Side Story. Rose's Past and Present in the Original (2)
Should I sneak up and surprise Sir Buttern?
Jaden, whose eyes sparkled with a playful expression, quickly shook his head.
"Even if they call your name, and even if I call Rose's name... Don't show yourself. Don't let anyone see you until I show up and find you."
The voice of the eldest son, who had been urging him, grabbed his ankle.
Jaden, who had become sullen, looked at Rose in front of him. Then, his expression quickly brightened.
"I'm Rose's knight!"
Rose's eyes widened at Jaden's sudden words.
"Rose's knight is my brother Noah."
Jaden felt a pang when she called his eldest son's name instead of his own, but he held it in.
"No. My brother told me to be Rose's knight."
He let out an 'ahem' and straightened his chest.
Rose blinked her round eyes wide and smiled brightly.
Jaden, instantly delighted by Rose's smile, flashed his white teeth.
"Miss! Prince!"
At that moment, the escort knight's voice rang out again.
Rose tilted her head, asking Jaden,
"Two taggers? That old man keeps calling for Rose."
Jaden tilted his head, also puzzled.
Was there really two taggers, as Rose said? Was that why the escort knight was calling for him and Rose?
Young Jaden nodded, thinking,
"Yes. Sir Buttern must be a tagger too! I guess my brother wanted to find us first and told us not to come out."
He accepted his eldest son Noah's words with utter innocence.
"I think so. Two taggers? That's too cruel."
"Hmm. That's right. Rose's heart is pounding."
Not one, but two taggers. It was thrilling.
Jaden and Rose giggled, clasping each other's hands.
Unaware that their brother had met a terrible tragedy beyond the wall, Rose and Jaden simply thought of this as a game.
"Let's never get caught, us."
Jaden whispered to Rose, and Rose nodded, trying to suppress the laughter that was forming on her cheeks.
Rose and Jaden peeked out. The escort knight, despite his gentle voice, was searching for Rose and Jaden with a cold expression.
"Oh, brother. I think the tagger is getting closer."
"Really."
"What should we do?"
"Let's run away over there."
Jaden and Rose ran down the alley, hand in hand.
The children's faces were bright and innocent, their faces bright and innocent.
The villagers, seeing the two pink-haired noble children running around, tilted their heads.
"Those children are running around without an escort."
What if they get kidnapped?
She watched the backs of Rose and Jaden with a look of extreme worry.
After a long moment of observing the alley where they had disappeared, the woman returned to her work.
Just then, the escort knight appeared, looking around.
“Have you seen two children nearby?”
The escort knight continued with an urgent expression.
“Oh, I’m a knight of the Jerni family. I’m looking for the Prince and the young lady who have disappeared.”
The woman pointed in the direction Rose and Jayden had run without much suspicion.
“They went that way.”
The corners of the escort knight’s mouth quirked at the woman’s answer.
“Thank you.”
Rose and Jaden crouched in the cramped box and giggled.
“If we stay here, they’ll never find us, right?”
“Yeah. Neither Noah Brother nor Sir Buttern will be able to find Rose.”
Every time Rose and Jaden laughed, the boils surrounding them rippled.
After laughing for a while, Jaden looked at Rose seriously.
“Rosr, I don’t think this will work.”
“Why?”
“It seems too cramped here.”
Jaden jumped up and threw the box.
Rose burst out laughing at the sight of Jaden.
At that moment, a nearby escort knight heard Rose’s faint laughter. He walked closer and closer to Rose and Jaden with leisurely steps.
Jaden, who was looking at Rose’s happily smiling face, suddenly heard the sound of mysterious footsteps.
“Ah, Rose. It looks like Sir Buttern is coming! Let’s hide quickly.”
The two looked around. There wasn't a single place to hide.
Jaden, who was darting his eyes here and there, caught something in his eye. His eyes sparkled, and he grabbed Rose's hand.
"Let's go over there."
There was a hole in the wall where Jaden pointed, barely big enough for a child to fit through.
"Ro-Rose doesn't want that."
Rose shook her head, looking at the narrow passage.
"If we keep going like this, Lord Buttern will catch us."
At Jaden's words, Rose squeezed her eyes shut and crawled inside the wall.
Just as she was about to put Rose in, she saw the legs of the knight's guard rounding the corner.
There wasn't enough time to get inside the wall. Jaden ran toward the box where Rose and he had been hiding.
