Chapter 10
A crooked smile hung over the nanny’s lips.
As if she was expecting the younger woman to be hurt by her words, there was a gleeful look of expectation in her eyes.
Ah. So that’s what you think.
Not being a full-fledged family member was the biggest insecurity Rosetta had.
It was a weakness that Katie knew Rosetta wouldn’t ever overcome. There’s no way Katie would let this go.
When Rosetta was younger, she listened to all of Katie’s cunning words to control and shake her resolve.
’Lady Rosetta, if you don’t listen to me, you’ll be kicked out of this house. Because you were never supposed to be born.’
If she wasn’t the ‘Rosetta’ who was here now, then tears would have already fallen into the teacup in her hands.
Unfortunately for Katie, it wasn’t the original Rosetta who was sitting here right now.
Rosetta couldn’t even remember her real name.
‘That’s right. [Me.]’
“Right, I can’t be her real family. What gave you the impression that I want to be family?”
She said this calmly as if to laugh at Katie.
Rosetta’s lips curled up just for this moment.
“You’re lying.”
“I’m telling you. If you don’t believe me, why don’t we get kicked out together?”
“…What?”
“I’ve been itching to talk about it. These days, I’m getting too lazy to put on my own clothes.”
“…Rosetta.”
“I’m a fake, so I’ll be kicked out. And you’ll be kicked out for abusing the real daughter. What do you say? I think it’ll be great—”
SLAP!
Before Rosetta could even finish her sentence, Katie slapped her on the cheek.
She could have avoided it, but she didn’t do so on purpose.
The more evidence, the better.
Soon, along with a prickling pain, a hot sensation warmed her cheeks.
Katie… your hands must be burning, too, hm?
Rosetta touched her cheek and turned her head back to face Katie, the nanny’s blue eyes enraged.
Standing up from the couch, Katie breathed heavily with her shoulders moving up and down.
“How dare you defy me…”
“I thought you’d never hit me where it’s noticeable. You’ve been holding back so far, so how can you lose control so easily?”
Katie gritted her teeth at what Rosetta said as she stroked her cheek.
Veins popped on her temples.
Just a little more then.
“You managed to talk to Alicia like this, didn’t you… You don’t really care about her.”
Ha, a crooked smile was on the woman’s twisted face.
“A scar on your face. Did anyone else ask what happened to you? Is there really anyone here who wants to talk to you? I don’t think so. Know your place. That’s where you are right now. No matter how good your relationship with Alicia is, after all, you’re just a half-blooded fake!”
Mixed with her cackling, Katie’s voice became louder and louder the more she talked.
By the end, she was already screaming.
But again, Rosetta wasn’t the ‘real’ Rosetta.
She looked at Katie’s red face as she shrieked like a banshee, rolled her eyes, then looked at the clock behind the nanny.
There wasn’t much time left.
Rosetta slowly rose from her seat.
Rumble… Bang!
The sound of thunder and lightning echoed from far away. Light flashed through the window and disappeared.
“Let’s test it out then.”
“What?”
Rosetta picked up a teacup at random, from which tea spilled from what’s left inside.
The dripping liquid stream from the cup and scarlet water stained the white dress.
As soon as Rosetta raised the cup, Katie’s shoulders flinched.
Perhaps it reminded her of what happened last time.
A teacup somehow imprinted on her mind after what happened then. It wasn’t unusual—after all, the teacup was flung through the air spectacularly back then.
Rosetta looked down at the teacup, following Katie’s gaze.
The design had pink flowers blooming along the green vine. The teacup looked pretty expensive.
But, you know what?
If this breaks, it would be nothing but broken shards.
The cup, being held precariously by a loose grip, plunged to the ground as soon as the grip relaxed completely.
Crash!
The cup broke into pieces with a harsh sound.
“…You……”
Before Katie could say anything more, Rosetta raised her hand and swept everything on the table and threw them on the floor.
“Kyaak!”
Katie screamed briefly at the loud noise that was even more shrill than her earlier shrieks.
After that, a heavy silence filled the room.
Katie alternately looked at the broken tableware and Rosetta, unable to calm down.
“Rosetta… You…”
“What if I win the bet?”
“…What?”
Rosetta grinned and reached for a shard.
As soon as she found a large piece, she clasped it in her fist.
There was a sharp sting when her hand had been cut, followed by red blood flowing through the open wound.
When she opened her fist, it was clear to see how much blood covered the shard.
And the tea spilled on the floor gradually turned red.
