When the Villains Unite - Chapter 4; Part 3

TW: MENTIONS OF SUICIDE ATTEMPT

The child their parents brought home after their sister’s death had the same appearance as if Ceria had come back to life. But unlike Ceria, who was bright and innocent, the child had wariness in her eyes, like she was hiding something.

That child is not Ceria.

Their mother had been delirious with grief over the loss of her child, and it was their father who had taken the orphaned girl in after living on the streets.

Surprisingly, the family found peace again when they saw Rose, who looked like Ceria. Rose’s presence calmed their mother.

But Damian and Bellamy could not accept her. After all, the child is a fake. She was a stone that rolled in out of nowhere.

Unlike their sister, who was a crybaby, Rose didn’t cry no matter what they did to her. Even when Damian deliberately bullied her, and even when he made her take a big fall and badly hurt her, she stood up and ignored him with a determined look on her face.

Bellamy didn’t hesitate to show his disdain and say mean things. It was strange that he would do such a thing, given his lack of interest in anyone outside of his family. It was as if he wanted to make her cry and see his sister in her. He felt weird, too.

“It’s because I’m a kleptomaniac, hehe!”

As the Duke’s things were disappearing one by one, Rose was shameless. She even came out and said she had stolen the items, leaving him speechless.

Clearly, this girl is no Ceria.

After that day, Bellamy completely ignored her and didn’t speak to her. It was a way of avoiding his own foolishness by looking for signs of his dead sister in her. But to his surprise, it was the child he hated so much who lifted him and Damian from the crumbling grief after their parents’ deaths.

There was nothing there. Damian alone, then seven years old, was a child in need of adult care.

The death of his parents had left him sobbing alone at night, and as Bellamy listened, he hated himself for being so incompetent as the heir to the Duke of Orca. Trapped in the annex with no hope, Rose took care of them, as if she didn’t care that the boys usually tormented her.

She would bring meals to their room when she wasn’t asked to, and she would even cook with the cookbooks she found. Damian had become completely smitten with her.

What’s more… even when she was vomiting after being kidnapped by Count Wright, she calmly apologized for waking them up.

How can she be so calm in this situation?

That wasn’t the only thing to surprise Bellamy. From what he had learned during his time at the ducal residence, he had made the worst assumptions, and they were confirmed by Rose. She said she heard from the Count, but the Count Wright whom he knew was not the sort to blabber about such things.

The things she stole and the information she brought them were useful, so he didn’t think she was a spy. Moreover, the way she kept them informed of her reports to the Count, and the way she would quietly puke her fill in the restroom after her weekly meetings… She seemed more like a victim than a spy.

When he thought about it, there was no reason for her to be trapped there.

Over time, their relationship grew stronger. Contrary to Bellamy’s fears, life in the annex was not lacking. It was all thanks to her kleptomania.

Sometimes, Damian would say something along those lines to Rose, and she would take it pretty hard.

The only problem was…

“Damian, where are you going in such a hurry?”

“… To study!”

The guy who hated studying so much ran off, blushing bright red for some reason. He must have gone to Rose’s room again. Bellamy wondered if it was because their sister is the only woman Damian can meet during his adolescence. Ever since then, he was blushing when he saw her, like a boy in love.

“Um… I don’t know. I think he’s mad at me for something.”

Damian had a pitiful love life. Rose didn’t know men very well, and of course, she couldn’t imagine her own brothers harboring feelings for her.

But for some reason, Bellamy was grumpy with her.

“Pat me on the head for a job well done.”

She rolled her eyes, blushed, and looked embarrassed. Any man in the world could take one look and fall in love.

Rose gently stroked his hair. He held her in his eyes for a long moment.

She doesn’t know. She doesn’t know what Damian and Bellamy were thinking when they looked at her. She doesn’t know that in their eyes she is a woman, not a sister.

And, how stupid he is, hiding the part of a young boy in love, not wanting her to be unhappy. Rose will treat them with indifference as always. If it was a love that would never be fulfilled, it was better that way.

But then Count Wright touched her. Bellamy was ignorant to think that the Count would only treat her as a spy.

The moment she entered the annex, a chill ran down his spine. His body stiffened at the sight of her, a woman who was stronger than anyone else, who never shed a tear no matter what happened.

Raising her head and making eye contact with the boys, she became fearful and fled to the bathroom. It happened in a flash. Before they could catch her, the bathroom door was locked.

“Sis! Open the door!”

“Rose!”

She turned on the water in the bathroom so she couldn’t hear them. But her cries, unmuffled by the water, leaked out the door.

The boys fidgeted, wondering if it was right to try to force her out of the bathroom when she locked the door to deny them entrance.

Suddenly, Rose’s cries stopped. Just as Bellamy thought about how odd it was, Damian, who had turned pale beside him, said, “I’m sorry,” and Bellamy followed his lead.

“I… can’t hear her breathing.”

Bellamy felt the blood drain from his body as he heard those words. His hands moved first, but he hoped she would open the door herself.

Perhaps it was too much to hope that Rose would open it on her own; the door was easily shattered by destructive magic. Anger surged through him at her foolish behavior, as if she were trying to drown herself.

Don’t hate yourself. No matter what the future Duchess does, we will never hate you.

Rose had been scared to death for just that reason, and as ridiculous as her behavior was, it was maddeningly endearing to see her sobbing as she said it.

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