Rosie's Games

Chapter 75: The Black Snake

"I heard that Count Delibar gave quite a large amount of gold to my older sister," Rosalind smiled at Victoria before she sipped her tea. Its sweetness made her frown and she wondered if Victoria had intentionally made her tea sweet just to spite her.

"And?" Victoria lifted an eyebrow. "Did you come here just to tell me this?"

"You are too impatient, mother."

"I am not your mother!"

"You will be," Rosalind beamed. "Once I leave, you will act like a good mother and dutifully give me a few things."

"Things?"

"Gold," Rosalind decided to get straight to the point.

"What?"

"The least that you can do is give me gold. After all, you will not be seeing me again after I leave this mansion."

Victoria glared at her. "Since you just want gold then… I am willing to give you gold. Does that satisfy you?"

"Hmmm… " Rosalind nodded. She took another sip. "May I know when will I leave the property?"

"In ten days. Your grandfather refused to let you join any banquet and just told me to decline every invitation, citing the fact that you have been ill as the reason. I see no wrong in doing that. We want them to forget about you," Victoria stated cooly. "There is no need for you to join banquets when you are not going to set foot in this Empire again."

"Is there a way for me to leave earlier than that?" she wanted to use this opportunity to heal both Alma and the Princess and take care of the Duke of Duance. Even though the Duke of Duance did not say anything about treating his legs, she was certain that he would soon realize that she was right.

And once that happened, everything was going to change.

"My sister will be married off to Sir Delibar and I will not be here to congratulate her," Rosalind said.

"I am certain she does not need anything from you."

"Is that so?" she appreciated the woman's frank nature. Today, Rosalind just came here to extort more money and show herself walking outside of the house. She did not want her own father or Federico to suspect her. "Well then, as a wedding gift, I am going to gift her—"

"I am certain she would not appreciate any gift from you."

"Now that is harsh, isn't it?"

Victoria rolled her eyes in response.

"Spread some rumors that I have been trying to beg you for more money that I can use when I leave," Rosalind said.

"What?"

"I believe we need those rumors to make people stop talking about my older sister's untimely marriage, don't you think so, mother?"

"I said—"

"And I want to join the Awakening," Rosalind's words caused the matriarch to cough on her own tea. She immediately used the napkin to wipe her lips.

"What did you say?"

"I've heard rumors that grandfather wanted another Awakening to be done. I believe I have the right to join."

"What? You—" Victoria's eyes were so wide it looked like it was about to pop out of their sockets. "What are you doing? I thought you wanted to leave this— "

"It won't show."

"What?"

"The Awakening will not work on me since I was able to awaken the Blessing on my own," Rosalind explained. The only reason why she wanted to experience the Awakening was that she wanted to cover her bases. She wanted them to think that she was not the Blessed one and the best way to do that was to participate in the ceremony.

If and only if her Blessing was revealed to the world, she could simply say that it was the North that awakened her Blessing and hoped that this would gain some sympathy from the people living North. She did not want to look like someone who ran away from her responsibilities just because she hated her family.

Again, this measure needed to be taken for the future.

Right now, Rosalind was aware that the future was slowly changing. The events no longer line up and the timeline already changed. She cannot just use her previous knowledge to survive. She needed a safety net.

"You do understand that if father discovers what you have… he will never let you leave this place, right?"

"I do."

"Are you confident that the awakening will no longer work on you?"

"I am."

Victoria's expression turned serious. "This is a matter of importance. The awakening— It's not a simple event. There will be representatives from the other families. There were rumors that all of the ones that received the blessing can sense each other. If— "

"Again, that is not going to happen." No one could sense her blessing and that might be because there were two polar opposite blessings inside her body. In their past life, she was able to hide her secret because no one else could sense her.

"And what makes you think that I will trust your words? For all I know— "

"You don't have to trust my words," Rosalind said. "But you have to trust that I cannot exist in the same place as people like you lived. Moreover, I wasn't exactly asking for a request. It was an order. Something that you will do for the sake of saving yourself."

"Rosalind— "

"Mother, you will do everything that I tell you to do or… you will regret it." Rosalind looked around the drawing room connected to the marchioness's room. "And lose everything that you have. That would be very unfortunate, isn't it?"

Victoria's chest raised and fell in an abrupt motion. It looked like she wanted to say another word and let her anger explode but she could not utter a single word out of her mouth. Instead, she stared at Rosalind, her gaze full of hatred.

"Alright," she uttered. "I will arrange that. But after the awakening, you must immediately leave this mansion. I do not want to see your face again."

Rosalind snorted. "I would be very happy to do so, mother."

......…

"The Duke had to leave," Huig welcomed her when Rosalind went inside her room. She had an enjoyable evening with Victoria and, after making the woman angry over and over again, she finally decided to go back to her house. She had enough fun for the night.

Then Huig suddenly appeared inside her room.

"He said, he will be waiting for you," Huig continued.

"Alright," Rosalind replied. She could not deny the fact that the Duke's sudden departure made her a little irritated. Was she angry that he left or was it because he did not even bother saying goodbye? josei

But then again, their current relationship was nothing but a transaction, he did not owe her anything— not even a goodbye.

"He asked me to give this to you," Huig handed her two envelopes. The noticeable wax stamp on the envelope showed her the sign of the Duke of The North.

"Thank you," she said only to realize that Huig was no longer there. She shrugged and quickly open the letter.

Then her eyes widened.

**I HAVE TO LEAVE. I WILL BE SEEING YOU IN THE NORTH.**

-LOVE,

YOUR HUSBAND

That's it?

She looked at the back of the letter and then read it again. She was not expecting something special or anything, but for some reason, the letter was enough to erase the disappointment in her heart. He didn't specifically say goodbye, but at least he left something.

Then she opened the second one and realized that it contained a copy of a marriage document with the stamp of the head of the Lux Family.

She was… already considered legally married to the Duke!

According to the rules, her status would change to the Duchess after her marriage, but because the ceremony was not yet done, no one was allowed to treat her as a duchess. Everyone in this Empire was quite sensitive to events like a marriage ceremony and always thought that a marriage without a ceremony was not yet considered a union.

It was nothing but a transaction of two souls.

After reading the letters, she quickly put them away in her spatial bag before she called Milith and asked her to prepare a bath.

She wanted to soak her body in some hot water just to feel better.

Milith quickly prepared some hot water in a tub and then helped her remove her clothes before leaving her to enjoy her bath.

Since the Duke proposed to her, the treatment from the other maids had actually improved, but she knew this was nothing but something that they were forced to do by the patriarch. She loved the hot water that was always available for Milith and her. She loved that now, Milith did not have to boil the water herself since there were already maids doing the task for her.

She also loved that the maids were still treating her as a pariah and, despite smiling and greeting her, did nothing to get close to her. Right now, everyone still saw her as the Curse of the Lux Family and she loved every minute of it.

She closed her eyes, but just as her body slowly relaxed, a small black snake slowly made it's way into her tub.