“You… you…!”
Again, a sudden flash of lightning took over the room.
Perhaps the thunderbolt landed nearby. A huge sound followed immediately after the blinding light.
It’s like…
“Now, what do you think, Nanny? Do you think… someone will finally ask how I’m doing?”
…like the sound of the world collapsing.
Katie’s eyes were trembling.
‘She’s beaten this body so much, but she always avoided spilling blood. So how about this now, hm?’
How ridiculous.
As Rosetta glanced at the clock again, she saw that it was almost the promised time.
Rosetta relaxed and moved near the broken shards.
Then, she sat down on the ground and gathered the pieces in her hands.
Her hands gushed an endless amount of blood, and the skirt of her dress that touched the ground was gradually stained red.
“You… you… you’re really crazy.”
On the surface, it really sounded like Katie was terrified.
But it was at that moment—
The unlocked door burst open without anyone knocking first.
The hardwood door was opened with a resounding bang!
Both Rosetta and Katie’s gazes turned to the people who barged in.
Two pairs of eyes on one person.
Due to the cloudy sky, the man who entered also looked as if he had come out from the shadows.
As the dust fluttered in the dark, the golden gaze scoured the surroundings.
And soon, that gaze met with Rosetta’s, then his eyes soon widened.
“Rosetta! You locked Alicia somewhere…”
But he trailed off.
His eyes, which had only been on her face, slowly turned to her hand.
Her clothes were soaked in tea as she sat on the ground, blood dripping down from the pieces that were in her hands.
The face that was boiling in anger soon cooled.
Rosetta dropped the shards that she had gathered in her hand to the floor and quickly hid her hand behind her back.
“Brother…”
As she muttered, the gaze that was on her hand returned to her face, at which she covered her red, stinging cheek like a pathetic person.
The blood on her hands smeared her face.
“…What the hell is this……”
The words that pierced the air sounded empty.
Soon, his blank expression turned to another person, moving like a stiff machine.
That direction was towards Katie.
Soon, an explosive anger entered his eyes once more when his gaze found the target.
Slowly, but surely.
“Katie.”
“…Young, Young Master… It’s not what it looks like…”
“Katie!”
Lightning struck.
Thunder came crashing down as if the world was ending.
Rosetta stared blankly out the window and smiled coldly.
‘I think I won our bet, Katie.’
Thunder rumbled once more.
* * *
When, along the crackle of the thunderbolt, her name was called, Katie’s whole body froze.
Beyond her frazzled mind, she could see Rosetta from the corners of her eyes, smiling at her somehow.
It was all planned.
Damian originally didn’t stop by the detached building.
Whenever he came back home after being gone for a long time, he would only stop by to say hello to Alicia.
That’s why Katie had never been worried about him walking into their classes because he didn’t come here during class time.
But Damian came today.
With an angry face, without even announcing his arrival.
‘Rosetta! You locked Alicia somewhere…’
Judging by what he had shouted, Rosetta seemed to have hidden Alicia somewhere.
When Damian found out about it, he ran straight to Rosetta.
‘Rosetta, you damn b*tch…!’
She prevented Alicia from coming here to anger Katie, got slapped in the face, and broke the cups just so she would bleed.
And not only that, she even sat on the ground and picked up the shards looking as if she had been forced to do so.
Just in time, Damian saw Rosetta like this.
How could it all just be a coincidence?
Katie gritted her teeth.
Fooled by a simple scheme, Katie’s thirteen years of hard work crumbled like a sandcastle.
But Katie couldn’t let it go so easily.
If she gave up now, it was like giving up her own life.
Besides, she hadn’t done everything on her own so far.
It’s been thirteen years.
Those thirteen years were spent undermining and ruining Rosetta’s reputation.
The servants who had been beside Rosetta, those who couldn’t stand the cruel treatment, were immediately cut off.
And all this time, Katie always knelt down in front of Damian, pretending that she was concerned for Rosetta, covering for the young woman’s supposed viciousness.
’It’s my fault for not guiding Lady Rosetta to the right path. Please forgive the young lady…’
Recently, even Damian couldn’t hold back and would always call for Rosetta to berate her, so Rosetta’s character in Damian’s eyes was already irredeemable.
At this moment, Katie dropped to the ground so hard that the impact of her knees to the floor echoed through the room, her head on the ground.
“It’s a misunderstanding, Young Master! It’s unfair!”
“Misunderstanding?”
The tearful cry was met with a cold smile.
