Chapter 138
The contents of the letter went on like this:
He said that it’s a pity that neither Alicia nor I were holding a birthday ball.
So, to soothe the disappointment, he would like to hold a small little get-together over tea with both us sisters and Daniel.
If you don’t mind, please accept my invitation.
At first glance, it sounded like a casual invitation, but yet again, it was coercion posing as a recommendation.
The time and place had already been written at the bottom.
About ten days before Alicia’s birthday.
At Leo’s place.
If he was truly just asking the other person if they’d like to go, wasn’t the time and place supposed to be set after the answer had returned to him?
This letter was ever so subtly dismissing that fact.
As if he had never even fathomed that I wouldn’t show up.
At this rate, even though Alicia and I weren’t throwing banquets for our birthdays, wasn’t this the same thing as that anyway?
Right after the red letter, I opened up the blue one and saw that its contents were similar.
No. This one’s more presumptuous, even explicitly saying, ‘Let’s meet on that day’.
“What are you going to do, Milady? Will you go?”
As Diana asked, she went up and down on her tiptoes, anxious.
From these invitations alone, anyone could guess that those two were up to something.
Even more so if one of those two really was Urien.
However.
“Yes, I’ll go.”
I did not contemplate for long.
No, I didn’t even contemplate at all in the first place.
“To catch a tiger, I’ll have to meet that tiger first, won’t I?”
Since I had to identify which of the two was Urien sooner or later, I’d need to interact with them to a certain degree.
I’d have to meet them to confirm it.
In other words, this was an inevitable situation.
Well, I was already thinking of how I could meet those two even before this.
Judging from what happened during the hunting festival, Urien already knew who I was.
I had already been caught anyway, so there was nothing more to be cautious about in that regard.
However, it’s not as if I had no worries at all.
“Then, will you be going with Lady Alicia?”
Diana asked carefully.
It was a question that could not be easily answered.
Because the answer to that question was exactly what I was worried about.
Alicia’s presence in such a meeting.
I didn’t want her to meet Leo, and more importantly, I didn’t want her to face Urien, whose ident.i.ty I still wasn’t sure of.
She’s too precious to show to those two.
“I’m not sure. As much as possible, I want her to stay behind, but…”
I had no idea whether things would go the way I wanted them to.
In any case, I figured that I should meet Alicia and talk to her about this.
I glanced at the clock and realized that it was almost time for my appointment.
I roughly threw the two letters into a drawer and stood up.
“Happy birthday again, Lady Rosetta.”
As we left through the door, Diana’s greeting followed after me.
“Yes, thank you.”
It’s not even my real birthday, but it didn’t feel terrible to receive such sincere greetings.
* * *
“That letter? I already sent a reply saying that I will go.”
Answering energetically, Alicia blinked her big, doe eyes as if there was not a single problem with what she just said.
Her innocent expression left me speechless.
With how excited she was right now, it became difficult for me to explain exactly why she shouldn’t go.
I was supposed to be cold and impartial, but why was it that every time I’m in front of her, I always get so weak-willed?
It’s like the heart of a parent who’s raising a child.
“By any chance, Sister… you can’t go? Or that you don’t want to go, but I did something wrong… If that’s the case, if I just write a letter and send it now…!”
As I kept my lips tightly shut and said nothing, Alicia fidgeted and stuttered.
She acted more and more as if she had done a grave sin, but I shook my head and calmed her down.
“It’s not like that. I’m just trying to make sure that you really want to go.”
“Ah, I thought I made a mistake again… Actually, I do want to go. Lord Daniel got hurt because of me, so I want to check with my own eyes if he’s doing alright now. And… he’s also my friend… I’ve never received a birthday wish from a friend before, so I’m a little excited.”
Indeed, Alicia should have had a huge coming-of-age celebration this year.
She must be feeling upset that, all of a sudden, she couldn’t hold a birthday ball anymore.
Even though it was her own decision, it was an inevitable outcome largely due to the situation.
I also felt somewhat apologetic.
Well, this… I lost the right timing to say what I came here to tell her.
Feeling a feeble influx of emptiness, I kept a smile on my lips even as I was awash with a brief moment of despair.
But what could I do when it already happened.
I just have to be more alert, to do my best to protect her.
“Alright, then let’s go together and have a good time.”
As I gave her a smile, so too did Alicia immediately smile at me.
It was nice to see that fair smile of hers, so I thought it was enough.
However, I need to make sure that she’d do what I ask her now.
“Still, Alicia. Don’t offer too much of your trust to him.”
“Huh?”
“It’s just… You’ve just known each other for a short time. It’s too early to tell whether he’s a good person that you’d give your trust to him. I know I must just be anxious for no reason, but you understand, right?”
