First Encounter with Veronica
“Sir Vale, once you’ve learned to read, you must join me in volunteering at the orphanage to read storybooks to the children.”
“Storybooks? Me?”
I glanced down at my calloused, battle-hardened palms and thought of my voice, roughened from years of shouting across battlefields. I couldn’t help but ask in disbelief.
“Yes! That’s actually been a long-standing worry of mine.”
The Duchess let out a small sigh and continued her explanation.
“To make the stories feel real for the children, you need a variety of voices suited to each character. No matter how hard I try, my voice simply can’t produce a splendid knight or a terrifying monster. The children just can’t get immersed.”
“In that case, couldn’t you ask His Grace? His voice would be perfect for a knight’s role.”
“I wanted to. But His Grace is surprisingly shy around strangers… and above all, he has the dignity of a Grand Duke who rules the North. No matter how young the audience, I simply can’t ask him to make silly fairy or monster noises in front of children. That’s why I’ve always thought I needed a partner.”
Rebecca clasped her hands together and looked up at me with earnest, pleading eyes.
“So please, Sir Vale. I’ll take full responsibility for teaching you to read. In return, won’t you become my storybook partner later? Please?”
Ah…
The Grand Duchess was beautiful and elegant, yet she occasionally showed a quirky, almost girlish charm. The more I got tangled up with her, the more strangely uneasy it made a corner of my heart.
I had saved the Grand Duke and prevented the miserable fate Rebecca was supposed to suffer in the original story. But was it really right to keep deviating from the original plot like this and build these kinds of bonds?
At the same time, a sense of relief was blooming in one part of my mind.
I have something to do now.
Living as a freeloader in this vast, stifling Grand Duke’s residence, relying solely on the past glory of having saved the Duke’s life, didn’t suit my nature at all. I needed to prove my usefulness and find a legitimate reason to stay in this house.
Even if that reason was something as ridiculous as reading storybooks to children.
“…Understood. My voice isn’t exactly pleasant, but if you teach me, I’ll study hard and do my part to protect the children’s innocence.”
The moment I reluctantly nodded, Duchess Rebecca cheered like a child who had just received the whole world.
“Really? That’s wonderful! Then we’ll start lessons tomorrow right away. You can look forward to it—I’m a very strict teacher!”
“Please go easy on me.”
Finally, in a much more relaxed atmosphere, we passed through the fourth-floor corridor and headed up the stairs to the fifth floor. The fifth floor was the true sanctuary of the Arteta family—the private sleeping quarters reserved exclusively for the Grand Duke, the Duchess, Veronica, and those of pure Arteta blood.
It was also where the room I would be staying in was located.
When we reached the fifth-floor hallway after climbing the stairs, brilliant sunlight poured in through the wide windows to greet us. But even more striking than the sunlight was the massive shadow standing tall in the middle of the corridor.
“…I heard you asking Vale to read stories to you earlier downstairs.”
It was Grand Duke Gareth, arms crossed and leaning against the wall. His brow was slightly furrowed, and his lips were pursed in a pout.
Wait, this is hilarious. My superior from the Wall is acting like this?
It was hard to believe this sulky expression belonged to the same man I had fought alongside on the Wall, where we had faced life and death together.
“To think you wouldn’t even ask me, all because of something as trivial as the dignity of a Grand Duke. I’m quite hurt as your husband, dear.”
The Grand Duke grumbled in his deep voice, deliberately pretending to be upset. I was inwardly horrified, but Duchess Rebecca simply smiled sweetly as if completely unaffected and approached her husband.
“Oh my, Your Grace. Were you feeling left out?”
Rebecca naturally placed her hand on the Grand Duke’s thick forearm and whispered.
“But the only person in this world who can read bedtime stories to our lovely Veronica every night is you, Your Grace. I simply didn’t want to take that away from you.”
At those words, the sulkiness vanished from Grand Duke Gareth’s face. In its place bloomed a wide, goofy grin.
“Oho! I see! You’re absolutely right. Reading bedtime stories to our Veronica is a special privilege that belongs only to this father! Hahaha, I must have been thinking too narrowly!”
His mood completely restored in an instant, the Grand Duke burst into hearty laughter before turning to look at me.
“You said you cannot read, Vale.”
The Grand Duke approached me with heavy steps. Standing before a man who clearly exceeded 190 centimeters in height, I couldn’t help but feel a bit intimidated. I was fairly tall myself, but the Grand Duke had grown up well-fed and had fully realized his genetic potential. The difference was obvious.
“It is embarrassing, but yes, Your Grace.”
I lowered my head.
“There is nothing to be ashamed of! How could the ignorance of a man who drenched himself in the blood of invaders to protect the Empire on the Wall be considered a flaw? On the contrary, it is a glorious medal proving how fiercely you have lived.”
The Grand Duke gripped my shoulder firmly with his large hand. The grip was so strong it felt like my shoulder might shatter, yet the emotion behind it was incredibly warm.
“While you stay here at the Grand Duke’s residence, learn at your own pace. If my wife teaches you, that would be ideal. If necessary, I will invite the finest scholars from the capital. If you wish to learn swordsmanship, I will assign the Knight Commander to you.”
There wasn’t a trace of falsehood in the Grand Duke’s eyes.
“To you, who saved my life and allowed me to see my family again, I will give everything I can. Simply consider this place your home and enjoy it to your heart’s content.”
…I felt like I was going to throw up.
This time it wasn’t a figure of speech. I really felt bile rising from the pit of my stomach. This was too much. All I had wanted was a modest pension and a small estate—or at most, a decent two-story house on the outskirts of the capital!
Instead, I had suddenly become the Grand Duke of the North’s unlimited sponsor’s adopted son. No, his sworn brother.
