The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 314

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Side Story, Chapter 40
“How am I supposed to…”
“When we return, open it.”
“…”
“Mother’s final words. You wanted to confirm them, didn’t you?”
Rosetta nodded slowly. Leviathan quietly clenched his trembling fists.
Was this really the right thing to do?
But…
“Father, don’t worry.”
Before leaving the Cave, Rubian’s whispered words still echoed in his ears.
He had no choice but to trust his daughter’s words.
After that, they returned to Babylon using the Gate Portal.
While Ballock, who had been waiting for Rubian, and the Emperor (why was he still here, anyway?), along with various others, shared a warm reunion with Rubian.
“…”
Rosetta stood in her Library alongside Leviathan.
The heirloom box she had only gazed at longingly, unable to open, was now before her eyes.
“Then…”
Rosetta took a deep breath and inserted the key into the box.
Click.
The box, sealed for decades, finally opened.
The box Mother had always cradled in her arms.
The box she had received from the Marquis—Mother’s most precious treasure.
She had said it contained a letter left for me.
“What? It’s completely empty…”
Flutter.
A single sheet of paper drifted down like a butterfly.
Rosetta bent down and picked up the paper.
Her blue eyes widened as she read the contents.
My precious jewel, Rosetta
Your very existence has been a great joy to me
May all the world’s happiness and love
Fill your heart abundantly
“…”
Rosetta let out a soft gasp.
“This is…”
She fell silent, gazing at the letter.
Time passed. A gentle smile bloomed across Rosetta’s face.
“…This is wonderful.”
“…”
“This is truly… so wonderful.”
Rosetta clutched the letter tightly in her hand as she gazed at Leviathan.
With the window at his back, the man’s expression remained obscured from view.
Yet Rosetta smiled with all her might, then embraced her husband tenderly.
My dear young master. My beloved family.
“I finally have an answer to an ancient question.”
Why was I born?
Can there be meaning in a life as hollow as an empty shell?
‘Yes, there is.’
Rosetta smiled.
It was fine that I was born hollow.
It was fine that I received little love from Mother.
The beings that fill my heart are those I choose for myself as I journey through life.
Therefore.
‘I may never know what the original letter says….’
She decided she would no longer wonder about Mother’s letter.
Mother, who had been a maid, never fully learned to write.
Whenever she needed something, she would write to Rosetta in clumsy script to make her request.
Because even those short words were riddled with misspellings, Rosetta learned from them, only to have to relearn the correct forms later.
So this letter was probably….
‘Something Rubian did.’
Inside the keepsake box, it truly existed.
A tender affection.
A heart cleansed pure and bright.
“Thank you, Leviathan. I love you so very much.”
Rosetta whispered as she embraced his neck.
Leviathan bowed his head deeply and held his wife in return with an intensity unlike any before.
Knowing how dark and harsh her life had been before she could speak those words of love so brightly, his throat tightened.
Some loves grow stronger through endless tempering.
So my love must be harder than any iron and hotter than any molten steel.
“I am satisfied now.”
Rosetta smiled as brightly as a morning sky cleared of clouds.
* * *
The next day.
Ah, I’m starving!
I hurried down to the Dining Room as soon as morning broke. After such a long journey, my hunger was fierce.
The rest of the family had not yet awakened.
I sipped morning soup with Kalid, slurping contentedly.
“Are you alright?”
“Never better.”
“You seem well.”
I swallowed the large potato and asked again, my throat bobbing audibly.
“So what is it?”
Kalid glanced at me sideways before continuing.
“A letter.”
I borrowed mana from Kalid and cast a silencing spell around us.
Only then did Kalid speak in earnest.
“Since we’re deceiving the Duchess… I thought you might feel a bit uncomfortable about it.”
“Why would I?”
I responded lightly, chewing on the cream cheese bagel that Kalid had spread with practiced elegance.
“Sometimes ignorance is a blessing in this world.”
If I were still a child, deceiving Mother might have pricked my conscience.
But some lies are necessary.
Lies told to protect someone—those certainly are.
“Mother has suffered enough already. I don’t want to create something that would break her heart further.”
I never wanted to show that letter to Mother.
Yet I also didn’t want to leave some rough, unresolved tension between Father and me before sealing it away.
‘How fortunate that I’m a Mage.’
I erased the contents of the curse letter, rewrote it, and entrusted it to Kalid. He swapped the letter in the memorial box and buried it in the ground.
‘I even copied the handwriting itself using magic, down to the exact stroke.’
It was easy since I’d done it once before.
‘Surely I didn’t miss anything…?’
I had prepared it somewhat hastily at the time since I needed to return to reality quickly.
‘If there had been a problem, Father would have told me.’
I thought this while munching on my bagel.
“I see. As long as you’re not uncomfortable, that’s enough for me.”
Kalid placed a piece of fruit into my mouth.
The topic seemed to have concluded, so I lifted the silencing spell.
“So, Rubian.”
“Hmm? Wow, these green grapes are really delicious.”
“When are we getting permission to marry…?”
“Huh…?”
“Permission to marry, I mean.”
“Oh, right!”
“Oh, right?”
Kalid let out an exasperated breath.
“You didn’t actually forget, did you…?”
“Kalid! Let’s go now!”
“What?”
I shoved bread into my mouth and jumped to my feet.
“We can’t delay any longer! Who knows what other complications might arise if we do?”
It was in this moment that I came to understand something profound.
Life is nothing but a collection of variables!
When you think it’s too late, that’s when it truly becomes too late!
So the best course of action was to seize the moment and get it done!
Before long, a murmur of voices filled the air.
From outside, I could hear the family descending toward the Dining Room.
“I haven’t even put on my protective gear yet….”
“Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!”
“Sigh…. Well, fine.”
Kalid clenched and unclenched his fists as if steeling himself, his expression growing solemn.
A peculiar light flickered in his cool, slate-blue eyes.
Hmm, that’s the expression he gets when he has something to rely on.
He pulled the corners of his handsome mouth upward in a smirk.
“I’ve already survived a cursed time travel, so hardship and adversity of this caliber are nothing.”
“Ah, so it was just an upgrade to your trial experience points?”
I suppose that was it.
That day, a meteor fell upon the Zebert Duchy.
“Everyone!”
After a delightful breakfast, during tea time.
“I’m getting engaged to Kalid, and we’re getting married next year!”
Whoooooooooosh—
Boom!
Rubian delivered the bombshell announcement with such radiant cheerfulness.
The Duchy was instantly laid to waste.
“Actually, I did consider announcing this with more gravity and decorum. But it seems you all already know about Kalid and me anyway.”
….
“Besides, I wasn’t even sure how one goes about speaking with such gravity and decorum in the first place.”
Standing beside Kalid, Rubian laughed cheerfully.
“So I’m just telling you!”
Leviathan’s teacup tilted precariously.
Rosetta’s mind instinctively catalogued the weapons on her person. A jackknife at her ankle, a folding blade at her thigh, poisoned needles hidden in her hairpin…. No. What am I even counting right now?
Ballock had frozen like a statue, while Void and Liam exchanged messages, muttering curses too vile to speak aloud.
Rubian tapped her toes shyly as she spoke.
“As you all well know, Kalid is incredibly kind, adorable, and overflowing with charm—he’s the perfect match for me. Since we’re each other’s best option, I’ve made my decision.”
Where exactly?
Where is he kind, adorable, and charming?
“Rubian? Are you sure you understand your boyfriend correctly?”
Void finally burst out in exasperation.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————