Chapter 136

“Alicia?”

“What rumors are they? Hm?’

Surprised, I called her name, but Alicia only answered back with the same question this time as well.

Alicia continued displaying only precariousness and desperation.

Like a person who was craving for an oasis in the middle of a scorching desert.

Keeping my eyes on her, I brought a hand towards Alicia’s elbow.

I held her tight.

As warmth reached her, her hunched shoulders trembled.

The golden eyes that were staring up at me darkened.

Panic.

She soon began to tremble as though she was a caged animal that had done something wrong.

The way she forced herself to speak evoked pity.

“I’m… I’m sorry. How rude of me. I’m sorry. I was only curious about those rumors.”

“No, it’s alright. It’s just some rumor about what happened during the hunting festival. A trivial rumor that doesn’t even matter.”

“Ah, the hunting festival…”

As Alicia murmured quietly, she nodded in a hurry.

Her small hand slipped out of my grasp.

Alicia smiled vaguely at me first, then she nodded towards Damian and the duke.

“I’m sorry for ruining the conversation.”

And she timidly apologized.

However, not one person here blamed or scolded her, so consolations such as ‘It’s fine’ and ‘There’s nothing for you to apologize for’ followed one after another.

I ducked my head near her and made eye contact with her.

‘Are you alright?’

I only mouthed the words silently to her, and Alicia nodded slightly in response.

‘I’m alright.’

She answered in the same way.

She was still pale, but it’s better than her pallor earlier.

At first glance, she seemed to be relieved.

One question hovered in the air—Why did you suddenly react like that?—but no other questions were uttered.

She had barely calmed herself down. It wouldn’t be good to distress her again.

My gaze lingered on her for a moment, but I soon raised my head and continued the conversation that had been interrupted.

“In any case, I am quite certain that no one would sincerely express their well wishes if I were to throw a party at a time like this. I don’t want to have such a miserable coming-of-age celebration.”

Since this was the subject from the start, the conversation quickly reverted to its original flow.

Damian opened his lips as if he wanted to say something. But when the words ‘miserable coming-of-age’ was brought up, he couldn’t seem to bring himself to say it.

They were talking about the party, but there’s really nothing else to discuss anymore.

Instead of Damian, the duke raised his glass and took a sip, then he opened his lips to speak despite being silent all this time.

“At the very least, I won’t let those who will be invited to look at you with such disrespect in their eyes.”

His voice carried such weight and dignity.

Seeing the duke like this, our eyes met right then and I was rendered speechless for a moment.

Suddenly, I recalled what I heard from Blanca.

About how he took my side in front of the nobles during the state conference.

I wonder… Did he look like this back then?

I couldn’t imagine it at all though, but now that I was faced with the expression he had now, it’s even stranger to see him like this with my own eyes.

Nevertheless.

“Thank you for your kindness. But still, I would prefer not to hold a ball.”

“Is that so? Then it can’t be helped.”

“Yes, it can’t be… Huh?”

“If you don’t want to throw a party, then you don’t have to be forced to throw one. You also presented your reasons clearly, so let’s abide by your decision.”

The duke said this without once changing his expression.

I thought there’d be a bit more of a scuffle, but…

“…Yes. Thank you, Father.”

I was a bit dazed as I thanked him.

Damian nodded shortly, his expression still dark.

However, a friendly smile soon tugged up on his lips.

“Yes, it’s good to spend your birthday with your family after all.”

“That’s right, Sister. I’ll celebrate with you, enough for 100 people!”

Two warm voices spoke one after another, and I was the only one left feeling awkward.

I looked around towards them one by one and nodded.

“Thank you all for your understanding.”

* * *

After the meal—

Only the duke and Damian remained in the dining room.

They each looked at the seats that Alicia and Rosetta had vacated, they quietly conversed between themselves.

“Alicia and Rosetta… Is it truly going to be alright, Father? Both of them will not be holding a ball to celebrate their coming-of-age.”

“It’s already been discussed, so there’s nothing to worry about. A ball is nothing but a sham anyway. It won’t be a big deal if it’s not held.”

Though Damian spoke with concern lacing his words, the duke replied in a casual tone.

As their conversation flowed in that direction earlier at dinner, Alicia followed Rosetta’s example and decided that she would not be holding a birthday ball either.

“My birthday isn’t that far away from Sister’s birthday. I don’t want to be the only one who’ll celebrate if Sister can’t.”

Indeed, her decision made sense.

Alicia’s birthday was only about a month after Rosetta’s.

“Alicia, you don’t have to do that either. It’s the only coming-of-age you’ll ever have in your whole life.”

Rosetta tried to dissuade her younger sister with a very troubled expression, but Alicia was already firmly determined.

“But I don’t want to. That wouldn’t be fair to you. We’re… We’re sisters, after all.”

There was no good reason to dissuade Alicia at that time when they had only just discussed that Rosetta wouldn’t hold one because she didn’t want to.

It’s easy to understand how Alicia felt.

So, the duke also said that Alicia could decide however she pleased regarding her birthday.

Damian and Rosetta’s eyes widened for a moment, but that was all.