Just as he was about to hide inside, he came face-to-face with Knight Buttern.
"There you are, Your Master."
"Ah."
Jaden, trying to hide his small frame, opened his eyes wide and froze.
“...Are you alone? Where is Miss?”
“I’m alone. I don’t know where Rose is.”
Jaden scratched his head and answered without a trace of doubt.
Rose, hiding behind the wall, covered her mouth with both hands to suppress her laughter and giggled.
However, Rose’s laughter didn’t last long.
“I see.”
The knight’s cold voice was followed by a scream.
Rose instinctively covered her ears.
The piercing, horrific noises mingled together in a strange, terrifying way.
How long had passed?
No more screams could be heard.
The knight’s footsteps trudged toward her.
Rose held her breath, her face paling. Perhaps he hadn’t imagined Rose hiding in a tiny hole too small for an adult to fit through, as he quickly exited the alley.
Rose couldn’t believe what she heard with her own ears and saw with her own eyes.
Rose, who collapsed on the spot, was rescued by a nearby resident.
The Serviat family barely survived the bloody storm, but their survival was not easy.
More than ten years later, Rose, now eighteen, had grown into a quiet child, her childhood bright and cheerful demeanor gone.
Her lifeless eyes were always staring blankly into space, and she often seemed lost in thought.
Then one day, Rose's eyes sparkled, and she spoke to the Serviats.
"I want to go to a banquet."
Rose, who had never expressed a desire to do anything before, suddenly wanted to go to a banquet.
The Serviats exchanged glances.
"Yes. It seems you're becoming interested in banquets like other young ladies your age."
Rose gave a mysterious smile at her mother's words and replied softly.
"...Yes."
At the banquet... there's someone I absolutely must meet.
A chilling madness flashed through Rose's eyes as she smiled faintly. Her entire family had been slaughtered.
Not only the cousins who cared for her, but even the friends she played with vanished in an instant.
Rose, the only survivor, felt like she wasn't truly alive.
Surviving at the cost of everyone else's death was a bittersweet experience.
Her pale, frail hands clenched into fists, shaking violently.
It felt like her aunt's death that day, and the deaths of her cousins, were all her fault.
'If only I hadn't pestered my mother to go see my brothers that day...'
This tragedy might not have happened.
Her aunt and uncle... and her brothers might have survived, escorted by knights.
That day... was the day her aunt's family, who had planned to go on vacation, postponed their plans by a day because of Rose. That day...
She should have just let her aunt go.
She should have let her cousins go.
If she had, the capital wouldn't have been hit by such a terrible tragedy.
Everyone died because of Rose, who had insisted on playing with her brothers before they left.
It was all her fault.
She blamed herself, over and over again, until her heart was torn to shreds.
But blaming herself didn't change anything.
Her parents, the Serviats, remained quiet, fearing harm to the Grand Duke of Artaeum and the other surviving nobles. They didn't even dream of revenge.
But Rose had no intention of remaining silent.
She had to avenge the dead.
Sir Buttern, who had betrayed her aunt and killed them all. He had committed that terrible act at the instigation of Count Wence.
"Yes. I can't kill everyone, but Sir Buttern... and the Count of Wence... ... "
I will completely destroy them.
I will destroy them ruthlessly.
Just like you ruined my life... my family!
"I will... destroy everything you have."
Rose attended the banquet wearing a simple dress that Rivera had brought her.
The gossip of the noble ladies whispering about her was of no importance to her.
To her, only Eric, the son of the Count of Wence, mattered.
Rose stared intently at Eric, surrounded by noble ladies with a dazzling face.
'I found it. The bloodline of the Count of Wence.'
Eric, sensing Rose's intense gaze, turned his head slightly toward Rose.
At that moment, Cedric and Tercia forcefully pushed Rose's shoulder.
"Ah..."
"You dirty thing. Who are you looking at now? You have an eye for appearances."
Tercia humiliated Rose in front of a crowd. The surrounding nobles, as if they had made a pact, unanimously laughed.
Rose stared blankly at Tercia and Cedric.
It was her first time seeing Cedric and Tercia up close.
Unlike her parents, they were adorned with dazzling jewels.
Expensive jewelry and dresses were immediately apparent. And their dapper faces caught her eye.
Yes, it was you.
The ones who destroyed everything in me. And you, who threw me into hell... And here you are, laughing like this.
Rose's temper sank.
She followed Tercia and Cedric with her eyes. After insulting Rose, they headed towards her son, Eric.
