SGC 33

CHAPTER 33

Translator: Rae

₊˚ ✧ ━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━ ✧ ₊˚

“Your mother has come to see you, Rozella.”

When the elderly abbess clasped Rozella’s hand tightly and led her outside the convent, Catherine’s first words slipped out like a murmur—whether hollow or mocking, it was impossible to tell.

“Only now have you grown into something tolerable to look at.”

Led away by that slender hand, Rozella did not look back at the convent. She assumed that, as always, she would soon be abandoned again and sent off somewhere new. But for some reason, Catherine did not abandon Rozella.

Instead, she left her neglected in a corner of a villa, not coming to see her for a long time.

The days Catherine came to see her daughter were exceedingly rare. At times, she behaved as though she had completely forgotten that Rozella even existed there.

Yet on rare occasions, she would grasp Rozella’s hand tightly and wander aimlessly around the villa, as if waiting for someone—or perhaps hoping someone would notice her.

Even when Catherine gripped her hand so tightly that it burned red with pain, Rozella did not complain. Throwing a tantrum was a privilege reserved for those one could afford to do so with.

And yet, for some reason, Catherine seemed displeased with Rozella’s quiet obedience.

“A child who doesn’t speak and only watches others—anyone would think I’m abusing you.”

Only then did Rozella realize that adults did not like children who spoke too little. Her relatives had always scolded her for doing nothing but eating while barely speaking.

As adults became increasingly incomprehensible to her, Rozella shut her mouth tightly. At the very least, she knew that talking back in moments like this would only provoke greater anger.

“So, being the child of a runaway daughter, they must’ve made you live on scraps of others’ pity. No wonder he never came looking for me, even at the brink of death.”

But when Catherine began to speak ill of her grandfather, Rozella could not endure it and lifted her head sharply.

“That’s not true. Grandfather loved me very much.”

"What?" 

“And every night, he would call your name, missing you. ‘Cathy, I’m sorry. Please forgive your father,’ he would say—sometimes holding me as if I were you.”

As Rozella refuted her clearly and looked straight up at her, Catherine’s face was seized by emotions the young girl could not possibly comprehend.

With a strange expression—part anger, part something barely restrained—Catherine halted her aimless wandering and glared sharply down at her daughter.

“My child, aren’t you curious who your father is?”

The question she hurled like that had nothing to do with her grandfather.

Rozella’s eyes widened like a startled rabbit’s. She had never once heard anything about her father, and even her grandfather seemed to have no idea who he was.

Though she looked up at Catherine filled with expectation, what came back was a merciless answer that tore her young heart to shreds.

“Your father—he was trash, the kind you shouldn’t associate with. All he had was an inherited fortune, yet his pride reached the heavens. He gambled away even that money and went so far as to pawn me off as collateral.”

“...”

“One day, when he found out I was carrying you, he forced me to take poison to kill me. When he found out I didn’t experience miscarriage, he took everything he had and ran away.”

Rozella’s golden eyes trembled violently in shock, but Catherine paid no heed and continued speaking.

“When you were first born, you looked so much like that man. Whenever I looked at you, I felt like I might strangle that tiny neck at any moment.”

"...” 

"That's why I left you." 

Having said that, Catherine seemed relieved, as though she had cast off a long-held guilt. Without sparing a glance at her trembling daughter, she continued walking.

Then, gazing toward somewhere in the villa, she suddenly put on a bright smile, as though slipping on a mask.

“This is such a beautiful place, don’t you think? Serving a noble lady is simple and rewarding. This—this is what a true noble household is.”

It was a dazzling smile, the complete opposite of the terrifying words she had spoken just moments ago.

“If I could live in a place like this, I would be truly happy. This time, I wouldn’t be abandoned.”

At the time, Rozella did not realize where Catherine was looking—nor did she notice the tall figure of a man standing by the top-floor window of the villa, watching them.

All she could do was force into her mind a truth she wished she had never known, holding back the tears that welled up inside her.

For even crying aloud was a privilege reserved for someone one was allowed to do so before.

*** 

Early winter in the royal capital was mild. Though not quite like Weywood, where snow scarcely fell even in winter, the sunlight settling over the garden was so warm it was hard to believe it was winter at all.

Rozella absentmindedly stroked the soft cat fur pressing into her palm.

The cats, warmed by sunlight, were pleasantly toasty. Watching them roll lazily across the garden lawn made her feel her stress melt away.

Still, it would grow bitterly cold when midwinter came around—so it would be best to make them a separate place to stay.

In an effort to stop the thoughts that had been troubling her for days, Rozella obsessively stroked the bundle of fur. The events at the princess’s garden—and everything that had happened with the now-deceased Catherine.

The more those memories—ones she could not call good—surfaced, the colder her body felt. As she unconsciously wrapped her arms around herself, the sound of approaching footsteps drew near.

