SWNOVELXO Chapter 88
TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 88
A sunny morning in the capital.
Waking up earlier than usual, I put on my familiar butler’s attire and headed toward the kitchen.
-Tap tap tap.
While descending the stairs, I heard the sound of a cutting board being struck in the kitchen. Along with a humming tune, I saw the back figure of a lady skillfully chopping ingredients, prompting me to quicken my steps.
“Good morning, Lady Rosanna. But… why are you cooking?”
Rosanna, wearing an apron and cooking in the kitchen, turned to me with a bright smile.
“Why are you up so early? You should sleep more.”
“I usually wake up at this hour.”
“Really? Such diligence.”
Rosanna poured finely chopped king oyster mushrooms into a frying pan coated with oil and spoke.
“I felt like cooking for the first time in a while.”
“You could have asked a servant to do it. Why go through the trouble yourself…?”
“It’s homemade food, Ricardo.”
Smiling again, Rosanna focused on her cooking, while I quietly washed my hands and began assisting her.
From the mushrooms and finely chopped meat, I could deduce what Rosanna intended to make for breakfast. It seemed risotto was on the menu today. I took a spot in the kitchen and took charge of washing the rice.
“Oh my… are you helping?”
“Actually, I was planning to prepare breakfast myself. I didn’t expect you to be here first, Lady Rosanna.”
“Lady Rosanna? Just call me Mother-in-law comfortably.”
“That’s too much of a joke.”
Rosanna let out a noblewoman’s characteristic laugh and playfully tapped my shoulder with her fist. Responding to her affectionate teasing, I returned a small smile.
The sound of washing rice and chopping filled the kitchen. After a brief silence, I cautiously opened my mouth.
“Lady Rosanna…”
“Yes?”
“Do you not resent us?”
Thud. The sound of Rosanna’s knife skills, which had been echoing in my ears, came to a halt.
It wasn’t a question asked lightly. Though last night had passed harmoniously, I thought it might not be the same from her perspective.
The position she should have held.
The events that unfolded because of us.
The fact that someone who should have reigned as a beast in high society was now forced to tread carefully wasn’t something that could be resolved with a simple apology.
More than that, I was curious about her true feelings regarding something so profound, something perhaps unforgivable.
Having no family of my own, I couldn’t understand her decision.
As the awkward atmosphere made my mouth dry,
Rosanna spoke in a slightly heavy voice.
“I do resent you.”
“…”
“I resent you a lot.”
“At the time, I didn’t even think about seeing your faces again. I wondered if the household would collapse as it was, or if I should return to being an adventurer.”
Rosanna resumed her knife skills as she spoke.
“But when I saw your faces, those thoughts disappeared. Especially seeing Olivia unable to walk—it broke my heart.”
From Rosanna’s expression, focused on cooking with a bittersweet smile, I could read the word “kindness.”
Standing there blankly, I spoke to her. With a quiet voice, I conveyed my doubt as to whether this was enough to settle things.
“Even so… we…”
“Ricardo.”
Rosanna gestured with a benevolent smile.
“Could you bring me an onion?”
Understanding her action as a sign not to ask further, I bowed my head. Though I had lived a life without family, I felt as if I was beginning to understand its value.
“Understood.”
And just as the cooking was about to be completed,
-Air Raid Alarm!!!
-Imperial Emergency!!!
The faint resonance brought smiles to our faces.
“Pfft!”
“Young Lady!! Haah…”
It seemed Rosanna and I shared some kind of connection.
*
“Mmph.”
“Mmph.”
The father and daughter sat at the dining table, rubbing their sleepy eyes. In front of them were risotto with mushrooms and hot soup, yet they continued to rub their drowsy eyes.
I placed knives and forks in front of the Young Lady and Darbav, greeting them with a bright smile.
“Good morning, Young Lady and Head of the Household.”
“…It’s not morning.”
The Young Lady, with sleepy eyes, yawned while gazing at the dawn-lit sky. For her, who had woken up an hour earlier than usual, the world probably still felt like the middle of the night.
“The world has ended.”
“No, you’re just sleepy.”
The Young Lady nodded off while attempting to greet us.
“Olivia!”
“Mmph!”
“How can you doze off at the dining table? And you too!”
“…Snore.”
Darbav had rested his head on the table and fallen asleep. Perhaps it was because they were father and daughter—their actions were strikingly similar.
Rosanna let out a deep sigh and grabbed Darbav’s cheek, shaking him. Though it might seem disrespectful to treat the head of a household this way, it was justified, so I said nothing and mimicked her actions by grabbing the Young Lady’s cheek and shaking her awake.
“Ack!!! It’s tearing!”
“Wake up.”
“O…okay. Ugh!”
With their heads wobbling, the Young Lady and Darbav greeted the morning.
The two, now with swollen cheeks, picked up their spoons and took bites of the hot risotto.
“Oh!”
“It’s delicious.”
Their eyes widened as they lit up with delight. Rosanna and I exchanged small smiles and nodded.
“I’m glad it tastes good.”