If I refused, it felt like that massive hand would start showing obsessive attachment. I desperately suppressed my churning stomach and bowed deeply, fulfilling the minimum courtesy and worldly wisdom expected of someone who had received such grace.
“…I can only offer my deepest gratitude for Your Grace’s boundless benevolence. Though I am lacking, I will do my utmost to learn and grow so as not to bring shame upon the Grand Duke’s house.”
“Hahaha! There’s no need to be so stiff between brothers. Lift your head, Vale.”
The Grand Duke’s booming laughter echoed through the fifth-floor corridor. I smiled awkwardly and slowly began to raise my head.
And because I had been looking down, I noticed something wriggling behind the Grand Duke’s wide cloak and froze.
…What is that?
A very small, dainty pair of black enamel shoes. And above them, the frilled hem of a skirt.
Almost entranced, I slowly lifted my gaze higher.
Behind the Grand Duke’s thick legs, a tiny girl was hiding. She had hair the same color as her mother Rebecca’s.
The girl was clutching the Grand Duke’s trouser leg tightly with both hands, only peeking out her large eyes toward me.
“Ah.”
When I looked at her, the girl flinched in surprise and tried to completely disappear behind the Grand Duke’s cloak.
Noticing my gaze, the Grand Duke smiled gently and took a step backward. Suddenly deprived of her hiding place, the girl was left standing alone in the middle of the corridor.
“Now, Veronica. Don’t just hide behind Father. Come and greet him.”
The Grand Duke gently pushed the girl’s back with a tender voice and guided her forward.
“This is Sir Vale, who will be living with us in our home from now on. He is the brave and grateful benefactor who saved your father from a wicked assassin. He’s the person you were curious about earlier.”
Veronica.
Veronica von Arteta.
In the original novel The Rose That Blooms to be Broken, she was the villainess who tormented the heroine with heartless cruelty and dyed the Empire in a storm of blood—the tyrant of high society. The very same wicked young lady known as the North’s Poisonous Rose.
I swallowed hard as I stared at the future villain standing before me.
I wondered what kind of glare she would give me. I had removed the corruption trigger for now, but if she already showed signs of turning rotten…
Tension made my hands clench.
But.
“………”
The girl was covering her flushed face completely with both hands and fidgeting restlessly.
“Uuu…”
Unable to meet my eyes, she stared only at her toes, looking completely lost. Far from being a wicked villain, she was simply a very shy, extremely timid ten-year-old girl.
The girl peeked up at me through the gaps in her fingers. The moment her eyes met my rough, scar-covered face—
“Eek!”
Veronica let out a short squeak, spun around, and—
Tap tap tap tap!
She dashed toward her room at the end of the corridor without looking back, fleeing at full speed.
Bang!
The sound of the door slamming echoed down the hallway.
“……”
I stood there with my mouth hanging open in a daze, staring at the door the girl had disappeared behind.
That… was the North’s Poisonous Rose? The insane villainess who tore people’s mouths apart?
“Hahaha! She still seems very shy around strangers.”
Grand Duke Gareth burst into an awkward laugh as he watched his daughter’s retreating figure.
Duchess Rebecca also looked both embarrassed and utterly charmed by her daughter’s behavior, smiling as she cupped her own cheeks.
“I’m sorry, Sir Vale. She’s not usually this rude. She must be especially nervous today. Perhaps hearing that you’re her father’s savior made her even more tense.”
“N-no, not at all. Children… I mean, the young lady can be like that. I probably look frightening after rolling around on the battlefield.”
I quickly tried to smooth over the atmosphere.
“That can’t be! Our daughter would never think that. She’s simply shy in front of a hero.”
The Grand Duke firmly denied it and gave my shoulder a light pat.
“You can have a proper formal greeting at dinner. Once she’s in front of delicious food, Veronica will open up quickly. Until then, rest well in your room and shake off the fatigue of your journey.”
The Grand Duke stretched broadly, then nodded to Duchess Rebecca.
“Then I’ll head down to my office to handle the backlog of documents. The war may be over, but the cleanup is only just beginning. I’ll leave the rest of Vale’s guidance to you, my wife.”
“Yes, take care, Your Grace. And please don’t overwork yourself.”
Grand Duke Gareth swept his cloak behind him and headed back downstairs. Once again, only Rebecca and I remained in the corridor.
“This way, Sir Vale. This is the room you’ll be staying in from now on.”
Duchess Rebecca smiled warmly and led me to the opposite end of the hallway.
As I walked down the sunlit corridor, I glanced once more at the firmly closed door that Veronica had fled into.
She’s completely different from the original…
The thought that this ordinary, shy child had become a monster after experiencing the tragic events of the original story made my chest ache.
One more thing to do…
I couldn’t show it to anyone, but I resolved that, at least within my sight, I would prevent any incidents that might lead Veronica toward corruption.
Especially since her uncle, whose assassination attempt had failed, might try something again.
* * *
I had definitely been given a tour of the bedroom.
I had been shown the bedroom and the attached bathroom, that was all.
Drip.
Drip.
Rebecca’s wet clothes clung to her body, revealing every curve.
Water droplets glistened on her pale skin, and her damp hair stuck to her face.
A strange atmosphere filled the bathroom.
“……”
“……”
We avoided each other’s eyes and couldn’t say a word. Only the sound of falling water droplets filled the silence.
How did it come to this…!
In my head, that sneaky feeling I had felt toward Duchess Rebecca earlier began creeping up again.
But I shook my head hard, trying to regain my senses.
No, no. I’ve only seen prostitutes on the Wall. That’s why I’m feeling this way. Get a grip, Vale!
I told myself firmly and turned my gaze away from Rebecca.
But my heart was already pounding wildly.