Before she could even turn around, a thick shawl was draped over her shoulders. From the gentle touch that brushed against her and withdrew, she knew who it was.

"Ed."

 

As she lifted her head with a pleased voice, Edmund sat silently beside her and tucked the shawl more snugly around her. The warmth wrapping her body seemed to melt even her heart.

"Thank you." 

As she offered her quiet thanks, Edmund replied, “Not at all,” lifting the corners of his well-shaped lips in a faint smile.

That was so strange. The tightness in her chest, as though it had been hopelessly clogged, loosened like a lie at the mere sight of him.

“Why were you out here alone, without calling for me?”

“You seemed busy, so I didn’t want to disturb you.”

Rozella gave a small smile, hoping he would not misunderstand. Come to think of it, several days had already passed since her visit to the princess’s palace, yet she had not found the chance to tell Edmund about what had happened that day.

Ever since she had begun stepping properly into high society, Edmund too had often been away for long stretches of time.

“About my visit to the princess’s palace last weekend… thankfully, nothing happened that you need worry about.”

Rozella went on speaking as she stroked the gray cat wriggling on its back at her feet.

“I tried to clear up the misunderstandings spreading through society in my own way. I don’t know if it resolved everything… but at the very least, the false rumors slandering the late former duke will quiet down.”

Feeling almost guilty for speaking of the dead duke aloud, Rozella pressed her lips together. Edmund silently nodded, then lightly brushed the fingers with which she was petting the cat.

“Then what was the reason you were feeling down?”

"Pardon?”
 

“You’ve been gloomy ever since you came back. Haven’t you?”

Startled, Rozella could not answer at once and only rolled her eyes about. Had her feelings really shown so plainly on her face? Even though she always tried so hard to be careful in front of him.

“Gloomy? Not at all. I was almost too fine, if anything. Though of course, it was my first time meeting royalty, so I was terribly nervous.”

Rozella continued in an easygoing tone and deliberately put on a bright smile.

“I suppose I’m better in the moment than I thought. Once I actually went, it wasn’t nearly as difficult as I’d feared. Everyone was kind to me as well.”

She could not bring herself to tell him that she had been subjected to such childish harassment in front of him. She had already said that whatever happened in society, she would handle it herself.

When Rozella shrugged as though it were nothing, Edmund did not press her any further. Instead, with a face touched by gentle mischief, he used his thumb to remove a cat hair clinging to her cheek.

“I already knew you were brave. You saved me several times when we were young, too.”

The smiley expression faded from Rozella’s face, only for bewilderment to take its place.

“Umm… I saved you, Ed?”

If anything, there had been far more times when she had been the one saved by him. Toward Rozella, who wore a face full of doubt, he gave no answer, merely lifting one eyebrow in a leisurely arch.

Then, avoiding her gaze, he gently stroked the cat that was looking up at the two of them with curious eyes.

"Ed?" 

Unable to bear it, Rozella lightly tapped his finger as if urging him to answer. Edmund let out a small laugh, glanced at her, and then let his gaze slide away again. A deep warmth shone in his green eyes.

“I won’t tell you. It’s your punishment for not remembering.”

At those words, Rozella’s lips jutted out in a pout, only to soften into a faint curve in the end. The warm light of early winter gently filled the space between the two of them.

***

“You’re seriously saying you’re going to print this kind of false article right now? Seriously?”

Dante's voice raised in disbelief as it rang loudly in the editorial room of the El Gazette newspaper. 

In Dante’s hand was the draft of an article written up by the editorial department. It was a disparaging article titled, “The Brazen Seduction of a Vulgar Commoner, Gentlemen Caught in the Snare.”

It was an article written about the veiled duchess who had recently become the most talked-about woman in the capital. Collin, an editorial reporter with a shabby appearance who pushed up his glasses, cast Dante a sidelong glance.

“It can’t be helped. This issue sells best these days. What am I supposed to do when the higher-ups are telling us to make it as provocative as possible?”

“Ha. I thought this was an honorable newspaper. Not some gutter trash outfit churning out third-rate fiction just to sell a cheap scandal.”

Dante Blaise was a greenhorn who had been working as a rookie reporter at El Gazette for no more than a mere half month.

Hearing such words from a brat like him was a severe blow to Colin’s pride, and he irritably withdrew the hand he had been using to thump at the printing machine.

“Why are you getting so worked up? Do you know this woman or something?”

“And if I did know her, would you stop running this f*cking article?”

The veins stood out sharply on Dante’s already deeply furrowed brow.

***

Hello, thank you for reading! If you wish to support me and get extra chapter, please visit my kofi page: https://ko-fi.com/raewintersss or check out advance chapters at my Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cw/raewinters you can also donate directly to my Paypal Account: paypal.me/SeniaListya 

Your supports are greatly appreciated!