Welcome to the Rose Mansion - Chapter 99
Surprise Attack
Another day at the mansion begins.
No matter what happened during the night when everyone was asleep. Who discovered which secret, and who faced what kind of change. None of that matters in the least.
Even if the deep, rotten stench wafts up from the very bottom, on the surface, everything is merely a pretense of normalcy and elegance.
Richelle looked out the window. There was a leisurely pair of footsteps among the garden of roses in full bloom.
The black hair, swaying gently, stood out strikingly under the cloudy sky. The man’s steps were as light as a dance. Occasionally, he paused to inspect the roses.
Richelle observed his light movements, his softly curled lips, and the faint humming carried by the wind with great care.
‘Why isn’t he reacting at all?’
She had run into Alan in the hallway after breakfast. Alan gestured towards Rogéros’s bedroom and shook his head. Rogéros hadn’t said a word.
Even though it was now late afternoon, Rogéros still showed no particular reaction. As usual, he stayed by Alan’s side and strolled leisurely through the garden. That was all.
‘There’s no way he hasn’t noticed our plan.’
And yet, Rogéros Walter was leaving them alone.
What could he possibly be thinking?
Was it the certainty that no matter how much they struggled, they could never escape? Mockery?
A defiant, competitive spirit that Richelle hadn’t even realized was dormant within her swelled and inflated her chest. She gripped the windowsill as though she might break it.
“Teacher, what are you doing?”
A young voice fluttered at her skirt. When she turned around, the Otis twins were blinking up at her with their big eyes.
Richelle smiled and extended her hand.
“It’s nothing. I was just looking at the sky.”
“That’s boring.”
The twins pouted their lips. Richelle’s smile grew faint.
Penny Otis and Nero Otis. The children she cherished sincerely, loved, and cared for with all her heart.
And at the same time, the two roses that had stolen away the lives and futures of two children entirely.
She didn’t know how to treat them anymore.
Last night, she learned all the secrets of Bertrand. She also found out what kind of beings the people she had greeted and met face to face truly were. It felt like she had become a different person in just one night.
“Teacher. We drew you! Want to see?”
And yet, even after the storm of that transformation, the children before her still appeared to be nothing more than dear little ones, desperately craving someone’s love.
With cheeks flushed bright red, Penny and Nero tugged at Richelle’s hand. Without resistance, Richelle let herself be led by the children.
In the drawing they proudly displayed, two little children were tightly embracing a red-haired woman. It was a drawing that clearly revealed their affection for Richelle.
“…You’ve done a wonderful job.”
“Right, right?”
“Aren’t we the best?”
The twins giggled and wrapped their arms around Richelle’s waist. A soft scent of roses wafted from the children.
Richelle gently stroked the children’s heads. Her heart prickled, as though someone were sewing into it.
‘If we drive out Rogéros… What will happen to these children?’
They would likely disappear. Rogéros was the master of the roses, and Bertrand’s strange phenomena were said to occur because of Rogéros’s power.
She wasn’t planning to stubbornly claim that she would save the children or take them away. These ‘little roses’ weren’t truly living people. They were merely wicked beings wearing the skin of the Otis twins.
Even if the little roses had no intent in it, even if everything was Rogéros’s doing, the outcome wouldn’t change.
‘But…’
She couldn’t turn her back on them so easily. She couldn’t toss away the feelings, the time, the love she had exchanged with the children without a second thought.
Couldn’t she just stay like this until the day came when she had to leave this mansion?
Spending time as usual, quietly preparing for farewell—wouldn’t that be alright?
That much… should be fine.
Richelle looked up at the ceiling.
It was an afternoon that suffocated with the scent of roses.
***
Moving that night wasn’t particularly difficult.
There were a few hands that tangled in her hair like the previous night, but the path didn’t feel especially long, nor did the flame of the oil lamp sway precariously.
Thanks to that, Richelle was able to arrive safely at Alan’s study after only a short dash.
“Teacher!”
As soon as she approached the study, Alan threw the door open. The pungent smell of disinfectant rushed out, and with it came a deep sense of relief.
Richelle took Alan’s outstretched hand and was drawn into the study as if sucked in.
“Was everything alright?”
Alan asked after waiting for her to catch her breath. Richelle nodded.
“Today was relatively easy. Do you think yesterday was an unusually strange day?”
“More likely, Rogéros has given an order. He must have told them not to interfere with us…”
Alan, who had been sneering, suddenly stopped talking. Following his gaze downward, she saw their hands, still tightly clasped together.
The tips of Alan’s ears turned slightly red. Richelle cautiously reached out towards him.
“Young Master Otis? You seem to have a fever. Are you alright?”
“N-No, it’s just… I’m just feeling warm!”
He raised his voice suddenly and yanked his hand away, as if he had been burned. Richelle smiled softly. Even before, he used to get flustered, asking why she kept grabbing his hand.
‘Looks like he’s embarrassed.’
Well. He is at that age, after all.
Richelle, seeing him as a younger brother just a year or two her junior, beamed at him fondly. It was a notion that Alan would’ve been outraged to hear.
