Episode 3

George scrunched his brow and pushed the man’s back forcefully. After forcibly ushering the man back into the room, he turned his trembling eyes towards Rose.

Suppressing the lump in her throat, Rose opened her mouth.

“…Give it back.”

“He’s just mistaken.”

“Don’t try to brush it off with lies.”

George momentarily flinched at his unfamiliar daughter’s cold expression.

However, being born into nobility and raised as such, he didn’t know how to yield. The more his conscience pricked, the more defensively he reacted.

George’s lips quivered before he tightly grabbed Rose’s forearm.

“Impudent child. Get out immediately.”

Rose winced at the pain in the grip.

“Give it back? What a strange thing to say. I am the owner of that house. I bought it with my strength, it’s my house!”

“Did you buy it with your strength, Father? No, strictly speaking, it was with the strength passed down from your grandfather. You haven’t done anything…”

“Shut up!”

Interrupting Rose, George erupted with anger. Then he roughly seized her and dragged her away.

Rose gritted her teeth and struggled against his grip, but she couldn’t match George’s strength.

“Go. Go back to that so-called prestigious academy or whatever!”

“N-No, I don’t want to!”

If it had been young Rose, she might have pleaded and bowed down by this point, admitting her mistake. However, Rose was no longer the trembling child who used to think her father’s words were absolute.

“Just driving me away like this won’t be the end. I’ll find a way to stop you. We can’t afford to lose our family’s home.”

“I am the owner of this place soon enough. Don’t you get that?”

George continued to lead Rose out forcefully, her small frame wobbling from side to side. In the midday scuffle between a middle-aged man and a girl, passersby cast puzzled glances.

Rose exerted all her strength to keep from falling. She might have been weak enough to intentionally avoid the fencing classes, but she resisted with sheer determination.

“I have to live so our family can survive!”

“No. Father is killing our family.”

“Rosalie! Please!”

George stood tall and shouted. He stomped his foot, and due to a brief morning rain, there were puddles here and there on the street. With George’s forceful steps, mud splashed onto Rose’s pristine uniform.

“What do you know? If I leave here, it’s truly over. Over! If I have the gambling money, I can recover. Just like last week. I’ll handle it, so please just stay quiet!”

“…And if you can’t recover?”

“…..”

“What will you do then?”

“That won’t happen. You’re saying that because you don’t know. If it wasn’t because of that Wonder Laquoi… I could beat other guys. They’re all kids here.”

George’s pupils gleamed with madness. He clung to his false beliefs, caught in his delusions.

George’s grip tightened more and more. Rose winced at the painful ache in her forearm.

“Rosalie Verden. Please don’t act so insolently and just go.”

An old name that had long been buried resurfaced in Rose’s ears. She shouted with all her might.

“Don’t call me by that name!”

“What? A girl raising her voice like that!”

George’s face twisted in response to his usually well-behaved and composed daughter’s rebellion. Despite having quirky aspects such as an obsession with engineering books from a young age, Rose had been a generally good child.

“It’s you, Father, who abandoned the Verden name.”

Rose’s voice was a mixture of moisture and anger, as her young eyes blazed. Unexpectedly sharp and intense energy emanated from her petite frame. George flinched slightly.

“Father… I hate you.”

Rose clenched her lips, applying force to her eyes, telling herself not to cry. Don’t cry here. She can’t cry here. She tried to console herself.

“If you sell even the property deed, I’ll never… never forgive you.”

“What can you possibly do…?”

George felt a brief pang of shame. He realized he had become a person his kind-hearted daughter would resent to the point of shouting at him.

But anger quickly drowned any rational thoughts. George pushed Rose’s shoulder and back forcefully and yelled.

“For God’s sake! Stop bothering me and get lost!”

George didn’t dare to face his cruelty. He was too far gone to truly regret and regain his senses.

Rose stumbled under George’s pushing.

“Heh!”

She fell to the ground, and her ankle twisted awkwardly. A chilling pain shot up from her ankle, and she gasped.

A few onlookers glanced their way, but nobody stepped forward. In an alley filled with gamblers and alcoholics, violence was a common occurrence.

Rose clutched her ankle and groaned. George, startled by the unintended injury, hesitated for a moment but soon chose to escape. He hadn’t intended to hurt Rose, but the shock was enough to send him running.

“Never… never come back again!”

