Had Rosebelia ever coughed up blood after using Aura?

Even calmly recalling Rosebelia’s past, no such memory existed.

There had never been any abnormal symptoms in the body due to Aura…

“Let’s try again.”

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes tightly and felt a certain energy flowing through my body.

So this sensation of something rampaging inside my body is Aura, and if I push it towards the sword…

Feeling my heart pounding, I slowly opened my eyelids. I could see a white light enveloping the sword.

As I swung the sword towards the tree, the tree split in two and fell helplessly onto the undergrowth.

Is it alright?

“This time it seems to have worked properly…”

I covered my mouth as nausea surged up again. Far from working properly, even more blood than before soaked my palm. For a brief moment, my vision even spun.

What’s the reason?

Come to think of it, the sensation of Aura that Rosebelia felt and the Aura sensation I just felt were different.

Rosebelia said the Aura flowing in her body was like a calm lake, but the Aura I felt was rather intense rather than calm.

Is it because I’m not controlling the Aura properly? If so, what should I do? What if I can’t use Aura because I’m not Rosebelia?

“If you’re not going to let me use it, you shouldn’t have let me feel this Aura thing in the first place.”

My grumbling voice echoed.

As I was about to brush back my disheveled hair, I flinched and lowered my gaze. The slightly bent fingertips were trembling finely.

As my field of vision filled with my blood-stained palm, my eyes closed involuntarily. Fear washed over me so suddenly that I couldn’t move an inch, as if my two feet were rooted to the ground.

“…”

After standing still for a while, I suddenly opened my eyes. The eastern sky was already growing pale with dawn.

Snapping back to my senses, I clenched my palm and pushed through the undergrowth. Eventually, I stopped walking and before me stretched a lake shrouded in thick mist.

Birds drinking water flew off with a flutter, startled by my presence. After quickly surveying the surroundings, I dipped my hand into the edge of the lake without hesitation.

After cleaning my hands, I repeatedly clenched and unclenched them for no reason, then cleared my throat. Fortunately, the pain only came when coughing up blood.

“Should I consider this fortunate?”

Swallowing a sigh, I raised my head and for a moment, my breath stopped.

The early morning sunlight that had secretly descended melted onto the ripples of the lake, sparkling so brightly it dazzled the eyes.

Turning away from this infinitely serene and enchanting sight, I hastened my steps towards the mansion.

As I opened the door, having finished preparing to go to the Order, something rushed into my arms as if it had been waiting.

“Vivian?”

“Sister Rose!”

“What’s the matter so early in the morning?”

Thinking she might have had another nightmare, I quickly lowered my gaze. Seeing Vivian’s rosy cheeks, she didn’t seem to be in poor condition.

“I wanted to wait for you yesterday too, but I fell asleep before I could see you. So I came to see you early this morning.”

I didn’t expect such an adorable answer.

Come to think of it, Vivian’s eyes looked full of sleepiness. Holding back a smile, I gently patted Vivian’s head.

“I’ll come back a little earlier today.”

“Really? Then will you read a book with Vivian?”

“A book? Sure. Let’s read together in the evening.”

Vivian, who let out an exclamation of “Wow,” smiled brightly.

“Vivian will ask for delicious snacks to be prepared too.”

“Nothing too sweet.”

At my firm voice, Vivian pouted her lips.

“Tch, alright.”

“Vivian, will you see me off?”

“Yes. I’d like to!”

As she answered, a small, delicate sensation wrapped around my fingertips. Carefully holding Vivian’s hand, I glanced back.

At my glance, the maid following behind Vivian bowed her head and retreated. As we reached the stairs leading to the first floor, Vivian quickly grabbed the stair railing to show me.

“Look at this. Vivian can now hold the stair railing well.”

In Rosebelia’s memories, Vivian always struggled to grasp the railing, but has she grown taller since then?

The position of the railing was still slightly higher than Vivian’s shoulder, but the way she held it looked quite stable.

“I see. But you should always go down the stairs slowly.”

“Okay.”

As I gently patted Vivian’s head, who was nodding, I was about to step onto the carpeted stairs when—

“You want me to look for a marriage partner?”

“Rose is almost of marriageable age.”

Is that Olivia’s voice? Don’t tell me Olivia is asking someone to find a marriage partner for me right now?

As I stood still after assessing the situation, Vivian looked up at me with rabbit-like eyes.

I put my index finger to my lips, and Vivian followed suit, covering her own mouth with her hand.

“Isn’t Rose busy with Order duties right now? She’s not at an age where we need to rush marriage…”

“Brother, I’m sure Rose will understand my feelings later. You know that the older a woman gets, the harder it is to find a good match. It’s better to hurry rather than delay.”

The voices were coming from the first-floor corridor leading from the main hall to the reception room.

If it’s Olivia’s brother, it’s likely to be Dylan Riley, the illegitimate son of the Riley family who often visited the Winters household and took quite good care of Rosebelia.

“Alright, I’ll look into it.”

“Thank you, brother. Let’s go to the study quickly. Herman is waiting.”

As the footsteps of the two faded away, I immediately looked down at Vivian.

“That’s enough now, Vivian.”

“Can Vivian speak now?”

“Yes. Did you hear anything?”

