Mad Rosetta - Chapter 7

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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 7

Those Who Obey Well Have Nothing to Fear (3)

【Wahaha! Your sister must have taken quite good care of you, hasn’t she?】

Sing’s mocking laughter was so loud that it echoed around the room before piercing my ears again.

I didn’t even have the strength left to scold him, so I let out a hollow laugh.

‘So, what… Odette conveyed orders to the servants that I never gave, and they followed them to the letter?’

Imagining Odette apologetically asking the servants to understand her sister, as if it were all her fault, made my blood boil in reverse.

At this point, I became intensely curious about where Odette’s inexplicable obsession with me had even begun.

“Haha… So Bonita said that? That I wanted to roll around in this filthy corner of a room in a state where you couldn’t tell if I was human or beast, so you should neglect your duties. Is that what she ordered?”

“…I apologize, Lady.”

“…I never gave such an order.”

“Then I must have misheard and misjudged. If you give me appropriate punishment, I will accept it gladly.”

Did she think I was being unreasonable? Marahan offered a meaningless apology with a resigned expression.

It was bitter.

Odette had been giving Panilnia flowers for about two years. It had been a year and a half since I asked Father to confine me to my quarters…

They too must have certainly spent painful days because of their master who began changing two years ago.

It was true that they had their hair pulled by me and received baptisms of tea water. It was true that I continued unwanted tyrannical behavior because of Odette. It was also true that many servants neglected and looked down on me, often playing pranks, so what could be done about this.

I was now contemplating whether to punish these people who listened only to Odette’s words while ignoring their actual master’s will and drive them from the household, or show mercy even now and display a changed demeanor.

“…You seem not to believe my words.”

“How could that be possible.”

Good heavens, even the Baharada Desert region couldn’t be drier than this.

I suddenly remembered the times when I used to pester Marahan whenever I craved snacks in the middle of the night.

– “Marahan, you actually hate me, don’t you?”

– “…Sigh, Lady.”

– “Otherwise, there’s no way you’d be so stingy over a single snack! How mean!”

When I grumbled like that, she would reluctantly slip me cookies or madeleines as if she had no choice.

Even then, she would kindly remind me not to forget to brush my teeth… But that appearance had vanished, and Marahan only looked exhausted.

‘She might think the young lady she once knew has already disappeared without a trace.’

However, old affection was old affection, and negligence was something that couldn’t be tolerated. At Marahan’s brazen attitude, I opened my mouth with a low sneer.

“Appropriate punishment, you say. You speak of obvious things quite resolutely.”

“…”

“Good. Since your attitudes are so firm, I too must give punishment that responds accordingly.”

Marahan still kept her head bowed, simply waiting for my instructions.

The servants behind her showed various attitudes – some staring at the floor with expressions like they’d eaten shit, others tightly closing their eyes in fear that excessive punishment might be handed down.

“You four, including Marahan, failed to properly perform your assigned duties. Moreover, I point out the insolence of following another’s instructions rather than your master’s orders, and I will hold you accountable for that sin.”

“…”

“Clean my room all day today so that not a speck of dust can be seen.”

“I accept your ord…”

“…”

“Pardon?”

Finally, emotion stirred in Marahan’s expression, which had been as dry as if not a blade of grass would grow there.

As if realizing she had reflexively questioned without thinking, she pressed her lips tightly shut and looked at me with an expression of not understanding.

I commanded sternly once more.

“Scrub the floor until it shines like a mirror!”

* * *

“Tsk. When are we supposed to finish all this by ourselves?”

“Still, today for some reason she didn’t raise her hand first- Kyaaah! Sp-sp-spider!”

“Wouldn’t it be better to ask for help even now?”

How long had it been since they started cleaning.

They were already starting to whine.

Trying to suppress the thought of wanting to discipline those girls’ calves, Marahan vigorously shook out a faded tablecloth.

It was because thinking about Rosetta, who had already left the room, was confusing enough without having to point out to the servants how lenient a punishment they had received.

– “Marahan, you are no exception either. By the time I return after finishing dinner, you must complete tidying the room together with them. Do you understand?”

By ordering work unsuitable for the position of head servant, Marahan’s punishment had ended just like that.

She didn’t scream as usual, nor did she throw objects or cry without properly recognizing what she was angry about.

She had simply barked orders.

Marahan pulled up old memories from Rosetta’s appearance.

