NOVEL NEXT Chapter 199
Chapter: 199
Suddenly, hearing Rosalyn’s words made me grip my hands tightly without realizing it.
What did she mean by that?
It was a bit overwhelming to understand.
The sudden, disorganized conversation and Rosalyn’s words had taken me by surprise.
“Uh…?”
“I’m asking literally. What do you think?”
…So, that means I don’t understand her intention.
Why is she suddenly asking me what I think of her?
Caught off guard and confused by the unexpected question, all I could do was look at Rosalyn, my mouth slightly agape.
“…….”
Of course, there was one thing I had to say here.
I simply had to respond with something like, “I think of you as a good mother.”
But in reality, that wasn’t entirely how I felt.
I didn’t think of Rosalyn as just an ordinary mother; my feelings were more complicated than that.
It was difficult to answer her seemingly trivial question.
“I just… think of you as a mother?”
Still, the answer boiled down to one thing.
The only thing I really had to say was that I thought of Rosalyn as a mother.
No matter the reason behind Rosalyn’s question, our relationship certainly was that of a mother and daughter.
Regardless of what I thought.
“Is that so…?”
“Why do you ask?”
Honestly, I was more baffled by why Rosalyn posed such a question than by my own answer.
Why is she asking this?
Why is she seriously wanting to know how I think of her all of a sudden?
I was so confused, I wished she’d go ahead and drink the wine she brought and just collapse.
“I just… have been mulling over various things?”
“What kinds of things?”
“Hmm… How should I put this…?”
With Rosalyn being the one to start talking, I only grew more frustrated.
What on earth is the reason for this?
If the Rose Family had done something strange to Rosalyn first, then Alexandra would surely have contacted me separately.
But there was no indication of that, and instead, I’d been receiving letters about the information I’d gathered on the Rose Family recently.
What could possibly be troubling Rosalyn so much?
If it were a person doing something to her, I’d definitely want to exact revenge on them.
Of course, since Rosalyn wasn’t revealing anything, it felt like I would just have to figure it out myself.
“Um… shall we have a drink first?”
“…Me too?”
“Yeah.”
“Uh…”
Hmm…
I may be 16, but isn’t it a bit early for that?
Of course, I had already drunk when I was 13 in my first year at the Academy… but seeing Rosalyn recommending alcohol to me felt oddly casual, which surprised me.
“Just… a little bit.”
…But of course, that didn’t mean I’d refuse.
I mean, it felt a bit wasteful, right?
Not to mention, I rarely ever get the chance to drink.
I wasn’t yet an adult, and if I bought it myself, Rize would give me an earful…
“Puhehe… When Camelia becomes a full adult, I really want to drink a lot with her.”
“That would be fun.”
“Right? Of course, I wouldn’t ever think about letting my underage daughter drink that much, though!”
“Puhehe…”
Well, that was a given.
I had drunk quite a bit with Rosalyn until now, but I had never really gotten her drunk.
It wasn’t like I had a weak constitution, like Rize?
Anyway, for now, I sipped a bit of the drink with Rosalyn and made casual conversation.
I figured that was probably to ease the atmosphere, right?
Even if we talked about the same things, it’d be more comfortable for Rosalyn to speak under a slightly relaxed atmosphere with a drink in hand.
At least, that’s what I thought.
As we sipped the drink, the mood gradually lightened, and Rosalyn became slightly tipsy.
Of course, since I was sipping slowly, I wasn’t drunk at all.
“You know… the head of the family has been very ill lately. Are you aware?”
“……..”
Then came the conversation.
Unlike a moment ago, it was uttered in a somewhat solemn atmosphere.
Rosalyn had rarely spoken of William’s health in such a dark mood.
“He didn’t look great for a long time. Even back when I was much younger, he wasn’t exactly thriving.”
“Yeah… that’s true.”
I had known about William’s health from long ago.
After all, it was evident from his physique that he hadn’t been in good health.
He looked just like what they often call a ‘well-fed noble.’
Plus, his eating and living habits were quite bad.
I had a tendency in that direction myself, but I usually just collapsed from fatigue during work or went to sleep.
Also, riding around in a carriage constantly was definitely taking its toll on my back…?
“…Why is that?”
I wondered why Rosalyn was bringing this up.
It was true that William and Rosalyn were married, but they hardly ever interacted.
