12. Rosa Wants to Avoid Flags (6)
Dorothea scoffed when she saw that Rosa was standing still as her children, Leon and Chris, stared daggers at her, like a pair of knights protecting a princess.
No, it wasn’t just Leon and Chris.
The capricious healer, who was rumored to hate Berg, glowered at her. Even the priests, who were supposed to love everyone equally, had impatient looks on their faces.
A noble and benevolent Angel of Rose cherished by all… What nonsense.
Leon and the others fell in love with that girl, and at a glance, Dorothea could see how gorgeous she was. Not to mention, she was also intelligent.
Rosa gave up her dress for those in need, and harbored no ill will towards Petronella, who didn’t even bother to conceal her hostility. But when her friend, Chris, was being insulted, she immediately sprang into action.
The girl certainly seemed kind.
However, Dorothea, who had a fair amount of experience as the queen of a great power, could never believe that such a perfect woman existed.
Usually, it was either a façade created based on strong calculations, or that she was simply a sheltered girl who was oblivious towards hardship or malice.
How cherished and sheltered you must be, growing up.
Dorothea sneered.
She was once a princess who was loved not only for her beauty, but also for her pure heart.
She believed in goodness—in love, and when the King of Berg laid eyes on her, she left her home, vowing to be a chaste wife.
And where did that get her?
She was tormented at every opportunity by the former queen, who didn’t want a woman from a vassal country to become her successor.
Dorothea’s ladies-in-waiting, who she thought had her back, turned out to be bribed by the former queen, and sometimes being subjected to severe bullying, so they quickly left Dorothea.
The king didn’t even care about Dorothea. All the king saw in her was her blonde hair and sparkling green eyes. He wanted an heir with physical attributes befitting the royal family.
Dorothea was only there to be a trophy wife and a breeding mare.
In the end, the former queen bestowed her a garden of tuberoses, the flower of promiscuity.
With the last ounce of her willpower, Dorothea smiled calmly despite being dragged through the mud.
Thus, in order to protect herself from malice and temptations, Dorothea kept her vulnerable maids at bay and assembled a bunch of sturdy men as pages. Also, in order to avoid being attacked, she made sure they looked as pristine as possible in terms of appearance.
Since talented subordinates often betrayed their master, she paired up rival families to keep each other in check without ever forgetting to monitor them herself.
Had her son been born with ordinary physical attributes, she’d send him to her homeland before the king could lay a finger on him.
When her daughter joined the race for crown prince, while making sure that Chris wouldn’t be looked down on for being a woman, the queen also secured an alternative so that Chris wouldn’t be crushed by heavy responsibility. That was where Kamil came in.
After Chris withdrew from the race, the queen emphasized her femininity before addressing anyone else, aiming to better prepare Chris for the challenges that awaited her as a woman, dispelling any unrealistic expectations she might have had.
Dorothea had long accepted that her understanding and admiration had no place in court.
She just wanted to protect herself and her children.
Hence why, she despised that sheltered girl.
You can still smile now, because you have no idea what suffering is like.
Looking at that girl was akin to confronting her old self, whom she had lost.
“I asked Rosa von Langheim, not you. Do you want to drink the tea I brewed or not?”
Dorothea smiled provocatively, only to notice that the girl was undaunted.
Despite her hostile environment, the girl still stared at the area where the pages were waiting.
All of the sudden, the girl gasped; the color of her purple eyes deepened.
“Ms. Langheim, are you listening? Will you drink this tea or not? If you don’t want to, it’s fine. Never show your face in front of me again from now on.”
“—Your Majesty, that’s too much.”
When Dorothea spoke while suspecting something, the girl finally turned around with an impatient look on her face.
For some reason, the girl seemed more upset about the ban on approaching the queen than being eliminated from being the prince’s fiancée candidates.
The girl slowly closed her eyes, resolving herself.
The next time she opened her eyes, her purple eyes were so radiant, akin to gleaming jewels, and they looked straight at Dorothea.
“I’ll do as you say, I’ll reveal my true nature to you. My dark, twisted side.”
“…What are you—?”
Dorothea was caught off guard by her unexpected reaction.
However, the girl paid no heed to Dorothea’s confusion, gracefully pointing into the distance.
