Chapter 77

Chapter 77

‘As expected, you did something I liked very much. You deserve to be doted on.’

Rosaline smiled happily at the luxurious dress Laria sent her.

‘I’ll have to take good care of her later. How is that kid so good at taking sides?’

From the looks of it, it was definitely the best outfit Laria had. Although she even sent her a lot of jewelry, they were all so pretty that it was difficult to decide what to do with them.

‘Ha, that’s really good, and it’ll be better than this if I became the Princess.’

The Capital city she had come to for the first time in her life was prosperous wherever she went, and the residence of Duke Icard was splendid enough to make her eyes turn backward.

At the time when Rosaline was glancing in the mirror with a happy face, the tailor who looked at her clothes suddenly spoke up.

“The Duke has sent you a message.”

“…Pardon?”

The tailor, who looked at her clothes silently, was the one Laria asked her doctor to send to Rosaline in a hurry.

“I mean, I’m the one sent by Duke Orlando as I was urgently dispatched regarding the foundation festival attendance.”

Rosaline looked at the tailor in surprise for a moment and then answered quickly.

“What is it?”

“In the past, Duke Icard and Madam Matilda sat next to each other in first-class seats for the founding festival, and they brought some chocolate at that time.”

Saying so, the tailor quickly handed her a box of chocolates from his large bag.

“Take this with you, and eat it the moment the Emperor’s congratulatory speech is given.”

“All right. I just need to eat it?”

“Of course, the first chocolate should be given to Duke Icard. The line is, “I brought it because I thought it might be boring. Do you want some?”

“Okay.”

And so, Rosaline accepted the box of chocolates.

The tailor looked around and said, “Are you observing properly? Is there anything to report about Laria Icard? That’s what he’s most curious about.”

“Ah, she’s just a dumb girl who’s being loved because she acts cute to gain favor.”

She then replied with a smirk before adding.

“The child knows the subject well and doesn’t try to overstep. It doesn’t seem like someone to be wary of, she’s quite easy-going.”

“Yes, I’ll deliver your words for now. Just in case, are things going well? If you need additional help…”

“No, it’s all easy.”

At the tailor’s kind words, Rosaline replied elated.

“If I act as Matilda as trained, Duke Icard will allow me anything with a blank expression on his face.”

Rosaline didn’t even know there was a person named Matilda. It was only after she became an orphan that she realized that she was a distant relative who looked very much like her. Then, after she became an orphan, one day a man approached her and asked.

“Do you have any intention of becoming the adopted daughter of a notorious noble family?”

Instead of making her the adopted daughter, he asked her to keep track of the circumstances of the Duke of Icard and report it to him.

“I’m laughing at jokes that don’t even make sense, so he’ll give it to me real soon…”

From her point of view, there was no reason to refuse.

“It sounds weird saying this though every time I do that, I look a bit like an idiot.”

“I see. Any other achievements?”

“Well…”

After pondering for a little, she replied, “I think he was looking at the documents from the mines in the Evergreen Fortress area, although I don’t know the details. Does it help?”

“Of course. Even the smallest things can help tremendously.”

“Then, I will observe more carefully until you come back later…”

Rosaline’s last words didn’t finish. It was because the door suddenly swung open and her cheeks immediately burst.

“This, this xx one, xx, xxx, of a xxxx, xxx x, xxx…!”

She didn’t even have the time to be dumbfounded.

“This xx for a xxxx and xx of a xxx!”

Olivia’s eyes widened like balls and she slapped Rosaline’s cheeks repeatedly, shouting out all the curses in the world.

“Th-thi—this…”

At that moment, the tailor just jumped out of the window.

“If you jump from there, you will die!”

As Laria cried out in surprise, Evan quickly looked out the window but it seemed that he had already disappeared without a trace.

“Search the mansion right now and find him.”

Evan turned around and ordered the servants immediately with eerie red eyes.

“And…”

Then, he looked at Kallaudin and said coldly. “put this kid in jail.”

It was a voice without any emotion. Rosaline couldn’t even react properly because nothing that was happening right now felt real. Standing outside the door, Kallaudin closed his eyes and swept his forehead.

“If father is having a hard time, I’ll deal with the interrogation myself. That would be better.”

Evan suggested in a cool, blunt tone.

“Right. Yes. You do it, Evan.”

Olivia grabbed Rosaline’s hair and threw her at the table.

“Aahkk!”

“Oh my, what do I do?”

Running to the staggering Rosaline and hugging her, Laria whispered low in her ear so that no one could hear it.

“Hm, why did you keep pushing without knowing your place?”

At her words, Rosaline gasped and looked at her as if she was out of her mind.

“This is not a place where you can survive by acting like a foolish doll.”

“What, what?”

“You have to be like me, you idiot. How dare you speak ill of someone else?

“You…”

“I was eavesdropping earlier, and it was so ridiculous that it was almost laughable.”

At Laria’s whisper, Rosaline’s eyes glared. She raised her hand to slap her in the face.

“This, this, this crazy…!”

“How dare you—to our weak-hearted Laria!”

Before Rosaline could reach her again, Olivia ran and grabbed her by the collar before throwing her to the floor.

“Aaahh…!”

With a thump, blood began to flow as if confirming that her head had been hit accidentally and Rosaline fainted. After seeing that, Olivia turned her back to Duke Icard, leaving her behind.

“Kallaudin, I’ve been silent about anything related to Matilda, but…”

Her red eyes gleamed eerily.

“You’re out of this matter. You’d know better than me that you’ve been fooled all this time.”

“…It’s not—”

Kallaudin struggled to speak, “I…”

His expression was distorted. After hesitating for a moment, he slowly moved his gaze to Rosaline, who was lying on the floor with her cheeks swollen.

“…It’s a problem that I have to overcome.”

Then, he gave orders to the servants behind him in a calm voice.

“Put her in jail for now. Now, I have to go to the foundation festival. Don’t give her food. She seems to have eaten way too much for now.”

The servants didn’t say anything and immediately moved Rosaline’s limp body. There were bloodstains strewn across the floor.

For a moment, there was silence.

Laria, who was standing still outside the door, slowly grabbed Kallaudin’s arm.

“Father.”

She spoke in a trembling voice.

“I… I understand. Really, so don’t blame yourself too much.”

“…No. It’s true that I was being fooled.”

Kallaudin’s fingertips were trembling softly.

“I knew everything… even the things that seemed strange… but I condoned it because I didn’t want to see that face sad or distressed.”

The next moment, he glanced at Laria and spoke in a regretful voice.

“I heard that you often turned around in front of the office because of her.”

“N-no… It’s just, um, Miss Rosaline is good at drawing so how dare I…”

“Even though I knew she was just a shell, I still made a family member turn around…”

Kallaudin’s voice subsided endlessly.

“We were helpless looking at you as much as you were helpless looking at her,” Olivia said coldly.

“It’s the same thing because we knew everything and couldn’t do anything about it. Still, I didn’t think that jerk son of a— Orlando would have sent her.”

It was quiet for a while again. Kallaudin slowly checked the clock and opened his mouth again.

“Let’s go.”

“…Yes?”

“We have to go to the foundation festival. We’ll be late.”

Leaving behind Evan, who was expressionless as always, the sulking Olivia and Laria wearing a worried expression, Duke Icard turned around.

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