Chapter 70: Rosemary’s Scheme

‘My little sister is still so innocent and stupid, not even knowing how pitiful her situation is.’

Creak— creak—

The rocking cradle’s noise grated on her nerves. Rosemary placed a hand on her slightly padded belly, wrapped in cloth.

There had never been a child meant for that cradle. She had seduced Damian’s half-brother Adolf and spent the night with him solely to make Damian jealous.

That night had been utterly humiliating for Rosemary. It was bad enough that she’d begged Adolf to hold her while speaking words she didn’t mean.

Adolf’s words still echoed, unforgettable, in her ears.

‘Rosemary Benel.’

‘…Yes?’

‘Act like Lady Edelweiss. Keep your eyes closed… and call me Adolf.”

It wasn’t enough that he asked her to mimic Edelweiss—he even told her not to open her eyes.

‘Edelweiss has green eyes, and mine are violet, right?’

She had always felt superior because of those violet eyes, knowing Edelweiss envied them.

In a fit of anger, she had blurted out that she was pregnant when Adolf said he hoped such a thing would never happen again. It was an impulsive act, and now she couldn’t take it back.

‘I can always pretend I miscarried later, but…?’

Strangely, the feelings Adolf seemed to have for Edelweiss kept gnawing at her.

If he could say such things, hadn’t he already shared his heart with Edelweiss?

‘Edelweiss must have given him an opening first—that’s why Adolf thinks that way.’ And yet that shameless girl married Damian.

Thud!

Unable to contain her rising anger, Rosemary shoved the heavy cradle away. An eerie silence settled, as though time itself had stopped.

Rosemary slowly lifted her head. A frozen smile spread across her lips.

“My lady…”

“Tell Edelweiss I was overjoyed to receive the cradle, and that I hope we can meet soon.”

She planned to meet Edelweiss deliberately and pretend to miscarry because of her.

Even without a formal marriage, becoming the Countess of Skan meant she would be recognized as Adolf’s consort.

If the Emperor’s first grandchild were lost because of Edelweiss, not even she could keep her place.

The baby had to be lost by Edelweiss’s hand.

“Understood, my lady.”

“Anna, if you do what I ordered properly, I’ll give you more gold than you could spend in a lifetime.”

“…I thank you for your grace, my lady.”

Had she not seen that greed-soaked gaze, she would never have recruited Anna.

‘Ah, I can’t wait to tell her.’

Feeling the cloth around her belly grow uncomfortable, Rosemary dismissed Anna.

Left alone, she unwrapped the fabric, yet the tightness remained, so she stepped onto the balcony.

***

‘Who is it?’

Reclining against the bed, Edelweiss opened her eyes at a cautious presence.

“Your Grace? Are you awake?”

At some point Anna had returned and was drawing the curtains, likely to spare her the sunlight.

“…You’re back, Anna.”

“I’m sorry.”

She waved off Anna’s apology.

“It’s fine. I wasn’t sleeping deeply. By the way, Rosemary? Did you go to the Stern duchy?”

“Yes, I got back not long ago.”

Edelweiss gently rubbed her eyes.

“Your Grace, do you know what I saw?”

Excitement colored Anna’s voice; Edelweiss smiled, curious.

“Does it look like she’s really pregnant?”

“No. Even the morning sickness seemed forced, and more importantly…” Anna lowered her voice.

“It looked like she stuffed something under her belly to make it round.”

“How did you know?”

“As I was getting into the carriage, I saw Lady Benel step onto the balcony—her belly was flat, though it had been swollen before.”

Edelweiss thought it over. ‘Then she must have wrapped cloth around her belly.’

Anna clapped her hands.

“Oh, and she pushed the cradle and broke it, then told me to say she was delighted and wants to meet you soon.”

It was easy to guess Rosemary’s plan: she couldn’t keep cloth around her belly until the final month.

“She wants to meet before that so she can pretend to miscarry because of me.”

“Yes. So you mustn’t meet her alone.” Edelweiss agreed.

Knock, knock—

At the sound, Edelweiss signaled Anna. When Anna opened the door, a maid attending Princess Charlotte entered.

“Her Highness told us not to disturb you, but I felt I must inform you…”

“What on earth is it?”

“She’s had a fever since morning. We keep calling her but she doesn’t respond; she seems very ill.”

Edelweiss rose at once.

Entering the room, she was startled by Princess Charlotte’s pained appearance.

The princess lay limp on the bed, her face flushed red.

Cold sweat drenched her, and her breathing was faint. Her eyes were unfocused and hazy.

“Shasha…”

Edelweiss sat by the head of the bed and laid a hand on the princess’s forehead. It was no ordinary fever—she burned as if scalded.

She should have noticed sooner.

Claiming fatigue, she hadn’t paid proper attention to the princess.

Yet Princess Charlotte had hidden it for Edelweiss’s sake; without the maid’s report, she never would have known.

“Sister, your hand—it’s cool…”

The princess opened her eyes with difficulty and smiled faintly.

Unlike usual, her voice lacked strength, and her words came slowly. Soon she broke into a harsh fit of coughing, and Edelweiss bit her lip in sympathy.

‘She ate the blue rose not long ago—why is she in such poor condition?’

Perhaps the roses she produced were still incomplete and held little effect.

Edelweiss felt guilty for the princess’s illness.

High fever could be fatal for a child. Though she wiped her down with cold cloths, the fever did not break by nightfall.

A chilling memory stabbed through her mind: in her previous life, Princess Charlotte had died in spring.

The antipyretic prescribed by the hastily summoned physician did nothing. Hearing the princess m*an in distress made Edelweiss increasingly anxious.

She could not simply wait, unsure when the fever might subside.

She summoned a green butterfly and cultivated another blue rose, taking extra care.

The petals shone with a mysterious blue light.

Perhaps because she forced the bloom while dizzy, a severe headache struck, and she staggered.

“Your Grace!”

If Anna beside her hadn’t caught her, she would have collapsed.

Edelweiss exhaled deeply; her ears rang.

Blue roses bloomed at the cost of one’s life span, so pain like this was inevitable.

Without delay, she tore the rose into small pieces and placed them in the princess’s mouth, waking her and forcing her to swallow.

Watching anxiously, she saw the princess’s breathing ease, almost miraculously.

‘The fever has dropped compared to before.’

Her body was still hot, but clearly better than earlier.

Princess Charlotte’s eyelids slowly lifted. Edelweiss brightened and studied her face.