Unable to properly hear her words, Roselia turned around in surprise, and Nadia simply smiled brightly.

Leaving Nadia behind and coming out into the town, she headed towards the street to catch a carriage.

At that moment, while she was scanning the surroundings to catch a carriage, a loud noise reached Roselia’s ears.

“If you don’t have money, get lost! You beggar hag!”
With a rough shout, the man who harshly grabbed the old man’s arm threw him to the ground. The elderly man, lying on the ground, yelled at the restaurant owner without getting up.

“What the XXX! Why don’t I have money! I’m sure…!”

Saying so, the old man rummaged through his shabby pockets frantically, but as expected, no money appeared. The restaurant owner, who had been glaring at the old man as if he were a nuisance, soon tidied his hands, spat, and disappeared into the restaurant.

Observing the scene, Roselia hesitated but sighed deeply and approached the old man. Probably due to growing up under a grandmother without parents in the real world, she was emotionally vulnerable to such scenes.

“Grandpa, are you okay?”

The old man, turning his head with a sly expression at her kind question, retorted grumpily.

“Do I look okay to your eyes?”

Even with the gruff tone of the harsh old man, Roselia smiled as if she were accustomed to it and supported him, raising him up.

“Hey, let go! I can get up on my own!”

“Yes, yes. Where’s your home?”

“Do you think I have a home?!”

Hmm… This old man is not ordinary.

While thinking that he could be chased away by the restaurant owner, Roselia was supporting the old man with agile movements.

“I’ll take you home.”

“I said, it’s fine!”

“I feel uncomfortable, that’s why. Where is your home?”

Even if her recently departed grandmother couldn’t recognize her due to dementia and acted stubbornly, Roselia didn’t know if her heart ached even more.

“I’ll manage my own home, what do you want to take from my home?!”

“Yes, yes… Can you at least tell me your address? I’ll send you by carriage.”

“By carriage to my home?”

“Yes, yes, so please tell me your address.”

“…Bronx 6th Avenue.”

After saying that, the old man grumbled again with a sly expression.

“Bronx 6th Avenue is my home. But I don’t remember how to get there…”

As expected… The old man seemed to have dementia.

Seeing the poor appearance, it seemed that he was a lonely elderly person living alone without anyone to take care of him.

The memory of her grandmother, who raised her alone, without any relatives, came to her mind. Eventually, her heart was trampled, and she ended up grabbing the carriage together.

Finally, after carefully listening to the muttering old man’s home address, they arrived at their destination.

When the carriage driver said they had arrived, Roselia, getting off the carriage, became disoriented and tense because of the sight in front of her eyes.

A huge mansion surrounded by trees was standing in front of her.

“Uh… Grandpa. It seems you might have given the wrong home address…”

As Roselia stammered, the limping old man walked past her and entered the entrance of the mansion.

Roselia stared blankly at the scene and stiffened as she looked at the family nameplate hanging at the entrance.

Count Vernas…

It was the mansion of Count Vernas, a genius painter who turned into a great artist in the original work.

“What are you doing? Come in.”
The limping old man, entering the mansion with a hobble, turned around and threw a remark.

Following the old man inside, Roselia, with a distracted voice, asked.

“By any chance… Are you the owner of this mansion, sir?”

“Did you just walk into someone else’s house?”

Answering as if responding to an unnecessary question, the old man, without turning his head, opened the door and entered.

Roselia, after scanning the neglected state of the mansion for quite a while, followed the old man into the building. As expected, the interior of the mansion was similar.

It felt like… seeing the bankrupt Viscount Hesing’s mansion?

“But… Where are the servants who manage the mansion?”

Even with Roselia’s cautious question, the old man, not turning his head, continued walking on his way, opening his mouth.

“Who knows? Those XXX bastards, taking whatever seemed valuable when I was in a daze.”

It didn’t make sense. Even if the old man had dementia, if it was Count Vernas, a well-known figure, even servants wouldn’t act so recklessly and improperly without considering the consequences.

However, soon Roselia’s curiosity was resolved by the old man’s grumbling.

“I might have forgotten to pay their salaries for a few months, but did they have to take everything without the owner’s permission?”

“Ah… You forgot to pay their salaries…”

“I forgot the safe password.”

“…”

Seeing the old man speaking so casually, Roselia was left speechless. Even if the mansion looked neglected, the attire, as if wearing a beggar’s clothes, was incomprehensible.

In a mansion like Count Vernas’s, a distinguished noble known as a genius artist, such clothes wouldn’t be present.

“But… Why are you dressed like this…?”

In response to Roselia’s question, the old man, seemingly realizing his own attire, looked down and grumbled with a wrinkled expression.

“I don’t know. When I came to my senses on the street, these were the clothes.”

“…”

“Don’t ask for details when my memory is so hazy.”

Could it be… he was robbed in a state where dementia had taken over on the street? It was entirely possible.

While sighing deeply, Roselia carefully examined the interior of the mansion and cautiously watched the old man’s reactions.

Count Vernas, a great artist and genius painter.

Although dementia was described in the original work, when the Count was in a normal state, he produced works that not only the Empire but the entire continent would applaud.

However, inside the mansion of such a great artist, there were no signs of art or paintings visible.

After looking around for a while and finding nothing, Roselia cautiously spoke up.

“Um, sir… Do you happen to draw pictures?”

In response to Roselia’s question, the old man turned his head with a strange expression and looked at Roselia.

“Do I… know how to draw pictures?”

If you’re asking me that…

As Roselia was left breathless and frozen, Count Vernas thrust the dagger.
“But who the hell are you to be inside my mansion?”

It felt like the road ahead was filled with obstacles.