My Stepmom is Too Pretty, and It’s Troubling Me – Chapter 64

After waking up and just having some soup with bread at the inn, we set off right away.

The road was still pretty terrible, but we had rested well at the inn yesterday.

Somehow, I could endure it.

“At least I’m glad it’s not hot.”

“Do you hate the heat that much?”

“Yes.”

Even though summer was coming to an end, it was still hot in the south, but not here.

The road was bad, but at least the weather was nice.

If the road had been decent, it wouldn’t have felt this way.

Anyway, we were supposed to arrive at the Rose Family soon.

If we had just held out a bit longer yesterday, we could have reached it, but it was so uncomfortable that we just stopped.

“It’s your first time going back in four years, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Isn’t the distance not that far? Why haven’t you gone even once?”

“Umm…”

Honestly, I was a bit curious.

After all, it was my own family home; why on earth had I never gone back?

I might complain about the Leonhardts, but I had never spoken poorly about Rosalyn.

I didn’t think there was any need not to visit for four years.

“Just because? There wasn’t anything important that I needed to return for, so I just didn’t go.”

“I see.”

“And it was a bit awkward since Camelia was alone at the mansion; I felt bad about going alone and then coming back.”

“…You really didn’t need to worry about that.”

Suddenly, Rosalyn surprised me by patting my head while saying that, but I understood.

She was only 12 years old and hadn’t been 10 that long ago.

William had always preferred to wander around outside rather than being at the mansion, so it was natural for Rosalyn to be worried.

“Mother, um… may I ask about your family?”

“Family?”

“Yes. I don’t know much about the people of the Rose Family… we’re heading there anyway.”

I asked that while being patted by Rosalyn.

I knew a bit about the Rose Family, but I still didn’t know the details.

In fact, part of the reason I asked was that I wanted Rosalyn to stop patting my head… but she kept doing it.

…How long was she going to keep this up?

“Umm… there aren’t many people living in the mansion, so I think I can just explain.”

She continued speaking while still patting my head.

“There are my mother and father, and then I have two older sisters and one older brother?”

“Your mother is the youngest then.”

“Yep, I’m the youngest. Thanks to that, I got to live pretty comfortably when I was little.”

“I don’t have any siblings, so I don’t really know.”

“Heh, Camelia is an only child, so it’s understandable.”

I’ve always been an only child, both in my past life and now, so I have no idea what it’s like to have siblings.

I might feel a sort of sisterly bond thanks to Rize, but she’s not really my sister.

And calling her a sister would be more like a maid and a master relationship.

“My brother has been working in the capital for a few years now, and my sisters… are just living normally.”

“Is that so?”

“It feels like there’s nothing much to tell. Honestly, I haven’t gone back to the family for a few years, so maybe that’s why?”

“I guess it can’t be helped.”

Well, to be honest, I wasn’t all that curious.

I felt a bit sorry for not knowing much, but there’s nothing to be done.

“Oh, right.”

“Huh?”

“I’m the one with black hair, but… aside from my mother, most of them have red hair.”

“Really?”

“Yep.”

This was a bit… surprising to hear.

I knew about the Rose Family, but I hadn’t particularly cared about their appearance…?

I just assumed that other members also had black hair and green eyes like Rosalyn.

“Uh… are you serious?”

“I am, aren’t I? Hehe, why? Are you shocked?”

“I just… thought you’d resemble your mother.”

Really.

I was almost certain she’d look like that.

Red hair, huh?

That felt a bit odd.

“It surprised me a lot because it’s not the case.”

“Hehe, I guess that’s possible.”

“……..”

For a brief moment, I imagined Rosalyn with red hair.

Not for any particular reason; I just thought that since everyone else had red hair…

So, I gave it a try.

She’d probably look pretty normal.

“…….”

“Why do you look like that?”

“Huh?”

“You keep staring at my face… is something up?”

“No, I just had a thought for a moment. Do you have any other stories about the Rose Family?”

“Umm… oh, there are other buildings apart from the main mansion?”

“That’s news to me.”

I had heard about the Rose Family mansion from Rosalyn, but I hadn’t heard about the other buildings.

The former was about the mansion she had talked about before, but I really didn’t know anything about the latter.

