Chapter 10
“…Emilia, just what kind of book did you read in the study?”
Rosetta muttered while pressing her forehead. At her sigh-like voice, Aaron widened his eyes and looked between mother and daughter.
“I didn’t read it in a book!”
“Then?”
“It’s a 100% guaranteed success story born from experience!”
At Emilia’s fluent explanation, Rosetta waved her hand dismissively. From her experience, anything that came out of that tiny mouth was more than enough to either raise her blood pressure or make her face burn.
Unlike Rosetta, who wanted to get Emilia out of her sight as quickly as possible, Aaron looked at his daughter with sparkling curiosity.
Didn’t they say curiosity killed the cat?
Seeing Aaron’s expression, Rosetta gave up on everything and drained her wine. It was understandable that he’d be curious about his daughter’s life now that she’d just started at the academy.
“100% success? Daddy is really curious what that means.”
His eyes were overflowing with love as he looked at Emilia. Rosetta turned her gaze toward the sunset outside the window. It was better for her mental health not to see or hear this.
“A little sibling!”
At Emilia’s cry of joy, Rosetta closed her eyes.
You have to look at the sky to reach the stars.
As Rosetta sighed and refilled her glass, Aaron stared at Emilia with his mouth hanging open.
“Close your mouth. A bug might fly in.”
“Oh. Right.”
At Rosetta’s words, Aaron quickly shut his mouth. Seeing his stiffened jaw, she could tell just how flustered he was. Moments ago, Rosetta had turned away to avoid Emilia’s dangerous remarks, but now she looked at Aaron with interest.
She was genuinely curious how a man who entered a contract marriage just to give his daughter a mother would handle this situation.
Resting her chin on her hand, Rosetta alternated her gaze between Aaron and Emilia.
“…Emilia, do you want a little sibling?”
Contrary to Rosetta’s expectations, Aaron’s voice was filled with gentleness. His hand softly brushed Emilia’s hair behind her ear.
He bent down to her eye level and spoke calmly, like a scene straight out of a fairy tale. Rosetta quietly watched the two of them.
Despite being in the same space, she felt strangely isolated. Without realizing it, Rosetta rubbed her arms.
A deep loneliness sent shivers through her.
“Tommy’s dad told him that if he wants a sibling, he has to go to bed early.”
“Tommy’s dad said that?”
“Yes. But Tommy said he stays up late anyway. He says there are already too many siblings, and it’s annoying.”
Emilia’s chattering red lips looked like a tiny flower just beginning to bloom. Aaron nodded along as he listened.
“I see. So our Emilia wants a little sibling too.”
At Aaron’s words, Emilia nodded energetically, then looked at Rosetta.
“Mom, are you cold?”
“Huh?”
Rosetta, who had been rubbing her arms, snapped back to attention. Both father and daughter were looking at her.
“No, no.”
She could never admit that she felt lonely because she couldn’t fit between the two of them. She was a supporting character through and through—one destined to die at the heroine’s father’s hands.
She didn’t want to intrude on their bond. Her ultimate goal was to quietly disappear from their world.
“Are you sick?”
Emilia ran over and placed her leaf-shaped hand on Rosetta’s forehead, tilting her head.
“You’re hot!”
Seeing Rosetta’s flushed face—heated by all the wine she’d drunk—Emilia looked worried.
“It seems you’ve had too much wine.”
Aaron, who had been watching them, took away Rosetta’s half-full wineglass. Rosetta frowned.
“That’s unnecessary kindness.”
“It’s the sincere concern of a husband thinking of his wife.”
Shrugging, Aaron lifted Emilia into his arms. It was a completely natural motion.
“My princess, shall Daddy take you to your room?”
Emilia shook her head and looked at Rosetta.
“I think Daddy is needed more by Mom than by Emilia.”
Her voice was gentle, her eyes filled with concern as she looked at Rosetta.
“Huh?”
“Daddy always comes home late. Emilia had Mom, but Mom didn’t have anyone. So tonight, Daddy should stay with Mom.”
Aaron smiled softly and patted Emilia’s head as she winked mischievously.
“Then shall we do that?”
Satisfied with his answer, Emilia nodded vigorously and kissed his cheek.
Smack.
She hopped over to Rosetta like a bunny.
“Mom, see you tomorrow.”
“Yes. See you tomorrow, Emilia.”
Unlike the bold kiss she gave Aaron, Emilia’s kiss on Rosetta’s cheek was gentle and careful.
As soon as Emilia left the dining room holding the nanny’s hand, the atmosphere grew heavy.
