I reached out my hand to Martina, who was sitting helplessly on the floor.
She looked a bit flustered at first but soon hesitantly grabbed my hand.
“Th-thank you.”
Martina spoke in a weak voice.
“I’m sorry about what happened today… I’ll apologize on her behalf.”
I shook my head.
“Why are you apologizing? She’s the one with the rotten personality.”
I said as I glanced toward the direction where Roze had disappeared. Martina hung her head low.
“Roze wasn’t always like that… She just had a really bad day today…”
I was about to nod, then froze.
“…Wait, what did you just say?”
“Huh? That she just had a bad day today…”
“No, before that.”
“That Roze isn’t usually like that…?”
I widened my eyes and stared at Martina.
“Did you say ‘Rozetin’?”
So Roze was just a nickname, and her real name was Rozetin?
I covered my mouth with my hand.
Rozetin Grimaldi.
That was Roze’s full name.
She was the only daughter of the Marquis Grimaldi family—and one of dozens of children currently living in that house.
What that meant was:
“The Marquis and Marchioness, meaning Rozetin’s parents, are both utterly insane.”
By my standards, the Marquis Grimaldi and his wife were nothing but societal trash—completely irredeemable.
“Seriously… abusing kids just because you can?”
To my memory, it wasn’t exactly physical violence. But in many ways, it was even worse.
You could tell what was going on in that household just by looking at the number of children being adopted there.
I asked Martina, who was sitting across from me:
“How many kids are in the mansion right now?”
“Well… The Marquis brought in another four-year-old yesterday… So I guess sixty-two?”
I slowly put down my teacup, my mouth hanging open.
That was probably just the current number staying in the mansion. Who knew how many had been discarded or mysteriously disappeared?
Even people with pets don’t take them in this irresponsibly.
I completely lost my appetite.
“Insane bastards…”
The reason the Marquis and Marchioness Grimaldi adopted so many children was purely because of their disgusting greed.
This morning, they had probably said something like this to Rozetin:
“Rozetin. Your ability is pathetic. How do you expect to get into the Academy like this? It’s because of you that we have no choice but to keep adopting new children. Don’t become a disgrace to the Grimaldi name.”
“Remember this, Rozetin. Our family has no use for the incompetent. If you truly carry the blood of the great Grimaldis, you should at least prove yourself better than your siblings.”
I let out a deep sigh and asked Martina:
“Do you think Rozetin went back to the mansion?”
Martina shook her head.
“Normally she would’ve… But not today. They’re having a party at the mansion right now…”
“A party? For what?”
“The kid they brought in yesterday manifested an elemental ability…”
“Wait, didn’t you say that kid was four?”
“Yeah. Can’t even speak properly yet.”
“And they manifested already?”
Martina nodded. Manifestation of abilities usually happened between ages ten and fifteen.
Sometimes, a child would awaken a little early, but…
A four-year-old manifesting an elemental ability?
No wonder the Marquis and Marchioness, obsessed with powerful abilities, were throwing a party.
“So that’s why she was in an even worse mood…”
I thought back to Rozetin, trembling and pale as a sheet.
“Why does this leave such a bad taste in my mouth…”
I remembered Rozetin because she had appeared in the novel.
And, of course, it wasn’t a hopeful episode. Because her appearance in the story was…
“At Selenea’s execution.”
Just before Selenea was executed for killing Eria, she met someone in the underground prison.
That person was Rozetin.
Rozetin had spoken first, through the rusted iron bars.
“Selenea. Fancy meeting you here.”
Then she asked:
“Who did you kill to end up here?”
When Selenea didn’t answer, Rozetin laughed like a madwoman and muttered:
“I told you, didn’t I? That you’d be abandoned. I already knew. I knew everything! Soon your head will roll. Who’s going to save you now, huh?”
“…Please shut up, Rozetin.”
“No, Selenea, listen. Do you know what I did? I… killed my siblings. I killed Mother and Father too.”
“…”
“I thought about it hundreds, thousands of times. Why is my ability so pathetic? Why am I so useless? But now I know. My ability… was meant to kill everyone…”
Rozetin, her hands stiff and stained with dried blood, rattled the iron bars and screamed.
“Selenea! How’s my ability now?! Isn’t it amazing?! I finally inherited the Grimaldi blood! I’m not useless anymore! I’m not useless!!”
