Subliminal Wayfarer

It was a day when the sky was particularly high and particularly blue.

More a day of early spring than of winter.

Young leaves were peeking out from the branches that had been dry all winter.

“Sister, look at this!”

While walking in the garden with Rosetta, Alicia pointed to the tender leaves with an excited face.

“It seems spring is about to come!”

Rosetta, met with such an innocent smile, smiled back and nodded.

“Indeed. It looks like spring is coming.”

“When it gets warmer, how about we go out?”

“Out? Sounds good. Where should we go?”

“Um… actually, as long as I’m with Sister, Brother, and Father, anywhere is fine!”

Rosetta was momentarily taken aback.

She thought it was just the two of them, but it turned out to be a family trip.

‘A family trip…’

Perhaps, it could be quite nice.

After the day they learned the shocking truth, there came a day.

The family sat down together to talk.

Urgent matters had gotten in the way before, but now, they could finally talk freely.

Throughout the conversation, the atmosphere was quiet and calm.

There were occasional sounds of someone sobbing, but soon someone would offer a handkerchief, and it would stop.

Even while feeling guilty themselves, no one blamed others.

That guilt also disappeared with the consolation of others.

Just like that.

That big secret passed much more trivially and quietly than expected.

In the end, we’re all family.

Under that conclusion.

Rosetta recalled the awkwardly smiling faces of her brother and father and let out a soft laugh.

“Yeah, anywhere is fine with me.”

Elated by the response, Alicia hopped happily.

“Oh, by the way, did you know? Ria returned to the mansion yesterday.”

“I heard from Diana. Alicia, you must be happy, your cute friend is back.”

“Come now. She’s not a friend. Aren’t I her big sister?!”

Alicia unexpectedly snapped back. Rosetta playfully shrugged her shoulders.

“What does age matter among friends?”

“But…but… I want to be a cool older sister too…”

Her voice trailed off.

And she averted her eyes as if embarrassed.

Rosetta understood why Alicia was so bashful.

The ‘cool sister’ she was referring to was surely ‘Rosetta’. Herself.

It must be embarrassing to say ‘I want to be like you’ in front of the person.

‘Really. So cute.’

What on earth does she eat to be this cute?

While Rosetta was silently fawning over her sister, she suddenly linked arms with Alicia.

“You’re already a cool sister as is. In fact, Alicia, you’re my older sister.”

“What? No… I don’t plan to be an older sister— No, I mean, I do want to be one, but not Sister’s older sister…”

“Pfft.”

“S…Sister!”

With her cheeks puffed, Alicia pulled her arm out of the lock and marched ahead.

Though she wouldn’t get far from Rosetta at that pace.

However, Rosetta didn’t immediately catch up with Alicia. Instead, she matched her pace.

“Ah, sorry. My bad, Alicia.”

“No! I can’t hear you!”

“Alicia~ Sister is sorry~”

It turned into a rather adorable game of tag in the broad daylight.

 

* * *

 

The game of tag ended after they had circled the garden once.

Alicia couldn’t hold back her laughter in response to Rosetta’s unusually teasing apology.

After having lunch together and chatting, Diana came to inform them that a visitor had arrived.

“A visitor? Who?”

Asking since there were no expected visitors, Diana glanced at Alicia once before answering.

“From the bookstore.”

The bookstore.

Guessing who the visitor was, Rosetta smiled and stood up.

“Now that I think about it, there was a book that I ordered. The bookstore owner and I have gotten quite close, so I’d like to greet them. Is that okay, Alicia?”

“Of course. Take your time and have a good talk. I’ll go see Ria in the meantime.”

At the mention of the name Ria, Diana smiled softly.

The look she gave Alicia was so full of affection it almost overflowed.

It was clear she was deeply grateful to Alicia for being so good to Ria.

‘That’s nice to see.’

Rosetta smiled warmly at the lovely sight of the two, then playfully tapped Diana on the shoulder.

“Let’s go then.”

“Ah, yes!”

Fluttering with a response, Diana bowed slightly to Alicia before leaving the room.

“Then, I’ll be off first. Thank you for always playing together with Ria, Milady.”

“There’s no need to thank me. I enjoy playing with Ria. And actually….”

I really appreciate you looking after me all this time as well, Diana.

Diana looked at Alicia with a slightly sentimental gaze.

‘Thank you for protecting me.’

Those words were a great comfort to Diana, who had blamed herself for not being able to protect Alicia properly.

Though it’s all in the past now, there were moments when she felt overwhelmed by her own incompetence.

But being told, ‘Thank you for protecting me.’

Wasn’t it like saying that she wasn’t completely incompetent after all?

“To hear you say that… it’s truly an honor.”

Diana replied with a bright smile, a tear glistening at the corner of her eye.

 

* * *

 

“It’s been a while, Ducal Lady.”

“Indeed, has it been a month?”

“Yes, I believe so… It’s been about a month since I bumped into the Young Duke during his visit.”

Blanca clapped her hands together as she spoke.

The ‘visit’ she mentioned was, of course, referring to Cassion’s visit.

On the day of the incident, Cassion, who went straight to the imperial palace to explain what had happened, fell unconscious right after meeting the emperor.

