Mad Rosetta - Chapter 7

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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

Episode 7

The Obedient Child Knows No Punishment (3)

【Wahaha! Your younger sister certainly does take good care of you!】

Sing’s mocking laughter was so loud it echoed through the room before piercing my ears once more.

I lost even the strength to reproach him, letting out a hollow laugh instead.

‘So what you’re telling me is… Odette relayed orders I never gave to the Attendants, and they followed them without question?’

Imagining Odette apologizing to the Attendants on my behalf, asking them to understand her older sister, made my blood boil in reverse.

At this point, I found myself desperately curious about where Odette’s inexplicable obsession with me had begun.

“Ha… So Bonita said that? That I ordered you all to neglect your duties because I wish to wallow in this filthy corner, unable to distinguish whether I’m human or beast? Is that what you claim I commanded?”

“…I beg your pardon, Lady.”

“…I never issued such an order.”

“Then it seems I misheard and misjudged. I will accept whatever punishment you deem appropriate.”

Perhaps she thought I was being unreasonable. Marahan offered a meaningless apology with an expression of resignation.

It was bitter.

Odette had been gifting me Panilnia Flower for about two years. It had been a year and a half since I asked Father to impose confinement on me…

Surely they too had endured painful days because of their mistress, who had begun to change two years ago.

It was true they had pulled my hair and drenched me with hot tea. It was true that I had continued committing misdeeds against my will because of Odette. It was true that many Attendants had neglected me, looked down upon me, and often played pranks on me—so what was I to do?

I now faced a dilemma: should I punish those who had ignored their true master’s will and listened only to Odette’s words, and cast them out from the Household? Or should I show mercy now and demonstrate how I had changed?

“…It seems you don’t believe my words.”

“That could hardly be the case.”

Truly, even the Baharada Desert itself could not be more parched than this.

Suddenly, I recalled those nights when I would pester Marahan for midnight snacks.

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

– “…Sigh, Lady.”

– “There’s no other explanation for being so stingy over a single snack! You’re terrible!”

Whenever I complained like that, she would reluctantly slip me cookies or madeleines, as though she had no choice.

Yet she would kindly remind me not to forget brushing my teeth… but that tenderness had vanished, and now Marahan appeared only exhausted.

‘Perhaps she believes the young Lady I once knew has already disappeared without a trace.’

Yet old affection is one thing, and negligence is quite another matter. At Marahan’s resolute demeanor, I let out a low chuckle and opened my mouth.

“A fitting punishment indeed. How remarkably firm you are in stating the obvious.”

“…”

“Very well. Since your resolve is so unwavering, I shall respond with a punishment befitting it.”

Marahan remained with her head bowed, simply awaiting my orders.

The servants behind her displayed varied reactions—some stared at the floor with expressions of dismay, while others squeezed their eyes shut, perhaps fearing an excessively harsh sentence.

“You four, including Marahan, have failed to properly fulfill your duties. Moreover, you have shown insolence by obeying another’s commands rather than your master’s. I shall hold you accountable for this transgression.”

“…”

“For the entire day, clean my room until not a speck of dust remains.”

“We shall obey the order…”

“…”

“Pardon?”

For the first time, a flicker of emotion crossed Marahan’s expression—that arid, parched countenance that seemed incapable of nurturing even a single blade of grass.

Realizing she had inadvertently questioned me, she clamped her lips shut and fixed me with a bewildered stare.

I issued my command once more, this time with unmistakable severity.

“Polish the floor until it gleams like a mirror!”

* * *

“Heavens. When will we ever finish all this ourselves?”

“And today, for once, she didn’t lift a finger—kyaaah! A, a, a spider!”

“Wouldn’t it be better to borrow some hands now?”

How long had they even been cleaning?

Suppressing the urge to discipline those whimpering girls’ calves, Marahan shook out the faded, dingy tablecloth with sharp, decisive snaps.

The servants were too oblivious to recognize how lenient their punishment had been, and besides, the thought of Rosetta—already departed from the room—was more than enough to cloud Marahan’s mind with confusion.

– “Marahan, you are no exception. By the time I return after dinner, you must have completed the room’s organization alongside them. Do you understand?”

By assigning duties unbecoming of her station as head servant, my punishment of Marahan had concluded.

I had not shrieked as I always did, nor had I hurled objects about or wept, seemingly oblivious to the source of my own fury.

I had merely commanded.

In that moment, Marahan dredged up an old memory of Rosetta.