The scene here was clear for all to see, so what misunderstanding could there be?
But Katie was more desperate than anyone.
Her life was on the line.
She gulped, then looked as upset as possible before raising her head.
“Y-Yes, it’s a misunderstanding! In fact, I heard that Lady Rosetta locked up Lady Alicia, so I was begging her to let Lady Alicia go. No matter how jealous Lady Rosetta is, she shouldn’t have done that, and…”
Crocodile tears ran down her face.
After a moment of silence and her sputtered breathing, Katie shook her head violently and continued.
“And she said she didn’t want to talk about it and threatened to fire me… Then she suddenly slapped herself and broke all the cups. She even said she’d kill me with the broken glass! I tried to stop her, but she still wouldn’t listen. In the end, she cut her hand with a piece of glass…”
The words she uttered were all in her defense, but they just further solidified her real role in this scene.
Chapter 10
A crooked smile hung over the nanny’s lips.
As if she was expecting the younger woman to be hurt by her words, there was a gleeful look of expectation in her eyes.
Ah. So that’s what you think.
Not being a full-fledged family member was the biggest insecurity Rosetta had.
It was a weakness that Katie knew Rosetta wouldn’t ever overcome. There’s no way Katie would let this go.
When Rosetta was younger, she listened to all of Katie’s cunning words to control and shake her resolve.
’Lady Rosetta, if you don’t listen to me, you’ll be kicked out of this house. Because you were never supposed to be born.’
If she wasn’t the ‘Rosetta’ who was here now, then tears would have already fallen into the teacup in her hands.
Unfortunately for Katie, it wasn’t the original Rosetta who was sitting here right now.
Rosetta couldn’t even remember her real name.
‘That’s right. [Me.]’
“Right, I can’t be her real family. What gave you the impression that I want to be family?”
She said this calmly as if to laugh at Katie.
Rosetta’s lips curled up just for this moment.
“You’re lying.”
“I’m telling you. If you don’t believe me, why don’t we get kicked out together?”
“…What?”
“I’ve been itching to talk about it. These days, I’m getting too lazy to put on my own clothes.”
“…Rosetta.”
“I’m a fake, so I’ll be kicked out. And you’ll be kicked out for abusing the real daughter. What do you say? I think it’ll be great—”
SLAP!
Before Rosetta could even finish her sentence, Katie slapped her on the cheek.
She could have avoided it, but she didn’t do so on purpose.
The more evidence, the better.
Soon, along with a prickling pain, a hot sensation warmed her cheeks.
Katie… your hands must be burning, too, hm?
Rosetta touched her cheek and turned her head back to face Katie, the nanny’s blue eyes enraged.
Standing up from the couch, Katie breathed heavily with her shoulders moving up and down.
“How dare you defy me…”
“I thought you’d never hit me where it’s noticeable. You’ve been holding back so far, so how can you lose control so easily?”
Katie gritted her teeth at what Rosetta said as she stroked her cheek.
Veins popped on her temples.
Just a little more then.
“You managed to talk to Alicia like this, didn’t you… You don’t really care about her.”
Ha, a crooked smile was on the woman’s twisted face.
“A scar on your face. Did anyone else ask what happened to you? Is there really anyone here who wants to talk to you? I don’t think so. Know your place. That’s where you are right now. No matter how good your relationship with Alicia is, after all, you’re just a half-blooded fake!”
Mixed with her cackling, Katie’s voice became louder and louder the more she talked.
By the end, she was already screaming.
But again, Rosetta wasn’t the ‘real’ Rosetta.
She looked at Katie’s red face as she shrieked like a banshee, rolled her eyes, then looked at the clock behind the nanny.
There wasn’t much time left.
Rosetta slowly rose from her seat.
Rumble… Bang!
The sound of thunder and lightning echoed from far away. Light flashed through the window and disappeared.
“Let’s test it out then.”
“What?”
Rosetta picked up a teacup at random, from which tea spilled from what’s left inside.
The dripping liquid stream from the cup and scarlet water stained the white dress.
As soon as Rosetta raised the cup, Katie’s shoulders flinched.
Perhaps it reminded her of what happened last time.
A teacup somehow imprinted on her mind after what happened then. It wasn’t unusual—after all, the teacup was flung through the air spectacularly back then.
Rosetta looked down at the teacup, following Katie’s gaze.
The design had pink flowers blooming along the green vine. The teacup looked pretty expensive.
But, you know what?
If this breaks, it would be nothing but broken shards.