– “Marahan, Marahan. Look at this. Father gave it to me saying I seem to be attending lessons well. Doesn’t it suit me perfectly?”

– “Baroness Epsilon and her daughter are coming today. I hope we can get along well.”

Her kind and lively little mistress, even when welcoming a new family member, was praised as the most beautiful rose in this Arkanis Empire.

Marahan too, when that deep crimson hair would wave as she ran over and smiled at her, endlessly wished for her glory.

There was such a time.

– “I-I spilled tea on Bonita. Marahan, why do I keep doing this? I got so angry…”

Making a mere servant’s wishes seem meaningless, Marahan’s little mistress gradually changed while living with Odette.

She became anxious and often angry.

It couldn’t be considered jealousy toward Odette, who consistently showed warm smiles to everyone.

For that, Marahan knew well that Rosetta was also sufficiently, no, even more kind than that.

So initially, she tried to comfort and soothe her.

– “The Duke must be quite angry too. House arrest…”

– “That’s understandable. The Lady has been getting stranger and stranger.”

However, Rosetta ended up confined to her room, unable to come out.

Even so, Marahan instructed the servants to pay attention to their master’s room where no lights came on, and meticulously continued her duties for the day when the Lady would eventually come out of her room.

One day, one week, one month, four months…

Marahan, who had been walking corridors her master no longer walked, one day encountered Odette coming out of Rosetta’s room.

So kindly, she had apparently come to deliver flowers as always.

Marahan thought so, and Odette, who greeted her with an eye-smile, stopped her path for a moment and called to her.

– “You know, Marahan. Rosetta seems bothered by the rustling sounds from her room all the time. So if you enter and touch her room without her instructions, she won’t let it slide…”

Everything prepared solely for Rosetta lost its place like that.

Marahan couldn’t even feel disappointed.

To explain it with the word disappointment was insufficient for such a long time of just breathing powerlessly, finishing quotas, sleeping, and opening her eyes again.

Therefore, Marahan felt wronged.

She had desperately hoped that her little mistress would someday return to being the Lady who once commanded this Benitra.

Yet it was she herself who had taken away their duties while turning away from that hope.

Now, like a bird trying to escape its cage, would she command them to do what they should rightfully do, with jewel-like eyes flashing?

“Marahaaaan. Hey? Are you listening to us?”

“…All that chattering, so noisy!”

One startled servant even hiccupped, expressing bewilderment.

The other two also straightened their slouching postures and looked at Marahan anxiously.

“Not knowing how fortunate it is to end like this, how can you be so immature! Do you want to be driven from the manor without even receiving wages for failing to fulfill your duties?”

“Th-that’s not it. We were just…”

“You haven’t forgotten that we must finish before the Lady returns. If we fail to complete it on time, you and I might really be driven out this time, so work diligently.”

Marahan scrubbed the floor vigorously with a brush.

Even though the mold was deeply embedded and wouldn’t come off easily, Marahan had to struggle to hide the subtle smile that kept emerging.

The mold would eventually be removed. She intended to show a mirror-like floor just as the Lady had said.

* * *

“I’ve been thinking about it. I think it would be better to show my face at events first.”

I muttered to myself as if talking to myself while staring blankly at the study ceiling.

Since I had stationed Penny outside so there would be no discomfort in conversing with Sing, I could have leisure for several hours.

After giving instructions to Marahan and the girls under her, I headed straight to the study, and on the way I learned that nothing in Rose Manor was filthy except my room.

【Hmm. Those who know will know.】

“Moreover, Odette often holds tea parties with other young ladies at the house. It’s obvious how much my reputation has fallen into the gutter.”

【Come to think of it, darling. Did you have your debutante? I heard you’ve been holed up in your room for over a year.】

“Holed up! That ghost has quite the flippant way of speaking.”

Sing clearly mocked me, asking if I didn’t remember how I had cursed about that damn Odette and that fucking Cessia during our first meeting, but I ignored it all.

Rather, seeing him sitting confidently in the chair next to me with his chin propped up, I thought it was quite a sight to behold.

He was acting completely human except for having no face, which made him look quite bizarre.

“Normally I would have made my debut on my fifteenth birthday… but unfortunately, as you said, I was holed up in my room and couldn’t go through with it.”

Wait, fifteen?

I straightened my head that had been slouched against the chair.

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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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