CH 140

‘Not this… Not this either…’

Now that I was all alone, I began looking around the library in earnest.

Just to look for a book that might glow or might give off a scent, just as the duke mentioned.

However, no matter how much I strained my eyes looking for the thing, not a single book looked special.

Still, just in case, I took out a few books that mentioned anything about ‘God’ or ‘sacred relics’. But those efforts proved to be for naught, too.

However, just as I was about to scour the library for the fifth time…

I slumped down to the white floor, leaning against one of the bookshelves.

As my perspective had become lower, for no reason, it felt as if I had fallen deeper into the labyrinth.

Now that I’d stopped moving busily, this space where only books existed was exceedingly quiet.

A plethora of thoughts then rushed through my mind, and the loudest of them all was this.

‘Does Rosetta really have no connection with the sacred relic?’

Of course, it was not long ago that I’d been told it’s actually rare to be chosen by the book on the exact day of one’s birthday. But considering my circumstances, rather than jumping to conclusions, I should wonder if the hypothesis itself was wrong.

Perhaps Rosetta truly had nothing to do with the sacred relic, and I was alone in misreading the signs.

However.

“If that’s the case, then God wouldn’t have said something like that.”

My low murmur echoed throughout the empty space.

“All this is what you wanted, Rosetta.”

The voice of God, still clear in my head.

I ruffled my hair haphazardly.

The maids did their best to style my hair properly for my birthday, but it was just messy now.

Silver hair cascaded down my shoulders.

The hairpins were all out of place.

Glancing at this silver hair, the first two people I thought of were the duke and Damian. Then, I immediately caught sight of the brooch pinned over my chest.

It was a brooch adorned with gold and diamonds.

A gift given to me by Alicia, who came running to me as soon as the sun had risen.

“Sister! I’m the first, right?!”

As she smiled bashfully, her cheeks were flushed with a tinge of pink.

While she tried to catch her breath, I stroked Alicia’s head. She actually was the first one to bring me a birthday present.

The brooch that Alicia gave me was the first birthday present I had accepted as Rosetta.

Even though it’s not really my birthday, and I’m not really Rosetta.

* * *

Actually, perhaps it’s not even Rosetta’s real birthday either.

I’d been harboring this suspicion for quite a while now.

To be more precise, it was a doubt that started to form the moment Katie said something to me in the dungeon.

Rosetta herself had originally been weak to Katie because she was ‘the family’s disgrace’.

Unwanted illegitimate child.

Life that should not have been left unborn.

House Valentine’s disgrace.

Rosetta’s longing to be with her family became a shackle to her.

Although it hadn’t been obvious with her, Rosetta had always, always, wanted to be a real family with them. Meanwhile, that was a dream that I had personally given up on long before.

In any case.

Katie tried to beg for her life to be spared by calling Rosetta that night.

She said that she’d tell me a secret that was so important that it would greatly impact House Valentine itself.

And she acted as if she was one hundred percent certain that Rosetta would save her if this alleged secret would be revealed to her.

And for Katie to have had that much confidence in negotiating with Rosetta, the card she was playing surely would have been the very card that Rosetta would want the most.

For example, ‘real family’.

Right, the greatest insecurity that she had been fostering throughout all these years.

After coming this far, only one conclusion came to mind.

By any chance.

‘Were Rosetta and Alicia switched at birth?’

To be very honest, I brushed this off as a ridiculous assumption at first.

This wasn’t even some kind of crazy soap opera where there’s such a thing as a secret behind the characters’ birth.

Unfortunately, however, it’s true that the two sisters were the same age.

There was only, at most, a difference of a month between their birthdays.

But even that wasn’t certain because the only one who confirmed Rosetta’s birthday was her birth mother.

There’s a possibility that they were actually born only a few days apart.

Or, just hours apart.

Once the door to such doubts was broken down, the floodgates were open.

Katie had been the late duchess’s favorite maid, and the duke trusted her enough that she was appointed as the nanny of the family’s two daughters.

And, crucially.

“Lady Alicia, I raised you no differently—given just the same care. Do you know? When you were born, you were quite sickly. And it was because of this that I painstakingly took care of you. Besides that, I personally accepted you as…”

It was one of Rosetta’s memory fragments about Katie.

These were the words that she used to whisper to Alicia while swinging her whip at the small girl.

The same words that she often said to justify all of the abuse she had inflicted upon Alicia and Rosetta, saying that it was all for them.

I knew that this assumption was nothing but absurd, but I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about it.

There were such times when a sentence that would start with ‘maybe’ just might hit the mark.

So, I considered Katie’s words and actions properly.

And assuming that this was true…

If this fact were to be revealed to someone else, things would certainly go awry.

Especially for Alicia.

Now, I feel apologetic towards Rosetta, but I didn’t care a single bit that the two sisters had been switched at birth.

