Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The Rose Family's Letter
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"Mother."
"Camellia? What's the matter?"
Late in the evening, I slipped into Rozalin's room alone.
I didn't usually visit her room like this, but the circumstances left me no choice.
I had to confirm if she was in there, and check where the letter was.
"I was just bored and came to see you."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I finished all the work I couldn't do while we were at the villa, so now I have nothing to do."
"You seemed pretty busy. You already got it all done?"
"I worked hard. Though because of that, I didn't get to hang out with Older Sister Karen as much."
It wasn't a lie.
I really had finished all the work, and that's why I hadn't been able to play with Karen much.
Of course, I was only bringing it up now to scope out the inside of Rozalin's room.
"Oh, right. There was something I wanted to tell you, Camellia."
"What is it?"
She said it while looking at me sitting on the sofa.
What could it be?
I had no idea what Rozalin might have to say to me, and nothing came to mind.
She probably wouldn't bring up that letter first.
"You have to go to the Academy for a while, right?"
"Yeah?"
"But it won't be easy to just leave the business alone during that time, will it?"
"Yeah...?"
"So I'm thinking of finding someone to handle the business in your place for a while."
"...Pardon?"
Her words caught me off guard a little.
I had thought about finding someone to take over the business, but the situation had been tricky.
I'd met a few people while running the business, but they all seemed unreliable to entrust it to.
I hadn't expected Rozalin to bring this up.
"It's someone I know from my Academy days. I think they'd be fine?"
"Hmm..."
"Of course, I haven't brought it up with them yet, but I thought you might want to meet them next time."
"...Let's talk about it later. I'll think it over some more."
The topic had come out of nowhere, so I was a bit surprised, but I had come to Rozalin's room for a different reason, and couldn't commit right then.
"Hehe, sure, think about it. I haven't even mentioned it to them yet anyway."
"Got it."
After that, we chatted a bit more before I left Rozalin's room.
While talking with her on the sofa, I'd spotted the position of the unsorted letter paper, and I'd also finalized my plans on what to do.
Then I headed straight to Ashley's room.
Given the layout of our mansion, at this late hour in the evening, the maids and family members were mostly staying in their own rooms.
The only one who ever wandered around was me, occasionally going for a nighttime stroll.
Aside from that, no one really moved around inside the mansion at night.
I figured what I had to do next wouldn't be a problem.
"Teacher."
"Yaaawn... Are you done...?"
"Yeah. Should be no issues."
Maybe because I'd already discussed it with her beforehand.
Fortunately, Ashley woke up when she heard me.
"Mother's alone in her room, and the mansion's quiet. Looks like no problems."
"I seeee..."
"Once you're a bit more awake, should we go then?"
"...No, let's go now. Let's... get it over with quick..."
"Understood."
I waited for her to change from her sleepwear into a shirt, then we stepped out of the room together.
I'd already assured Ashley that no one inside would hear us working outside the room.
That's why, once we reached Rozalin's door, we got started.
I didn't know the exact magic involved, but this was another spell Ashley had created herself.
"Hmm..."
I stood quietly, watching the magic circle slowly form on the door with mana.
If Rozalin heard any noise from inside and opened the door, it would be trouble.
I kept watch a little as we waited silently like that.
"Camellia."
"Yes."
"Ready. Starting now."
"Yes, go ahead."
She poured mana into the magic circle, and it began to spin.
According to Ashley, the circle would lull everyone inside the room to sleep as it rotated.
It was my first time seeing this magic, so I wasn't sure exactly how it worked.
At least, it wasn't the kind you'd find in any textbook.
The multi-layered magic circle spun and spun, then dispersed like mist.
It must have finished activating.
"...Hmm."
*Knock knock.*
Just in case, I knocked once.
Ashley said it would keep her asleep quietly for a few hours, but better safe than sorry.
"...It's quiet."
"It's a guaranteed spell. You can relax."
"Okay."
