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Chapter 66 Part 5 – A little happiness and the prelude to the tragedy.

The boy’s red eyes reflected the figure of Rona all dressed up.
Rona was wearing a dress, not her usual tattered clothes.
She looked like a pure and innocent young lady.
Looking like this, even if she stands next to the boy, she certainly won’t look inferior.

‘Old man Brian said that my red eyes reflect the truth. You are not dirty at all. Be confident. This is who you really are.’

The dance went faster and faster.
As if to make Rona unable to think about unnecessary things.
The wind whistled in her ears.
Somehow her heart felt filled.

‘…… This is the real …… me ……’

Tears spilled from her eyes and fell to the ground as she danced.
Those are no longer tears of misery, but tears of joy.

Rona understood that it’s a dream.

In reality, she is still crawling at the bottom of the pile. There is no escape.
But this dream lets her forget that.
She was ridiculed as a whore, but the boy told her that she is not dirty.
He recognized her as a human being.

That alone makes her so happy.
Why is her heart beating so loudly?

Even if it was just a dream, she wanted to hang on to those words.
She didn’t know if the fluttering in her chest was because she was exercising hard or because she was in close contact with the boy.
Even though Rona dreamed of encountering a prince, she was desperate to protect her younger brothers.
She had never been in true love before because she put herself on the back burner.
It will take a little while before Rona realizes that it is love.

‘…… You’re beautiful, Rona. Really beautiful.’

Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest with every word the boy said.
It feels embarrassing to be complimented.
But she felt a hundred times happier.
It feels like her feet are about to float. Her fingertips are hot to the touch.
She had forgotten how this feels.
That’s right. This feeling is ……

‘…… I …… Is it okay for me to be happy, even if it’s only in a dream?’

The boy smiled at her words that came out unintentionally.

「The place where you will become happy is not inside a dream. It’s in reality. I will protect you. So, come back. Rona.」

The moment she heard this, Rona’s life force, which had almost disappeared, flared up again.

◇

Rona gasped.
She writhed so much that she almost fell off the sofa.

「…… Aa, aaa, aaahhh ……!!」

Sweat broke out as she let out a whimper from the back of her throat.

「H-Hey ……」

The ominous sound of a desperate cry made the brown-bearded Bill run over to her, but Wendell, who was still holding her hand by Rona’s side, stopped him.

「…… It’s all right now. You’ve come back.」

Wendell assured Rona.

Marielle was panting as she fell to the floor and threw her legs up in the air. She followed his words with an explanation.

「…… It’s just as the young master said. We’ve crossed the difficult part. Through manipulating her blood and body fluids, I’ve also raised the body’s resistance. All that’s left is to disinfect the affected area with a medicinal bath, cleanse the body, rest, and eat a lot of nutritious food. And occasionally take some medicine. That’s all. I’m glad that all I have to deal with is you guys who grew up on the battlefield. Just denying the humoral theory is treated as heresy in the medical world. …… But I’m telling you, I can’t pull off a miracle like this again.」

Even for Marielle, this treatment was burdensome.
It was indeed a miracle.
At that moment, Marielle reached the skill of the future child prodigy Bradd.

Color began to appear on Rona’s cheeks and her expression softened.
Her breathing became regular and calm.
The men gasped at the scene, which was so vivid that it looked as if the dead had been brought back to life.

「As expected of Marielle. You’re the best.」

「You did it. You really are an amazing woman.」

Marielle turned away shyly as the black-bearded Bobby and the brown-bearded Bill praised her without holding back.

「All right, you’re making me embarrassed. Half of this miracle is thanks to the young master.」

Rona’s eyelids opened softly.
Her gaze moved and she caught sight of Wendell leaning close to her.

「…… Rona ……」

Wendell tried to call out to her.

「It’s no good. Her consciousness is still clouded. It would be better to not call out to her carelessly, because she will be confused.」

Marielle advised Wendell in a whisper and he hurriedly closed his mouth.

Instead, he put strength into his hands that were wrapped around Rona’s hand. But then, a weak but sure grip squeezed his hands.
When Wendell felt that, Rona blinked a few times. Her dry lips moved silently for a moment before she let out a faint voice as if she just remembered what she wanted to say.

「…… Mother told me to grasp your hand ……」

Then Rona smiled very shyly.

「…… My …… prince ……」

Realizing that she was referring to him, Wendell instantly blushed.

「I-I’m not a prince ……」

Wendell tried to deny it in a panic, but Marielle gestured by putting her index finger against her lips, and he swallowed the rest of the words after remembering that Rona’s consciousness was still clouded.

