Welcome to the Rose Mansion - Chapter 92
Richelle grabbed Alan’s shoulders. He lifted his head, looking bewildered.
A boy who, after enduring and enduring in this terrible mansion, ultimately came to despise himself and trapped himself in despair.
Seeing the suffering of this boy, who had lost the will to live, Richelle realized clearly what she had to do now.
This was the true light of a beacon. The guiding light that would help her weather the storm.
Richelle declared firmly.
“I will take revenge on Rogéros. I will take Bertrand and the Otis family away from him.”
Alan’s eyes widened. He grabbed Richelle’s wrist urgently.
“Then—”
“But I won’t help you die. Never.”
Alan frowned reflexively at her firm refusal. Richelle grasped his hands tightly.
“So, tell me how to break the contract between Rogéros Walter and the Otis family.”
***
Silence fell. Alan blinked his large eyes a couple of times. His long eyelashes fluttered as he tried to interpret exactly what Richelle had just said.
Soon, the boy blushed and pushed Richelle’s hands away.
“If there were a way to break the contract, do you think the Otis family would have lived like this until now?”
“There is no perfect contract in this world. Every contract has a loophole.”
“There isn’t one. I told you, Rogéros is not an ordinary being. The only way to break the contract is for all direct descendants of the Otis family to die.”
Richelle gazed at Alan calmly. The boy, who had been meeting her eyes as if ready to fight just a moment ago, now looked away pitifully.
This meant he was hiding something.
If that was the case, all she had to do was wait. That was not difficult at all. Waiting was always Richelle’s forte.
Patience was her companion, forced upon her from the moment she was thrust into the world.
Richelle sat back down, folded her hands neatly, and straightened her posture, keeping her gaze fixed on Alan.
Wait.
Until Alan Otis calmed down and made up his mind.
The boy both hated and feared Rogéros. Forcing him to fight his fear would be too much.
Some time passed. Finally, Alan let out a pained sigh.
“It’s a ridiculous idea.”
“Tell me.”
“There’s no chance of success.”
“I don’t care about the odds. If there’s a way, I’ll cling to it.”
“You just need to get revenge on Rogéros!”
“No.”
Richelle smiled gently, like the mist that holds the chill of dawn.
“If my goal were simply revenge, I wouldn’t be here, trying to dig into the truth behind Bertrand. Provoking Rogéros recklessly could lead to losing someone precious again.”
“……”
“But you said it yourself, Young Master Otis. You don’t want anyone else to go through what you did. Neither do I. I don’t want anyone else to experience such horrors.”
Richelle took a small breath and calmly revealed her true feelings.
“And… I want you to leave Bertrand and live freely.”
The boy, who had looked like a hedgehog with raised quills, now gazed at her in a daze. His voice trembled slightly as it slipped from his gaping mouth.
“Live? You want me to live?”
In Alan Otis’s eyes, the blue sky contained within them wavered greatly.
“Why should I live? I have… nothing. No family, no friends, no goals. I don’t even have the value of living with my feet on the ground and breathing. I have countless reasons to die instead.”
“……”
“Why should I live? Every morning when I wake up, it feels like a curse worse than death. Every moment I breathe is unbearable. Even if I force myself to live, I’m sure no good days will come. I would be happier if I dropped dead right now. Because then I wouldn’t have to live anymore.”
The deep despair swirling from his chest was palpable.
She felt choked. This boy, who hadn’t even lived twenty years, was burdened with such deep resignation. He was already rotting in a living hell.
Richelle impulsively grabbed Alan’s hand. She couldn’t tell if it was his hand or her own that was trembling.
“Alan, look at me.”
“If you’re going to spout more platitudes, just stop.”
“There was a time when waking up in the morning felt like a curse worse than death to me too.”