George entered the <Night Owl>, and the door slammed shut with a loud thud.

“Ugh…”

Rose winced as she tried to get up.

“Ah!”

However, a sharp pain shot through her ankle, making it difficult to stand up straight. Her school uniform was dirtied by the muddy water. Her once neatly tied crimson curls were now disheveled.

Rose bit her lip and checked the time. It was nearly 4 o’clock. If she didn’t hurry back to the academy, she would be late for the exam.

The exam had to be taken. <Social Dance Etiquette: Intermediate Class> held a significant weight in the overall grades. Failing this course might jeopardize her scholarship requirements.

“Rose, you’re our hope.”

Her mother Anna’s voice echoed in her mind. If she could just secure the Berkley diploma, finding a job in the capital would be much easier. As a commoner woman, there might be limitations, but she could still secure positions in small to medium-sized businesses. Even starting at the lowest position, the wages in Quilts were unexpectedly high.

So she couldn’t give up here.

‘First, take the exam… then check out the surrounding pawnshops.’

Rose hobbled forward with determination. It would take her about 30 to 40 minutes to walk to the academy. Given her injured ankle, it might take even longer.

‘But… can I dance in this condition?’

Even if she arrived at the exam venue on time, there was a problem. Today was the practical exam.

To ensure fairness, dance partners were fixed with an assistant instructor. Students were required to go to the exam venue at their designated time and dance with the assistant instructor. Not only the dance itself but also all the etiquette required in high society were part of the grading criteria. Knowledge of appropriate intellectual conversation was also considered a form of etiquette.

‘…Most of these things are useless to me now.’

However, to graduate, she had to take this course.

Most of the students in the academy were nobles. After graduation, they would all actively engage in courtship activities. The fact that Berkley’s graduation party was a battlefield for catching fiancés was a well-known truth.

In other words, this class was for the soon-to-be-thrown-out offerings into the marriage market. For someone, it would surely be a useful and enjoyable subject.

‘But not for me.’

For Rose Bell, it was not a particularly pleasant course.

But failing the social dance class, by no means a minor course could send her scholarship tumbling down. The mere thought of being separated from the world of dance sent shivers down her spine.

She had prepared for the exam perfectly. She had a basic understanding of etiquette from her noble upbringing until the age of ten. Even during her time at Quilts, her mother still tried to teach her upper-class manners.

If her ankle was fine, Rose was confident she could get a perfect score.

“Ugh…”

Rose let out a shallow groan, moving her legs with difficulty.

If her father hadn’t fallen into gambling.

No, if the person named ‘father’ had never existed.

She wouldn’t be feeling this pain or frustration right now. Rose’s large pupils glistened with teardrops.

Though she hadn’t shed a single tear during the three years she spent in the capital alone, she couldn’t hold back now.

Everything had become unbearable. It felt like the world was pushing her to the edge of a precipice. The gazes of people who snickered at the sight of her peculiar appearance felt as sharp as knives.

“Uh, ugh…”

Despite biting her lips tightly, sobs leaked out.

A drop of tears fell from her emerald eyes with a soft plop.

Rose wiped her eyes briskly with the back of her hand, but tears flowed faster than she could wipe them away. The dam she had built by holding back for so long finally broke, and sobs erupted uncontrollably. Her transparent and delicate skin quickly turned red from the pressure.

Rose continued to take small steps, wiping her wet cheeks with her sleeve. She whispered to herself internally.

No, it’s okay. It’s nothing. Many people have it worse than her.

It’s not the worst yet. She can still recover the property deeds.

She can endure this. She can hold on. Don’t cry. Her appearance is already a mess; it’ll only get worse if she cries.

Don’t cry because of Father.

However, the promises that usually calmed her down didn’t have the same effect now.

Rose paused for a moment and leaned down, pressing her hand to her knee. She exhaled wet breath and shivered, her shoulders trembling. A droplet fell from her lowered head.

Squeak. At that moment, the sound of wheels coming to a stop came from behind.

“Rose Bell?”

Accompanied by a voice that carried an irresistible resonance.

Struggling, Rose raised her upper body to stand up. When she turned her head, the first thing that caught her eye was the brilliant golden hue.

Seated within the stopped carriage was the most famous young man in the current academy.

Jasper Conway.

Despite not yet being of legal age, he was already the center of attention in high society. He was the second son of Duke Conway, gaining popularity in the social circles.