“Indeed, it seems it turned out better because Ricardo helped.”
“No, it’s because of your excellent cooking skills, Mother.”
“Hohoho. Did you just call me Mother? Oh, you’re something else.”
“…”
Rosanna’s teasing was relentless.
After the chaotic meal,
The Young Lady and Darbav, now full, sipped on the cocoa prepared as dessert, their expressions turning serious.
“Father.”
“What is it?”
“What are you doing today?”
“I’m going to relax.”
The Young Lady’s eyes widened.
“…Are you unemployed?”
Darbav nodded with a bitter smile, his expression resembling that of a man who had lost 8 billion.
“Yes, and wasn’t it you who made me unemployed?”
“Sorry…”
“It’s fine. I’m actually enjoying this rare break. I could live like this forever.”
Listening to their conversation, Rosanna let out a deep sigh and addressed Darbav.
“Dear.”
“Yes, what is it, wife of an unemployed man?”
“You should have told her you took the day off.”
“…Not funny.”
Darbav, with a regretful expression, spoke to the young lady whose eyes were brimming with tears. Feeling guilty for making her father unemployed, the young lady nodded at Darbav’s slightly reproachful yet affectionate gaze.
“Your father is wealthy enough not to need a job.”
“I’m unemployed because I can’t work…”
“That’s… enviable.”
For a moment, Darbav let slip his true feelings.
Contrary to Darbav’s words, the Desmond Family was rapidly recovering its fallen fortunes. The eldest son, Kyle, who had inherited Darbav’s talents, was growing the family business at an astonishing pace, and Darbav himself was regaining influence within the Empire.
Though it wasn’t as prosperous as the golden age the Desmond Family enjoyed two years ago, they had at least recovered financially to their former state.
In other words.
A busy Darbav had taken a day off for the young lady.
Relieved by the revelation that her father wasn’t unemployed, the young lady looked at Darbav with bright, shining eyes.
“Father… you’re not unemployed?”
“That’s right. The world won’t leave the greatest head of the family in history alone.”
“Oh…”
Olivia’s respect for her father grew. Darbav, wearing a satisfied smile, spoke to the young lady.
“In that case, how about going out with Dad for the first time in a while? I’d like to buy Olivia a birthday gift I missed giving her, with all the money I have.”
The young lady, deep in thought, shook her head hesitantly and replied.
“Uh… no. I already made plans to go to the tteokbokki restaurant with Ricardo today.”
Darbav’s face was filled with shock. The overprotective daughter-fool, unable to recover from the blow of not being able to spend time with his daughter, looked at me and said.
“Can’t she go another time?”
“She can.”
“Then she can spend today with me, right? Olivia.”
The young lady looked at me.
“Is it okay not to go?”
“You can go tomorrow.”
“Oh…”
The young lady nodded and smiled brightly at Darbav.
“Father… let’s go!”
Darbav quickly prepared to leave. Wearing an elegant uniform and fastening a black cane, the symbol of nobility, to his waist, Darbav was ready.
Darbav held the handle of Fairy Unit 1 with an excited expression. The twitching corners of his mouth revealed his anticipation.
Rosanna sighed as she watched Darbav.
“Can’t you leave that cane behind?”
Rosanna sighed again, seeing the cane, the only flaw in his otherwise perfect outfit. Darbav firmly shook his head and replied.
“I can’t leave behind the symbol of a noble.”
“Sigh…”
Rosanna’s sighs grew more frequent by the day.
Ignoring Rosanna’s suggestion, Darbav looked at the young lady’s wheelchair with bright, shining eyes and asked.
“Hey, Olivia.”
“Yes?”
“Can I try riding it too?”
“…No.”
Darbav looked dejected.
“What a shame.”
*
And so, the next morning arrived.
The servants of the estate began moving busily.
The servants cleaned the estate and prepared a grand feast, while Rosanna, with a tense expression, stared at the estate’s front gate.
“Olivia.”
“Yes.”
“No matter what your brother says, don’t pay attention to him.”
“…”
The young lady, who had come out to greet someone at the front gate, couldn’t hide her nervous expression.
Darbav, who always smiled at the young lady, also stared at the gate with a stern expression.
“What should we have for dinner tonight?”
That seemed like the wrong thing to think about.
After a brief moment.
The tightly closed gate of the estate opened, and the face of a man with a cold impression came into view.
He had blue eyes.
His sharp eyes and black uniform gave him a chilling presence.
The man, with eyes weary from exhaustion, looked at the young lady and me standing in front of the gate and let out a deep sigh.
“Sigh…”
Desmond Kyle.
A brilliant wizard of the Empire.
The next head of the Desmond Family.
And Olivia’s older brother.
Kyle stood before me and spoke in a menacing voice.
“Get out immediately.”
Grinding his teeth and clenching his fist, Kyle’s appearance made the young lady’s eyes tremble violently.
“Get out… of our estate immediately, Olivia. Before I throw you out myself.”
In Kyle’s use of “our,” Olivia was not included.