Rona’s cheeks blushed and she was staring at Wendell with dreamy eyes.
Hesitant to look away and with the blushing in his cheeks not fading, Wendell also stared at Rona.
Marielle and the old men were grinning and enjoying their reactions from afar.
Then, with a gentle and shy expression, Rona closed her eyes again.

「…… Please, don’t let me wake up …… what a …… happy …… dream ……」

After murmuring so with her lips, Rona fell asleep again. Her sleeping face looked full of peace.

Later on, when Rona, who had no recollection of what had happened, was told about what she had said and done at this moment, she writhed in agony from the shame. And when she heard that Wendell had looked at her with a gentle gaze and continuously stayed by her side, her heart fluttered and she regretted that she had no memory of that time.
It occurred to her that maybe some of Wendell’s words that she had heard inside the dream might actually have been spoken by him, so she let out a squeal and buried her face in the pillow.

It was one of the happiest memories Wendell and the others had given her.

For Rona, that period of time is an irreplaceable, precious treasure.

Later on, when she became an adult, Countess Rosenthal would dream of this period of time numerous times, woke up, and shed tears as she was reminded that those dreams were now beyond her reach.

The dependable Brian, Bobby, and Bill and the kind Marielle are no longer in this world.
Wendell considers her as the enemy of his beloved wife and hates her.
The reality is sad and painful.

Scarlet and the others did not know that Rona …… Countess Rosenthal had stayed for a long time in front of the tomb of the three old warriors all by herself, while holding back her cries and hanging her head down.

Still, the young Rona certainly felt happy at this time.
In fact, she had grasped happiness.

But fate was cruel.
The ruin caused by human malice was creeping silently towards Rona’s feet.

◇

Slightly back in time.

「What is going on ……」

Rona’s younger brother, Ronny, turned ghastly pale and became completely at a loss for words.
He couldn’t stop trembling.

When Rona sold her body to a pervert in order to get money for her younger brothers, Ronny was away picking up scraps.
If Ronny had been there instead of Teddy, who could not walk, he would have stopped Rona at any cost.
That is why Rona targeted the moment when Ronny was away.

Ronny turned petrified when he came back and saw that his brother Teddy was sobbing as he scratched the ground.

「It’s all …… my fault ……!! It’s because I can’t walk anymore that sister had to ……!!」

Teddy cried out sorrowfully.
He had crawled out of the house while dragging his crippled legs.
He must have fallen down many times.
His body was covered with a lot of scratches and wounds.

「Move!! Why can’t my legs move!! I have to go after sister Rona!!」

He was sobbing and beating his own legs.

Ronny could understand his sadness and frustration.

Before their father’s violence had left him unable to walk, Teddy was a good runner.
He was the best runner among the children around him.
He was always cheerful and lively and popular with everyone.
Ronny often sighed and wondered why they were so different, even though they were twins.

…… Ronny hasn’t seen Teddy smile for a long time.

Teddy was much more worried about being a hindrance to Rona and Ronny than the fact that he was unable to walk anymore. Teddy had repeatedly asked the two of them to leave him behind and run away from the house.

Every time Ronny heard that, he got really angry.
They would grab each other and get into a fight.
Then Rona would have a sad expression and hug her two younger brothers.

「…… We will always be together. …… If any one of us is missing, we can’t be happy. So, one day, I’m sure we will all be happy together ……」

She muttered the unattainable dream called happiness as if it was a magic word.
There is no way that such a sister would leave them behind without a reason.

Without even having to further ask Teddy or anyone else, Ronny immediately understood what had happened just by looking at the disproportionate amount of money that Rona entrusted to Teddy. His knees trembled at the sight of the bloodstains dotting the house and the bizarrely-shaped, bloody tool lying on the floor.
He recognized that tool.
It had been carried around by the man who was always mumbling to himself among the men that had bought his sister.
He had been trying to force Rona to accept something horrible being done to her by offering her a large sum of money.

Sister was in poor health and yet she had been forced to continue to sell her body.
So, thinking she did not have long to live, she sacrificed herself and obtained a large sum of money.
She even intentionally treated Teddy harshly and left the house, even though she was so badly injured that she should not have been able to walk properly.
She was not going to go back because she didn’t want to be a burden to them.

Tears welled up in Ronny’s eyes.

「Sister Rona, what are you doing ……!! You always said we would all be happy together. And yet, why would you carry all the burden by yourself ……!!」