“Catch that bird!”

[Beep!]

Pipi dodged the hands of the people trying to catch it and flew in the opposite direction of the carriage.

“Stop the carriage.”

Rosette warned in a low voice as she gathered mana in her hands.

“You know I’m still young, right? I might not be able to control my mana well and could end up blowing up this entire carriage.”

“Then you wouldn’t be safe either, would you?”

“I have a way to escape with my life intact. So.”

The woman laughed.

“Well then, go ahead and try.”

Simultaneously, Rosette released her mana. The carriage began to shake violently.

The man pulled out a dagger he had kept hidden, and the woman cast a defensive spell. They seemed quite surprised, not expecting Rosette’s skills to be at this level.

“You’re quite good.”

“You haven’t seen anything yet.”

Rosette gathered her mana once again and released it all at once. Her mana struck the protective barrier surrounding the carriage walls. Cracks began to form in the empty air.

“Won’t you stop?”

The woman tried to restrain her by grabbing her shoulder, but Rosette didn’t stop.

‘Just a little more!’

Now cracks had formed even on the carriage ceiling. It was at that moment when Rosette released her mana even more forcefully.

With a loud bang, the carriage wall was torn off. Rosette quickly cast a protective spell around her entire body. As one of the carriage wheels broke, the carriage tilted.

All three people inside were simultaneously thrown out of the carriage.

“Ugh!”

“Guh!”

Unlike Rosette, who had cast a protective spell, the other two who rolled on the ground defenseless were covered in injuries.

But Rosette wasn’t unscathed either. She had cast the protective spell too late to completely nullify the impact.

She curled up on the ground, groaning for a moment from the shock of the fall, before managing to stand up.

Including the coachman, three people were still lying on the ground. The man who had been disguised as her father was seen trembling as he tried to get up.

Rosette swallowed hard.

‘Even if I run away now, I’ll be caught. If I could just stab that man’s vital point…’

For a moment, Rosette thought this and her body froze.

She knew exactly how to end that man’s life right now.

It was knowledge from her past. And she had decided to turn back time and not use that magic.

She had thought she would never use magic to harm people again, that from now on she would only use magic to save lives.

Yet here she was, having such thoughts.

She felt disgusted with herself.

It was just a brief moment of hesitation from Rosette. The man quickly ran up and held a dagger to her throat.

“Alright, little one. Let’s stop playing now.”

“Don’t call me little!”

“Okay, okay. I get it, so now…”

As Rosette was debating whether to bite the man’s arm, she felt a tingling sensation at the back of her head and flinched.

At the same time, a dagger infused with aura flew from behind her and pierced the man’s arm.

“Argh!”

As he stumbled, Rosette elbowed him in the solar plexus and broke free. She turned around and started running as fast as she could.

‘Father!’

Only a Sword Master could infuse a sword with aura. And among the four Sword Masters in the empire, the only one who would come to save her was Duke Adrian.

In the distance, she could see the duke’s black horse kicking up dust as it galloped towards her.

[Beep!]

Rosette ran and ran. But before long, the man caught her by the hair.

“Ah!”

“Damn it, you little brat!”

The man pressed the blood-stained dagger against Rosette’s neck again. This time, she felt a stinging sensation as it cut slightly into her skin.

“Rose!”

Duke Adrian, who had ridden his horse right up to them, dismounted and drew his sword.

He warned,

“It would be better to let the child go unharmed. If she has even a single scratch…”

The man sneered.

“Oh dear, what should we do? It seems she’s already been scratched.”

The man’s grip tightened. This time, blood trickled down Rosette’s neck. Duke Adrian gripped his sword even tighter.

“You filthy rats, how dare you do this to my daughter…!”

He adjusted his grip on the sword and was about to charge forward quickly, but suddenly men appeared and blocked his path.

“Don’t let him through!”

However, every time Duke Adrian swung his sword and released a blade of energy, three men fell simultaneously. With just a few swings of his sword, all the men blocking his way had fallen.

“Damn it.”

The man holding Rosette dragged her by the arm towards a horse tied to the carriage.

As he cut the rope securing the horse to the carriage with his dagger.

“Guh!”

The man coughed up red blood and collapsed over Rosette’s head.

As Rosette was about to scream at the sight of blood dripping to the ground, a gentle hand pulled her into an embrace.

“It’s okay, Rose. It’s okay now.”

“Father…”

Rosette held back her tears and nestled into his arms.

“Father.”

“Yes, I’m sorry I was late.”

Just as she was about to burst into tears, Rosette felt another flow of mana and cast a barrier.

A moment later, arrows made of mana showered down on the barrier.

“Hah…”

Looking back, she saw the woman limping backwards.

“What, that little brat…!”

Rosette quickly said to Duke Adrian,

“That person is not my mother. She said she was going to sell me to some strange nobleman!”

Duke Adrian’s eyes flashed dangerously.

He had clearly been holding Rosette just a moment ago, but now he completely vanished from sight.