Rose had planned to kill Cedric today.
She had hidden a dagger inside her thigh, nestled within her voluminous skirt, and planned to stab her enemy when the moment came.
Even the weakest rat would bite a cat when cornered.
Her resentment toward the Count of Wence was so overwhelming that he felt he needed to do something to find peace.
However, today's banquet soon revealed the sheer ignorance of her plan.
Breaking through and killing the knights guarding Cedric, Eric, and Tercia was next to impossible.
She realized firsthand how high the invisible wall stood between herself and Count Wence.
'Should I give up...?'
Anger welled up in her.
Her helplessness in the face of her enemy was almost comical.
Rose stared blankly at the Count Wence family. He hated Cedric's smile at Eric.
Don't laugh. Don't laugh so happily. Don't laugh like that after ruining our family's happiness!
'I wish you too... were as unhappy as me.'
Cedric, who was smiling happily, saw Eric at the end of his gaze.
Suddenly, a plan for revenge popped into Rose's mind.
'...Yes. I found it. A proper way to get revenge.'
The corners of her mouth quirked as she gazed at the Count of Wence.
Rose decided not to pull out the dagger hidden deep within her skirt, deep within her thigh.
Instead, she vowed revenge differently.
'I will destroy everything you have, Cedric.'
Your clan...
Your family...
And your happiness...
Powerless Rose had only one option: to become a member of the Countess of Wence.
She would become their closest confidant, extract information, and gradually destroy the Count of Wence.
The easiest way to catch a tiger is to enter its den.
There was no faster way to completely suffocate her prey.
Rose, with the sharp blade hidden behind her back, resolved to immerse herself in the Count of Wence, whom she hated with trembling teeth.
Rose approached Cedric and Tercia, who had insulted her, with a bright smile.
To others, Rose looked truly inadequate.
If she had been insulted in front of them, she should have felt ashamed, but instead, she smiled like an idiot.
“Greetings to Count Wence and the Countess.”
Rose bowed her head, her eyes shining coldly.
Yes. I will thoroughly approach your son.
Your son, the apple of my eye... I will destroy him with my own hands.
I will shatter everything you have.
There was no foolish Rose who turned her back on her family because she fell in love.
Should I sneak up and surprise Sir Buttern?
Jaden, whose eyes sparkled with a playful expression, quickly shook his head.
"Even if they call your name, and even if I call Rose's name... Don't show yourself. Don't let anyone see you until I show up and find you."
The voice of the eldest son, who had been urging him, grabbed his ankle.
Jaden, who had become sullen, looked at Rose in front of him. Then, his expression quickly brightened.
"I'm Rose's knight!"
Rose's eyes widened at Jaden's sudden words.
"Rose's knight is my brother Noah."
Jaden felt a pang when she called his eldest son's name instead of his own, but he held it in.
"No. My brother told me to be Rose's knight."
He let out an 'ahem' and straightened his chest.
Rose blinked her round eyes wide and smiled brightly.
Jaden, instantly delighted by Rose's smile, flashed his white teeth.
"Miss! Prince!"
At that moment, the escort knight's voice rang out again.
Rose tilted her head, asking Jaden,
"Two taggers? That old man keeps calling for Rose."
Jaden tilted his head, also puzzled.
Was there really two taggers, as Rose said? Was that why the escort knight was calling for him and Rose?
Young Jaden nodded, thinking,
"Yes. Sir Buttern must be a tagger too! I guess my brother wanted to find us first and told us not to come out."
He accepted his eldest son Noah's words with utter innocence.
"I think so. Two taggers? That's too cruel."
"Hmm. That's right. Rose's heart is pounding."
Not one, but two taggers. It was thrilling.
Jaden and Rose giggled, clasping each other's hands.
Unaware that their brother had met a terrible tragedy beyond the wall, Rose and Jaden simply thought of this as a game.
"Let's never get caught, us."
Jaden whispered to Rose, and Rose nodded, trying to suppress the laughter that was forming on her cheeks.
Rose and Jaden peeked out. The escort knight, despite his gentle voice, was searching for Rose and Jaden with a cold expression.
"Oh, brother. I think the tagger is getting closer."
"Really."
"What should we do?"
"Let's run away over there."
Jaden and Rose ran down the alley, hand in hand.
The children's faces were bright and innocent, their faces bright and innocent.
The villagers, seeing the two pink-haired noble children running around, tilted their heads.