“It seems Emilia still isn’t entirely comfortable with you.”
Taking a drink from the wine he’d taken from her, Aaron spoke coolly. Rosetta froze mid-reach for a piece of bread and looked at him.
Aaron’s expression was cold—completely different from when Emilia had been present.
Rosetta silently met his blue eyes, then withdrew her hand. The little appetite she had left vanished.
Is this some new diet method?
Feeling her appetite evaporate under the heroine’s father’s icy gaze, Rosetta let out a long sigh.
“I’m her stepmother.”
“What?”
At Rosetta’s blunt reply, Aaron’s eyebrow rose dangerously.
“You seem to have forgotten. I’m the stepmother you hired for Emilia.”
At her sharp tone, Aaron roughly ran a hand through his hair. The warm yellow lighting and the flowers on the table did nothing to soften the mood.
“So you don’t think a hired person has lost sight of her purpose?”
Aaron didn’t back down either. He glared at Rosetta as he spoke coldly.
Throughout the meal, Emilia had been carefully watching Rosetta’s expression, growing worried at even the smallest change. That unease had made Aaron uncomfortable as well.
And it had to be Rosetta Yeblein.
Everything had gone wrong because she’d slipped into his bed on Emilia’s birthday.
“Purpose…”
Rosetta sighed and looked up at the ceiling. The dazzling decorations made her dizzy. Though she didn’t show it, every day felt like walking on thin ice.
As Aaron said, Emilia and Rosetta were still cautious around each other.
The villainous stepmother, unable to escape rumors, found every interaction with Emilia difficult. She was so aware of the nanny’s gaze that it was suffocating.
“…”
“You bind me with marriage, dump the child on me, and then speak so carelessly—of course I’d be angry.”
“What?”
Aaron stared at her in shock as he was pouring wine. But Rosetta, unrestrained now, was already asking a servant for another glass.
She was too angry to hold back. Aaron had no idea how suffocating life was for Emilia and Rosetta in a mansion full of employees.
“You think just buying a mother like you’re shopping is enough, just because your child wants one? That’s what I’m talking about.”
“You were the one who wanted this marriage!”
At Aaron’s raised voice, Rosetta looked at him with disdain.
“Rosetta Yeblein wanted Aaron Biern. Not Emilia Biern.”
She said it like a sigh as she drained her wineglass. In the original story, Rosetta used Emilia as a tool to obtain Aaron—and was killed by the man she loved most.
Knowing that future, Rosetta’s blunt words made Aaron’s eyes narrow.
“You haven’t changed at all.”
His gaze was colder than ever. Yet Rosetta didn’t avoid it.
Child-rearing responsibilities being placed solely on women was unfair. Aaron’s indifference was beyond imagination. If she had to say, the thing Aaron loved most wasn’t Emilia, but duty itself.
He was raised as the Empire’s sword, bound by obligation.
“You haven’t either.”
Rosetta shot back. What she wanted was divorce. Escaping the cold, loveless ducal household was her first goal.
Rosetta must have been lonely too.
Feeling Aaron’s cold stare, Yuri-as-Rosetta sighed. If not for little, wriggling Emilia, she would’ve long grown sick of Aaron’s indifference.
Aaron stood up and left the dining room without a word. The servants hovered anxiously, unable to intervene.
No one in the mansion could stop Aaron.
As he left, a small shadow quickly hid—but neither Aaron nor Rosetta noticed, lost in their emotions.
***
“Mom!”
The moment Rosetta arrived at the academy, Emilia ran over and clung to her skirt. The pale sky-blue dress fluttered like petals in the breeze Emilia kicked up.
Rosetta hugged Emilia tightly as she dangled from her waist. It had only been half a day since they’d last seen each other.
Even so, Emilia clung to her like it had been ages. She was overflowing with affection.
Touched by it, Rosetta rubbed her face against Emilia’s pink hair.
“Emilia, I told you not to run. You could fall.”
Gently combing through her messy hair, Rosetta looked at her warmly.
“Hello.”
While greeting Emilia, Tommy shyly greeted them as well. Rosetta smiled brightly in response.
“Hi, Tommy. It’s been a while.”
At her greeting, Tommy’s face turned red. It was their first meeting since the day she’d accidentally taken his first kiss.
“Yes.”
“Are you okay where you fell that day?”
At Rosetta’s worried question, Tommy’s face turned crimson all the way to his neck. He clearly remembered what had happened.
“Please forget about that day, Duchess.”
He spoke with surprising maturity. Rosetta briefly wondered if she’d said something wrong—but no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t read what was going on in his heart.