Honestly, aside from the rose gardens, I didn’t think there was much else about the mansion?

“One is a guesthouse, and the other one is for maids, and another is for knights. Well, they’re a bit smaller, though?”

“Oh, I see…”

That’s a pretty ordinary story.

Since I thought there would be something extra to it, I expected something more, but it was surprisingly ordinary.

Anyway, I spent my time in the carriage talking more about the Rose Family with Rosalyn.

It didn’t really matter what the topics were, but with Rosalyn still patting my head, I felt just a bit… very slightly.

My face got hot.

The weather was definitely cool, though.

Anyway, after spending such time, we finally arrived at the territory of the Rose Family.

There were so many worries about the terrible road leading to the territory, but thankfully, the territory was fine.

“What a beautiful territory.”

“Right?”

“Yes, really. The mansion up there looks nice too, and the whole territory is beautiful.”

While riding through the territory in the carriage, it certainly had a strong beautiful vibe of its own.

It felt different from Melnick’s territory.

What should I say—like a palace in the woods?

The territories of the residents were arranged around the mansion, and outside was surrounded by forest… that kind of territory.

“It’s pretty.”

“Hehe… right? I don’t know why the road was like that on the way here…”

“…….”

The road to get here really was a problem.

Of course, the territory was truly beautiful compared to that poorly maintained road, but the road was really… just really bad.

“Rize.”

“Yes, Young Lady.”

“Once we arrive, please tell them to wait behind the third carriage after we get off.”

“Understood.”

The territory being beautiful is one thing, but work has to be done.

I needed to let them know that we’re essentially the ones watering the rose family before I can see their true attitude.

“Oh, right. There’s a delicious restaurant among the stores in the territory. Shall we go together next time?”

“That sounds nice. It was really fun when we wandered around the market in Melnick before.”

“The market doesn’t have that flashy vibe like Melnick, but it should still be fun. Camelia generally likes meat, right?”

“That’s true.”

Having spent a long time with Rosalyn, we knew each other’s simple preferences.

Though to be honest, she probably knows me better than I do.

“Umm… we’re almost there. If we keep going straight, we’ll be at the mansion.”

The large mansion atop the hill came into view outside the window.

Well… the building itself was just an ordinary kind of pretty.

But somehow… it felt a bit strange.

Whether it was just a feeling or not, it felt like something that used to be there was now gone.

“Mm.”

For now, I should just stay quiet.

Rosalyn sitting next to me had a bright expression.

It was her family home she was coming back to after four years, so… I decided not to say anything weird.

*

“Lady, Young Lady, let’s get off.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

We arrived at the mansion, and we started to get off the carriage.

The maids and knights who were in the other carriage also got off.

“…Hmm.”

“…Hmm.”

After getting off the carriage, Rosalyn and I stood quietly in front of the mansion’s main door, gazing at the mansion beyond it.

Yeah, we were just looking.

Honestly, I wanted to sigh out loud, but since Rosalyn was next to me, I held it in… but it was already a situation where I wanted to sigh.

“…Shall we wait a little longer?”

“…Let’s do that.”

Under normal circumstances.

If a noble with common sense were here.

If there were any regular decent human being…

When someone arrives from another family, they should come out to greet them.

No, even if you weren’t a noble, when guests arrived, you should naturally come out to greet them.

But right now…

“”…….””

There was no one.

Seriously, absolutely no one had come outside.

If it weren’t for Rosalyn next to me, I would’ve sighed and cursed out loud… but for now, I restrained myself.

I didn’t know why there was no one here, but I decided to wait just a little longer.

“The maids and knights?”

…Originally, I hadn’t planned to say much about this, but since we were waiting anyway…

“If you feel uncomfortable, you can sit back in the carriage and rest. It doesn’t seem like they’ll come out anytime soon.”

Well, saying that wouldn’t make them come out immediately.

I am a noble, after all, and I’m in a position that’s almost like their master, so if I told them to rest, they probably wouldn’t actually rest.

They might just be thinking of testing their own thoughts or something.

“…Sigh.”

What a frustrating situation in many ways.

If it weren’t for Rosalyn, I would have kicked the mansion’s front door right now.

Just standing around waiting in front of the mansion’s main door like this.

“…Hah.”

Do they really think we look like fools?