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Translator: penny
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: You Are My Precious Daughter, Aren't You?
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Crack—
"Eek…!"
Roselia raised the switch and struck my calf twice in quick succession. A total of three lashes. Only then did she finally lower my skirt hem to cover my legs.
"Bella, you made three mistakes."
Her tone was firmer than usual. I had been expecting praise, so I couldn't help but feel flustered.
"First, you ignored Sierra's warning and pushed yourself too hard."
Roselia lifted me by the scruff of my neck and carefully set me down on the sofa.
"Second… Haah, I'm so flabbergasted I can't even find the words."
Her crimson eyes flashed as she glared at me sharply.
"What on earth were you thinking, charging at a troll with your bare body?"
"It wasn't bare! I had put up a barrier… So even if it hit me, it would've been fine…"
"You've only been studying circuits for a single year. Were you so sure there wouldn't be any variables?"
Roselia picked up a vial from the table and uncorked it.
She dipped her fingertip in the ointment and slowly applied it to the inside of my leg where the switch had struck. The sting flared as the medicine touched the wound. At the same time, an instinctive revulsion surged at the feel of her skin against mine.
"Ro, Roselia… I…"
"Stay still. I'm almost done."
I clamped my mouth shut and bowed my head. A sense of injustice welled up in a corner of my heart.
"…But in the end, we took down the troll. Sierra helped, but thanks to that, we restored our family's honor that the Barsha Marquis had dismissed."
"Our family's honor?"
"Yes. I promised that any trouble I caused, I'd fix it myself."
Roselia stared at me silently for a long while. Her quiet gaze grew into an oppressive weight that made it hard to breathe.
"That's your third mistake, Bella."
Anger and disappointment mingled in Roselia's eyes. I couldn't fathom why she wore such an expression.
"Do you think some trivial family honor matters more than your safety?"
"…Pardon?"
"Bella, you're far more precious to me than that—several times over."
A gentle gaze underpinned by a solemn voice. Her unexpected words left me blinking in a daze.
That expression, those words… They almost made it seem like she was truly worried about me.
"…You're just saying that because if something happened to me, you wouldn't be able to sleep again, right?"
But I couldn't let myself be fooled. I had vowed long ago, from my previous life, not to rely on anyone. Even entertaining such thoughts now would shake that resolve.
"You brought me here for that purpose in the end… didn't you?"
"…Yes, at first. No—even now, your herbs are indispensable to me."
See? She kept me here because I'm useful. If it weren't for the herbs, I wouldn't even be sitting in this position.
"But Bella. Now, you're more precious to me than those herbs."
Yet as if denying my very thoughts, Roselia spoke without the slightest hesitation.
I had no idea how to respond and clamped my lips shut. After a long, heavy silence, Roselia finally broke it.
"I thought I'd been showing you affection in my own way all this time, but it seems I haven't even won over my daughter's heart yet."
"…Pardon?"
"You're so mature and sensible beyond your years, yet you're clumsier than Camilla when it comes to this."
Roselia leaned her face close to mine. At that nose-tip distance, a faint cherry scent brushed by.
"Bella, I'm a far more cruel person than you imagine."
Her voice slipped low and soft between those alluring, crimson lips.
"If I only wanted your herbs, the moment I realized your Divine Power, I could've crippled you halfway, chained you to a bed for life, and made you produce them with nothing but your saliva."
The words flowing from those seductive lips were cruel enough to send chills down my spine.
"That might even put my mind more at ease."
I blinked blankly before terror crashed over me, making me shrink back and flee to the edge of the sofa.
"A-Are you… really going to cripple me halfway…?"
Roselia chuckled. With a playful glint in her eyes, she lightly stroked my head with her fingertips.
"Who knows. But if you pull another reckless stunt like charging a troll bare-bodied… I might really chain you to the bed and raise you that way."
Her eerie words clashed with her mischievous smile. As her hand drew slowly nearer, I instinctively squeezed my eyes shut.
"There's only one reason I'm worried about you right now."
But Roselia merely stroked my head tenderly. Her voice had shifted dramatically from moments ago. I cautiously opened my eyes and glanced at her sidelong.