She shouted desperately, repeating the same words over and over.
Even as she was dragged away by the executioner at the end.
I bit my lower lip as I recalled the story. Martina looked at me with a puzzled expression.
After a moment’s hesitation, I suddenly stood up.
“I really didn’t want to get involved with anyone if I could help it…”
But at this point, it felt like I had no choice but to go look for Rozetin.
Besides…
“From what I know, Rozetin’s ability isn’t pathetic at all.”
In fact, it was a beautiful power—far too beautiful to be treated as worthless in the Grimaldi mansion.
Rozetin could make flowers bloom even in the dead of winter.
With just a light gesture, she could make new leaves sprout from withered weeds, and revive dying trees.
Her ability was called “Bloom.”
Rozetin walked along the back road of the Tigris mansion, rubbing her cheeks roughly. Her eyes were bloodshot.
“Why… Why can she be so carefree… How?!”
Despite being powerless.
She muttered under her breath.
Someone powerless shouldn’t be so at ease. Shouldn’t lie comfortably on the lawn staring at the sky like that.
The world wasn’t so kind. Without abilities, you were destined to be abandoned.
But just now, Selenea had been strange. No—maybe she was crazy.
Saying she could get kicked out anytime since she had no powers, saying things like “this is my house.”
Rozetin could still see her saying those absurd things with such confidence.
“…She’s crazy. Totally crazy.”
How dare someone with no ability talk back to her—a manifested one? How could she reject her advice so boldly?
Without an ability, you couldn’t do anything. You were a useless human being.
…You didn’t even have the right to speak freely.
Rozetin recalled her fifteenth birthday.
The day she finally, albeit with a weak manifestation, awakened her ability—and the smile that appeared on her parents’ faces for the first time.
A smile they had only ever shown to her other siblings before.
From that day on, Rozetin was allowed to speak at home. She could serve herself good food at the dining table, wear pretty, expensive clothes.
But most of all, what made her happiest was that her parents no longer looked at her with contempt.
Of course, they weren’t exactly thrilled with her ability.
But at least… now they had some hope for her.
“If you work hard, you can develop your ability, Rozetin! Train your mana control! That’s how you’ll become a true Grimaldi!”
She had pushed herself until blood vessels burst in her eyes and her ears rang.
All just to make her unimpressive ability appear more presentable.
…And yet.
“And she hasn’t even manifested.”
Unlike her, Selenea was confident even without any ability. She even looked… kind of happy.
Everyone said she didn’t get along with Duke Tigris, yet she still called the mansion “my home” and laughed.
She even dared to meet Rozetin’s gaze head-on.
Rozetin didn’t fully understand why… but the thought of it made her unbearably miserable.
Like her chest was burning.
She staggered and collapsed to the ground.
“Ian! Starting today, you are the Grimaldi family’s hope! Show everyone your power!”
She remembered her younger brother, creating small water droplets from his maple-leaf-sized hands at their father’s words.
An ability so much stronger than her own feeble flower-blooming powers.
“Ugh…”
A thin sob escaped from between her clenched teeth.
She had no idea what to do from now on. She wasn’t even sure if she could pass the Academy entrance exams.
No matter how hard she tried, it felt like she would never be loved. Not now, not ever.
Crushed by overwhelming fear, tears finally began to spill down her cheeks.
And at that moment—
“There you are. Didn’t get far, did you?”
Rozetin jerked her head up, eyes wide.
When did she get here? Selenea stood there, her silky hair flowing as she looked down at her.
“…What.”
Her voice came out weak despite the hostility she tried to put into it.
She roughly wiped away her tears and quickly stood up. She couldn’t just sit here and look pathetic in front of that annoying Selenea.
But a sudden wave of dizziness struck her.
As Rozetin stumbled, Martina appeared out of nowhere and hurriedly supported her.
“Roze…!”
But even Martina’s eyes were brimming with tears.
Rozetin, recalling what she had said earlier, harshly slapped Martina’s hand away.
“Martina, are you that dense?! Did you already forget what I told you?!”
Martina didn’t answer. She only looked down, fidgeting with a hesitant, guilty expression.
That’s when Selenea, watching from a short distance, spoke up.
“What did you say? Something like… ‘Don’t touch me with your filthy orphan hands,’ right?”
Rozetin and Martina both turned their heads toward her in shock.
