My Stepmom is Too Pretty, and It’s Troubling Me – Chapter 65

I don’t usually wear a wristwatch, but it felt like about 30 minutes had passed.

Yeah, 30 minutes.

It was only after 30 minutes that the members of the Rose Family came out to meet us.

“Welcome back to the Rose Mansion, Rosalyn.”

“Sis, it’s been a while.”

“It’s been quite a while since you last visited in four years.”

Standing at the gate was a woman in her mid-twenties who looked a bit older than Rosalyn. She must be one of Rosalyn’s two older sisters.

What was a bit unusual was that there were no other maids or servants behind her.

…Usually, when guests arrive, servants would come along to help unload the luggage.

“By the way, what brings you here so obediently this time? If you’re going to show up like this, you could have come a bit earlier.”

“It just happened that way.”

“Well… it’s nice to see you again. And…”

“…?”

The woman talking to Rosalyn shifted her gaze slightly toward me.

If I had been concentrating somewhere else, I might not have noticed it at all, but her glance didn’t feel quite normal… it was a bit unsettling.

“……..”

“……..”

For just a fleeting moment, our eyes met, but the woman quickly turned her gaze back to Rosalyn and continued speaking.

What was that about?

Maybe it’s because I’m part of the Rose Family that she feels this way.

I had already guessed what kind of thoughts she had, so I managed to infer some meaning.

“Shall we go inside? I feel bad just standing around here.”

I wondered what they were thinking, having made us wait here for nearly 30 minutes.

Common sense told me the servants must have seen us from afar. What a terrible first impression.

Anyway, we got back into the carriage and started entering through the gate.

As Rosalyn had mentioned, there was one large main building, with smaller buildings on either side.

Honestly, if I exaggerated a bit, you could easily call it a palace.

Yet, there was still a nagging feeling that the buildings felt somewhat empty.

“You can stay here. Let’s unpack your things, and maybe we can meet up later?”

“Yes, let’s do that, sis.”

“Right, I’ll send a servant over soon, so you can rest for a bit.”

The woman who said that walked toward the main building without saying a single word to me, not even glancing back.

“Hmm… should we go inside now?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, the person you just saw is my second sister, just in case you didn’t know.”

“I knew she was my mother’s sister, but I didn’t know that.”

I only found out she was the second sister after listening to Rosalyn.

I had known she was an older sister from what I’d heard, but I couldn’t tell which was which.

“Hehe, that’s understandable. Let’s go inside, unpack, and let the servants rest. They’ve had a tough journey.”

“Sure, that works.”

So, with our luggage in hand, we opened the door to the guest building.

-Creeeak…

When the door creaked open, an unsettling noise followed. But given the size, I thought it would be fine.

Well, I thought wrong.

“…….”

“Huh…?”

As the door opened and the interior came into view, Rosalyn’s reaction was one of disbelief.

I really had no words to say either.

“…why is this…?”

“…it hasn’t been cleaned.”

“Huh…? It was supposed to be well-maintained…”

“……..”

What met our eyes was a place that had clearly seen zero cleaning or care.

Cobwebs, dust, broken glass, and even pictures that had fallen off the walls.

Honestly… even a lazy person wouldn’t let a place get this bad.

Although I usually didn’t get angry easily, I couldn’t help but feel furious in this situation.

“Ha.”

“Uh… Camelia? Just wait a second… I need to talk to my sister…”

“No, it’s alright. Mother.”

“Really?”

It seemed Rosalyn wanted to confront someone, but I stopped her.

Common sense would dictate that nobility wouldn’t neglect a guest building to this extent.

Clearly, they were slacking off because we were visiting—no, more accurately, because I was visiting.

Showing any anger about this to the Rose Family wouldn’t be a prudent decision.

“Everyone?”

I turned to the servants and knights who were standing behind us instead of facing the interior of the building.

Sure, this might look like I was helping the Rose lot, but I decided this was better than sparking unnecessary conflict.

“Please have this building cleaned up by the end of today.”

“…Camelia?”

Rosalyn gave me a look that said, “What are you doing?” but there was no problem.

“When we go back to the mansion, you’ll get a bonus.”

I said this with a smile and clapped my hands twice.

“Now, let’s get started.”

“…….?”

With that, the servants and knights of both genders began entering the building.

Everyone had determined looks on their faces and showed strong resolve.

Money really is the best.

“Uh… now we have some time to spare.”

“…Yeah.”

Everyone except us was working hard inside the building now.