Moving so fast that even Rosette’s trained eyes couldn’t follow, he struck the woman’s solar plexus with the hilt of his sword.

“…!”

The woman collapsed forward without even being able to scream. Duke Adrian hoisted her over his shoulder and approached Rosette again.

“Rose, let’s go home now. Everyone is waiting for you.”

Rosette nodded with teary eyes.

“Yes!”

Soon, Pipi and a few knights arrived on horseback.

“My lord!”

[Beep!]

“Pipi!”

Rosette cupped Pipi in both hands and kissed the top of its head.

“You brought Father here properly. Thank you!”

[Beep!]

While Rosette and Pipi were having their touching reunion, Duke Adrian gave instructions to the knights for the aftermath.

“Take that woman as she is and lock her in the underground dungeon. She will pay dearly for her crimes today. And since she seems to be able to use magic, tell Celenne to keep an eye on her.”

“Understood.”

He relaxed his expression and lifted Rosette onto the horse. The duke easily mounted behind her and took hold of the reins.

The horse began to walk slowly towards the mansion, unlike its gallop on the way here.

“But Father, how did you get here so quickly?”

The mansion was quite far away. Pipi, with its small wings, couldn’t have reached the mansion this fast.

“I found out belatedly that those people weren’t your parents and was looking for you. It turned out that the man claiming to be your father had no blood relation to you.”

“Ah.”

“I was urgently following the traces of the carriage when Pipi flew over and told me where you were. It was quite admirable.”

[Beep.]

Pipi acted shy, and Rosette proudly agreed.

“That’s right. Pipi is an excellent familiar.”

The two people and one bird rode and rode until they reached the mansion.

When Duke Adrian entered carrying the dirt-covered Rosette, the three siblings came running out.

“Squirt! What happened?”

“Did something happen to Rose again?”

“It’s nothing serious.”

Duke Adrian held Rosette even tighter as he headed for the third floor. The three siblings looked at each other in confusion before following to Rosette’s room.

However, seeing Duke Adrian’s serious face, they each dispersed to their own rooms.

“Rose.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Do you want to see your birth parents?”

Rosette couldn’t answer that question.

‘I didn’t particularly want to see them.’

She had wanted to meet them, but now when she tried to find the reason, there was nothing that came to mind.

Throughout her past life and current life, she had never particularly missed her birth parents.

They were heartless parents who abandoned her in front of an orphanage as soon as she was born. She felt more resentment than longing.

Even when she met people who might be her birth parents, she didn’t feel anything special. The awkwardness after meeting them was greater than before.

But now that she heard they were frauds, she felt empty.

‘What exactly was I hoping for?’

She couldn’t understand.

Did she want to ask if they had been constantly missing her, like the parents who came back to the orphanage?

Did she want to believe that they had been searching for her in her past life too, that they just couldn’t find her because she was confined in the Dallas mansion?

For what purpose?

When Rosette couldn’t say anything, Duke Adrian asked painfully,

“If you want to see your birth parents, I can try to find them.”

“What?”

“It will be difficult due to the lack of information, but if we keep searching…”

“No!”

Rosette finally found her voice. She hadn’t even thought about looking for them in her past life or this life. After meeting the people who claimed to be her birth parents this time, it became even clearer.

“I don’t want to see my birth parents. Honestly, even earlier when I was with those people, I felt uncomfortable and wanted to come home. I wanted to have dinner with you, my brothers, and sister.”

“…Is that so?”

Rosette looked up at Duke Adrian with a determined face.

“Yes, I’m an Adrian. This is where I belong.”

As if he hadn’t expected to hear such words, the duke looked surprised for a moment before patting her head.

He didn’t say anything.

But Rosette felt from his careful touch that her father was relieved.

She was an Adrian.

Her family was also the Adrian family.

Although their hair colors were different and their talents varied, the fact that they were family remained unchanged.

It had been that way for over half a year now, and it would continue to be so in the future. She already had a family that she wouldn’t trade for anything.

[This is the timeline separator]

That evening, it started to drizzle, and by bedtime, it was pouring so hard that visibility was almost zero.

[Beep…]

Pipi, terrified, hid in Rosette’s sleeve.

“It’s okay. Don’t be scared. I’m here.”

In the past, whenever it rained like this, the small and delicate Pipi would tremble. Each time, Rosette would comfort Pipi. Perhaps because of this, she didn’t feel scared herself.

Even now, Rosette was more worried about Pipi than the rain falling outside.

‘This is exactly the same as before.’

While Rosette chuckled and stroked Pipi’s head, the rain continued to fall.

There was even a flash outside the window, followed by a thunder so loud it felt like the mansion might be swept away.

[Beep!]

It was only natural for Pipi to be startled to the point of screaming.

“It’s okay. The sun will rise again tomorrow. Shall I sing you a song?”

[Beep.]

As Rosette was softly humming a lullaby, she heard the doorknob turn and someone sneaking in.

It was Lucas.