The Youngest Daughter of the Swordsmanship Family Turned Great Mage - Chapter 27

Apparently pleased with that answer, Duke Adrian laughed out loud. Then he picked up Rosette and sat her on his knee.

“Then how did you know about Joseph Osser?”

“I asked Pipi. I asked him to let me know if anything happened to the family. That day, Pipi was flying around inspecting the mansion and told me there was a suspicious person!”

[Peep!]

Pipi flapped its wings on the bed as if in agreement. Rosette lowered her voice as if embarrassed.

“I wanted to protect our family.”

Duke Adrian looked down at Rosette’s head for a moment as if gauging something.

In fact, there were still a few points that didn’t make sense. Was that really the reason why she specifically warned to be careful of Daniel? Also, why did Rosette specifically ask Pipi to patrol the mansion?

However, on the surface, Rosette’s answer was sufficient. So Duke Adrian didn’t probe further and simply stroked his youngest daughter’s head.

“Yes, you did well.”

“Really?”

“Of course. I should give you a reward.”

[Peeeeep!]

“Yes. Pipi, I’ll give you a reward too.”

[Peep, peep.]

Both Duke Adrian and Rosette burst out laughing as they watched Pipi fluff up its feathers in satisfaction.

The breeze coming through the slightly open window had already become much warmer.

It was full spring.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Young lady, are you alright?”

“I heard you saved the lord. That’s really amazing.”

“Are you feeling well?”

The next day. When Rosette entered the training ground in the morning, the knights who were doing strength training all flocked to her at once.

Rosette, now quite accustomed to the knights, was not intimidated by their large builds. Rather, she felt good.

‘They were really worried about me.’

Before, she didn’t know it could feel this good to have people worry about her.

Reassured by Rosette’s bright smile, the knights bombarded her with questions again.

“But is it okay for you to train already?”

“You seem to have gotten even smaller. Are you eating properly?”

Seeing their faces full of concern, Rosette clenched her fists.

“I can do it. I’m eating well too.”

Last evening, when Celine and the physician said, ‘You can train, but…’, Rosette decided to resume her dawn training today.

Even Lucas, who had trained her rigorously, argued, ‘Are you sure? Let’s rest a bit more!’ But she had no intention of backing down.

‘I’m going to build up my stamina quickly and grow my mana core.’

After this incident, Rosette keenly realized one thing.

Regardless of her innate abilities, she was still a tiny eight-year-old kid.

She was proficient enough in formulas to use high-level magic right away, but unfortunately, her body couldn’t keep up.

Her mana core was so small that she could barely cast simple spells, and her stamina was weak.

This time, fortunately, she was able to prevent a major accident by summoning Pipi, but there was no guarantee it would be the same in the future.

To safely protect Adrian from Dallas in the future, she needed to grow up as quickly as possible.

‘I couldn’t uncover that Duke Dallas was behind it this time. Duke Dallas might be planning something again soon.’

Just as the knights were making a fuss about how cute Rosette’s serious face was,

Lucas, who was coming from afar with a wooden sword, spotted the knights crowding around Rosette and rushed over.

“You guys, didn’t I tell you not to crowd around the youngest like that? She’ll get startled.”

He, who had already approached in front of Rosette, firmly gripped the wooden sword with both hands and swung it in the air. At the rather fierce momentum, the knights retreated without anyone leading.

“I’m warning you in advance, if anyone even shows the slightest interest in our youngest, I won’t let it slide.”

Sigh, it’s not like that, you know.

Rosette, shaking her head at Lucas’s overprotectiveness, spotted Joseph with Melody in a corner of the training ground.

“Melody, why didn’t you sleep more?”

“I like being with brother more! Do you not like being with me, brother?”

“Of course brother likes being with our Melody too. But you need to sleep well to grow tall.”

“I slept a lot, a lot. Don’t worry too much!”

Rosette smiled gently at the close siblings.

Feeling her gaze, Joseph turned towards her, spotted Rosette, and quickly bowed in greeting. Melody followed her brother and bowed as well.

Joseph, straightening up again, mumbled something with his lips. Although she couldn’t make out everything completely, she could tell that he said ‘thank you’ at the end.

Just as Rosette was about to say something, Lucas spread his arms and blocked her view.

“Now, little one. Don’t look over there and start running quickly. You said you’d do morning training on your own, so you should keep your word.”

It seemed Lucas was still under the mistaken impression that Rosette was interested in Joseph.

‘It’s not like that, you know.’

Shaking her head, Rosette gritted her teeth and started jogging slowly around the training ground.

It was a peaceful day.

[This is the timeline separator]

“I heard there was a big incident with your master.”

That was the first thing Joshua said when he met Daniel after a long time, instead of a greeting. It was before the servant had even brought out refreshments.

Daniel recalled that dizzying day with a bitter smile.

“Yes, there was.”

“What exactly happened? I asked Father, but he didn’t tell me the details.”

“To be honest, I don’t know the details either.”

“You can tell me what you do know.”

