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Chapter 67 Part 2 – A minuet to be remembered. In the memories of happiness, Rona blames herself and wails.

Marielle smiled gently.

She already had a rough idea of what was going on, based on what Wendell and the others had told her, Rona’s personality, and a simple mind-reading from the blood flow.

「I don’t need money. After all, I have enough for my livelihood. I owe those three old men more than I can ever repay. I can’t refuse it if it’s their request. Let’s see, if you want to thank someone, you can thank the young master of the Wilhelm fief.」

「…… The young master ……」

Remembering the boy with red eyes and gentle smile, Rona felt her heart pounding.
She was about to throw herself off the bridge when he risked his life to save her.
And he even arranged for her to be treated.
And yet, she rejected the young master’s thoughtfulness.
He even bought her a bouquet of roses because he was worried about her.

「…… Why would he go that far for someone as lowly as I am ……?」

「…… Come on. ‘Someone as lowly as I am’ are not words a girl of your age should use to describe yourself. I don’t need you to pay for the medical expenses so stop saying things like that.」

「But I’m really ……」

「You should refrain from saying ‘but’ as well.」

Marielle poked Rona in the forehead with her finger.

「Uuhh ……」

「Listen well. A boy doesn’t need a reason to save a girl in trouble. It’s a natural thing to do for a future gentleman. Rather, it’s part of a girl’s courtesy to gratefully accept that chivalrous spirit. But we should not forget the favor we received. And someday, Rona-chan will be able to repay the favor to the young master.」

「…… Repay the favor ……」

Rona, who had an uncomfortable look in her eyes and had been avoiding meeting Marielle’s gaze, suddenly stopped moving.
All of a sudden, she seemed to turn into a rigid doll.

「…… I wonder if I can do it …… No, I will …… repay the favor. Definitely. Even if it costs me my life.」

She muttered as if to punctuate each word.
It was as if she was saying it to herself.
The light in her eyes was so focused, as if she was staring at a single point, to the point that Marielle felt uneasy.
Marielle had a feeling that something mysterious had awakened inside the young Rona.

「…… Umm …… the young master, what is his name?」

But Marielle soon forgot that sense of discomfort as Rona blushed, looking up and down repeatedly, and finally making up her mind to ask the question. She smiled at Rona’s innocence. Rona looked so distressed as if she was jumping off a cliff just to ask the young master’s name.

It was only much later that Marielle regretted and wished that she had been more careful at this moment.
Marielle thought so after she realized that Rona’s single-mindedness was to the extent that she had no regard for herself.

「…… That person is Wendell-sama from Marquis Wilhelm’s fief.」

「…… Wendell-sama ……」

Rona kept repeating 「Wendell-sama」 over and over again inside her heart, as if she were ruminating on it.

「Wendell-sama is also a pitiful child. He was supposed to be …… the heir of the prestigious Lingard family. After all, he had red eyes and red hair. But his foolish parents got blinded by greed and made a mistake. They claimed that their son was the rightful heir to the throne and incurred the wrath of the royal family.」

Marielle sighed.

Marielle hesitated to continue because the story was a bit difficult to talk about, but Rona did not have the restlessness that is common among the children of impoverished people.
On the contrary, she listened attentively.
She was so focused on not missing a single word of what Marielle was saying about Wendell that she turned into a dress-up doll at Marielle’s behest. She was like a devout believer listening to the scriptures.

Since it was convenient in many ways, Marielle decided to do the finishing work at the same time while explaining.

…… The 「True Emperor」, the only person in history to unify this continent, had an unusual appearance of red hair and red eyes.
However, no one with those characteristics has ever appeared, not even in the Hydrangea royal family.

The longing for the return of the 「True Emperor」 gave rise to an old saying that if any of the bloodline of the 「True Emperor」 inherited those characteristics, he would be given priority in the succession to the throne.