"Those children are running around without an escort."
What if they get kidnapped?
She watched the backs of Rose and Jaden with a look of extreme worry.
After a long moment of observing the alley where they had disappeared, the woman returned to her work.
Just then, the escort knight appeared, looking around.
“Have you seen two children nearby?”
The escort knight continued with an urgent expression.
“Oh, I’m a knight of the Jerni family. I’m looking for the Prince and the young lady who have disappeared.”
The woman pointed in the direction Rose and Jayden had run without much suspicion.
“They went that way.”
The corners of the escort knight’s mouth quirked at the woman’s answer.
“Thank you.”
***
Rose and Jaden crouched in the cramped box and giggled.
“If we stay here, they’ll never find us, right?”
“Yeah. Neither Noah Brother nor Sir Buttern will be able to find Rose.”
Every time Rose and Jaden laughed, the boils surrounding them rippled.
After laughing for a while, Jaden looked at Rose seriously.
“Rosr, I don’t think this will work.”
“Why?”
“It seems too cramped here.”
Jaden jumped up and threw the box.
Rose burst out laughing at the sight of Jaden.
At that moment, a nearby escort knight heard Rose’s faint laughter. He walked closer and closer to Rose and Jaden with leisurely steps.
Jaden, who was looking at Rose’s happily smiling face, suddenly heard the sound of mysterious footsteps.
“Ah, Rose. It looks like Sir Buttern is coming! Let’s hide quickly.”
The two looked around. There wasn't a single place to hide.
Jaden, who was darting his eyes here and there, caught something in his eye. His eyes sparkled, and he grabbed Rose's hand.
"Let's go over there."
There was a hole in the wall where Jaden pointed, barely big enough for a child to fit through.
"Ro-Rose doesn't want that."
Rose shook her head, looking at the narrow passage.
"If we keep going like this, Lord Buttern will catch us."
At Jaden's words, Rose squeezed her eyes shut and crawled inside the wall.
Just as she was about to put Rose in, she saw the legs of the knight's guard rounding the corner.
There wasn't enough time to get inside the wall. Jaden ran toward the box where Rose and he had been hiding.
Just as he was about to hide inside, he came face-to-face with Knight Buttern.
"There you are, Your Master."
"Ah."
Jaden, trying to hide his small frame, opened his eyes wide and froze.
“...Are you alone? Where is Miss?”
“I’m alone. I don’t know where Rose is.”
Jaden scratched his head and answered without a trace of doubt.
Rose, hiding behind the wall, covered her mouth with both hands to suppress her laughter and giggled.
However, Rose’s laughter didn’t last long.
“I see.”
The knight’s cold voice was followed by a scream.
Rose instinctively covered her ears.
The piercing, horrific noises mingled together in a strange, terrifying way.
How long had passed?
No more screams could be heard.
The knight’s footsteps trudged toward her.
Rose held her breath, her face paling. Perhaps he hadn’t imagined Rose hiding in a tiny hole too small for an adult to fit through, as he quickly exited the alley.
Rose couldn’t believe what she heard with her own ears and saw with her own eyes.
Rose, who collapsed on the spot, was rescued by a nearby resident.
The Serviat family barely survived the bloody storm, but their survival was not easy.
***
More than ten years later, Rose, now eighteen, had grown into a quiet child, her childhood bright and cheerful demeanor gone.
Her lifeless eyes were always staring blankly into space, and she often seemed lost in thought.
Then one day, Rose's eyes sparkled, and she spoke to the Serviats.
"I want to go to a banquet."
Rose, who had never expressed a desire to do anything before, suddenly wanted to go to a banquet.
The Serviats exchanged glances.
"Yes. It seems you're becoming interested in banquets like other young ladies your age."
Rose gave a mysterious smile at her mother's words and replied softly.
"...Yes."
At the banquet... there's someone I absolutely must meet.
A chilling madness flashed through Rose's eyes as she smiled faintly. Her entire family had been slaughtered.
Not only the cousins who cared for her, but even the friends she played with vanished in an instant.
Rose, the only survivor, felt like she wasn't truly alive.
Surviving at the cost of everyone else's death was a bittersweet experience.
Her pale, frail hands clenched into fists, shaking violently.
It felt like her aunt's death that day, and the deaths of her cousins, were all her fault.
'If only I hadn't pestered my mother to go see my brothers that day...'
This tragedy might not have happened.
