Rosie's Games

"A welcome banquet?" Rosalind smiled at Dorothy's maid, Lellana. With her brown hair and large brown eyes, Lellana looked almost innocent, except for the smirk on her face, that is.

"Yes, Miss Dorothy has asked everyone to prepare a welcome banquet for you. Though…"

"What is it?" Rosalind asked, frowning. "Did something happen to my sister? Is that why she stopped seeing me?"

"No —" Lellana shook her head. "No. It's not like that. The Young Lady has been very busy with — with the clothes."

"Clothes?"

"She personally bought clothes for the Young Miss."

Rosalind's lips twitched. The clothes that Lellana was talking about were actually used clothes. If her guess was right, these clothes were from two years ago.

"She did?" Rosalind's eyes widened. "I — She shouldn't have done something like that. I know the others had been bullying her because of me."

"Young Miss, don't say that. The Young Lady has worked hard to stop them from speaking ill about the Young Miss. The Young Lady is very magnanimous and kind. She would do everything to help the Young Miss."

"I — " Rosalind started her annoying habit of crying. The tactic had worked so far. She couldn't see any reason not to use it again.

"I just hope that the Young Miss wouldn't dislike the Young Lady for hosting a smaller banquet this time," Lellana said.

"What do you mean?"

"The banquet that the Young Lady is going to host isn't as grand as the other welcome banquet of the Lux Family members. The Miss wanted to have the party, but the Marquess and Marchioness have been very busy as the Duke just arrived. Young Lady Dorothy hoped that the Young Miss doesn't mind a tea party with some of the elites that the Young Lady has invited."

"Elites?" Rosalind acted surprised. This banquet happened in the past, too. During that time, many of these so-called elites treated her like a joke. Then, in the middle of the banquet, some of the members of the Lux Family, her cousins, and uncles arrived.

Overwhelmed by the number of guests and her lack of knowledge of the empire's etiquette, she said some statements trying to impress them.

But this didn't end too well.

It didn't take too long for her to run away like a coward.

That was the time when Dorothy told her about the purple plant.

Looking back, she should be extremely thankful for this event, right?

"Yes, the Young Lady invited her friends. She wants to introduce the Young Miss to some of them. Some daughters of another marquess and even the only daughter of the duke confirmed their attendance. The Young Lady has worked hard for this event. I hope that the Young Miss will appreciate it."

Rosalind's face flushed.

"I— "

"There is no need to cry, Young Miss. If you really want to thank the Young Lady, then showing up dressed in one of the dresses that she bought would be fine."

With that, Ellana bowed and bid her farewell.

Seeing the woman's disappearing back, Rosalind's face froze. She looked at Milith, who stood not far away from them.

"Young Lady, what are we going to do with all these clothes?" she asked.

"Chose the ugliest one and I will wear it."

"But my Lady, this banquet is — " Milith stopped talking. "I understand. I was able to get a copy of the current fashion booklet in the capital. Pink is currently the color that most of the women in the capital loved wearing."

She nodded. "Anything but that…"

"Alright."

Not long after, Rosalind asked Milith to tell everyone who would want to see her that she was not feeling very well and she wanted to rest. She also instructed her to mention the fact that Rosalind has been crying since no one actually visited her since she arrived.

Though she knew that not many people would want to see her now after Federico's obvious dislike when they had met earlier. Right now, even if Federico Lux wass no longer the patriarch, he still holds the most authority in the household. This meant that no one would dare offend him or try to fall out of his favor.

Milith nodded without saying a word.

Since they arrived here, no one had actually dared to visit her. Not even Dorothy. But she understood that this must be because the Duke had already arrived and many nobles were whispering of the Duké's engagement to Dorothy.

The rumors about Rosalind asking about the Duke had been ignored simply because Rosalind… doesn't matter. Everyone recalled the black-haired girl, but some of the nobles had already forgotten what she looked like. Some of them even forgot that she was the one called Rosalind.

Because of this, Dorothy and her mother arranged a welcome banquet.

They wanted to let everyone see her and hope that the rumors would once again resurface.

Dressed in a plain blue and white dress, Rosalind stared at her appearance in an old bronze mirror. Satisfied that she looked ordinary, she made her way out of the room through the window. Of course, she did this after making sure that no one was watching her.

She then made her way to the back gates and left the area. Right now, only a few people knew what she really looked like since she arrived. Since her hair was black and ordinary, many would easily mistake her for a servant, maid, or just a random passerby.

After leaving the mansion of the Lux family, she made her way into the local market.

In the past, she wasn't able to sneak out like this as Dorothy started to forbid her from walking around alone when she discovered that Rosalind had received the Blessing. Dorothy insisted that it was for her safety. She even told Rosalind that people would try to covet the Blessing once they knew that she has it.

She believed all those lies without asking any questions.

But now that she was given a chance to think about it? She could only laugh at her own silliness.

A Blessing is permanent, it cannot be taken away from you. Of course, there were instances when a Blessing would suddenly disappear like what happened to her in the past. The disappearance of her Blessing was basically the cause of her death.

"I told you that is worth ten gold!" A familiar voice suddenly reached her ears. She stilled, her face paling.

"But this isn't real!? Are you trying to scheme against me!?" another voice responded.

Rosalind looked at where the voices were coming from. Just as she expected, the commotion gathered a few passersby's attention.

"I told you… this artifact is real! I almost died just to get this! How could you say that I am a fraud?"

Rosalind pursed her lips as she caught sight of the man who she married in her past life.

Jeames Sencler.