Chapter 9: 9

(Rose’s POV)

‘Fall family? Pft.. Is there such a family here in the Empire?’

Upon hearing those words, I realized that my future as the only daughter of the Fall family had already been spoiled. Right from the beginning until the end of the party, whatever the young men around me said or did, I had already predicted. So even though it was my first time attending, I quickly got tired of the party. 

“At that time I had no idea. I would never have thought that I would love someone as much as I love Rose.”

Belial rested his hand on top of mine.

“Rose is such an incredible person. She educated all the young men around her, including me, in an instant.”

Huh. My eyes widened from his words.

“Me?”

My mother blatantly sympathized with me.

“How can you not be aware of what you did?” 

“It’s okay Madame, Rose’s strength is her indifference and composure, isn’t it?

“That’s true. But she’s so absent-minded.”

’Well, how can I be attentive when it’s no longer fun? I wouldn’t be able to stand this monotonous world if I kept a clear mind.’ I sent a look of protest towards my mother. Yet my mother still did not hesitate to ask Belial.

(TN: Now I know where the title came from, hehe.)

“How did my daughter edify those young men?”

“At a tea party that we both attended, she suddenly approached a group of young men and said, “It’s great to see that you guys are having fun.”“

“What?”

Oh, that? Yes, I remember that. I unconsciously nodded my head.

“Just because I’m bored doesn’t mean that other people have to be bored as well.”

“You…”

Belial nodded, as if agreeing with me.

“Well, I said that out of worry. Self-esteem that was built up in such a way is not good and usually doesn’t last very long.”

“What?!”

My mother’s voice grew louder as the conversation went on. I once heard that people with low self-esteem tend to look down on others to give themselves affirmation on their social standing and feel a sense of superiority. Self-esteem built in that way would only last momentarily, and nobody would enjoy being around such a companion. No one should interfere with another’s way of living, and most of all, it’s incredibly annoying. 

(TN: As what I understood here, I think Rose edifies those peeps who usually downplay other people especially in an aristocratic group. The cause of it was the pressure from their own family, to make themselves feel better they tend to say bad things about other people, especially those who have lower rank than themselves.)

“What did you say? That’s a very risky thing to do especially in an aristocratic gathering/around aristocrats.”

“Yeah. They were quite upset when I finished speaking.” 

“That’s not something that should be said casually! Those youngsters must be sharpening their knives to get back at you by now.”

It’s the usual cycle that everyone goes through. One will be slandered by others, while the “others” would be bitten by another group of people. We will all die anyway. Especially in my case, I already know that I am destined to die early. So, unlike my mother, I’m easygoing.

“Well I don’t care much about it. For me it’s better to bite back at someone before I die.”

(TN: She might have been triggered since in the first part of this chapter she heard that some men are laughing at her family status.)

“How can you be so carefree?!”

Belial chuckled.

“Those young men were all quite shocked by Rose’s blasé attitude.”

Consequently, those young men came up to me after the party. They said that they don’t want to look bad once they debut into society. 

“In a way, those young noblemen were quite similar to the way I used to be. And it’s always better to bite than to be bitten.”

My mother then nodded too.

“It’s not just you, but for everyone else, as well.”

Belial placed a hand on my right shoulder.

“Of course, there was one decisive moment that led Rose and I to develop into lovers, but we’ll keep that one as a secret between us.”

(TN: Waah but why a secret???)

(PR: Baby Wolf hit us with the suspense.)

Oh, that thing. Obviously, nothing good would come from me telling my parents about that story. I nodded in agreement with Belial.

“The more I got to know Rose, the happier I became. However, it made me grow more hesitant. I wondered if I would ever be good enough for her, especially since there are a lot of noblemen more deserving to be her partner.”

“That’s the reason why you…..”

”…That’s the reason you broke up with me!”

“Yes, the sins that I have committed in the past would not be washed away so easily.”

Belial made eye contact with me.

“I still have my reservations up until now, but I can guarantee one thing. I will make Rose the happiest person in the world. The people who cared for her deserve happiness as well.”

“-No, my sister is not that grandiose of a person.”

I looked up as I felt a hand touch my right shoulder. 

“Rather, you’re saying that you’re giving up, just because someone else’s wanted her.” 

All of the sudden, my brother was standing behind the sofa.

“It’s really annoying to deal with people like that., That’s why it’s better for you to be the one to bite.”

Did he already reconcile with our father? Then, my brother ruffled my hair with his other hand.

“And even if they bite you back, you will not even be scathed anyway.”

I continued to look at my brother and raised my hand.

“There’s no reason for our *’Pumpkin Flower’ to avoid them. No matter how fierce a viper bites her, she’s still gonna be fine. Just like a **badger- Ouch!” 

(TN:(*) Pumpkin flowers for Koreans are also known as ‘Ugly’, since ugly women are like old pumpkins, because old pumpkins are fat, bumpy, and wrinkled. ref. link :http://askakorean.blogspot.com/2007/07/quickie-post.html?m=1)

(TN: (**) Badger, Beryl refers to Rose as badger because they can survive the bites of some very dangerous creatures. And one of them is the viper snake. In which Beryl refers to those aristocrats as a Viper.)

“Don’t pretend to be close to me.”

‘Such a creep.’ I pinched my brother’s palm hard. And my mother also pointed out what Beryl just said.

“Why did you compare your sister to a badger?”

“Why? Badgers are cute too, aren’t they?”

I also nodded.

“I like badgers too. They’re really cute.”

“Aren’t they? You know it as well.”

“But I still don’t like you.”

I then put in more force into the pinches I was giving him. Eventually, he had no choice but to remove his hand from my shoulder. While taking a sip of her half-cooled tea, Mother asked.

