Unable to find a response, Duke Adrien closed his mouth for a moment. He rose from his seat and sat down next to Rosette. Then he hugged her tightly.

It was a different feeling from Jane’s soft and tender embrace. Though not as cozy, it felt more solid, as if it could protect her from all the trials of the world.

Instinctively, Rosette buried her face in the Duke’s chest.

“There’s a difference between not eating and being unable to eat, Rose.”

“…”

“You shouldn’t force yourself to eat something you can’t.”

“Will I get scolded?”

“From now on, you will.”

“Yes.”

The Duke gently patted Rosette’s back.

“And it’s okay to be a picky eater sometimes. You don’t have to eat food you don’t like. That’s what children do.”

“…”

“So, is there any food you dislike?”

“…Carrots.”

“Carrots? Anything else?”

“No. I eat everything else well. Really.”

“I see.”

After releasing Rosette, the Duke examined the child’s arms.

“You’ve scratched your arms this much. It will really leave scars.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t do this again.”

“Yes.”

“I was planning to introduce you after you got used to the mansion, but I guess it can’t be helped. I’ll introduce you to the person who will be your teacher today.”

Rosette’s eyes widened.

“My teacher?”

Duke Adrien smiled and pinched her nose.

“Yes.”

He pulled a bell cord and instructed Sebastian, who was waiting, to bring someone in. Moments later, a woman with fiery red hair entered.

Rosette recognized her at once.

‘It’s the Fire Witch.’

The Fire Witch, Celinne.

She was the magician who had been desperate to take Rosette as her disciple in her past life.

– Why don’t you come to me? You’ll learn more from me than from that rigid Duke Dallas.

What had she replied to her back then?

– I’m not interested in magicians weaker than me.

Thinking about it now, it was an incredibly arrogant answer. But it was the only warning she could give.

Don’t come to me. If you covet me, Duke Dallas might kill you.

In truth, Rosette had quite liked Celinne. That’s why she had said that.

But Celinne persistently approached Rosette.

– Little one, wouldn’t I be better than that old man? Come with me. Okay? Elder sister will take good care of you.

Eventually, she died in a mysterious accident. Though the cause was never revealed, Rosette could guess that it was also Duke Dallas’s doing.

It wasn’t just because of her. Celinne was quite a talented magician, and her presence made it difficult to attack the Adrien ducal family. Celinne must have died due to various complex interests.

So Rosette didn’t feel guilty about her death. But it was a bit disheartening.

To be honest, when she came to the Adrien ducal family, she had hoped to meet Celinne. And now, to meet her already!

As Rosette looked up at Celinne with a curious face, Celinne lightly greeted her.

“It’s an honor to see you, Your Grace.”

“Indeed.”

“But who is this lovely young lady? She’s emanating mana profusely.”

As expected, Celinne showed interest in Rosette this time as well.

“Let me introduce you. This is my youngest daughter.”

“My, Your Grace, did you have a hidden young lady?”

When Duke Adrien slightly frowned, Celinne corrected herself.

“I’m joking. This must be the young lady who’s been the talk of the mansion. Hello, little miss. I’m Celinne.”

“Hello, elder sister.”

When Rosette greeted her using the term Celinne had used to refer to herself in the past, Celinne laughed heartily.

“My goodness, Your Grace. Did you see that? The young lady called me elder sister!”

“Is that… not okay?”

“Of course it’s okay. It’s perfectly fine. Do you want to learn magic? This elder sister will teach you everything.”

“Before that, take a look at her wounds.”

“Wounds?”

Celinne, who belatedly noticed Rosette’s arms, made a fuss.

“Who did this? There are wounds on your pretty arms.”

“It seems she scratched herself due to an allergy.”

“If we leave it like this, it will scar. Just a moment.”

Celinne crouched in front of Rosette and manipulated mana. Light gathered at her fingertips and seeped into Rosette’s wounds. Soon, her arms became clean as if they had never been injured.

Rosette wasn’t surprised. Why would she be amazed at magic she had seen countless times in her past life? However, Celinne found this strange.

“Oh my, young lady. Aren’t you amazed?”

Oops. Should she have acted amazed? As Rosette was contemplating whether she should make an “Wow” sound now, Duke Adrien intervened.

“Rosette has already used healing magic on her own.”

Celinne’s eyes widened like saucers.

“What? Healing magic? Please explain in more detail!”

Duke Adrien told the story of how Rosette had healed Jane. Celinne, who had been listening with a surprised face throughout, rubbed her face with both hands.

“Impossible. How could this…”

“Is it really that impossible?”

“Theoretically, it’s possible, but for it to actually… Did this little miss really do it?”

“Yes, I confirmed it myself.”

“No, how…”

Celinne kept repeating ‘how’ like someone who had lost her language ability.