“—For example, I… I find that page with chestnut-colored hair and that one with robust physique suspicious.”
“Suspicious…?”
Knitting her eyebrows, Dorothea quickly followed where she was pointing.
Rosa was pointing at her two most capable pages.
As a result of pairing rival houses together, there were constant skirmishes, but those two were an exception. For that reason, Dorothea could keep the two by her side with a peace of mind.
“At first glance, it may seem like they are on bad terms, and that there’s no chemistry between them. Nevertheless, I can’t help but think that it’s just a front. In truth, they have twisted desires and are pretending so as not to give away their feelings.”
Dorothea was taken aback by the girl’s solemn announcement.
In other words, was that girl saying that her pages were secretly plotting against her!?
“…I didn’t expect that coming from you.”
Surprised by her sudden confession, and above all by its content, Dorothea instinctively muttered, and the girl bitterly shook her head.
“And yet, I can’t stop thinking about it. I’d stare at them with bated breath, shuddering at the thought that they may have gone astray. Perhaps, they already have.”
“Rosa…”
Chris and Leon thoughtfully muttered her name.
They took it that Rosa was afraid of men because of her tragic past.
But of course, Rosa was just gushing about her rottenness.
—I confess, Your Majesty the Queen. I’m a shameless noblewoman who didn’t hesitate to fantasize about your pages. I even came up with the theory that they might already be a couple.
Your Majesty, contrary to your expectations, I’ve been thinking about it the whole time.
Until she figured out the queen’s level of rottenness, Rosa avoided using technical terms as much as possible, but such was the translation of what she said earlier.
After admitting to her rottenness, Rosa exhaled her breath for once.
Now comes the crucial moment—
Rosa steeled herself, staring straight at the queen.
“…Isn’t it the same for you, Your Majesty?”
Seeing Dorothea’s eyes widen in surprise, Rosa became more and more convinced.
“You indulge in extravagance and debauchery—such evaluations, solely based on outward appearance, are shallow. When in truth, you’re simply observing those gentlemen from afar, discerning their various thoughts.”
“…!”
The queen gasped.
That’s it! I knew it…!
As expected, Her Majesty the Queen is also a ‘noblewoman,’ isn’t she!?
Rosa teared up in excitement.
Her heart pounded, and blood drained from her face, but Rosa suppressed it, and took a step toward the queen.
“No matter how much you try to hide it, you can’t fool my eyes. The way you look at your pages, your enthusiasm for reading, the tea set from Dilsen, the hidden roses… The clues are everywhere.”
Rosa, of course, intended to present proof that Dorothea was a noblewoman, just like her.
But to the unsuspecting queen, it came off as, ‘Unlike the rumors, Your Majesty the Queen is a well-educated woman who carefully selects high-quality tea sets and likes roses, the symbol of integrity.’
When Leon and Chris heard the unexpected assessment of the queen, they looked back at Dorothea with obvious surprise.
Overcome with emotion, Rosa excitedly pulled out the rose she had put in her hair and offered it to Dorothea.
“I’m convinced that you’re a true noblewoman who is more deserving of a rose than anyone else. I sincerely hope that Her Majesty will bestow even a sliver of her grace on me.”
She offered the rose as a symbol of friendship and proof of camaraderie.
—With this flower as the witness, the queen and I will swear allegiance to the God of Rose and become the Apostles of Rose!
Rosa went on, feeling feverish.
“After all, it seems like you’re looking for a friend… Someone who understands your true nature!”
Dorothea trembled as if she had been struck in the softest part of her heart.
She stared back at Rosa, wide-eyed.
“…How did you?”
There was no longer any fear in her voice.
Instead, there was a feeling of surprise, vulnerability, and desperation, like a lost child who had finally been reunited with her parents.
She’s responding…!
Taking the lack of objection as an affirmation, Rosa cleared her throat.
Can she believe my words?
Rosa stared unwaveringly at the queen. Her intuition told her that to win her friendship, she needed to take a step forward, now.
“Do you not believe me? By earning your trust, will you finally see me as a friend? In that case…”
Rosa unconsciously clenched her fist.
Previously, didn’t the queen especially tell her that if she wanted to gain her trust, she had to drink the mud tea?
