Mad Rosetta - Chapter 99

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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 99
A Princess Must Possess Acting Ability as a Basic Skill (6)
Pure silence.
When Carina finally spoke after a prolonged stretch of quiet, her composure was so complete that I could scarcely recall the anxiety that had marked her features moments before.
“There is one matter I must inquire about.”
“Yes, please ask.”
“Though the matter seems utterly absurd, I confess myself bewildered—does your claim that he occupies Montague Estate’s body mean that the two of them share a single form?”
“…Yes, that is correct.”
Indeed, she was not easily swayed.
Confronted by her incisive questions, each one designed to dissect the situation with clinical precision, I retrieved the answers I had meticulously prepared.
“According to what he told me…, Youngsik is as though asleep.”
“…Asleep, you say?”
“I interpreted it to mean that his consciousness is lost while he dominates the body. If a corrupted soul overwhelms him, such a thing might indeed occur….”
“…Yet I find it peculiar. If you had something to convey to me, would it not have been simpler to seek me out directly, without need of the Princess’s intermediation?”
“….”
“The House of Montague could have arranged an opportunity without difficulty.”
“…My betrothal to Youngsik was also something the Empress desired, and he said it would be dissolved. He claimed it was the price for daring to hold the ceremony in the year she passed….”
I had hoped to bring the conversation to a close, yet questions continued to pour forth from her.
Fabricating everything as though I had heard it from Sing while suppressing my own thoughts, I found myself stumbling over my words—the task of responding was proving unexpectedly difficult.
“Pl, please help me. He threatens without hesitation, saying that if I wish for Youngsik to live his life properly, I must obey his every command.”
“….”
“He warns that if I do not comply, I shall never see my betrothed again, and….”
I could not afford to prolong this further.
I began to weep, my face concealed behind both hands like a woman who had lost her beloved betrothed.
I poured forth lament after lament—how terrified I was, how each day I felt suffocated by dread, how I could not fathom why such calamity had befallen me.
As I continued my piteous recitation, words of comfort spilled from Carina’s lips.
“Princess. I comprehend your distress. Yet you must respond with composure.”
“B, but I am so frightened of him. He is not even human—a corrupted entity—what am I to do?”
“…First. Who else knows of this matter?”
“N, no one but myself. He said that if I revealed it carelessly, he would take his own life using Youngsik’s body….”
At the mere suggestion that her son might perish, she turned ashen.
Yet in the next instant, as though her alarm had never existed, Carina’s voice became measured and grave as she issued her command.
“I shall consider what measures might be taken. You must return and exert yourself to maintain the betrothal as much as possible. Do you understand?”
“…Yes, yes. I shall endeavor to do so.”
“Endeavor is insufficient. You must. For the sake of your betrothed who will return—you must succeed, without fail.”
To her command, which bordered on coercion, I nodded with apparent resolve.
‘No matter how I scheme…. Will any viable path present itself?’
Unaware that Cessia was already dead, she stood before the Reception Room door with an expression of profound disquiet, bidding me farewell.
Whether my performance had been convincing, I wiped away the tears that had trickled down unbidden as I departed the Empress Dowager’s Palace.
The weather had grown considerably cold, signaling the approach of winter.
“…I should send word that the Empress Dowager may summon me soon.”
A private audience with the Empress Dowager—the reputations of Odette and Cessia had plummeted so far that recovery seemed impossible.
Perhaps because my plans were proceeding smoothly, my mind remained sharp.
Several days had passed since then.
I heard that Marmint’s research had entered its final stages.
In the meantime, I had visited the Guild with Sing to review Sergio’s succession rights, and I had even responded to invitations from various salons, playing the part of an arrogantly intact Benatra with convincing ease.
“…Hmm, this spot would be perfect. Let’s place the table here.”
I also strolled through the Garden of Rose Manor, securing locations with the timeline in mind.
More than a month had passed before I finally received the completed confession drug from Marmint.
“I heard you called for me, Lady.”
“…Good morning, Lawrence.”
It was the day before Odette’s house arrest would end.
I was enjoying a quiet tea time alone with the Butler.
* * *
A small refreshment table had been set beside vines laden with roses.
