The Rose Necklace
* * *
“Everyone leave except this child.”
“Are you certain, Duchess?”
I had brought her to my quarters inside the Imperial Palace. Yet Maid Chief Abigail looked deeply displeased at the thought of leaving her in my room.
Her shabby appearance, filthy clothes, and especially those mud-caked shoes seemed to grate on Abigail’s nerves even more.
“I’m fine, so you may go.”
Even as she reluctantly left the room, Abigail continued to glare at the girl with obvious disapproval.
“I’ll be right outside. Call for me if you need anything, miss.”
Sensing the tense atmosphere, the nanny quickly grabbed Abigail’s arm and pulled her away.
Thud—
The heavy door closed, leaving only the two of us in the room. I leaned back deeply into the gilded chair and examined the necklace she had handed me once more.
At first, I thought it was a fake. But every intricate detail was identical to the one I owned.
The number of rose leaves engraved on it, the direction and pattern of the thorns along the border.
Though the clasp had loosened from poor care and there were a few scratches, this was unmistakably a necklace from our family.
“Possessing this does not prove that you and I are cousins. So speak honestly. Did you steal it?”
“No, I did not. If I were a thief, I would have sold it to a jeweler the moment I took it. And if I had known what it was, I never would have stolen it in the first place.”
The moment my words ended, she shook her head vigorously.
“Yet I came to find you, Duchess, fully aware of what this necklace means. Would a mere thief ever do such a thing?”
She was right.
Anyone who knew the meaning of this necklace would have to be insane to seek me out. Except for the girl standing before me now.
“I have my suspicions about who you are.”
I deliberately spoke even colder to hide my inner turmoil.
“Say it with your own mouth. Who are you?”
“I am your cousin, Duchess.”
“More distant than that, I’d say.”
Even at my icy tone, she offered a faint smile.
“You are correct. To be precise, we are sixth cousins. Your grandfather and my grandfather were brothers.”
I quietly studied her golden eyes.
My guess had been right. She was someone from our family—one of the Regentera traitors known as the Yellow Eyes. One of those people mostly forgotten by now.
My grandfather, Wilhelm Regentera, had only been able to claim the ducal title after wading through the blood of countless others.
He had been the legitimate eldest son of the ducal house, yet his stepmother and half-brother Faviel constantly threatened his position as heir.
The moment their great-grandfather passed away, a fierce dispute over the family erupted between the two brothers.
The conflict within the Regentera family was no mere internal matter. It was a battle over the most prestigious ducal title in the empire—nothing short of war.
Nobles across the empire took sides, personally joining the fighting or sending reinforcements for the heir they supported.
It became a civil war in which every noble except the imperial family split into two factions and turned their blades on one another.
In the end, after a long and brutal war, my grandfather Wilhelm Regentera emerged victorious. Following the conflict, his half-brother Faviel Regentera and his entire family were purged for treason.
Many of the nobles who had followed him were executed as well, and those who survived were forced to swear unconditional loyalty to Wilhelm Regentera.
After Faviel’s family was wiped out, strange rumors began to circulate among the people. Tales that Faviel’s son had survived, or that his daughter had been found in some distant province—ghastly ghost stories of that sort.
No one knew whether any of those rumors were true.
My grandfather Wilhelm never spoke of his brother or his brother’s family until the day he died, and no one dared ask him about them.
“Do you understand what it means to reveal your identity to me?”
“I do.”
“I could brand you as a remnant of the traitors and have you killed right this instant.”
“I am well aware of that as well.”
“Then why have you come to me?”
“I wish to sell you my necklace, Duchess.”
Sell the necklace? It was absurd. After revealing herself as a descendant of a traitor, was that truly all she wanted?
“I have no intention of buying it, so take it and leave. I have no need for it.”
I tossed the necklace onto the desk. With a clink, the golden chain rolled toward her. A look of deep bewilderment spread across her dirt-streaked face.
“Go pawn it at a shop in the streets instead. They’ll give you more than I ever would.”
“I absolutely cannot do that!”
She let out a sharp cry. Then, as if startled by her own outburst, she clapped a hand over her mouth and bowed deeply to me.
