Chapter 4
After a brief hesitation, Betty cautiously asked Rosetta,
“…Should I call a doctor?”
“I don’t want to go to a convent.”
Rosetta shook her head firmly. Betty pressed her fingers to her forehead.
Rosetta had an uncanny sense for limits. She always caused trouble, but never enough for the Count and Countess to completely lock her away.
But that ended today.
The night before, Rosetta had gotten drunk at a salon, lost all reason, and caused a scene. Complaints from a marquisate had come in early that morning.
Furious, the Count banned Rosetta from going out.
“The Count ordered that you’re not to step even one foot outside the mansion,” Betty said, sighing heavily as she rubbed her temples.
Blinded by the easy money she’d been making, she hadn’t expected the consequences to be this severe.
“Oh? Then spread a rumor that Rosetta Eble went on a rampage and smashed furniture while trapped in the mansion today.”
Rosetta spoke lazily, poking just her head out of the blanket like an idle layabout. Betty’s shoulders slumped.
“Is that today’s ‘Rosetta Eble gossip’?”
Betty asked back, already used to Rosetta’s demands.
“Yep! Exaggerate it however you want. This isn’t your first day—why are you acting like an amateur?”
Even while clutching her throbbing head and groaning, Rosetta still managed to say everything she wanted. Betty sighed again.
“No.”
“Why not?”
Rosetta snapped her head up. She looked grimy and disheveled—nothing like a noble lady. Betty strode toward her.
Even if she was helping spread Rosetta’s false rumors, she still had a duty as her personal maid to make sure Rosetta at least looked human.
“The Count told the butler to find out who’s spreading the rumors. You know my situation, right?”
As Betty threw open the bathroom door attached to the bedroom, she glanced back at Rosetta.
“Three cats, four dogs, and six younger siblings, was it? Are you some kind of pied-piper maid?”
Rosetta clicked her tongue and rattled off Betty’s family details.
“Yes. If I’m kicked out of the Count’s household, my family will starve. So I have to be careful too.”
“Father! Are you saying rumors are more important than your daughter’s life?!”
Rosetta raised both hands and shouted at the ceiling. Betty rolled up her sleeves.
If a drunken Rosetta went outside smelling of alcohol, Betty’s life as her exclusive maid would be over.
Now was the time to do her job properly.
Like a farmer herding cattle, Betty pushed Yuri—now Rosetta—into the bathroom.
“Come on. Wash up first. At least look like a person.”
Rosetta soaked in the hot bath long enough to dilute the alcohol, practically sloshing up to her neck. Eventually, she found herself sitting at the vanity.
After days of nonstop drinking, her face still looked haggard even after bathing.
“Even living a carefree life is exhausting.”
It still felt unreal.
“Red hair and green eyes…”
Staring at the unfamiliar face in the mirror, Rosetta suddenly gagged.
“Ugh!”
Betty instantly jumped back, just as she was about to apply toner to Rosetta’s face. It was the reflex of someone experienced.
“Are you okay?”
“No, I’m not. Get that away from me.”
Rosetta covered her mouth with one hand and waved the other frantically.
A noble lady gagging at the scent of premium rose toner.
Completely thrown off, Betty alternated her gaze between the bottle and Rosetta.
“Should I call a doctor?”
“I drank way too much yesterday. It’s like I can smell drinking alcohol in rubbing alcohol.”
Pale and scratching her head weakly, Rosetta made Betty clench her fist.
“You should’ve drunk in moderation!”
“There’s no such thing as moderation when it comes to survival, Betty. I don’t want my head and body getting separated.”
“No, what are you even saying all of a sudden? You were desperate to marry the Duke of Biern. Now you’re ruining yourself because you’re afraid you might marry him? Does that make any sense?”
Betty scolded her nonstop while firmly towel-drying Rosetta’s wet hair. Seeing Rosetta’s pale face after gagging, her movements softened.
“Betty.”
“Yes, miss.”
“Love moves.”
Betty’s face twisted like she had just witnessed something horrifying. It was the exact opposite of Rosetta, who sat slouched casually in the chair.
“…That’s the least believable thing you’ve ever said.”
Already suffering from a hangover, dragged into a forced bath, and now having her hair brushed, Rosetta grew unbearably sleepy.
She was dozing off under Betty’s hands when—
Knock, knock.
The unexpected knock snapped her awake.
“Come in.”
With Rosetta’s permission, the person who entered was unexpectedly the Eble family butler.
Recently, his biggest worry had been the amount of hair he was losing every morning due to the second young lady’s antics. His face looked unusually serious.