Though Diana’s brought medicine helped with the emergency treatment, the subsequent fight with Leo had overloaded his body.

Rosetta was in the palace as well to report what she had witnessed. But upon hearing the news, she rushed to Cassion straight away.

She stayed with Cassion in the palace’s guest room and nursed him all night.

Though calling it nursing was a stretch since all she did was stay by his side.

But the impact of this night was significant.

The next day, not just the palace but the entire nobility was abuzz with the scandal of Rosetta and Cassion.

 

“Ducal Lady Valentine stayed by Young Duke Carter’s side all night.”

 

As was the way with rumors, they snowballed.

By the time Damian and the Duke heard of it, the rumor had morphed into ‘the two are inseparable’.

People were already speculating when they would get engaged.

Damian and the Duke were taken aback, but the damage was done.

Moreover, they had already suspected Rosetta and Cassion’s close relationship, so they quietly called Rosetta to talk to her.

 

“If you’re happy… that’s enough for us.”

“Huh? Suddenly?”

 

Of course, Rosetta was bewildered.

Suddenly called, only to be told that as long as she’s happy, it’s fine.

It sounded like something parents about to marry off their daughter would say.

She thought it was a bit premature but smiled and nodded, pretending not to mind.

‘It’s not bad for me.’

Especially since the relationship between the two houses had not been the best, she had worried about getting their relationship acknowledged in the future…

But it seemed like things had worked out without her having to lift a finger.

“So, are you getting married this year?”

As they chatted about the scandal, Blanca casually inquired.

Marriage…

Rosetta shrugged her shoulders.

“First, we need to deal with urgent matters. Cassion has been very busy. He lost his entire family in the span of a month, and the position of duke became vacant.”

After that day.

Ultimately, the duke did not last a month and succumbed to his illness.

Or rather, he died from poison.

As a result, Cassion had been running around without rest, trying to quickly assume his title.

And the duchess…

“Aha. Right, of course.”

Blanca replied with a half-beat delay, smiling gently.

Her demeanor as she sipped her tea was relaxed and elegant.

Rosetta gazed at her thoughtfully, then whispered with a twitch of her eyebrow.

“So you’re pretending not to know.”

“Pardon?”

Blanca blinked, a puzzled look on her face.

Rosetta tapped the table with her fingernail, a bit cheekily, at the rather brazen attitude.

“According to Logan, you’ve been quite busy lately. And coincidentally, right around that time, the Duchess was caught by the authorities. An anonymous tip came in that the Duchess was an accomplice of Leo and Daniel. All of this… is it just a coincidence?”

Tap. 

The sound of tapping on the table stopped abruptly with her words.

Blanca still faced Rosetta with a straight posture, a sly and somewhat bitter smile spreading across her lips.

She placed a long finger over her lips, as if indicating a secret.

“As you know, Ducal Lady, my guild is quite discreet. Let’s just say… it was a request from a noblewoman who lost her husband long ago.”

Rosetta nodded instead of probing further, thinking to herself what an impressive woman she must be, whoever she was.

“You’ve been through a lot, Blanca. And know that I’m always grateful.”

Blanca paused at the casual word of comfort.

Her hand brushed the ring on her left ring finger once more.

Then, Blanca lifted her head and gave her a bright smile.

“Now, shall we enjoy a delightful settling of accounts?”

 

* * *

 

A few days later, in the evening.

Today, the streets were overflowing with people.

Though it was already dark, the long rows of street stalls lit by colorful lanterns made it not so dim.

The atmosphere was even more vibrant than during the daytime.

It made sense.

Today was a festival day.

The festival was organized by the imperial family to console those who had been victimized by Daniel and Leo.

It also aimed to rejuvenate the spirits of the empire’s citizens who had been subdued by the menacing atmosphere.

Since all festivals had been canceled after the hunting event, people were ecstatic about this long-awaited festival.

There were already a few drunkards stumbling around after a few drinks.

“Ahh, this feels great. When was the last time we had a festival like this!”

“Exactly. Hiccup. Oh, did you hear that story?”

“What story?”

“Why, about the Young Duke who caught the monster. Turns out, he was originally disowned by the ducal family. And, and… he was nearly murdered by that villain, but Lady Valentine saved him!”

“Oh! Lady Valentine, you mean the one who received a medal of honor from His Majesty a few weeks ago?”

“Right, right! She discovered the monster’s weakness first during the hunting festival and helped people. But instead of gratitude, she was unjustly suspected because of some strange rumors.”

“Tsk, tsk, what a world we live in. These nobles…”

The man shook his head, lamenting.

“But it’s good that things have been set right now.”

“Yeah. Plus, I heard the two are inseparable lovers… Ah, it’s like a beautiful fairy tale, isn’t it?”

“Exactly! I’m in favor of this marriage!”

“Me too, me too!”

The two men stopped walking and raised their hands high.

Passersby glanced at them, their loud voices standing out even in the bustling atmosphere.

People started discussing the story they had just overheard.

The rumor grew even larger.

And here.

There were those who had heard the boisterous conversation.

“Did you hear? They’re in favor of the marriage.”

A woman with long, neatly braided red hair whispered, and the blonde man’s face turned bright red.