And Rize had gone in to oversee things too.

“…Camelia, since we have time, do you want to go explore the garden together?”

“Is that really okay?”

“Of course. It’s not like it would cause any problems.”

“If it’s possible, then I’d love that.”

Since I had nothing to do now and time to kill, I immediately accepted Rosalyn’s suggestion.

She had spoken so often about the Rose Family’s garden in the past.

Not to mention, I hadn’t told Rosalyn, but I was honestly still quite upset about the previous situation.

“This is the garden… it doesn’t feel too different from before.”

“It’s beautiful.”

“Isn’t it?”

The rose garden we arrived at was truly as lovely as the name suggested.

The last time I saw Melnick’s lake garden, that was beautiful too, but that was more about the impressive large lake and sunlight rather than a purely beautiful vibe like this one.

“The bright red roses and other colored roses… they’re beautiful.”

This garden truly lived up to the name of the Rose Garden and the Rose Family, with roses in full bloom everywhere.

All around the entrance and throughout, every part was decorated with roses; no other flowers in sight.

“It’s definitely nice to be back after such a long time.”

It seemed Rosalyn was enjoying wandering the garden, which lifted my spirits a bit regarding the earlier situation.

Honestly, I hadn’t expected such treatment right after arriving at the mansion, and it was a pleasant surprise.

These people couldn’t possibly be so mind-numbingly rude to their guests. I hadn’t predicted that.

Moreover, we weren’t just any guests; we were Rosalyn’s younger sister and her niece, after all.

This kind of cold reception… no, I’d say it was almost worse than a cold reception; I hadn’t been prepared for it at all.

“Camelia, how about we have some tea together? Though it seems like the servants are… not around. Well, the tools are mostly ready in the garden anyway.”

“Should we?”

Of course, kind Rosalyn seemed to be taking this all as just a minor mistake.

But to be honest, I wasn’t feeling too great about the situation.

“The rose tea is incredibly tasty, and I’ve loved it since I was little.”

“You’ve never had it at the mansion, have you?”

“Yeah? I guess not. The mansion didn’t have rose tea, and besides, there were so many other excellent teas. I didn’t really crave it that much.”

“Oh… should I prepare some rose tea for the mansion next time…?”

I mentioned this while watching Rosalyn prepare to steep some dried rose leaves.

Rose leaves aren’t expensive at all; honestly, they just need to grow more in the garden.

It wasn’t hard; they wouldn’t cost a fortune either, so I thought I’d bring it up.

“Huh? No, there’s really no need for that.”

“Why not? You seem to enjoy it.”

“I do like rose tea, but since I’ve had it so often since I was a child, I think I’d get tired of it if I had it too frequently?”

“Oh.”

True… unlike our family, they must have had rose tea regularly.

Leonhardt had a tendency to just grab any expensive tea on a whim, but it was different here.

As Rosalyn said, having something you’ve had since childhood again and again could definitely lead to boredom.

“Alright, it’s hot, so blow on it before drinking.”

“Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. I’m the one feeling sorry for Camelia right now.”

“……..”

I should’ve told Rosalyn that it was fine, but honestly, I felt bad.

I felt too sorry for her, but given… the situation.

Objectively speaking, the Rose side had messed up a lot.

I didn’t say anything more about it, but I honestly felt like complaining.

…So I stayed quiet.

“Haha… I didn’t think the guest house would be left in such disrepair.”

“It’s fine. It’s not like it’s Mother’s fault, right?”

“…That’s true.”

“In fact, while resting comfortably inside would be nice, it’s also good to spend time having tea with you like this, Mother.”

Rosalyn seemed too apologetic, and I didn’t like the feeling of her looking at me, so I said this to lighten the mood.

It really was enjoyable spending time just the two of us, so, yeah.

Although it felt a little embarrassing to say that out loud, I was sure Rosalyn would have said the same if she were in my position.

“…Yeah, I’m glad too.”

“Then I’m relieved…”

Admittedly, ever since we entered the building, or even during the 30 minutes we waited at the mansion gate, Rosalyn looked downcast.

But maybe because I had spoken up, she seemed to have brightened up a little.

Her expression lifted, and the corners of her mouth turned up slightly compared to earlier.

“I think the cleaning will be finished within an hour… should we wait a bit longer before going in?”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

The first impression of the Rose Family didn’t sit well with me at all, but spending time with Rosalyn here in the rose garden was worth a pass.

To be honest, I think it was mainly because of Rosalyn that it felt okay.