Otherwise, I’m all talk.
Rosa was willing to do anything if it was for the sake of rottenness!
At the very least, she wanted to do everything she could to prevent herself from being prohibited from approaching the queen.
But by drinking this, I’ll end up becoming His Highness Leon’s fiancée…
Her thoughts were swirling in her head.
Dorothea urged her to show her resolve through her actions, and that was by drinking the mud tea.
However, to avoid being engaged to the prince, she mustn’t drink the Queen’s cup.
Now that it has come to this…!
Rosa made up her mind.
Rosa shoved the rose into the hands of the queen, who tensed up, and swiftly took the cup of tea. Not the cup offered to Rosa, but the cup that the queen poured for herself.
I know I can be a bit slow sometimes, but with his, even if it’s a “tea brewed by Her Majesty the Queen,” it’s not the “Queen’s cup, which is offered to the young lady.”
Regardless, it’d be against the spirit of the place if she didn’t add mud, so she quickly kneeled and tried to shovel the dirt that was stuck to the bottom of her heel.
“What…!?”
“Rosa—!?”
Chris yelled in shock. In actuality, during her times as a researcher, when she was tending to the soil, she had tasted soil several times.
Rosa’s internal organs broke down rotten matter well.
If you think about it, the soil in the garden that has withered in the winter is the same as mulch.
With this, I can prove once and for all that I’m rotten, Your Majesty!
Without hesitation, Rosa drank all the tea in one go.
“Rosa von Langheim…!”
The queen shrieked.
Rosa gulped down every last drop of her drink, before quietly putting the cup back on the saucer.
“Rosa!”
“Rosa, you idiot…! Hurry up and spit it out! Hey, open your mouth!”
Rosa closed her eyes, ignoring Ladu and others who rushed to grab her shoulders.
Her favorite rose tea, which she handpicked, had a hint of sweetness even without added sugar. Stickiness pervaded her mouth, but it only added to the flavor. At the same time, she thought of the men of Dilsen who were reunited at last, right on her lips.
Marvelous, simply marvelous.
Love, hate, unfinished business, hope, and regret—all of those emotions are intertwined together.
Sweet and bitter, sticky and hopelessly pungent…
Pungent?
“Pungent…?”
After she had swallowed, Rosa held her throat.
What is…?
She could literally feel something foul, or rather an indescribably disgusting aftertaste.
No, it wasn’t so much a bad aftertaste as it was an intense pain.
“—…Uuh.”
Suddenly, something hot rose up from her stomach, and Rosa immediately covered her mouth with both hands.
“Urk…”
She covered her mouth and coughed. When she saw her palm, it was dyed red.
“…”
“Rosa!?”
Huh?
Huh, huh, huh…?
As soon as she saw the color of fresh blood, her vision suddenly swirled.
Her ears were ringing.
It’s hot, but it’s also cold—
—it hurts!
I don’t feel so good…
It took her quite some time to realize that the dull thud that reached her ears was caused by her own fallen body.
“Rosa! Stay with me, Rosa!”
“It’s poisoned! Dammit, someone, fetch me water, hot water, and goat’s milk!”
“Rosa von Langheim! …Rosa!”
People were making a fuss as they circled around her.
As both her hearing and vision receded, Rosa caught a sight of the gorgeous Dorothea. The woman was pale and grief-stricken.
“Capture those pages! The two people Rosa pointed at earlier—the ones with chestnut hair and the one with a fit physique!”
Huh?
Strange.
Why would Her Majesty say such a thing?
Rosa thought absentmindedly, but suddenly, someone hugged her tight, and she was about to melt away.
“Rosa, you moron! You’ve got to be kidding me! Pull yourself together!”
A pair of strong arms embraced her.
The arms, which belonged to an adult, made her feel nostalgic and relieved, instead of excited.
Who…?
She thought in a haze.
“Healer! This poison, which doesn’t react to silver, isn’t just any poison! Judging from the symptoms, it’s probably a festering poison made of the blood of a cursed demonic beast, which corrodes the intestines!”
Rosa slowly lost her consciousness as she heard Anton screaming.
Previous | Table of Contents | Next
Thank you for the translation