With that, I very carefully opened Rozalin's door.
Even knowing she was asleep, I opened it quietly.
"...She's sleeping soundly."
The moment I entered the room, I saw Rozalin reclining comfortably in a chair.
She must have been about to go to bed; she'd already changed into sleepwear.
It might have been fine to just sneak in, but this felt more secure.
"...The letter first."
My eyes kept drifting to strange places, but my main task was obviously the letter from the Rose Family.
Even if Rozalin was just wearing a negligee right now, that wasn't the important part.
Right.
Even as I moved further into the room, my gaze wandered more to the odd spots than the letter.
"Found it."
I retrieved the letter I'd spotted earlier.
It was still inside the envelope. What on earth could be in it to make her react like that?
No matter how I thought about it, I couldn't guess.
It couldn't just be a simple invitation; her reaction hadn't seemed ordinary.
"......."
After double-checking that Rozalin was asleep, I decided to read the letter.
I wanted to know what it said.
"...Hmm."
Even as I pulled the paper from the envelope, a rose scent wafted out.
*'As the days grow warmer bit by bit, and the third rose in the family garden begins to bloom. To my daughter, Rozalin.'*
"...Oh."
It was an incredibly... grandiose opening line.
Unlike the letters we used for business in our family, this felt like one from real nobles.
It had that air of deep-rooted aristocracy in every way.
Of course, these days their house was much diminished compared to before, to the point where they were like ours...
"Time for the main point."
Unlike the ones William and I used, it had a very long preamble before getting to the point.
Honestly, aside from the elegant phrasing, it was boring and uninteresting.
It wasn't written to me anyway, so I skipped ahead.
*'It's been four years since you left. Those upstart fools...'*
It made me angry, but I supposed that was possible.
Anyway, on to the later parts...
*'I was deeply saddened, but we're doing even better than before. As central nobles once more...'*
Overall, it was about how the Rose Family had regained their former glory thanks to the money from Rozalin's marriage to our family.
Honestly, they owed their revival to our family... I couldn't understand why they were so dismissive.
No matter how I racked my brain, at least for the Rose Family...
"...Ha."
I hadn't expected them to think like this.
I didn't have strong feelings about Rozalin herself, but surely the Rose Family shouldn't view things this way?
Even if you could call Rozalin sold off, they were the ones who proposed the marriage first?
I had no idea why they'd say something like this.
*'When will you finally return to the family...? '*
...Hmm.
Had Rozalin been receiving letters like this from the Rose Family all along?
I'd never heard her mention getting any mail from them.
Since when...
"...Ha."
I'd thought there'd been no contact from the Rose Family until now.
So that's why Rozalin had kept the details from me.
"Unbelievable."
Even if the Leonhardt name was just that of a viscount family in name only, our wealth was beyond what the likes of Rose could touch.
They weren't even comparable to real powerhouse dukes or counts.
The Roses had been declining more and more over the past few decades, yet...
"Ha."
I could understand the thinking, but to actually put it in a letter to Rozalin.
"...Maybe it's for the best."
The Roses thought like this and told her to come back, but Rozalin had never returned to them once.
In that sense, it was actually fortunate.
"Come to think of it... I've never actually met the Rose Family."
I'd truly never met them even once.
When Rozalin first came to our family, I was eight, and I didn't have much say back then.
* '...come back to the family.'*
Despite all the distasteful parts, the gist was mostly summoning Rozalin back to the Rose Family.
"This is a good excuse..."
Time to pay them a visit.
As Rozalin's daughter and Camellia Leonhardt, I felt I should go once.
I'd never met the Rose Family before, only heard of them, but this rubbed me the wrong way.
I didn't know exactly what Rozalin thought, but she didn't seem pleased with their attitude.
It'd probably be fine.
Probably.
"Teacher."
"Yaaawn... All done...?"
"Yeah. It's all done."
The plan for tonight was complete, at least.
Though it had sparked some new ones.