“Of course, Sister. Just as you say, I’ll be careful.”
Alicia looked a bit perplexed as she listened to me say this, but she soon replied while nodding vigorously.
Katie flashed through my mind at that moment.
It frustrated me how that woman suddenly poked at my mind for no reason, but the ensuing anger was inevitable.
I deliberately spoke with a more lively voice now to change the slightly subdued atmosphere.
“Anyway, thank you for the gift. I’ll use it well.”
When I brought her attention to the brooch on my chest, her wide eyes followed after my pointing finger.
Again, the glow of excitement replaced the gloomy expression on her face.
“You’re wearing it?!”
“I should, of course. A certain someone gave it to me.”
“Do you like it, Sister?”
“I like it a lot. I’ll cherish it for the rest of my life, and I’ll pa.s.s it down to my descendants as a prized heirloom. Oh, never mind, I’ll bring it with me to my grave.”
At the exaggerated joke, Alicia burst into laughter.
“Sister, do you know that you’re talented in making jokes?”
“I’m not sure. It should be among my few talents.”
“Gosh. Oh, but still… Thank you for liking my gift to you.”
As Alicia said so, she bowed her head slightly.
Her closed lips quivered a little.
I didn’t have a clear look on her expression because of her hair.
“Alicia?”
“Happy… birthday, Sister.”
I called her briefly, and her voice followed.
Still, her face was covered by her hair as she was looking down.
So, I couldn’t see.
What kind of expression was Alicia making when she said that?
How deep did her nails drive into the flesh of her palms, hidden behind her back?
Exactly how was she celebrating my birthday as she was enduring the stinging pain digging into her skin?
It was only a little later that I found out about everything.
* * *
As always, a meal with the whole family went on with a bit of awkwardness here, some humdrum there.
Apart from the dishes being more colorful and extravagant than usual, my birthday meal wasn’t all that different from what we had on any other day.
Then, finally.
The long-awaited time had come.
The secret library.
After our meal, the duke and I excused ourselves first.
At that moment, tension rose in the air.
Without a single word, the duke took the lead and I followed him quietly.
As we pa.s.sed through the long, meandering hallways of the main building, we encountered no one else.
It seemed as if everyone was dismissed from this area for the sake of the ceremony.
In its own way, it was an important and sacred ceremony, so there should be no uninvited guests present.
If that’s the case, I couldn’t help but think that I was the biggest uninvited guest here.
Right, well it pa.s.sed through my mind only briefly.
After we entered a drawing room and crossed it, we soon reached the library at the end of a long corridor.
The library looked normal.
As a matter of fact, I was used to this library because I had come to look for some books a few times here.
Then, was there a hidden pa.s.sageway towards the secret library from here?
It didn’t take long for my question to be answered.
The duke stopped in front of a large bookshelf.
Then, amongst the densely stored books, he took out a few books from about the middle and placed them elsewhere on the shelf.
As such, the books were seemingly placed in vague new positions, but at precisely the eighth book repositioned—
Rattle, creeeeak. Da-dum.
A series of noises came forth from the bookshelf, then it soon moved sideways.
In a way, you could say that it was an ordinary hidden door, but now that I was facing it, I gulped for no reason.
I also recalled my first meeting with Blanca, who had come out of a painting’s frame at the Larrington Hotel.
The s.p.a.ce that appeared from within the bookshelf was dark.
The duke picked up a mana lamp that was hanging at one side of the shelf, then he turned obliquely a bit.
As he looked ambiguously sideways, my eyes met with his.
“Let’s go.”
After saying so, he held out his empty hand.
His hand, as it was reflected in my eyes, was so strange.
Apparently, it seemed like this was also the first time for ‘Rosetta’ to see the duke’s hand so closely.
For the entire nineteen years of her life, and now at the twentieth birthday.
But now, I was the one who would take his hand.
What a peculiar feeling.
It’s not even my birthday, nor was I the real Rosetta. Why was I feeling these strange things?
I was grateful towards him for taking my side without any hesitation despite all the odd rumors surrounding me, but once in a while—whenever this kind of moment happened—I sometimes get a strange feeling like this.
Was it an emotion left in this body?
Rosetta was sad, while I was not.
But wasn’t this just funny?
I looked up at the duke’s face silently.
“Do I have to hold your hand?”
The words I uttered unknowingly were very blunt.
However, he stared back at me without a single change in expression, nor any hint of rebuke.
Still, he did not retract his hand.
I stared at it a while longer, feeling strange, but I slowly reached towards his hand and held it.
It was a little cold.
I couldn’t tell whether it was my fingertips or the duke’s that were cold.