The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 307

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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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Side Story Episode 33
“When my mother passed away, the Neighbor Elder who shared bread with me stole all of her belongings. And when my father came looking for me, he exchanged them for food.”
“Tch, that old bastard…”
“He must have known I was the Marquis’s illegitimate child. It seems he was trying to profit off me. So he only shared bread with me to keep me barely alive…”
In the end, the Marquis never returned even when Rosetta’s mother was dying.
So the Neighbor Elder must have thought he might as well steal her belongings as consolation.
“Anyway, when I was sold to the Mercenary Company, that box of keepsakes was handed over to the Commander as well. I lost the key I had at that time too.”
Rosetta pressed firmly against her chest where the key was kept.
“Why do you want that box so desperately? What on earth is inside it?”
At Leviathan’s question, Rosetta fell silent for a moment.
“It’s nothing much, but he said it contains my mother’s final words to me. Since it’s truly a gift from her, I wanted to have it.”
Because she hugged her knees and buried her face, her expression was difficult to see.
“And…”
“And.”
“When life keeps flowing like filth, you naturally want to know.”
“Know what.”
“Why I was born into this world.”
“”
“Proof that I’m not empty inside.”
In short, Rosetta needed proof that her mother had loved her. Ironically.
The Commander always told Rosetta, “You were abandoned because you had no worth being born into this world.”
A worthless existence.
A meaningless existence.
But Rosetta refused to dismiss herself that way.
At least her mother must have loved her.
‘Mother always cried with an apologetic expression whenever she looked at me.’
Those tears were both heartbreaking and joyful.
Because I firmly believed that was her mother’s way of expressing affection, filling me with something.
But her mother, who had lost language, never once told Rosetta that she loved her.
So I wanted that proof.
“I know it sounds grandiose, talking about the meaning of life. But when I see that box of keepsakes, I feel like I might finally understand the answer…”
The world had always been unkind and harsh to her.
As if dealing with something that shouldn’t exist here, she was pushed outside the edges every time.
You are disqualified.
You were not approved.
An empty child like you should have been rejected long ago.
“…I see.”
Leviathan murmured in a low voice. Then, unexpectedly, he lifted his head and looked at her.
“But Rosetta.”
“”
“I have never once thought of you as empty.”
The man leaned forward slowly.
“Even without a keepsake box. Even if you never found the meaning of life, you were always… someone overflowing with fullness to me.”
Rosetta blinked.
“What?”
“Ah, what I mean is, full of what exactly….”
He faltered, searching for the right words.
“Well, what is it. Warmth and joy… something that shines when I look at it. Like sunlight… Yes. You were someone filled with sunlight, to me.”
Sincerity bloomed vividly in his eyes.
Rosetta suddenly recalled her childhood, collecting sunlight in a broken glass bottle. It had been the most beautiful and radiant thing in the world, something she desperately wanted to possess. She had given one piece to her mother and wanted to keep another for herself.
But she could never have it. And before long, she had become someone closer to darkness than to the sun.
Yet this man was telling her that she was filled with sunlight.
It was bewildering.
“…Damn it….”
He glanced at the silent Rosetta, then clutched his forehead.
“What kind of nonsense is this…. I don’t even know what I’m saying anymore.”
The man was flustered in a way unlike himself.
And his tongue was looser than usual.
His face was also slightly flushed, more than usual….
“Anyway, I just. Fell in love with you because you’re you. For no reason at all.”
The young master of the Duchy, who had always been indifferent to all worldly matters, was more desperate than ever. To hold onto Rosetta.
It was laughable in a way, yet Rosetta felt her floating soul finally taking root somewhere.
“So I will definitely recover that keepsake box for you.”
Leviathan swore with conviction.
“I’ll find even that damned meaning of life for you. Choose me.”
His long shadow engulfed Rosetta in great strides.
“Say you’ll choose me.”
“…Hey.”
“Rosetta.”
“…No, wait a moment.”
“I won’t accept refusal….”
“Ah, stop! Refusal or whatever!”
“What?”
“You’re too… close right now!”
“…What?”
She had been pushed back against the wall.
“Your clothes are all stripped off! Really….”
Rosetta squeezed her eyes shut.
No matter that he had done it to cover the child.
Making such an embarrassing confession with his upper body completely bare… he truly was a shameless man.
“Step aside for now.”
Rosetta pushed her index finger against his broad shoulders, and the ominous musculature of his upper body trembled at the slightest touch.
She returned to Rubian’s side and pressed her hand against the child’s forehead. The painkillers seemed to be working—the condition looked better than before.
“You know, have I ever cared for someone like this? I… this is my first time.”
These hands that had always hurt others, threatened them, and been stained with blood.
I never knew they could become hands that wiped away someone’s cold sweat.
“Why is that…?”
Rosetta murmured calmly.
“Is it because of this little one, or is it because of you?”
“…”
“I want to become a good person too.”
Not someone who hurts others, but someone who helps and saves them.
And so…
‘I want to become someone who can nod confidently at your confession.’
Rosetta’s wavering eyes gradually settled into composure.
Frightening as it was.
Terrifying as it was.
Even though doubt still lingered about whether this was truly right.
I instinctively realized it was time to find courage.
The days of cowering in despair were over.
“Leviathan.”
Rosetta called to him as though addressing that young boy from long ago.
“Help me.”
Leviathan embraced her without hesitation.
I love you, Rosetta.
That was his answer.
* * *
The rain had stopped.
The three emerged from the Cave.
But the moment they cautiously took a step, a tremendous boom erupted!
“…!”
With an enormous sound, a nearby rock split open.
Leviathan instinctively sensed the danger and drew his blade. The violent explosion without warning sent smoke billowing into the air.
Thud, thud—a figure’s silhouette emerged through the haze, drawing closer.
A towering frame, shoulders broad and imposing.
A man I had never seen before.
His face was hidden beneath a robe, but his eyes gleamed with a menacing, razor-sharp intensity.
Due to a scar beneath his eye, it was unclear whether his beauty mark was one or two.
For a moment, the image of a little one with two beauty marks flashed through my mind and vanished.
“Who are you?”
“Give her to me.”
“…What?”
“That child.”
“…”
“My master, ha. I can’t even bring myself to be sincere about this.”
The Mysterious Man looked like someone who had crawled back from the depths of hell itself.
He appeared desperately unstable and anxious.
Leviathan suddenly realized that the area behind the Mysterious Man had been completely ravaged.
‘…Surely he didn’t do that?’
Impossible.
There’s no way he could have wrought such devastation alone…
No, more than that.
“Please stop giving her to me.”
What was this feeling…
“I will take good care of her from now on.”
Leviathan pulled Rubian, whom I carried on my back, closer against me.
“Now.”
I didn’t want to…
For some reason, I didn’t want to give her up.
Glancing down, I saw that Rosetta wore an expression remarkably similar to my own.

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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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