Her aunt and uncle... and her brothers might have survived, escorted by knights.
That day... was the day her aunt's family, who had planned to go on vacation, postponed their plans by a day because of Rose. That day...
She should have just let her aunt go.
She should have let her cousins go.
If she had, the capital wouldn't have been hit by such a terrible tragedy.
Everyone died because of Rose, who had insisted on playing with her brothers before they left.
It was all her fault.
She blamed herself, over and over again, until her heart was torn to shreds.
But blaming herself didn't change anything.
Her parents, the Serviats, remained quiet, fearing harm to the Grand Duke of Artaeum and the other surviving nobles. They didn't even dream of revenge.
But Rose had no intention of remaining silent.
She had to avenge the dead.
Sir Buttern, who had betrayed her aunt and killed them all. He had committed that terrible act at the instigation of Count Wence.
"Yes. I can't kill everyone, but Sir Buttern... and the Count of Wence... ... "
I will completely destroy them.
I will destroy them ruthlessly.
Just like you ruined my life... my family!
"I will... destroy everything you have."
Rose attended the banquet wearing a simple dress that Rivera had brought her.
The gossip of the noble ladies whispering about her was of no importance to her.
To her, only Eric, the son of the Count of Wence, mattered.
Rose stared intently at Eric, surrounded by noble ladies with a dazzling face.
'I found it. The bloodline of the Count of Wence.'
Eric, sensing Rose's intense gaze, turned his head slightly toward Rose.
At that moment, Cedric and Tercia forcefully pushed Rose's shoulder.
"Ah..."
"You dirty thing. Who are you looking at now? You have an eye for appearances."
Tercia humiliated Rose in front of a crowd. The surrounding nobles, as if they had made a pact, unanimously laughed.
Rose stared blankly at Tercia and Cedric.
It was her first time seeing Cedric and Tercia up close.
Unlike her parents, they were adorned with dazzling jewels.
Expensive jewelry and dresses were immediately apparent. And their dapper faces caught her eye.
Yes, it was you.
The ones who destroyed everything in me. And you, who threw me into hell... And here you are, laughing like this.
Rose's temper sank.
She followed Tercia and Cedric with her eyes. After insulting Rose, they headed towards her son, Eric.
Rose had planned to kill Cedric today.
She had hidden a dagger inside her thigh, nestled within her voluminous skirt, and planned to stab her enemy when the moment came.
Even the weakest rat would bite a cat when cornered.
Her resentment toward the Count of Wence was so overwhelming that he felt he needed to do something to find peace.
However, today's banquet soon revealed the sheer ignorance of her plan.
Breaking through and killing the knights guarding Cedric, Eric, and Tercia was next to impossible.
She realized firsthand how high the invisible wall stood between herself and Count Wence.
'Should I give up...?'
Anger welled up in her.
Her helplessness in the face of her enemy was almost comical.
Rose stared blankly at the Count Wence family. He hated Cedric's smile at Eric.
Don't laugh. Don't laugh so happily. Don't laugh like that after ruining our family's happiness!
'I wish you too... were as unhappy as me.'
Cedric, who was smiling happily, saw Eric at the end of his gaze.
Suddenly, a plan for revenge popped into Rose's mind.
'...Yes. I found it. A proper way to get revenge.'
The corners of her mouth quirked as she gazed at the Count of Wence.
Rose decided not to pull out the dagger hidden deep within her skirt, deep within her thigh.
Instead, she vowed revenge differently.
'I will destroy everything you have, Cedric.'
Your clan...
Your family...
And your happiness...
Powerless Rose had only one option: to become a member of the Countess of Wence.
She would become their closest confidant, extract information, and gradually destroy the Count of Wence.
The easiest way to catch a tiger is to enter its den.
There was no faster way to completely suffocate her prey.
Rose, with the sharp blade hidden behind her back, resolved to immerse herself in the Count of Wence, whom she hated with trembling teeth.
Rose approached Cedric and Tercia, who had insulted her, with a bright smile.
To others, Rose looked truly inadequate.
If she had been insulted in front of them, she should have felt ashamed, but instead, she smiled like an idiot.
“Greetings to Count Wence and the Countess.”
Rose bowed her head, her eyes shining coldly.
Yes. I will thoroughly approach your son.
Your son, the apple of my eye... I will destroy him with my own hands.
I will shatter everything you have.
There was no foolish Rose who turned her back on her family because she fell in love.
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