TLWFL 15

Chapter 15

“My man? You mean Reston?”

“Yes! You two look so good together. My mother said it looks like you two will be getting married soon!”

“Oh my, my mother said you’ve already set a wedding date!”

“Goodness. I must be the last to know.”

No, it’s not that I’m the last to know—there’s no such thing!

I quickly opened my mouth, which had been clamped shut like a clam.

“There’s no such thing! Reston and I are just friends, absolutely nothing more than that. Marriage… really, it’s not true. It will never happen!”

“They say friends become lovers, and lovers become spouses… There’s no such thing as just friends between a man and a woman!”

“That’s right! Anyway, we have no interest in His Grace the Duke. We just think he’s handsome… That’s okay, right?”

No one is listening to me. I felt dizzy. If I said the wrong thing here, strange rumors might spread again. I could roughly see the scenario playing out now.

*’Lady Rose El, who has been friends with Duke Reston for a long time, has developed into a romantic relationship, and they will soon be married. But they seemed to want to keep it a secret until the wedding.’*

…Ha. This is a novel, alright. Kids, please listen to me, I’m begging you.

Aileen, I miss you… for real.

“Oh, I see the first house!”

“Lady Rose El! Let’s go together!”

I nearly ran and knocked on the first door.

“Is anyone home? Is there nobody here?”

Creak. The door opened.

An old woman, with a child on her back, poked her head out.

“Who is it?”

“…We’re the people who came for volunteer work this time. We’re here to deliver the relief funds.”

“Volunteer?”

The old woman let out a scoff. She glared at me with glistening eyes.

“Where are you from? Which family’s daughter are you?”

“Ah, I’m Rose El of the County of Roteroa…”

“Roteroa? I won’t take your money! This is utterly ridiculous. Do you think you can shut my mouth with that paltry sum? Just go back!”

*Bang.*

The door closed right in front of me.

I never expected this…?

The other young ladies also seemed startled and took a step back. To get such a reaction just from the name Roteroa, and such blatant hostility towards nobles…

Just what on earth happened?

No, Count Roteroa. Just what have you done…?

Ha. I thought I’d possessed a golden spoon, but it seems I’m in a villainous, dark family’s story…?

I wish I could ask a scholar. What should I do? Someone, please give me an answer.

—

Meanwhile, it wasn’t just Rose El being hounded by the young ladies. These days, when three men gather, plates are bound to break.

“I heard you and Lady Rose El have been getting along so well lately.”

“Heh heh.”

“What’s with that perverted laugh!”

“No, I’m just curious! What do you talk about with the lady, what do you do? You even went to pick her up yourself today.”

Reston said with a cold face.

“Stop it. That was all because Grandmother ordered me to do it.”

“No way! I was there too. She told you to look after the lady, but she didn’t tell you to pick her up!”

It got even more noisy thanks to someone’s tip-off.

Reston ground his teeth. Why did he go to pick her up? Reston didn’t know either. It just felt like he had to. He was curious about Rose El, and wanted to see what had changed. And so, he wanted to prove that this change he was feeling was justified.

‘Am I, changing?’

Reston let out a scoff. That couldn’t be.

“Enough of this nonsense. Shouldn’t we finish our work and head back?”

“Still, you two really do make a good… Oh! It looks like there’s a problem over there?”

Reston’s gaze fixed on where Rose El was. As the knight said, he could see a door closing in front of Rose El. And the ladies whispering amongst themselves.

Reston pushed through the people and stepped forward. Standing next to Rose El, he asked.

“What happened?”

“Reston…”

Reston had expected Rose El to look like she was about to cry, or to turn to him with a flustered expression. But Rose El said,

“I need to meet the person in charge of this village. Right now. Can you help me?”

Her eyes sparkled as she spoke with a firm expression.

“You ladies should go back to the barracks and wait until this is resolved. Since this seems to be a Roteroa issue, I’ll handle it. As the representative of Roteroa standing here, I apologize.”

Rose El solved the problem neatly. Was Rose El always like this? Since he’d never seen Rose El face a crisis before, he didn’t know. The sides of Rose El he hadn’t known were revealing themselves, one by one, like peeling an onion.

Reston gave orders to the knights.

“You will accompany me. And you will escort the ladies back to the barracks. The gold coins will be kept safely by Grandmother at the barracks.”

“Yes, Your Grace the Duke.”

After sending the people away, Rose El said to Reston.

“Do you know where the village representative lives?”

Reston nodded.

“Then let’s move now, Reston.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Rose El looked up at Reston. Her expression was unfamiliar, as if she hadn’t expected him to ask such a question. Reston furrowed his brow.

“Why that expression…”

“No. You’re finally becoming a proper person… hmph! No, anyway.”

Reston’s lips twitched. Was she saying that if he’s been seen as trash until now, then him becoming a proper person means he’s improving?

He couldn’t forget the shock of what he’d heard this morning.

It was enough of a shock to make him reflect on whether he’d lived his life wrongly all this time.

No matter how he thought about it, he’d lived without causing harm to others.

“So it seems you see me as a person, not trash.”

“Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden. Hiccup.”

It seemed Rose El wasn’t very good at lying either. Seeing her face turn red and hiccup. Reston bit his lip firmly.

‘Why on earth am I trash.’

Reston wrapped his arm around Rose El’s shoulder and guided her to the inner side of the road.

“Wh-What are you doing?”

Rose El was startled. Reston smiled coldly and said,

“What else. I’m displaying manners, Rose El. Trying to become a better per-son.”

Unbelievable… Rose El awkwardly pried Reston’s hand off.

“Good posture, Reston. If you keep this up, you could become a great lover, a great husband, a great father! I’ll cheer you on!”

Reston ground his teeth. As expected, she wasn’t denying it.

Fine. Let’s do this.

Reston even snatched Rose El’s small handbag from her hand.

“What are you doing, Reston?”

“Displaying manners.”

“This isn’t manners, Reston.”

So this wasn’t it either? Rose El snatched her tiny handbag back from Reston.

“If you can’t even carry this much around, you should just stay home. Anyway, good job trying. You did really well, Reston. Let’s keep up the effort.”

Reston swallowed a sigh. Ha.

For some reason, he felt like punching that tiny, pea-sized head of hers. Reston stared intently at Rose El, who was walking slightly ahead, as if he could bore a hole through it.

As if he really would.

—

No matter what Roteroa did, this could be an opportunity for me. An opportunity to face the reality of Roteroa. And it would help me decide what course of action to take.

Fortunately, the village representative didn’t refuse to meet me.

Leaving one knight outside, I entered the village representative’s house with Reston. The village representative, though looking uncomfortable, even had the courtesy to offer us tea.

“I don’t know what you’ve come for, but I want nothing more. Just leave us alone.”

“…To be honest, it’s embarrassing, but I don’t really know what happened.”

Then I briefly explained what had just occurred.

“If Roteroa has done something wrong, could you please explain it to me? Even if it’s late, if there’s something wrong, I want to correct it.”

The village representative, Mr. Wilder, glared at me. The deep resentment simmering in his eyes was enough to startle me. With that level of emotion, Roteroa must have truly committed a grave sin.

Rose El, did you know?

“Until now, I’ve never disobeyed a single unfair order handed down by the County of Roteroa or the Viscounty of Muteso. But this time, I pleaded with them several times! I begged them to avoid excessive logging because the rainy season was approaching!”

My heart sank.

This was the first time I had received such intense resentment since Grandmother.