Such cosmetics and fancy jewelry were luxuries that she could not afford once she was wanted and became a full-fledged fugitive.
A prominent nose and distinct facial features.
Flowing, silky white hair.
Eyes even redder than rubies.
Even the transparent skin, which is pale without blood, looks clear and even whiter.
'You don't look very healthy.'
Even more than the seventeen years she remembers.
After finishing her brief reflection in the mirror, Roselyn headed straight to the dining room where the formal dinner was taking place.
***
As soon as Roselyn appeared, the servant opened his mouth wide, as if he had forgotten to bow his head.
“Open the door.”
"Ah, over there, Miss Rose....Lyn?"
Roselyn frowned, then nodded once, understanding the other person's reaction.
The servant hurriedly bowed his head as if flustered and opened the dining room door wide.
Again, again.
As Roselyn entered the restaurant, the eyes of those sitting at the tables fixed on her.
Their expressions were slightly different, but every single one had eyes filled with surprise.
And rightly so, Roselyn, wearing a pitch-black dress and red lipstick with red eyes, was subtly decadent and sensual in some way.
"..."
Roselyn also watched them intently amidst those who could not take their eyes off her.
This was because the Duchy of Bellion that she remembered had already suffered a major downfall five years ago and was on the path of decline.
The people in front of her were all already dead in her past.
'Is this something that won't happen here for quite some time?'
Realizing that the sensation of her heart tightening slightly was a faint sense of relief, Roselyn slowly closed and opened her eyes.
'...I was thinking of saying I would leave the mansion.'
Thinking that it wouldn't be bad to see his face for a few more days, she sat in the empty seat remaining at the round table.
She sat at a quiet table and was about to pick up her cutlery when she belatedly realized that her grandfather, Duke Bellion, was attending the formal dinner, and she looked up.
"...You, w-what on earth is with that look? How could you be like that at an adult's meal..."
"What is that appearance?"
There were two reasons why Roselyn participated in this formal dinner.
First, to keep her word to her future stepmother, who was foolish enough to ignore her warning.
Secondly, it was to declare that she would leave this house.
"Who wears such utterly vulgar clothes that expose their arms! I’ve told you time and time again. A true princess must always be cultured..."
"Heh."
Roselyn let out a small laugh without realizing it. At that, Lady Carmel's face stiffened slightly.
“That’s strange.”
She tilted her head slightly.
"...What do you mean?"
"I am the one who has lived as a Princess for 17 years, so why is Lady Carmel, who was born the child of a commoner, was lucky enough to be adopted into a Count's family, killed her ex-husband, and even took the position of acting Count in place of the young Count, talking about my dignity as a Princess?"
As Roselyn spoke in a voice mixed with laughter, the atmosphere at the dining table turned cold.
It was because it was not a topic suitable for discussion at the dinner table, and it was also a somewhat shocking story.
"What...? You, you, how could you! No matter how much you hate me, sob. Father, Cherty... I... how much more do I have to try..."
Roselyn leisurely sliced her steak while watching Carmel tearfully pleading with Duke Bellion and Roselyn's father, Cherty Bellion.
The well-built old man in front narrowed his eyes.
'You always look like a villain.'
Roselyn thought calmly and elegantly tilted her wine glass.
The old man was wearing a flashy red suit, and the difference in his eyes was particularly noticeable.
With his hair styled back and even a tattoo visible on the back of his hand, he was a person so sophisticated that he did not fit his age.
And he was also someone who stood until he died.
"It seems you are past the age for appealing to emotions, but you still appear to be quite sensitive."
Roselyn let out a laugh and slowly raised her head to meet the eyes of the old man, Duke Bellion.
She put the juicy red steak into her mouth, took a bite, and paused for a moment.
As a deep furrow formed between Roselyn's eyebrows, Duke Bellion's eyes narrowed slightly.
She soon smoothed out her frown, slowly chewed and swallowed the meat, and wore an ecstatic expression.