“Miss, you have a visitor.”
“A visitor?”
Rosetta and Betty looked at each other and shrugged.
Rosetta’s reputation had already sunk through the floor and into the depths. People avoided her on sight.
A visitor for her made no sense.
“Yes. They’re waiting in the main reception room.”
“Then let’s go!”
Without even asking who it was, Rosetta jumped to her feet.
Since the Count had forbidden her from going out, she couldn’t refuse a visitor.
If she couldn’t cause trouble outside, she’d cause it inside.
Any rampage would spread through the visitor’s mouth—no need to plant rumors herself.
“As long as I avoid marriage!”
Rosetta followed the butler with long, confident strides, walking like a triumphant general returning from war. Betty followed anxiously behind.
“Who is it that you’d give the central reception room to?”
“Why don’t you see for yourself?”
Ignoring Rosetta’s question, the butler knocked lightly and opened the door.
Sunlight streamed in through the windows, as it was already past noon. Rosetta squinted slightly at the sudden brightness—
Thump, thump, thump.
“Mom!”
A pink butterfly fluttered in through the white sunlight.
“Ah!”
Before Rosetta could react, Emilia rushed over and wrapped her arms around Rosetta’s waist, burying her face in her skirt.
“You liar!”
“…”
“How could you leave without saying anything after promising Emilia?”
With her face pressed into the fabric, Emilia scolded Rosetta in a nasal voice. Without thinking, Rosetta patted her back.
Dragged back to the mansion by the Count after the Duke of Biern contacted him, Rosetta had been so overwhelmed by reality that she’d half-forgotten about Emilia.
“I’m sorry, Emilia.”
At Rosetta’s apology, Emilia hugged her even tighter.
Though Emilia was still young, Rosetta thought she owed her a proper apology and tried to pull her back gently.
“No. You’ll run away again.”
Emilia clung to Rosetta’s dress, her shoulders shaking. She was crying.
Looking up, Rosetta saw a middle-aged woman standing with Emilia. The woman bowed deeply, her face full of worry and guilt.
“I’m sorry. She wouldn’t eat and kept crying.”
Emilia’s nanny hovered anxiously around Rosetta. It seemed she had brought Emilia here on her own, without the Duke of Biern’s knowledge.
“Emilia. Can you show me your face?”
Stopping her hand on Emilia’s small back, Rosetta spoke softly.
The name melted like cotton candy in her mouth, and she bit her lip without realizing it.
Emilia was still too young to understand adult circumstances.
“To be cruel to a child this lovable really takes talent.”
Rosetta sighed quietly, thinking of the stepmother from the novel.
“Hmm…”
Emilia shook her head violently, crying in earnest. Rosetta spoke gently as the skirt grew steadily wetter.
“I missed you, Emilia. Didn’t you miss me too?”
Rosetta’s gentle hand stroked Emilia’s back. Hesitating, Emilia slowly lifted her head.
“So this is the heroine’s power?”
Despite tears pouring from every opening on her face, Emilia still seemed to glow.
Rosetta knelt down, meeting her gaze.
The moment their eyes met, Emilia burst into even louder sobs.
“Waaah! Moooom!”
Emilia clung to Rosetta’s neck, and Rosetta wrapped her arms around her, patting her back. The nanny sniffled and turned away.
“Waaah! You’re mean! You didn’t keep your promise!”
The small body trembled as she poured out her pent-up sorrow. Moved by it, Rosetta hugged her tightly.
“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, Emilia.”
Clinging to Rosetta’s neck as if afraid she’d disappear, Emilia kept blaming her. Warm tears soaked into Rosetta’s chest.
After crying for a long time, Emilia lifted her head and looked at Rosetta.
Her sky-blue eyes, wet with tears, looked like the clear sky after rain.
“I’m sorry.”
Meeting her gaze, Rosetta apologized once more. Her hand gently wiped Emilia’s damp face, aching with emotion.
“Were you sick too, Mom? You were sick because you missed Emilia, right?”
Emilia’s maple-leaf-like hand touched Rosetta’s cheek. Tear- and snot-covered as it was, Rosetta didn’t pull away.
“No. This is just a hangover.”
Instead of answering, Rosetta pulled Emilia into her arms.
There were truths children didn’t need to know yet.
And since she hadn’t answered, it wasn’t a lie.
Rosetta soothed Emilia, justifying herself.
That afternoon, the person Rosetta least wanted to see arrived at the Eble family mansion.
Guided by the butler into the reception room, Aaron entered with his face more rigid than ever.