“Well…”

Daniel hesitated for a moment.

The statement about not knowing the details was true. As it happened in the early morning, almost dawn, he had been sleeping at the time.

When he woke up belatedly feeling the chaotic atmosphere in the mansion, he still knew nothing.

Even Duke Adrian, who returned to the mansion carrying the unconscious Rosette, didn’t properly explain what had happened.

He only knew that there had been an incident targeting Duke Adrian, and that Rosette had dealt with it and then fallen into a comatose state.

However, the reason he was hesitating to answer now was different.

‘Father issued a gag order.’

Currently, the Adrians were preventing rumors about that day from spreading.

It was for Rosette’s sake, not Duke Adrian’s. She was already receiving a lot of attention, and if it became known that she was also a magic prodigy, it could be quite troublesome for Rosette.

But would it be okay to tell Joshua about that day?

‘It should be fine to give a brief explanation.’

Daniel soon came to that conclusion. Joshua was Duke Adrian’s only swordsmanship disciple and Daniel’s closest friend. He could be trusted.

“From what I’ve heard, a spy disguised as a servant sprayed a magical drug on Father’s carriage. So the carriage suddenly exploded, and Father was almost engulfed in flames, I heard.”

“Then how did he escape safely? Did he use mana?”

“That…”

To answer that, Rosette’s name would inevitably have to come up. But it seemed that even if the other party was Joshua, that story shouldn’t be told.

In the end, Daniel glossed over it vaguely.

“I’m not sure about the details of that. I guess that’s probably what happened?”

“Hmm, I see.”

Joshua’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.

‘He’s lying.’

Born into a noble family and having received successor training, Daniel was skilled at managing his expressions. Even when lying, it rarely showed.

However, Joshua had known Daniel since they were babies. He keenly noticed the fleeting moment of awkwardness that passed over Daniel’s face.

Given the circumstances, it seemed there was likely an assistant who helped the duke. It appeared the Adrians were trying to hide the identity of that assistant.

‘But even if I press, they probably won’t tell me.’

Whoever helped, as long as Duke Adrian was safe, that was what mattered. There were more important things to focus on now.

Joshua changed the subject as he poured tea into Daniel’s cup himself.

“But how about you?”

“Me?”

“Were you perhaps riding in the master’s carriage that day?”

“No, I was in the mansion at that time.”

“You were in the mansion?”

Joshua asked in a meaningful voice. Daniel, not sensing anything strange, answered.

“Yes. It was such an early hour, after all.”

“Why did the master leave the mansion at such an early hour?”

“Well, I’m not sure about that either.”

“Well, whatever the case, it’s fortunate. I should have given the advice about being careful with carriages to the master, not to you.”

“Indeed.”

“Still, just in case, be careful with carriages for a while.”

Daniel looked puzzled but soon smiled and replied.

“Yes, I understand.”

“By the way.”

Joshua changed the subject as he set down his teacup.

“When can I meet the precious young lady of the Adrian family?”

“I’ve noticed you’ve been very interested in Rose for a while.”

“Not just me, she’s the talk of the town. Everyone’s wondering when ‘that’ youngest lady will make her official appearance.”

“It’s still too early.”

“What’s there to be early about?”

Daniel hesitated before murmuring.

“Rose is, how should I put it, like a newborn baby bird.”

“A baby bird?”

“Yes. She needs to adapt to this harsh world, and there’s so much for her to learn.”

A deep smile spread across Daniel’s lips.

“Of course, she’s just as cute too.”

“But it’s not good to keep her hidden away too much either. Gossipmongers are already talking.”

“The Adrians can protect her sufficiently from that level of talk.”

“Well, if that’s what the Adrians think, I have nothing more to say. But you know.”

Joshua decided to ask something he had been curious about but hadn’t dared to ask Duke Adrian directly.

“How did you end up adopting that youngest lady? Did the master originally plan to adopt a child?”

“No, it wasn’t like that. It was a sudden decision.”

“Everyone’s been curious, couldn’t you at least tell that much?”

“I suppose I could.”

Daniel began to tell the story of how he first met Rosette, step by step.

“Rose instinctively used healing magic to save a girl who was like an older sister to her. Father discovered that. It seems Father recognized Rose’s ability and wanted to teach her.”

“If that’s the case, couldn’t he just sponsor her?”

“You sound just like Belle. Of course, that would have worked too, but Father said for some reason he kept thinking about Rose. So he decided to adopt her as his daughter to keep her close and take care of her.”

“The youngest lady must have been happy. To be adopted into the Adrian family, not just any other family.”

“No.”

Daniel smiled a bit bitterly.

“At first, she refused.”

“She refused? Why?”

“I think she was burdened by the idea of being separated from the people who were like family to her and being adopted into a noble family.”

“I suppose that’s understandable. It’s not just any noble family, but one as prominent as the Adrians.”

Joshua was about to wrap up the conversation at that point when he suddenly asked.

“By the way, is the Adrian young lady’s name Rose?”