They hardly ever interacted, to be precise.
William had just married her for the Rose Family title, and Rosalyn had been sold off instead of Christina.
It made no sense for their relationship to improve.
Moreover, William was often away from the mansion for business or other reasons, while Rosalyn spent her time with me.
It wasn’t surprising that they were practically strangers.
“I just… think he’s worse than I expected?”
“Um….”
That was certainly the case.
The other servants had kept quiet, but they were all thinking the same about William’s health.
I myself had become aware of how badly he had been doing lately.
“I just… puhu…”
Rosalyn let out a deep sigh as she spoke.
Surely, this was the conversation she wanted to have when she came to my room earlier.
“…Honestly, I think he might not live for much longer.”
“…….”
It was a heavy statement from Rosalyn, who said it so calmly.
While everyone else was whispering about it, it was an expected future.
Even I thought it was virtually impossible for William to recover suddenly at this point.
He had called doctors and priests to fuss around, but I hadn’t felt anything getting better.
Those saints I may have seen at the Academy surely wouldn’t be any help.
Unless they were truly performing miracles rather than just channeling divine power, but there was no reason for that.
I didn’t even know them.
“That sounds plausible.”
So I agreed with Rosalyn’s statement.
After all, she had said something that was quite hard to refute.
No matter what her reasoning was for bringing it up.
“Maximum three years, if that. And even then, it would only happen if he stays bedridden.”
That was just my guess.
If the situation continued with doctors and priests trying to prevent any decline, maybe he would live that long?
That’s assuming he ate only healthy food and barely moved, living a life that felt lifeless.
He was already at a point where he could handle matters through exercise and diet at this stage.
“…That’s probably right.”
“Yes.”
“Yeah… that makes sense.”
That’s what Rosalyn said and took another sip of her drink.
Why is Rosalyn bringing up such topics?
Is she talking about how to divide the wealth after William dies?
If not, does she want him to die sooner?
I wasn’t sure.
I wasn’t even drunk yet, but I just couldn’t grasp Rosalyn’s intentions.
“If the head of the Leonhardt family… Camelia’s father were to die.”
“…….”
I waited silently for Rosalyn to continue without interrupting her.
What kind of things was she planning to bring up?
I didn’t know.
I had had some thoughts about William not living much longer for a while, but I hadn’t planned for what would happen next.
“What will you do then…?”
“I don’t know.”
…I just gave that answer.
If I were to respond appropriately for my age, it was a fitting answer.
But it didn’t quite match who I was normally.
I knew this, which made me feel awkward even after saying it.
However, the truth was, I really didn’t have an answer for what I’d do in that situation.
“Is that so…? I see….”
“What about you, mother?”
Since I kept getting questions that were tough for me to answer, I turned the tables and asked Rosalyn.
What would she do after William dies?
Unlike me, Rosalyn could come up with numerous answers.
Despite being married, she was practically a stranger and could leave this rotten family to start a new life.
Even having been married once, I couldn’t picture someone as beautiful as Rosalyn not being able to remarry.
In fact, people would likely line up for her.
Rosalyn, who hadn’t been able to reveal her beauty to the social world because of the Rose family’s struggles, must’ve had her chances robbed from her.
“…….”
I waited for her response, but my feelings weren’t great.
If I had known it would turn out like this, I would’ve simply kept quiet and just waited for her answers instead of asking questions.
While I didn’t dislike the thought of Rosalyn leaving the Leonhardt family for a new life, I also felt a strange reluctance.
What should I do from here?
I wasn’t sure.
It was a much different situation and feeling compared to when my previous stepmother ran away.
“…What would you like to do?”
So I posed my question again.
Once more, asking Rosalyn to answer, who was hesitating over her words.
If she didn’t answer soon, I feared I’d spiral into more bad thoughts.
“…I want to.”
“Yes.”
Rosalyn, who had hesitated, opened her mouth again.
I looked at her intently as she spoke.
With our eyes locked, I waited for her reply, not knowing what kind of response she would give.
I had no idea what I would think, say, or do after Rosalyn’s answer.
But for now, I simply had to wait for her to respond.
“As long as possible… I want to stay with Camelia.”
“…….”
The answer that came from Rosalyn was exactly what I had secretly wished for.
And as I awaited and heard that answer, various thoughts blossomed in my mind all at once.