"It's delicious."
Roselyn spoke with a radiant smile. With a cold expression, she slowly opened her mouth after cutting the steak into large pieces.
"Mine is especially delicious, so I’d like to share some. Anyone want to try some?"
At Roselyn's sudden behavior, the faces of the maids who had been standing behind her, laughing quietly, froze.
"How are you, Uncle? Father."
At Roselyn's call, the two people's gazes fell upon Roseline.
A red-haired man with a bold impression, his hair styled like a peacock's and the front of his flashy shirt fully unbuttoned.
And exactly to the contrary, a black-haired man with a gloomy impression, with his buttons fastened all the way to his neck, looked at her at the same time.
The two of them looked quite surprised.
The red-haired man, Aegis Bellion, lightly rubbed the corner of his lips with his thumb and grinned.
"Okay, since it's the first request my niece has made."
He said as he stood up.
"Roselyn, just how much rudeness do you have to commit? To think you would give your uncle food you were eating... this is so much..."
“Ah. That’s enough.”
Aegis replied to Lady Carmel on her behalf, waved his hand half-heartedly, and approached Roselyn.
"Ah..."
"..."
Roselyn, who was about to hand over the whole steak she had cut by poking it with an unused fork, paused when she saw Aegis leaning forward with his upper body showing his prominent abs and his mouth open.
"Hurry."
"Brother-in-law! If you keep spoiling her like that...!"
"What? Hey, since when did you get the right to meddle in my business? And you aren't even married yet, so why are you calling me 'brother-in-law'..."
He snorted and showed a look of displeasure.
He, who had been muttering with an unpleasant expression, turned his head again to look at Roselyn and curved the corners of his eyes.
'The atmosphere changes so quickly depending on your facial expression.'
Roselyn could no longer pretend not to notice Aegis, who was opening his mouth and urging her on with a curious expression, so she put the cut meat into his mouth.
He is a rather lighthearted, rough, and unrefined person for the eldest son of the Duke's family.
'It was like that before, too.'
A man who gave up the freedom he so desperately desired and bowed his head here and there in an attempt to somehow save the completely ruined Duke's family until the very end.
Nevertheless, the dukedom was ruined.
Roselyn thought as she watched Aegis's expression change moment by moment as she put the meat in his mouth.
Gulp.
Finally, his Adam's apple moved with difficulty, and he laughed fiercely.
"Oh. This is delicious."
He quickly picked up Roselyn's plate and spoke.
"It's so delicious that my father and my younger sibling should try it too."
Regardless, Roselyn quickly washed away the terrible saltiness remaining in her mouth by pouring wine down her throat.
Didn't someone say that if it's too salty, it actually makes you feel nauseous? It even feels numb, as if something has sprouted in your mouth.
"Come on, Cherty, you eat too."
Aegis roughly shoved meat into his younger brother, Cherty's mouth.
"Do not act rashly, Aegis."
"It is your son's wish."
"Just how many wishes do you have..."
The Duke, with his eyes glaring fiercely, could not continue speaking.
It was because Aegis shoved the fork with the meat in it into his mouth.
"..."
The Duke stared at Aegis with a face crumpled fiercely like a demon, then paused and slowly chewed on the meat.
However, he could not chew it more than three or four times, so he spat the meat onto a napkin, drank wine silently, and slowly closed his eyes.
Before anyone realized it, Aegis had cast aside his nonchalant expression and was drinking water straight from the kettle.
"...Which bastard wants to die?"
The Duke slowly opened his eyes, letting out a heavy voice that sounded like a throat scratching as if suppressing rising anger.
Two eyes of different colors, one red and the other golden, were fixed precisely on Roselyn.
"Who else but Grandfather?"
Roselyn, who had calmly murmured, turned her gaze toward the three maids standing behind Carmel with deathly pale faces.
The Duke glanced at the three maids, slammed his glass down, and spoke with a fierce expression.
“Clean it up.”
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