That was how their conversation concluded. Then, Rosetta and Alicia left the dining hall first.

So, only Damian and the duke were left at the table now.

The duke took a sip out of his glass of cold liquor.

It had high alcohol content, but it wasn’t enough to phase the only swordmaster of the empire.

“Well, Rosetta’s right anyway. Even if a ball is arbitrarily held in a situation like this, it’ll just serve as fuel for more rumors to entertain those people.”

“…Are the rumors still rampant amongst the nobles?” Damian asked.

“It’s not possible to cool down boiling water, is it?”

The duke’s sharp answer made Damian shake his head.

He was already sick and tired of all those rumors.

Even if he were to run around and overwork himself in an endeavor to calm those rumors, the only effect there would be the rise of the ‘Valentine’ name. The rumors would not subside.

As if House Valentine and Rosetta were two separate entities.

Rosetta was also a Valentine, so all of this was just ridiculous.

The two men here were madly frustrated with the outcome, and they said nothing for a while.

At this point, they felt their moods plummet because it felt like it was their actions and lack of results that doomed the once in a lifetime coming-of-age celebrations of both Rosetta and Alicia.

Had they been able to quell the rumors even more, tonight’s discussion would not have concluded in the way that it did.

“Nonetheless, don’t worry,” the duke said. “I’ll extinguish those rumors somehow or another.”

“Yes, I’ll try harder as well.”

“…I just hope that that child won’t get hurt.”

Damian blinked in a daze, unfamiliar with the gentle tone in which his father was speaking now.

But he soon nodded, a bitter smile on his lips. And, he asked one more question.

“Do you regret it, Father?”

The pointed question urged the duke to raise one eyebrow.

A lot of things were omitted from the simple question, but much was implied.

The duke turned his gaze and looked out the window.

From his seat at the dining hall, he saw one tree.

It had white flowers blooming here and there.

When the duchess was still amongst the living, she had loved that tree very much.

Is it true that flowers bloom in this tree when it’s cold? she asked.

The duke ordered to have that tree planted there so that she’d be able to see its flowers while they were dining.

But, in the summer of that same year.

The duchess died without ever seeing that tree blossom.

Since then, he only ever felt regretful every year whenever he sat here and caught a glimpse of that tree. He should have had that tree planted there sooner.

If he did, then she would have been able to see the flowers that she loved, even if it was just within a small window of time.

“Yes. I do regret it. That’s why let’s move forward without regretting anything anymore.”

“Yes. I will do the same.”

This was where the conversation between father and son ended.

No other voice could be heard inside the quiet dining hall.

At the yard outside that hall.

There Rosetta stood alone, eavesdropping as she concentrated her qi at her ears.

She was standing there with her back against the wall.

She felt complicated.

While it’s true that the duke might have defended her during the state conference, she still had some apprehensions. It’s for this reason that she eavesdropped on them.

After all, the duke had already witnessed her behaving suspiciously before—back in the duchess’ hidden garden, when she used her iron fan to trim those trees.

Besides that, there was also her behavior during the hunting festival.

So many people had seen her ‘suspicious’ behavior, and they weren’t being quiet about it.

She thought that the duke took her side during the state conference only for the sake of preserving the household’s prestige, and that he would eventually speak his honest thoughts once he’s alone with Damian…

But what’s this.

Now, she felt like she only heard something that she shouldn’t have heard.

If she had rather heard that they were actually suspicious of her, she wouldn’t have been this restless now.

She turned her blank gaze towards the white flowers.

Watching those elegantly fluttering blossoms that were uncharacteristic of the current season, she was reminded of her second transmigration.

To be exact, she heard Mog-i Oraboni’s voice.

With long eyelashes, she closed her eyes and listened to the voice in her head.

“Aren’t you going to make a family?”

“…Everyone in this place is my family.”

“You really don’t though. That’s a lie.”

As his eyes were covered with a white cloth, he saw through her lie right away. His lips curled up into a smile.

Whenever he gave her that smile, there was a time when she would tremble because it felt like she had become a bad child for no reason.

“Still, I consider you my family, Oraboni.”

“Yes, and I thank you for that. In return, I’ll tell you your future.”

“My future?”

“…It’s going to be tough. It’s going to be even more difficult than it is now. You would become even more averse to the idea of family—rather, you’d be afraid to have people by your side, let alone considering them your family.”

All he spoke of was a future full of bad things. Unknowingly, she furrowed her brows as she asked back.

“That’s what you’re giving me in return?”

Mog-i Oraboni burst out laughing. It was a loud guffaw, but despite his mirth, he seemed forlorn. He soon calmed down.

But there was still a hint of mischief as he spoke again.

“Even so, remember this. Even when the sky is downcast and full of clouds, the sun breaks through and rises.”

After finally emptying everything, you will be left with a blank slate. And on top of that white paper, colorful hues will fill it.

Seol, you poor child.

You, who received both heaven’s love and retribution.

With those last words in mind, Rosetta opened her eyes.

‘Eventually, the sun rises…’

In this late autumn, the sky was blue.