My Stepmom is Too Pretty, and It’s Troubling Me – Chapter 67

“…Huh.”

I spent a night at the Rose Family Mansion.

Yeah, I could sleep.

But it was definitely not comfortable; I even thought it might be better to sleep in the carriage.

If I had to pick a plus about this building and the room… um…

“…Nothing really comes to mind.”

I pulled aside the tacky floral curtains and looked outside.

Well, if I had to point out a plus, it was that the building was situated on a relatively high hill, which made the view somewhat decent.

The sight of the territory surrounded by greenery was… well, moderately okay.

“Ugh… my back hurts…”

Even though I had just gotten up from the bed, I felt uncomfortable… it definitely made me realize how pampered I had been.

I suddenly remembered how comfortable the Leonhardt Mansion usually was.

Of course, I thought it was mostly because this guest house was just really lacking.

“I can’t help it.”

Today’s tasks were set.

The Rose Family members clearly didn’t seem to want me around, and I didn’t really like them either.

“Hmmm… ugh… ugh…”

First… even though I woke up tired, I needed to stretch a bit…

I stepped outside my room, wearing a light dress topped with a cardigan.

Somehow… even though they cleaned yesterday, the building wasn’t that clean in various ways, right?

“Is everyone cleaning from this morning?”

“Oh, Young Lady. It seems there’s still some dust, and everyone is finishing up the places they couldn’t clean yesterday.”

“It’s nice to see everyone working hard from the morning. You all should expect a bonus when you return.”

“Th-thank you!”

As soon as I stepped outside the room, I noticed the maids diligently cleaning.

I was up a bit earlier due to being tired, but I had no idea they would be cleaning this early in the morning.

I definitely needed to make sure they got their bonus after I returned.

Even though I never told them to start, it was nice to see everyone working hard.

If only the Rose Family members would do the same a bit…

“Is Mother still sleeping?”

“The Lady hasn’t come out of her room yet.”

“I see? Okay, keep up the cleaning.”

Well… anyway, it wasn’t like I had to chat with Rosalyn and have breakfast immediately.

I continued down the hallway and headed downstairs.

Even on my way down, I could see the servants cleaning.

The knights… some of them were helping the servants out, and it seemed rather normal.

“Hmmm…”

The problem was that this normal scene was happening in someone else’s building?

While I did bring the servants for this direction, I didn’t expect them to clean this eagerly.

It was definitely strange seeing them organize, clean, and manage as if this was our mansion.

This was something the Rose Family should be doing, and our servants should only be taking care of Rosalyn and me.

While I liked the sight of everyone working hard… it didn’t feel quite right.

“Hmmm…”

It was really a modest-looking building compared to its size.

Usually, guest houses aren’t like this.

In fact, nobles wouldn’t use such a plain mansion, even if it wasn’t a guest house.

“…I can’t help it.”

I pondered as I went down from the third to the first floor, but really, there was no helping it.

I thought of this when I looked around the mansion yesterday, but after sleeping a night and observing it soberly again, it really wasn’t much.

“Where’s Rize?”

“She’s outside.”

“Thanks.”

After hearing Rize’s location, I directly headed outside.

As soon as I exited, I spotted Rize sweeping the yard.

“Rize.”

“Young Lady?”

“What are you doing?”

“I had nothing to do, so I was just doing some work for a bit.”

“Oh really?”

Well, Rize isn’t the type to just sit around and rest when she says she has nothing to do.

As always, I watched Rize, cutely dressed in her maid outfit, work for a moment from the doorway.

“Hmmm… Rize, do you want to go out together today?”

“Pardon?”

“Since I have something to do. Want to go out?”

Honestly, Rize would follow me anyway, but I wouldn’t force her if she didn’t want to go.

Of course, I did hope she would come along.

“If you’re going, Young Lady… I will follow you, but where will we go?”

“Hmmm… shopping?”

It wasn’t anything special.

*

“Camelia…? Why are we here all of a sudden…?”

As soon as I got out of the carriage, Rosalyn asked me first.

Rize, standing behind her, looked at me with a perplexed expression.

Well, I hadn’t really said anything, to be fair.

“No matter how I think about it, I just didn’t like it.”

“What didn’t you like…?”

“Just everything. They told me it’s a guest house, but it wasn’t even cleaned, and all the furniture was old and worn out, so honestly, it just wasn’t good.”

I wondered how Rosalyn would react to hearing such words.

Would she cover up for her family since they were her own?

“I’m just going to clear everything out today and replace the furnishings with new ones.”

“…So you’re going to replace all the furniture in this building…?”

“Yes.”

“I can understand your discomfort, but… you really don’t need to go out of your way. I… I’ll talk to my family.”

“No, it’s fine.”

I understood Rosalyn’s feelings.

After all, it was quite a declaration from a daughter all of a sudden to say she wanted to spend a lot of money.

Even so, the reason for my decision was simple.

“Mother’s room was uncomfortable too, right?”

“Th-that’s…!”

“The Rose Family, after all, is also a family in a way. It wouldn’t be a bad thing to renovate the old building and make it better, would it?”

I smiled at Rosalyn, throwing out a pointed remark that could be considered a weakness on her part.

I had thought of Rosalyn as someone quite affectionate, and seeing her expression of regret while gazing at the roads before we reached the territory showed her sympathy for the state I was in.