Fortunately, it seemed she hadn’t heard anything as Vivian shook her head. Well, it was a small voice for others to detect.

At times like this, it’s good to have senses a bit more developed than others.

By the way, why is Olivia rushing my marriage like that? Does she want to get rid of me from her sight as soon as possible?

Once Olivia starts looking for a marriage partner in earnest, she’ll surely pressure me in some way.

Feeling a headache coming on already, I reflexively took in the fairy-like face of Vivian.

“Sister, you must come back early today.”

Having reached the bottom of the stairs, I gently stroked Vivian’s head and turned around.

*

“Ed, you haven’t forgotten about going to the square tomorrow, right?”

“How many times do I have to tell you I’ve cleared my schedule before you’ll believe me?”

It’s not like you suddenly changing your mind and disappearing is a one-time thing, right? I’ve seen it all in Rosebelia’s memories.

I swallowed the words that were about to burst out and forced a smile.

“Ed? Think about your actions. If you were me, would you be able to trust yourself?”

“No, I wouldn’t.”

Edwin chuckled as he brushed up his bangs.

Well, at least he’s the type who can be objective about himself.

“Make sure to keep your promise tomorrow.”

It’s really an important day! It could completely change your and Daisy’s fate!

As I shot daggers with my eyes in place of my internal screaming, Edwin lightly shrugged his shoulders.

“Alright. It’s also the first time you’ve insisted this much…”

Well, the real Rosebelia probably wouldn’t have nagged this much.

Did Edwin find this strange behavior of mine odd?

With this sudden doubt, I discreetly observed Edwin’s expression.

“By the way. Don’t you think I’ve changed a bit since I got sick?”

“You? Changed?”

Edwin tilted his head and looked me up and down. As his eyes gradually narrowed, tension surged through my entire body.

“…No?”

“Not at all.”

“Think carefully. My way of speaking or actions?”

Edwin, who was stroking his chin, let out a small exclamation.

“You have changed a bit.”

“In what way?”

“You give off a vaguely more unpleasant vibe?”

“What?”

As I furrowed my brow, Edwin burst into laughter while holding his forehead.

“No, you were originally a bit unpleasant, so I guess we can’t say you’ve changed because of that.”

“Stop joking around, is there really nothing different?”

At my careful question, Edwin’s expression stiffened slightly in response.

“Why? Does something feel off?”

“It’s not that…”

“I’ve known you for a long time, but I don’t think what I’ve seen so far is all there is to you.”

“Huh?”

“I have aspects I haven’t shown you, and you have aspects you haven’t revealed to me, right?”

I nodded as if entranced.

“That’s… true.”

“So you are…”

“…”

“Just yourself, Rose.”

For a moment, the back of my head tingled.

The incident at dawn must have been quite shocking, making me wonder if this body was rejecting me. I couldn’t shake off that thought.

Right, what does it matter if I’m different or the same?

Every morning when I woke up and confirmed that I was still Rosebelia, I wasn’t entirely at ease, but I had already become Rosebelia, and nothing changed even after days passed.

“So there’s no need to feel intimidated just because you can’t remember a day or so. Lucas and I often do that when we drink. We lose entire chunks of memory, you know?”

“That’s nothing to brag about.”

As I lightly hit Edwin’s shoulder, he grinned.

“Of course it is.”

Looking at his carefree smiling face, the heavy pressure that had been weighing on me seemed to lift a little.

“Anyway, tomorrow…”

“Rosebelia, enough about that already.”

Just as I was about to add one more word, a loud voice came from somewhere. The source of the sound was in front of the annex where the lecture halls were located.

When I gestured towards the annex with my eyes, Edwin nodded and took the lead.

The front of the annex was chaos itself, it was so noisy. I approached Lucas, who was standing somewhat awkwardly, and asked.

“Lucas, what’s going on?”

“Seems like a fight broke out. Between Jace and Derek, both new recruits…”

Seeing that mainly new knights were gathered in front of the annex, it seemed that an argument had broken out on their way out from a class.

Far away, Ian was also visible, standing alone, separated from the group of new recruits.

“So two new recruits are fighting right now?”

“They’re not fighting yet, more like about to fight, I guess.”

Lucas trailed off ambiguously. No wonder, as the members were surrounding the two, making it difficult to see what was going on.

“There’s one method that works really well in situations like this.”

Edwin, who had been quietly listening to my conversation with Lucas, suddenly spoke up.

“What is it?”

“Vice Captain!”

At that name Edwin called out loudly, all the members in front of the annex scattered in panic.

“Did someone say Vice Captain?”

“Where?”

“Quickly, disperse!”

While Gabriel, the Captain of the White Knights Order, had a generous personality, Fabian, the Vice Captain, had a picky temperament.

His hobby was finding fault with everything, and if he found out the members were fighting among themselves, he would surely put them through grueling training and more.

Edwin, you’re quite smart, aren’t you?

As I was about to give Edwin a thumbs up, I staggered from a strong impact on my shoulder.

I was caught off guard, and as I felt my balance waver, someone firmly grasped my shoulder.

“Are you alright, senior?”

I naturally thought it would be Edwin or Lucas, but the owner of the voice tickling my ear was unexpectedly…

“…New recruit?”

It was Ian.