So when Wendell was born, his greedy parents leapt for joy.
They loudly claimed that Wendell would be the next king of Hydrangea.
However, the present age is not the mythical age when lore was absolute.
In today’s Hydrangea, where even the Parliament exists, there is no way that such a claim would be accepted.

No one in their right mind would take it up.
Because it was obvious that if they seriously tried to take over the kingdom politics on such a basis, they would be crushed by the royal family and the Parliament.

The only people who came to support the couple’s claim were a bunch of suspicious people and the commotion was easily suppressed.

Marquis Wilhelm and his wife, who were later on called Marquis Vygod and his wife, were already snubbed even before this event and were expelled from the Parliament after being considered as a dangerous element. The reason they were not punished was because the achievements of Wendell’s grandfather, the former Lord Wilhelm, were so great.

Marquis Vygod and his wife became the laughingstock of aristocratic society.

They had obtained a good card in the form of Wendell, who had the same characteristics as the 「True Emperor」. If they made good use of it, they should have been able to enter into a marriage relationship with the royal family or a great noble family. And yet, because of their excessive greed, they were scorned by the royal family, expelled from the Parliament where their ancestors had been a member for generations, and severely reprimanded by Wendell’s grandfather.
Their disastrous state was exactly the same as the mean old woman and old man in the folklores.

Marquis Vygod and his wife’s pride was torn to shreds and they took their resentment out on their son, Wendell, who knew nothing about it.

Afterwards, Wendell was treated coldly. A sharp contrast to how he was previously treated.
He was driven out from the main residence and moved into the detached residence.
Even though he was just an infant at that time.

If it hadn’t been for the scrutiny and help of Wendell’s grandfather and the three old warriors, his situation would have been even more dire.
The detached residence had less than the minimum number of servants.

The treatment was so bad that the Parliament expressed sympathy for Wendell.

「However, the current king hates the legend of the True Emperor. As long as that king is around, Wendell-sama will remain unfortunate. His parents, the true culprits, are desperately trying to show that they have no intentions of rebelling by treating Wendell-sama coldly. They are trying to save themselves by avoiding their son. There are even talks that Wendell-sama will not be able to succeed the family.」

Hearing the story, Rona felt heartbroken.

She wants to do something about it.
But the king is too far above her.
Wendell offered to take Rona in as a live-in maid.
Along with her younger brothers.
She felt happy. She wants to repay that favor.
However, no matter how much she learns about her job as a maid, she won’t be able to do anything about the king.
It’s frustrating.
Even though she can understand better than anyone else how hard it is for Wendell-sama ……

「…… I was also sold by my father.」

Marielle lowered her eyelashes at Rona’s brief confession.
She had been somewhat expecting this, but to hear it coming from Rona, it was still a big shock.

「Maybe Wendell-sama felt something similar to Rona-chan.」

Marielle hugged Rona tightly as she said this.

「It must have been hard for you. I’m sorry for making you talk about your unpleasant past. There is no one here who would hurt Rona-chan. You can make yourself at home.」

「Marielle-san ……」

Although her way of speaking and demeanor are different, Marielle somehow gives off an air similar to her late mother.
Rona felt nostalgic and wanted to be spoiled by her ample breasts.
Then, she was startled with her thoughts and came back to her senses.
Rona suddenly stiffened in her arms and Marielle hurriedly let go of her.

「I’m sorry. You didn’t like it, did you? Having this old lady being all touchy-feely with you.」

「No!! I don’t mind. I like Marielle-san.」

Rona denied it in a surprisingly loud voice.
Her extremely straightforward reaction drove deep into Marielle’s heart like a wedge that caught her by surprise.
The impact was enough to make Marielle blush.

「But I’m dirty …… I have been getting money from men.」

In contrast, Rona’s voice increasingly faded away.

Marielle felt pity from the bottom of her heart.
She sensed that the emotional trauma was making this intelligent girl feel a sense of inferiority.