TOYCG 50🍒

Chapter — 50

The garden, where roses were in full bloom, looked even more beautiful with morning dew clinging to the petals.

Rosebell stood beside the marchioness, quietly watching the servants make preparations. There wasn’t much she could do except observe, but she considered even this a form of learning.

Someday, when she held a social gathering at the ducal residence, she felt she would know exactly how to prepare it.

“Rosebell, aren’t your legs tired?” the marchioness asked.

“I’m fine! This is also part of my studies!” Rosebell replied brightly.

At her cheerful answer, the marchioness smiled. With no mistress of the house before, everything must feel awkward and new to her.

Perhaps this was a good chance to organize things properly and teach her what she needed to know.

“There may be many books at the ducal residence, but how about I整理 the things that are truly practical and give them to you? What do you think?”

“I’d be very grateful!”

Her violet eyes sparkled. The marchioness had to admit it—she was seeing Ariel in the girl standing before her.

Ariel, too, had shown curiosity toward everything new and never hesitated to learn anything.

‘If it’s something you teach me, I’ll learn it with all my heart! I’m sure it will help the Efrian Ducal House!’

Marchioness Ophelia thought that Rosebell seemed to have inherited only the best qualities of both parents.

That made her want her even more. Of course, the Duke of Efrian would never consider sending her off as someone’s fiancée.

Still, who could say how people’s lives would turn out? On top of that, the imperial family had been far too quiet lately.

The Duke of Efrian had mentioned it casually—he said the crown prince hadn’t shown up at the orchard at all, as if he were plotting something.

Moreover, the amount of paper going into the imperial palace had increased sharply. They had always placed many orders, but recently, the paper officially used by the crown prince had increased noticeably.

Even this alone felt unsettling. But Ophelia held her tongue for the sake of the Duke of Efrian and his daughter.

More than anything, she wished they wouldn’t get further entangled with the imperial family. And she knew she wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

“My dear Rosebell… if only I had a son, I’d send him to your family as a live-in son-in-law!”

“Pfft, please don’t say such things, even as a joke. I want to become someone like you, Marchioness Ophelia.”

“Oh my! Is it really all right for me to hear such an honorable thing?”

As the marchioness made a fuss, Rosebell couldn’t stop laughing. She thought that if she had a mother, this might be what it felt like.

“Hahaha, please stop.”

“By the way, any color suits you well.”

“Pardon?”

Only when the marchioness touched her dress did Rosebell realize what she meant, and she scratched her cheek.

Considering the chaos that had happened that morning, this was only natural. And if there was one thing she had overlooked, it was that there were people like Maria everywhere.

No—this one was even stronger than Maria, which was honestly shocking.

It almost made her think that Maria had always tightened her corset gently out of consideration.

“But it feels like my ribs are going to break,” Rosebell complained with a pout.

The marchioness burst out laughing. To be honest, even she found Maril’s strength hard to endure, so it must have been even worse for Rosebell.

After all, when Rosebell first came here, it had been obvious that her corset was only lightly tightened.

“But isn’t that unavoidable for a lady? The dress fits beautifully… and this pale pink reminds me of your mother when she was young…”

“Then…”

“Yes. This is the first dress I ever gave your mother when she came here.”

“But it looks completely new.”

“That’s because I’ve taken care of it carefully every time…”

Rosebell gently touched the light pink dress, then rubbed her cheek against the large pale-pink rose corsage pinned at her neck. The faint scent of roses made her feel as if she were wearing roses themselves.

“My mother must have liked roses.”

“Not exactly… but when you were in her womb, the roses were in full bloom. That’s why you were named Rose.”

“Ah…”

Now Rosebell understood why her name was Rosebell. She couldn’t help thinking her parents must have been completely doting fools.

Why a child raised with so much love had turned out twisted no longer mattered to her.

She was their daughter, and from now on, she just had to live differently.

When it was time for the tea party, guests began to arrive. Anyone could tell they were noble ladies, dressed in dazzling gowns and adorned with glittering jewels. Looking at them, Rosebell felt her eyes ache.