"You are my precious daughter, after all."
Roselia's face no longer showed any anger. She simply gazed at me with an unfamiliar warmth.
"You and Camilla both… You're irreplaceable family to me."
Family. Was there any word so foreign and alien to me?
In my past life and this one, I had always been a burden to be dealt with by family. It was a word I couldn't easily accept.
"…"
"I planned to wait patiently for you to open your heart… but maybe I should take the first step."
Roselia grabbed me by the scruff again. Carrying me, she headed to the Rahel Tani bathroom.
The space was filled with a faint floral fragrance and warm steam. Roselia flicked her fingers lightly. With a gentle breeze, the clothes enveloping her drifted one by one to the floor.
She still possessed lines so beautiful and sensual they were hard to meet head-on. Without thinking, I averted my gaze, staring only at the harmless steam as I slowly caught my breath.
"I lost my entire family when I was ten."
Roselia began her story as she walked toward the filled bathtub.
"My mother died giving birth to me, and my father left for the battlefield… only to return as a corpse."
For a brief moment, a thick murderous intent flickered in Roselia's eyes.
"From what I heard, he passed suffering without even receiving a priest's healing."
"…That must have been truly hard."
Such a sudden confession. I couldn't brush it off and expressed my sympathy with my head bowed.
"It was. Back then, I truly couldn't see a path ahead."
Roselia tested the water temperature with her toe before slowly sinking into the tub.
"I went to the battlefield nursing my father's vengeance. Fortunately, I had a certain special power."
The ability to manipulate blood freely. A supreme Divine Power that let her control a person's body after drinking their blood.
"I killed so many dark demons."
Roselia swept her wet hair back with her hand.
"Back then, revenge was all I could see. I was so consumed by resentment that I lost myself."
To others, it looked like hatred for the dark demons who killed her father.
But I knew. In the game, the one Roselia truly wanted to kill wasn't the demons—it was the archbishop.
Did that mean the archbishop was tied to the real reason her father died? Unmentioned lore from the game tangled my thoughts into knots.
"…Do you still think about revenge?"
"Who knows. I'm not sure."
Roselia slowly turned her body toward me. Her wet platinum hair gleamed even more dazzlingly atop the water's surface.
"A rabbit I picked up on a whim ended up becoming far more precious than I expected."
"Pardon?"
"After losing my father, I never thought about family again. But thanks to someone, those feelings started reviving bit by bit."
Was she talking about me? And 'rabbit'? It was the kind of corny line from a third-rate romance fantasy.
Yet because it came from Roselia, her embarrassingly cheesy words set my heart pounding.
"Do you understand why I'm telling you all this?"
I shook my head. I truly hadn't expected her to open up so deeply to me.
"I'm venting to my daughter."
"…Pardon?"
"I, I had a really hard time in the past. Every day felt like hell."
Roselia leaned her head against the tub's edge, letting out a deep sigh as she grumbled. She looked at me with pitiful eyes, as if seeking comfort.
"Uh… um, you must have suffered so much…?"
"Hee-hee. Hearing my daughter cheer me up feels pretty nice."
Roselia rose from the water. Waves rippled in the tub, splashing a few drops onto my face.
"When something hard happens, you have to let it out. That's what family is for. At least, that's how it was for me once."
I followed her lead and stood. As I stepped out of the tub, Roselia wrapped a large towel around me.
"So you lean on me too. No matter what you think, I truly see you as my daughter."
While I blinked blankly, Roselia gently dried my hair with the towel.
"You don't have to shoulder everything alone, Bella."
"…"
I pressed my lips tight. An uncontrollable emotion churned inside me. I kept my mouth shut to stop the feelings trying to burst out.
"Can't you rely on me a little more from now on?"
Normally, I'd say I could handle it alone. But right now, those words wouldn't come out.
"…I'll think about it."
In the end, I chose evasion over an answer.
But as if that was enough, Roselia smiled softly, wrapped me up towel and all, and lifted me into her arms.
"Alright, I'll wait for your answer, daughter."
Why was that?
Today, I couldn't tear my eyes from Roselia's face.
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