Chapter 13

The Duke of Brighton was troubled.

He couldn’t concentrate on his work because he kept thinking about Roselina.

‘It’s strange.’

He has roughly covered up and ignored whatever Roselina has done all this time.

After she got married, he lived as if she was no longer his business.

That was normal and natural.

‘When I was young, I did a lot of things I shouldn’t have because I was too immature. I am deeply reflecting on it.’

Is his daughter’s apology, the first time he’s ever heard of, real?

‘No.’

In fact, he knew the answer.

He had no intention of defending Roselina now.

She deserved criticism as much as the evil she committed in the past.

But.

‘I’ve been alone all throughout my last marriage for nearly three years.’

Roselina’s words kept lingering in his ears.

‘Why is she here now?’

The fact that he was unintentionally moved was engraved in his heart.

‘Why didn’t Roselina contact me even though she was alone?‘

The answer was clear.

‘Because I couldn’t be the parent she could lean on.’

If he treated Roselina as if she’s not there, he thought he would be able to escape from the reality of life without Beatrice.

‘I was a fool.’

Then, an urgent knock was heard.

“What’s wrong?”

“I have something urgent to tell you, Duke.”

It was rare for a maid other than the butler to find him.

“Anthony. Come on, tell the Duke. Just tell him what you did.”

“I, I-“

Behind the maid, a slender maid appeared.

The duke frowned involuntarily.

It was a sight he had not seen in years.

This was common before Roselina got married.

‘Maybe it’s Roselina again?’

As if his guess was true, the maid hesitated to speak.

“But it’s just…”

“Why are you being so hesitant in front of the Duke?”

“I’m sorry.”

“I have no choice but to tell you instead, Duke. A little while ago, Roselina tried to take the life of her innocent maid.”

“What are you talking about?”

The maid bowed her head as if sorry, and continued her story.

“As the Duke knows, most of the people who lives in the mansion are those who have been cursed by the rose.”

The duke nodded with an uncomfortable expression.

It was true.

In the Empire, there were those who are not able receive roses physically.

The duke had the most severe symptoms, so even getting close to a rose could put his life in danger.

Naturally, there were no roses to be found in the mansion, and as a result, there are many in the mansion who were cursed by roses.

“It wasn’t enough for Roselina to bring in roses, but she also ordered this child to make a bouquet. Is there a lie in what I said?”

“No. But…”

“Is that really true?”

“Is there any reason why you should tell me a lie?”

When the duke asked coldly, Dorota shivered and nodded her head.

“I’ll have to meet Roselina first.”

As he left the office with Dorota and her maid, he could see Roselina as he walked a few steps.

“No matter how much you ask Lady Roselina, the Duke strictly forbids entry to this place.”

“What’s wrong with me going into my mother’s room?”

Rosalina was making a fuss in front of Beatrice’s room.

And a bouquet of roses in full bloom in her arms.

In an instant, the duke lost his reason.

“Roselina!”

He strode as if running to Roselina, throwing her bouquet away.

“What the hell is this?”

“I wanted to decorate her mother’s room. She loved roses. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make a fuss.”

Rosalina seemed about to say something, but the Duke cut her off.

He frantically took Rosalina’s hand and looked at it.

“Why didn’t you think that you could be in danger? You could die!”

“What?”

Roselina, like the duke, was cursed by roses.

In particular, her symptoms were severe enough to be counted in the Empire.

If she had brought that bouquet of roses from her room, her hands would have turned red and her skin dry.

‘Maybe even her life… huh?‘

The duke, who had clenched his teeth, lost his spirit and raised his head.

“What is this?”

Rosalina’s white hands were immaculately clean.

“I’m fine, Father.”

Roselina moved her body lightly and picked up the bouquet of roses that had fallen on the floor.

The duke did not even think of stopping her and looked as if possessed.

“It’s Mother’s birthday today, so please delay scolding me for a bit.”

“Who in the world is scolding you? I’m just worried about you.”

The duke felt uncomfortable while talking and swallowed.

Rosellina touched the rose.

It was such an emergency that the cold-hearted duke lost his reason and ran.

“Dorota!”

But why does she only post reports about Roselina when she did evil deeds?

“Ah, Duke…”

Dorota’s complexion turned blue.

A white window rose above the sound of the Duke’s roar.

[The Duke of Brighton’s favorability has increased by 20%.]

[Current Duke of Brighton’s favorability: -70%)]

｡+.｡☆ﾟ:;｡+ﾟ ☆*ﾟ¨ﾟﾟ･*:..ﾞ

‘I didn’t think that the duke would care so much.’

She thought he hated her, but it was an unexpected reaction.

She rolled my eyes and glanced at the maid.

A message was floating clearly next to her face, who struggles to act calmly.

[List of quests in progress (2/3)

]

Now that she have become proficient in using the system, she was able to control the screen window with just a blink of an eye.

Soon the second quest came to mind.

[Reverse Interference with Disruptors! (2)]

Now more and more saboteurs are appearing. As a saboteur appeared, the more cunning and preparation Roselina did than ever before.

[But if you give in to this degree, you can no longer change your destiny. Defeat the lesser saboteurs and move forward!

-Requirement: Defeat Dorota, the Lesser Obstructor

-Reward: 20 Fate Energy]

Seeing Dorota twitch her body, she rolled her eyes down in pity.

If she dug a trap there she should know that she might fall into it.

“Since when did it become the maid’s job to watch over and report about my daughter?”

The duke’s voice grew colder and colder.

She nodded her head slightly as she glanced at Anthony, who was standing behind the maid.

‘Great. The preparations are over.’

Dorota tried to frame her, but things didn’t go as she planned, so she’s probably thinking hard.

But it was useless.

‘Why? Because she read the number and drew a bigger picture one step ahead.’

Now she was going to show the bitter taste of life to the maid who was trying to frame her.

This is what happened.

[Summon was successful. You have acquired a rose whose status has been adjusted.]

[Your proficiency has been filled with repeated summons. You can level up the attribute .]

When she saw the arrangement of roses arranged neatly, she was proud of herself.

‘I have to level up as well.”

[Leveling up… You have successfully leveled up!]

[Current Rank: E]

[10 Fate Energy is paid as a level-up reward.]

[The range of items that can be summoned has been expanded!]

[The number of items that can be summoned at once has been increased to 2!]

[The number of simultaneous quests has been increased to 3!]

‘Nice!’

And more importantly.

‘It means she has an excuse to enter Beatrice’s room.’

Beatrice Brighton, Roselina’s mother. A treasure was hidden in her room.

‘No one knows until the heroine finds out.’

This, too, was caused by Roselina.

Poisoned by the abandoned mine incident, Roselina invites Daisy to the mansion.

The Duke of Brighton kept the room Beatrice had used when she was alive, and no one except the cleaning maid was allowed in.

Roselina made a commotion by shoving Daisy, who didn’t know the internal situation, into Beatrice’s room.

She believed that if the Duke of Brighton, who was one of the pillars of the aristocratic society, drove Daisy away, people would avoid her.

“Daisy went into my mother’s room on her own!”

“It’s not like that…”

“Besides, what is she holding in her hands? She must have stolen my mother’s things.”

But this time, the sky did not take the side of Roselina.