Still, she didn’t do anything foolish like showing it. This was a world she would have to face in the future.

Today’s goal was to promote the apples of the Efrian Duchy and make them recognize that she was no longer the same person as before.

“Oh my! The tea is so pretty!”

Starting with one noblewoman’s comment, everyone began to show interest in the apples shaped like flowers.

Seizing the opportunity, Marchioness Ophelia gently pulled Rosebell forward.

“This syrup was made personally by Lady Efrian using apples grown in the duchy. I tasted it for the first time myself, and the fragrance was so lovely that I wanted to introduce it to all of you.”

At her words, the ladies lifted their teacups as if they had been waiting for this, inhaled the aroma, and then took a sip.

“It feels like the apples have a floral scent.”

“The apples of the Efrian Duchy are delicious even on their own, but when made into tea like this, you can fully enjoy their fragrance and flavor. Since the syrup can be sweet, we blended it with dried apples and mint to brew the tea,” Rosebell explained, not missing her chance.

Noble ladies were always drawn to beautiful things.

And among nobles, tea was something special. Many would feel offended if everyone else had something that they alone did not.

“Lady Efrian? Oh my… well… you’ve changed quite a lot. Hohoho.”

At the words of a large-framed noblewoman, murmurs spread among the ladies. Rosebell was startled by the sudden shift in atmosphere, but she thought it couldn’t be helped.

Marchioness Ophelia, however, skillfully turned the mood around.

“As you all know, Lady Efrian was once seriously injured.”

“That’s true. I only heard rumors, but for a woman to have scars on her body… I wonder if they’re very noticeable.”

“Indeed. She’s a noble favored by the imperial family for agriculture… if her body is damaged…”

They sounded polite, but what they were really saying was, You’re just a girl from a farming family.

Ophelia was used to such ways of speaking, but she worried about how Rosebell would endure it. Her concern, however, was unnecessary.

“Even if there are scars, it doesn’t cause any major problems in growing apples, so it’s all right. And for those of you who came today, we’ve prepared our family’s apple syrup as a special gift. It would be an honor if you took it home and enjoyed it with your families.”

At Rosebell’s firm tone, the noble ladies were momentarily taken aback. She was clearly different from the old days, when she would flare up and speak impulsively.

After successfully shaping her image among the noble ladies, Rosebell received compliments about her dress and how closely she resembled her mother.

Even so, she felt uncomfortable in that place.

Then it happened.

From afar, a woman with long black hair fluttering behind her entered, wearing a red dress.

“Oh my, we’re late.”

“Duchess Douglas, welcome. And welcome to the young lady as well.”

Marchioness Ophelia warmly greeted the two. Rosebell felt bitterness rise in her mouth as the spotlight instantly shifted.

But wasn’t that how high society worked? Those with influence were always the center of attention.

“However… I see someone I don’t recognize,” the Duchess of Douglas said pointedly, even though anyone could tell at a glance that Rosebell was Lady Efrian.

“Nice to meet you. I am Rosebell Elia de Efrian.”

When Rosebell greeted her properly, the duchess finally responded with a light nod, as if she truly hadn’t recognized her.

After the Duchess of Douglas arrived, all conversation naturally centered on Lady Freya.

People were saying that Lady Freya would become the next empress. When no useful information came up, Rosebell excused herself, saying she needed to use the restroom.

“Whew… I can’t breathe.”

In the past, she would have caused a scene right there. But all the women talked about were things like who would become whose fiancée or what expensive jewelry someone had bought.

That might have been their everyday life, but for her, such conversations were exhausting.

Dragging her sore feet along, Rosebell suddenly realized she was wearing her mother’s shoes. She straightened her back and let her legs carry her wherever they wished.

“Wow!”

A wide garden filled with wildflowers spread out before her. It seemed like a place untouched by others’ footsteps.

Yet, since it was well maintained, she guessed it must be a special space belonging to the marchioness.

“I should rest here for a bit. If Aren were here, he’d probably kill time with some pointless jokes…”

Murmuring Aren’s name over and over, Rosebell rubbed her swollen legs.