Whether it was the cold weather or a characteristic of winter roses, the fragrance of the Garden seemed particularly faint today.
These flowers had been cultivated to bloom even in winter, so while their color was deeper than ordinary roses, their scent was rather weak.
‘…Perhaps I simply cannot perceive it because I am nervous.’
With that thought, I smiled at Lawrence standing before me with an expression of innocent bewilderment.
“First, sit down and have some tea.”
“It is early in the day and the weather is cold—I worry you might catch a chill, Lady.”
“Yes, which is why I dressed so warmly.”
He accepted my invitation to sit without resistance, yet his concern was evident—he could not fathom why we would take tea in the Garden on such a day.
I dismissed his worry with an indifferent gesture and reached toward the table.
Reina immediately poured tea into his cup.
In the cold air, steam rose upward, and an unfamiliar tea fragrance wafted through the space.
“Would it not be appropriate for you to remain at the Main Manor, Lady?”
“It is merely a ceremonial gathering. There is no reason for me to attend.”
“…Still, you have not exchanged visits with the Montague Estate for quite some time.”
“Perhaps I have grown weary of it—I find myself unmoved by it now.”
I sipped my tea dismissively, and Lawrence drank his own without seeming troubled by my response.
Sing, who had arrived early this morning, was currently meeting with Lianna at the Main Manor.
‘Though we are orchestrating this together.’
Soon enough, he would skillfully persuade Lianna according to our arrangement and place her on the board.
Drawing out time while facing such a cunning adult would be no easy task.
But that fellow possessed a gift for eloquence, so I harbored no great concerns.
“Do you remember when we first planted winter roses here?”
“…Yes, I do. If I recall correctly, you were eleven years old at the time.”
“You found it so fascinating that flowers could bloom even in winter, and when you tried to touch them, you cried out in alarm—you said the vines were not stripped of their thorns.”
“Haha, yes, that’s right…. It seems you’ve been lost in memories for quite some time now.”
“That’s not it. This was simply the best vantage point from Bonita’s room.”
The moment I mentioned her name, Lawrence’s gaze narrowed for an instant.
Yet as I watched him lift his teacup without a word, I decided to finally voice what I had been holding back all this time.
“I heard you were exceptionally skilled with a bow. You dreamed of becoming a Knight, didn’t you?”
“Mm, yes….”
“….”
“…But have I ever mentioned such things to you, my Lady?”
There was something desolate in Lawrence’s expression as he asked, and it frightened me a little.
The documents I had received from Sergio naturally contained abundant information about Laurence Badam as well.
How he had shown early talent in martial arts and had once dreamed of becoming a Knight, at least until he met Lianna….
Things like that.
‘So the arrow that came flying at the Weapon Shop must have been shot by this bastard.’
The Butler had followed us like an assassin, precisely struck the lantern with an arrow to ignite it, and then fled.
Logically speaking, how could one easily imagine such a scenario?
Thus, the moment I finished reading Sergio’s documents, I went to find Marahan.
– “When my Lady was suffering from burns…. Yes, that’s right. The Butler was on leave.”
It was to confirm whether the Butler had been absent from the Manor at that time.
Lawrence, who had taken several days of leave after concluding the grand birthday feast for Odette.
And in that interval, the fire accident I experienced, combined with his past of being exceptionally skilled with a bow.
With just that, I could be certain that it was Lawrence who had conspired with Odette to burn me to death.
‘…How chilling.’
In Lawrence’s question about how I knew he had dreamed of becoming a Knight, I could read nothing but a confusion as if he were reflecting upon his own footsteps.
His excessively composed gaze, his still measured tone of voice.
All of it felt as though what I had endured meant nothing to him.
“You never told me. I simply investigated it out of curiosity.”
Thus, consumed by rising despair, I laughed while gripping the brooch pinned to my chest.
“You seemed like the culprit who murdered our Duchess and disguised it as an accident.”
I wanted to shatter that composure of yours.
Lest things go awry.
I will repay you in kind for all the suffering I endured during those years when I was barely clinging to my own life.
“My memory has returned, Lawrence.”
I laughed bitterly.
And the man before me, now with nothing but ruin remaining, erased the word ‘serenity’ from his face.

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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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