It was understandable that Celinne was surprised. Duke Adrien, not knowing much about magic, thought Rosette had used healing magic instinctively, but in reality, it wasn’t easy to use magic instinctively.

In fact, Rosette had used healing magic using the formula she already knew, so it was practically impossible to ‘use healing magic instinctively’.

But what could she do? She couldn’t say, ‘Actually, I learned magic in the past, so I was able to use magic.’

Rosette vaguely agreed with the Duke’s words.

“I wanted to save elder sister Jane.”

“…”

“I prayed earnestly to the goddess, and Jane was saved.”

“Good heavens, to think it was actually possible! Your Grace, the young lady is a genius!”

“Yes, it seems so.”

Duke Adrien’s face was filled with satisfaction as he answered.

“So, may I teach the young lady?”

“Of course. That’s why I called you.”

“There’s no taking back those words! Now, did you hear that, young lady? From now on, I’m your teacher.”

“Yes, elder sister.”

“Oh, how adorable.”

Celinne hugged Rosette tightly. Rosette mumbled in her embrace.

“But when do we start lessons?”

She wanted to create a mana core and use magic as soon as possible. However, it was difficult to create a mana core alone with her current body, so she needed someone to help.

‘Besides, I need to pretend to learn magic so that I won’t be suspected when I use it.’

Chronologically, Daniel’s accident wasn’t far off. She would try to prevent the accident by other means as much as possible, but in the worst case, she had to be prepared to heal Daniel’s legs with healing magic.

However, unaware of her urgency, Celinne said calmly.

“Not yet. You can’t create a mana core with such a small body.”

“But…”

“Let’s learn magic after you eat well and grow a bit more.”

“When I become chubby?”

Celinne laughed softly.

“Yes, when you become chubby.”

She patted the dejected Rosette’s head and stood up.

“You must be surprised, so rest now. I’ll take my leave.”

“Yes, rest. I have somewhere to go, so I’ll be heading out. If you need anything, call a maid.”

“Yes.”

Left alone, Rosette jumped onto the bed. Lying with her arms spread, she recalled being scolded by Duke Adrien earlier.

In fact, she still didn’t quite understand why he had been so angry.

But she thought she shouldn’t force herself to eat shrimp anymore.

Moreover.

– Rosette Adrien.

Rosette smiled, recalling the name Duke Adrien had uttered.

It was clearly a scolding, but strangely, it made her smile.

Not Rosette Dallas, but Rosette Adrien.

She felt like she had truly become a member of the Adrien family now.

‘It really has changed.’

Before she died, she had thought that if she had been adopted into a family like the Adrien’s, her life might have been different. Could her life change this time?

That person’s life, and her own life.

And.

– What sin did Master and Daniel commit for you to kill them! Why on earth!

“Could that person’s life change too?”

The First Prince, Joshua Earnhardt, who had cried like a child before her. Could he also be happy without losing the person he loved?

Rosette closed her eyes after trying to recall that man whose face she hadn’t even seen properly.

She didn’t know why she thought of that man with whom she had no acquaintance. Was it because he was the last person she saw before she died, or because he was the reason time was turned back?

‘Maybe we’ll meet someday.’

He was said to be the Duke’s disciple, so wouldn’t he come to the Duke’s mansion at least once?

Rosette closed her eyes with a slightly excited heart.

Perhaps because she had woken up early in the morning, she soon fell asleep.

* * *

Duke Adrien canceled all his schedules and headed back to the orphanage.

“What brings you here?”

The director was quite surprised when the Duke, who had left with Rosette just a few hours ago, came back alone with a stern face. He led the Duke to the director’s office while sweating profusely.

It was not uncommon for people to return adopted children after just a few days. So he thought this might be such a case, but it was strange that Rosette wasn’t there.

“Has something happened to Rose?”

“Did you know the child had allergies?”

“Allergies… you say?”

The director thought for a moment and then shook his head.

“No, not as far as I know.”

“The child has a shrimp allergy.”

“Is that so? We never fed her shrimp, so we didn’t know.”

Duke Adrien’s eyes sharpened.

“Did you really not know?”

For a moment, the director felt like a herbivore facing a predator. He understood he was being interrogated, but he couldn’t understand why he was being asked such questions.

He swallowed hard before managing to answer.

“We didn’t know. But why are you asking this?”

“The child knew she had allergies.”

“That’s impossible. Rose came to our orphanage when she was just born. How could Rose know about allergies that even we didn’t know about…”

“Not only that, but knowing that eating shrimp would make her sick, she forcibly ate it and became ill.”

The director was shocked.

“Oh my, is she alright?”

“Fortunately, it wasn’t a severe allergy that would threaten her life. However, I came to find out why the child behaved in such a way.”

“…”

“Did you force the child to eat food she didn’t want to?”