I imagined that, upon seeing the state of the guest house and how it had probably become more modest than before, she wouldn’t have felt at ease.

In fact, it wasn’t Rosalyn’s fault at all, and I didn’t know why it was neglected, so it must have been quite a dilemma for her.

It’s not easy to complain about a lousy guest house when meeting family after such a long time.

“Right?”

“…That’s.”

Rosalyn couldn’t clearly respond to my words, seemingly hinting that my thoughts were correct.

It was indeed a tricky situation in many ways, right?

“And from what I gather, I already heard approximately how much it would cost, and it doesn’t sound too expensive.”

“…Really?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t spend money thoughtlessly.”

Actually, that wasn’t true.

I didn’t care about the price at all—I didn’t even look into it; I just came.

After all, I had plenty of money.

Buying a few dozen pieces of furniture wouldn’t wipe me out, and there wouldn’t even be a noticeable dent.

Though, it felt wasteful to do this in someone else’s building.

Right now, I just thought that if I could ease Rosalyn’s expression even a bit, that would be enough.

“Shall we head in?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I really don’t mind.”

“…Camelia, you seem rather mature. Always.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, when I first saw you, you were shy and had many cute sides, but now you feel more cool somehow?”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

I assumed it was meant well.

Honestly, to me, being told I was mature sounded better than being called childish.

Though it was a past life I barely remembered now.

Still, I was definitely aware that I was an adult male in that past life.

“Rize? If there’s anything uncomfortable about your room, just let me know.”

“…Yes, understood.”

Honestly, I didn’t just plan to change rooms for Rosalyn and me.

Of course, I was also going to replace the furniture in Rize’s room and in the other servants’ rooms too.

In the end… I might be supporting those who had criticized our family behind our backs, but I felt like this was the way to lift my mood.

The uncomfortable rooms would definitely improve, and shopping would also lighten my spirits.

*

“What is this…?”

“Hey, knight? That chandelier is in the First Floor Lobby, not on the Second Floor, so you don’t have to carry it upstairs.”

“Oh, understood.”

“And that table and chairs you just took out? Move them to the dining hall, and the alarm clock should go over there… hang the painting on a decent wall for now.”

“Y-yes!”

“Hmmm… also, the beds for the third floor should all be moved later together…”

The guest house was currently very, very noisy.

The sounds of furniture scraping on the floor, the groans of the servants moving loads, the knights barking orders… there were a variety of noises, and it was quite boisterous.

I was sitting alone in a chair overseeing the situation.

“What’s… happening right now?”

“Oh, Aunt?”

As I was leading things, Alexandra, who had been staring at the scene with a confused look, finally spoke to me.

It took her a while to come around to that, huh?

“Aunt…?”

“Because you’re my mother’s sister. Isn’t it correct to call you that?”

Well, it was without permission, but it’s not wrong, is it?

Calling her Lady Rose wouldn’t work either since she was older than Rosalyn, and this being the Rose Family meant the titles would overlap too much.

Well, perhaps my addressing didn’t sit well with her, as Alexandra made a slightly grimace.

“Ha…!”

“Why are you here?”

“Camelia? What’s going on? Why are you completely changing the furniture and the interior of the building…?”

“Oh, this?”

I maintained a completely nonchalant expression, contrasting with the incredulous facade Alexandra wore.

With an innocent, non-threatening, and kind demeanor, I began to explain.

“From the building to the furniture and the interior, everything… it’s just too, truly too bad. So, I’m in the midst of renovations…? No, changing to better things.”

“…With whose permission…?”

“Hmmm… do I need permission?”

“What?”

“It’s not like the Rose Family has… essentially abandoned this building, right?”

I voiced what I had been pondering since yesterday to Alexandra Rose.

She seemed quite shocked by my words, though, honestly, it wasn’t anything hard to grasp.

So, this made me slightly understand why the Rose Family had gone downhill over generations.

“Hmmm… though I’d like to say more, it would definitely be rude to say everything while my servants are working hard, right?”

There were many things to say, but I intentionally didn’t say everything.

The other reason wasn’t anything specific; it was simply because of Rosalyn.

The most affected by the situation between the Rose and Leonhardt families would only be Rosalyn anyway.

“For now, I’m busy with organizing the furniture, so how about you head to the garden and have tea time with my maid instead?”

“……..”

“Well, if you want to stay here with me, I don’t mind, though?”

“…Ha!”

The way she reacted, as if my suggestion were laughable…

It didn’t seem like she was thinking rationally; rather, it appeared to be an emotional response.

Anyway, Alexandra showed such a reaction, turned her back, and left.

“Hum… I didn’t expect her to be…”

More naive than I thought.

She hadn’t said much to me yesterday, talking only to Rosalyn, so I hadn’t realized this.

I couldn’t have predicted she would display her feelings so readily.

Indeed… was the reason the Rose Family had tarnished over generations buried within them?

“Pfft…”

While I couldn’t be sure what Rosalyn would say after heading to her, I didn’t worry too much.

After all, I had always appeared as the good daughter in front of Rosalyn.

Surely, she wouldn’t take to heart any derogatory comments from a sister she hadn’t seen in four years who hadn’t properly managed the family affairs.