CH 13

Rumors circulated among certain circles that the current Duke Reuning had been in a heated argument with his son. Since the duke and his wife doted on their son, Bright, and the relationship between father and son was extremely good, the argument provoked a lot of speculation.

Eventually, perhaps growing tired of his parents’ responses, Bright himself began to ask to meet with other families. He was asking to meet with families of equal or even higher status than the Reunings, which aggravated the speculations even more.

Perhaps he had some dissatisfaction with inheriting the ducal title; perhaps the golden-eyed young lord had a surprisingly tacky side to him–such ill-willed laughter was exchanged between the gossipers.

But Wisteria knew the truth. Not only Wisteria, but also the Laffertys and Rosalie.

Bright was simply trying to save Rosalie, as he had sworn himself. Even if it meant risking his own honor and his relationship with his parents, and doing something irreversible.

——Wisteria herself was in the midst of a time that flowed as heavily as lead.

Since that night when she learned of Bright’s feelings, she had cried and cried until her tears dried up, finally falling asleep and waking up with a pale face after crying herself to sleep. While she was awake, she went to and returned from the laboratory.

The Laffertys refused to leave Rosalie’s side and seemed to interpret Wisteria’s pale face and her time spent cooped up as being due to the same grief they were going through.

Rosalie, too, was putting on a brave front, but it wasn’t half as strong as her usual determined spirit. Ever since the notice, she had been feeling even more depressed because of the guards dispatched from the Institute of Magic outside their house.

So the reason why Wisteria was in her usual laboratory might have been to escape from all of that. But she was probably being watched from the outside, with a guard attached to her as well.

With dim purple eyes, Wisteria absentmindedly looked at the tubes lined up on the table.

Inside the transparent tubes, the miasma danced slowly like dust in water.

The chaotic black murkiness seemed to represent the inside of her head. ——Everything that happened in the past few weeks must be a bad dream. She wanted to believe so.

In the back of her ears, the unforgettable voice rang out once again.

“Take Rosalie’s place——”

That look in her eyes, as though clinging to her. The eyes of a mother who wanted to save her daughter.

There was no malice in her eyes. Consequently, Wisteria was definitively reminded of this.

Who was the most important person to an adoptive parent?

She was raised in the same way as Rosalie and treated as if she was their own child. They always told Rosalie to follow Wisteria’s example and praised her for being a good daughter.

But those were never the same as the irreplaceable things they told Rosalie.

(…That’s natural.)

Wisteria weakly mocked herself. No matter how much compassion was bestowed upon her, she was still an adopted child. She had been taken in, and there was no need to compare Rosalie to her.

She should be grateful to her adoptive parents, and she shouldn’t criticize them.’

——But, if she really believed that…

She should have offered to take Rosalie’s place herself.

As soon as she thought that, Wisteria’s body trembled. An unpleasant sound began to throb in her chest.

“It is as Lady Wisteria says. It seems there are other potential guardians who meet the requirements besides Lady Rosalie.”

Benjamin’s report echoed in her ears.

She investigated it herself as well. ——As though to make amends for her shallow and foolish thoughts about Rosalie no longer being here.

And then, she realized.

(I can also become a substitute for Rosalie.)

There were several girls who could have been candidates for the guardianship under the same conditions. Wisteria herself turned out to be one of them.

The only difference was that Wisteria was resistant to the miasma, but that had no effect on her qualifications as a guardian.

She knew this, but she didn’t tell her adoptive parents or Rosalie.

——Like a person with a sin they couldn’t confess to anyone, she couldn’t tell anyone.

Fear. Cowardice. Cravenness. She could have given a plausible reason for her unwillingness.

And yet–deep down inside, there was another reason.

Eyes like moonlight. Silver-white hair. Reuning’s living jewel.

Wisteria hugged her trembling self, bent over and touched her forehead to the table. 

“——I love you, Rosalie.”

Since that day, she had recalled that voice over and over again. A voice she didn’t know existed, directed only at Rosalie. The look in his eyes. A Bright she didn’t know.

The blood was pouring unceasingly, the tender spot repeatedly gouged.

(…Did I do something wrong?)

What she had done wrong? What wasn’t enough? She couldn’t talk frivolously like Rosalie or broach the topic of magic with him. She was afraid of hurting people and making them hate her.

——Rosalie wouldn’t have cared about such things.

Why did Bright choose Rosalie? Was she wrong at every turn and Rosalie right?

There was no answer.

The moment she felt the heat behind her eyes, it overflowed again of its own accord.

Wisteria looked up, wiped her eyes roughly, and held her breath repeatedly, forcing herself to breathe evenly.

(…I’ll remove Rosalie from the list of guardian candidates.)

She decided to work for only that reason. She had a feeling that if she didn’t save Rosalie, everything would be past the point of no return.