“Have you reconciled with your father?”

My brother nodded while holding his hand.

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“Yes. And he said if we think that the tea is not good enough, he will bring in a new one.”

“If your father has already forgiven you, then I have no reason to scold you. Please, take a seat.”

‘Ugh, mother, you should have kicked him out. Is there any reason for him to ruin the mood again?’ And contrary to my heart’s request, my brother sat down.

“It’s great that you’re here. I was planning on setting the date for the engagement soon.”

“Mother.”

“I like Belial now.”

“…”

My brother didn’t say anything. However, his expression showed that he was very dissatisfied with the current situation. Mother then comforted my brother.

“It doesn’t make any sense for you to keep meddling just because you’re her older brother. We know that your sister is capable of making choices on her own. We should allow them to be together now.” 

“… It’s only natural for a family member to be worried.”

My older brother glanced sideways towards Belial. It’s evident that people can’t change their past, and we can never predict whether a person might revert to their old self. He’s a little narrow-minded, but I do understand where he’s coming from. 

“No matter how much I consider it, my sister has a lot of shortcomings. So, my opinion will stay the same. I’m still against her getting engaged this year. ”

“I really want to die. I don’t want to continue living in this boring world. I was about to open my mouth to try and convince my older brother. Wait, his statement just now…

“You finally said it.”

Belial immediately put his hand into his sleeves. My brother became puzzled at his words, as he suddenly became suspicious.

“… What do you mean by that?”

“I’ve been waiting.”

When he opened his robe pocket, the green magic stone shone brightly. Belial got up from his seat.

“Just wait a little bit Rose. He will finally acknowledge our relationship.”

I have no idea what he’s about to do with that magic stone. My brother immediately shouted back.

“Wait! You crazy person! What do you think you’re trying to do?!”

“That’s correct, I’m really a crazy person. I’m damn crazy about Rose.”

(TN: My gosh d*mn that’s sooo sweet.)

My brother got up and tried to run away, but Belial was faster. Belial pressed his shoulder on my brother’s shoulder so strongly that it was incomparable to when he put his hand on my shoulder. As a famous bow shooter, my brother does his best, but how can he subdue him so easily? Just how strong is Belial?

“Let go of me!”

As my brother struggled and desperately tried to show resistance. Belial suddenly stopped.

“Then will you accept me as Rose’s partner?”

“No, that’s not it!”

“Then there’s nothing that I can do.”

“Aaaaah!!!”

Just like that, the room was a mess once again. My mother and I silently looked at each other. My brother told me to stop Belial if he tried to attack him, but why should I do that? We watched as the two continued to battle it out while we drank the new tea my father brought in. It had a great aroma and an effect that made my hands sweat. 

-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚɞ ━━━━━━ ˊˎ-

(ROSE’S POV)

After the scuffle, Belial managed to completely subdue my brother. Just before the magic stone reached my brother’s eyes, on which he was crumpled like a piece of paper, my mother finally stepped in.

“That’s enough.”

A black fan firmly blocked the gap between my oldest brother and the magic stone.

“I’ll take responsibility and persuade Beryl. The two of you should go for a walk. The roses are blooming beautifully this year.”

My brother took a deep breath and hugged our mother by the waist. As expected, at times like this, no one can compare to our mother’s warmth.

Deep inside I was a bit skeptical whether Belial would have really put a magic stone into my brother’s eyes. Belial set the magic stone down on the table and held his arm out to hand out to me. I placed my hand on his. 

“It doesn’t matter when we set the engagement date, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s go.”

My brother alternated his glance between Belial and I, then he gloomily bowed his head. It was quite obvious that he somehow finally gave up. But his face clearly shows how saddened he is about the situation.

I don’t know if Beryl was always a huge siscon towards the original Rose, but it’s clear that he was an older brother who loved his younger sister very much. Which is why he risked his life trying to provide help in killing Belial in the original story plot.

Beryl refused to receive any reward money from the heroine. It was also written that he was satisfied with just simply offering a single red rose to Rose’s grave to commemorate her. 

“Older brother.”

My brother immediately looked up. Then I said,

“I’ll be back.”

“……”

Then he looked between me and Belial, and said.

“Okay, go ahead.”

After saying that, the corner of my brother’s lips curled up. As if he was about to say something teasingly.

“Our family’s official pumpkin flower.”

“You, you still haven’t learned.”

My mother hit my brother’s head with a fan. He’s definitely crazy. I feel like I’m much more mature than my older brother.

“Young Master Beryl is such a child. That was too harsh of a thing to say to our Lady Rose. How can he compare you to a pumpkin flower? How could he say such a thing to the rose of the Fall family?”

I then shrugged at Mira’s protest.

“Pumpkin flowers are just as pretty as roses.”

“What?”

Mira, who was putting a hat on me so that my skin wouldn’t burn under the sun, asked. I then gestured for her to tighten the straps under my chin.

“Aren’t you going to take any servants with you?”

“No. I want to have a talk, just the two of us.”

Becky immediately covered her lips as if trying to hide her smile from what I had said. After I finished dressing up, Belial and I walked out of the mansion side by side. The sun wasn’t harsh, and the wind was very calm. It was the perfect weather for an afternoon stroll. We walked with narrow strides.

“This is such a beautiful place.”

The roses in the garden were in full bloom. Originally, the garden wasn’t filled with many roses. It is said that after Rose was born, the existing flowers were removed and replaced with several different varieties of roses. 

“The Serenity garden will be decorated, just like this.”

“…”

“Because every time I see a rose, I always think of you and it makes me so happy.”

He feels happy just from looking at a rose? I tilted my head sideways as I wondered. I’ve never once felt that happy from looking at a rose.

Roses are beautiful, but they are just too common.

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