes burned with a fierce, searing heat.

‘…How could I not misunderstand this.’

I felt somewhat deflated.

Making threats that barely qualified as words.

Worrying over blemishes that might not even remain.

Why don’t you simply tell me that you love 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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