The thing was, I had only two goals here: first, to lead an inconspicuous life, and second, to keep Alicia from getting hurt.

That was all.

Alicia was fragile enough as it was, but if I were to come up and reveal this secret of birth…

‘That soft-hearted kid would crumble.’

That’s the biggest thing I was worried about.

In the end, I got up from my seat on the cold floor.

Now that I had reached this point, I didn’t think I’d be able to achieve anything even if I stayed here longer.

If today wasn’t the real Rosetta’s actual coming-of-age, I could only guess that the book really wouldn’t respond no matter how much longer I stayed here.

In the first place, this ceremony was supposed to have been done on one’s exact coming-of-age date, but that condition was not met.

‘But it’s a relief that access to this place isn’t given only on one’s birthday.’

I should come back here after Alicia’s birthday.

As I thought so before leaving the secret library, at that moment…

I had to pause.

I was about to walk towards the corridor, but I turned around.

And headed straight to a large, framed painting.

There, despite the colors not entirely completed, a woman was depicted to be smiling brightly.

It was a portrait of the late duchess.

It was also the same portrait that I saw earlier while wandering around the library.

At first, I had wondered why this was just hanging here.

But after I scoured through the library a few times, I eventually understood why this painting was being kept in this place.

Even though it didn’t look like the library was being supervised, all the books here were in pristine condition.

Then, there must be a secret to this space.

I had no idea what kind of method was being used here, but one look around was enough to see that the books had been preserved and seemed to be in their best condition still.

So, it’s easy to guess why the duke was keeping this painting here.

The duchess had sadly passed away, but at the very least, her image in this painting could remain so that she could be remembered.

The portrait in front of me was definitely noteworthy.

It was still unfinished, but the duchess looked so alive that you could almost imagine her moving.

In my mind, the face that was slowly being forgotten soon resurfaced to the point of utter clarity.

I slowly raised one hand to caress the frame’s border.

The cold metal’s biting temperature could be felt beneath my hand.

“…Mother.”

The unfamiliar word, which felt strange to utter, echoed above the silence in the air.

I said nothing until the echoes died down.

Wordlessly, I withdrew my hand from the frame and took a few steps back.

As I was now further away, I could see the portrait more fully.

Like a confessing sinner, I made eye contact with the woman in the painting.

“I’m sorry.”

Along with the brief apology, I clenched the same hand into a fist.

Suddenly, a memory flashed in my mind.

Rita’s mother, as she had plunged down that cliff.

With a cold body.

With a disdainful look in her eyes followed by a resigned sigh.

At the same time, with a face that evidently expressed just how much she was missing the owner of the body I had possessed.

“Instead, I will protect Alicia. Damian, too. And His Grace the Duke. So…”

Don’t hate me too much.

Please.

* * *

“Rosetta.”

“…Brother?”

Leaving behind that apology, I exited the secret library without much success to show. Then, when I left through the bookshelf that served as a hidden door, I ran into Damian.

“What are you doing here, Brother?” I asked, flustered.

I said all that to the woman in the painting just before I came out. For some unknown reason, I felt my conscience getting stabbed.

Maybe he didn’t hear any of that.

“You were in there for too long, so I got a bit worried,” he replied.

There was an awkward smile on his lips.

Fortunately, it didn’t seem like he heard what I said inside.

Well, I didn’t hear the door being opened either while I was still there.

After glancing out the window, I felt relieved.

Just as he said, the sky had turned red.

I came here right after lunch, but it was already evening.

There weren’t any windows or clocks inside the secret library, so I didn’t notice the passage of time at all.

“I must have gotten distracted by the many fascinating books.”

“That’s true. I also remember looking around a lot when I first entered the library.”

He laughed a little as he agreed with me.

“The shelves are brimming with books, and the walls were interestingly also like white paper. And… that painting of Mother is also there.”

Damian’s eyes were still curved.

However, beyond his curved eyes, his thoughts could be read faintly.

I said nothing more and maintained the same silence that he did.

He stared at the bookshelf in front of us with a hint of a bitter look, but soon quietly turned to me.

“Rosetta.”

“…Yes.”

The moment I answered, the corners of his lips tugged up once more.

Nevertheless, with that weak smile, he spoke.

“No matter what, Rosetta, I believe in you. So, if there’s anything you need help with, you can come to me any time.”

His firm tone contained much sincerity.

Feeling a bit strange, I stared at him for a moment before responding.

“By any chance… Did you plan this with Father?”

“Huh?”

Blankly, Damian asked back.

Hearing him answer like that, even I could tell that he’s feeling lost.

t/n: In the flashback when Katie said, ‘I personally accepted you,’ I’m not quite sure because it was written vaguely, but this could mean (1) Katie accepted Alicia as she was i.e. her identity, or (2) Katie delivered Alicia as the midwife. You’re free to interpret it either way.