– “Marahan, Marahan. Look at this. Father gave it to me, saying I’m doing well in my lessons. Doesn’t it suit me perfectly?”

– “The Epsilon Baroness and her daughter are visiting today. I do hope we can all get along.”

My young mistress, once so tender and vivacious, had been hailed as the most beautiful rose in all the Arcanis Empire—at least when she welcomed her new family.

When Marahan’s deep crimson hair would ripple as she ran toward me with a smile, I found myself endlessly wishing for her glory.

There was a time when things were like that.

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

Contrary to the mere wishes of an Attendant, Marahan’s young mistress began to change as she spent time with Odette.

She grew anxious and frequently lost her temper.

It could not be attributed to jealousy toward Odette, who maintained a warm smile for everyone.

Marahan knew well that Rosetta was kind enough—no, even kinder than that—to warrant such feelings.

So in the beginning, I tried to comfort her and soothe her.

– “The Duke seems quite angry too. Confinement, no less….”

– “That’s understandable. The Lady is becoming stranger by the day.”

Yet Rosetta ultimately remained locked in her room.

Still, Marahan instructed the other Attendants to mind the Lady’s darkened chamber and meticulously continued her duties, waiting for the day the Lady might emerge.

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

As Marahan walked through the Corridor that her mistress no longer traversed, she one day encountered Odette emerging from Rosetta’s room.

Kindly, as always, she had come to bring flowers.

That is what Marahan thought, and Odette, who greeted her with a smile, paused briefly and called out to her.

– “You know, Marahan. Rosetta says the rustling sounds in her room bother her. So if you enter without her permission and touch anything in the room, I won’t stand for it….”

Everything that had been prepared solely for Rosetta lost its place in that moment.

Marahan could not even feel disappointment.

The word disappointment was too small to describe the endless days of helplessly breathing, finishing her duties, sleeping, and waking again.

And so Marahan felt deeply wronged.

She had desperately hoped that her young mistress would one day return to being the Lady who commanded Benitra with authority.

Yet it was she herself who had turned away from that hope and stolen their duties away.

Now, like a bird desperate to escape its cage, her young mistress’s jewel-like eyes gleamed as she commanded them to do what they ought—what was their rightful work.

“Marahan? Yes? Are you listening to us?”

“…Stop your prattling! Quiet!”

Startled, one of the Servants even hiccupped, her bewilderment plain.

The other two straightened their slouching postures and gazed at Marahan with unease.

“You don’t even realize how fortunate it is that this ends here, yet you remain so foolish! Do you wish to be cast out from the Manor without wages, held accountable for failing to do your part all this time?”

“N-no, that’s not it. We were just…”

“You haven’t forgotten that it must be finished before the Lady returns, have you? If we fail to complete it in time, both you and I may truly be cast out this time. So scrub without pause.”

Marahan scrubbed the floor vigorously with her brush.

Though the mold clung stubbornly and resisted erasure, Marahan had to suppress the subtle smile that kept threatening to break through.

The mold would be removed in the end. As the Lady had said, she wanted to reveal a floor that gleamed like a mirror.

* * *

“I’ve given it thought. First, I should make an appearance at the event.”

I murmured to myself, gazing blankly at the Study ceiling.

I had stationed Penny outside so I could speak with Sing without interruption, which afforded me several hours of respite.

After issuing orders to Marahan and the Children beneath her, I made directly for the Study. Along the way, I discovered that nothing in Rose Manor was filthy except for my own Room.

“No matter how much I poison Bonita and Lianna within the household, the truth remains—am I not already notorious outside as Benitra’s troublemaker? Though publicly, the excuse is that I’m ill.”

【Hmm, yes. Everyone who matters would know, I suppose.】

“Moreover, Odette frequently hosts afternoon tea gatherings with other young ladies of noble birth in our household. It’s painfully obvious how far my reputation has sunk into the mire.”

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

“Cooped up? How carelessly that wretched ghost speaks—his tongue is far too loose.”

Sing had mocked me, reminding me of our first meeting when I myself had ranted about that wretched Odette and cursed Cessia, yet I dismissed his words entirely.

What struck me far more was the sight of him sitting brazenly beside me, chin propped upon his hand with such confidence—it was utterly absurd.

Save for the absence of a face, he conducted himself in every conceivable way like a person, which rendered him profoundly grotesque.

“Had circumstances been different, I would have made my debut at fifteen. But unfortunately, as you so aptly noted, I remained confined to my room and was unable to do so.”

Wait—fifteen?

I lifted my head sharply from where it had been resting against the chair.

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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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