I remained leaning back in my chair, silently watching her. A long silence stretched between us.
“I apologize, Duchess. But this is not something I can sell to just anyone.”
She was the first to break the silence, bowing her head deeply in apology. Then, with trembling hands, she reached out and clutched the necklace that had fallen onto the desk.
“My mother was the only child my grandfather managed to smuggle out of the family right before his execution. She lived in hiding, concealing her identity to survive, and feared the ducal house until the moment she died.”
“…….”
“My sister and I were the same. We lived in poverty, constantly fleeing pursuit, never able to settle down. Even selling the jewels and trinkets my mother had brought with her, simply surviving was a constant struggle.”
“…….”
“Yet this was the one thing my sister refused to sell until the very end. That is why I cannot sell it to just anyone either.”
She paused, as if trying to hold back the tears welling in her eyes.
Her golden irises had already turned red and bloodshot. Only after wiping her eyes with her dirty sleeve for a long while did she continue.
“The only person who would understand the value of this necklace is you, Duchess.”
She approached me, necklace in hand, and knelt at my feet. Looking up at me with tear-filled eyes, she said,
“I do not ask for much. I only ask for a single job.”
She placed the necklace she had been holding back into my hands.
“You may assign me the most menial tasks in the palace, the lowliest work. As long as you feed me and give me a place to sleep, I will do anything.”
“…….”
“I do not want to die as miserably as my mother and sister did on the streets. But a nameless wanderer with no clear identity has no options. That is why I came to you, Duchess. Even prepared to die for it.”
If I had been an ordinary person—not someone from the Regentera family—what would my reaction have been?
Would I have shed tears with her over the pain she had endured? Would I have lamented the cruel measures my grandfather had taken?
Perhaps I would have. But unfortunately, I could not afford to be that kind of person.
To sympathize with her suffering would be to condemn the decisions of my predecessors. What she had gone through had to be seen as something deserved, something inevitable.
My grandfather had often told me while he was alive: Never let your emotions sway you into offering pity. When actions born of pity bring about the wrong results, that is when the pain becomes greatest.
“Is that truly all you want?”
Then why…
“I asked if that is truly all you desire.”
…am I saying these words?
“Yes, Duchess!”
Her face brightened in an instant.
“That is all I need. I truly desire nothing more!”
“Live like the dead.”
I took her necklace and said,
“Live in such a way that I cannot even remember you exist.”
“Yes…”
She nodded.
“And I truly have no need for this necklace. So one day, come back and buy it from me.”
At my words, her expression mixed joy and surprise.
“Do you mean it? May I truly buy it back?”
When I gave a short nod, she asked again, her face filled with hope.
“How much will it cost?”
“The price…”
After a moment of hesitation, I found I could not give her an answer.
“I will tell you the price when the time comes. Until then, I will keep it safe for you.”
“I understand. Thank you. Thank you so very much, Duchess!”
She pressed her stained lips to the hem of my dress. Finding it both burdensome and dirty, I snatched the fabric away.
“By the way… you.”
Only then did I realize I had not even asked her name.
“What is your name?”
“Karina, Duchess.”
Karina. She answered with a polite bow.
“And your surname?”
“I have none.”
If she had one, it would have been the same as mine. I realized it had been a pointless question.
“Karina.”
I called her name in a low voice. She looked at me with innocent golden eyes.
“Never forget this moment. You owe me a debt.”
Even I could not explain why those words had left my lips.
They had slipped out before I even realized it. I had no idea what I had meant by them.
Karina did not seem to fully understand my words either. But she soon interpreted them in her own way, offering a bright smile as she bowed.
“I will remember, Duchess.”
Karina continued to gaze at me with a happy smile. Staring at that radiant face made something in my chest feel strangely uneasy, so I turned my head away.
“Abigail!”
At my call, Maid Chief Abigail entered the room.
“You called, Duchess?”
“Wash this child thoroughly, give her clean clothes and something to eat. And…”
I glanced over Karina’s filthy attire. A suitable place quickly came to mind.
“Find her a position in the stables.”