The cup, being held precariously by a loose grip, plunged to the ground as soon as the grip relaxed completely.
Crash!
The cup broke into pieces with a harsh sound.
“…You……”
Before Katie could say anything more, Rosetta raised her hand and swept everything on the table and threw them on the floor.
“Kyaak!”
Katie screamed briefly at the loud noise that was even more shrill than her earlier shrieks.
After that, a heavy silence filled the room.
Katie alternately looked at the broken tableware and Rosetta, unable to calm down.
“Rosetta… You…”
“What if I win the bet?”
“…What?”
Rosetta grinned and reached for a shard.
As soon as she found a large piece, she clasped it in her fist.
There was a sharp sting when her hand had been cut, followed by red blood flowing through the open wound.
When she opened her fist, it was clear to see how much blood covered the shard.
And the tea spilled on the floor gradually turned red.
“You… you…!”
Again, a sudden flash of lightning took over the room.
Perhaps the thunderbolt landed nearby. A huge sound followed immediately after the blinding light.
It’s like…
“Now, what do you think, Nanny? Do you think… someone will finally ask how I’m doing?”
…like the sound of the world collapsing.
Katie’s eyes were trembling.
‘She’s beaten this body so much, but she always avoided spilling blood. So how about this now, hm?’
How ridiculous.
As Rosetta glanced at the clock again, she saw that it was almost the promised time.
Rosetta relaxed and moved near the broken shards.
Then, she sat down on the ground and gathered the pieces in her hands.
Her hands gushed an endless amount of blood, and the skirt of her dress that touched the ground was gradually stained red.
“You… you… you’re really crazy.”
On the surface, it really sounded like Katie was terrified.
But it was at that moment—
The unlocked door burst open without anyone knocking first.
The hardwood door was opened with a resounding bang!
Both Rosetta and Katie’s gazes turned to the people who barged in.
Two pairs of eyes on one person.
Due to the cloudy sky, the man who entered also looked as if he had come out from the shadows.
As the dust fluttered in the dark, the golden gaze scoured the surroundings.
And soon, that gaze met with Rosetta’s, then his eyes soon widened.
“Rosetta! You locked Alicia somewhere…”
But he trailed off.
His eyes, which had only been on her face, slowly turned to her hand.
Her clothes were soaked in tea as she sat on the ground, blood dripping down from the pieces that were in her hands.
The face that was boiling in anger soon cooled.
Rosetta dropped the shards that she had gathered in her hand to the floor and quickly hid her hand behind her back.
“Brother…”
As she muttered, the gaze that was on her hand returned to her face, at which she covered her red, stinging cheek like a pathetic person.
The blood on her hands smeared her face.
“…What the hell is this……”
The words that pierced the air sounded empty.
Soon, his blank expression turned to another person, moving like a stiff machine.
That direction was towards Katie.
Soon, an explosive anger entered his eyes once more when his gaze found the target.
Slowly, but surely.
“Katie.”
“…Young, Young Master… It’s not what it looks like…”
“Katie!”
Lightning struck.
Thunder came crashing down as if the world was ending.
Rosetta stared blankly out the window and smiled coldly.
‘I think I won our bet, Katie.’
Thunder rumbled once more.
* * *
When, along the crackle of the thunderbolt, her name was called, Katie’s whole body froze.
Beyond her frazzled mind, she could see Rosetta from the corners of her eyes, smiling at her somehow.
It was all planned.
Damian originally didn’t stop by the detached building.
Whenever he came back home after being gone for a long time, he would only stop by to say hello to Alicia.
That’s why Katie had never been worried about him walking into their classes because he didn’t come here during class time.
But Damian came today.
With an angry face, without even announcing his arrival.
‘Rosetta! You locked Alicia somewhere…’
Judging by what he had shouted, Rosetta seemed to have hidden Alicia somewhere.
When Damian found out about it, he ran straight to Rosetta.
‘Rosetta, you damn b*tch…!’
She prevented Alicia from coming here to anger Katie, got slapped in the face, and broke the cups just so she would bleed.
And not only that, she even sat on the ground and picked up the shards looking as if she had been forced to do so.
Just in time, Damian saw Rosetta like this.
How could it all just be a coincidence?
Katie gritted her teeth.
Fooled by a simple scheme, Katie’s thirteen years of hard work crumbled like a sandcastle.
But Katie couldn’t let it go so easily.
If she gave up now, it was like giving up her own life.
Besides, she hadn’t done everything on her own so far.
It’s been thirteen years.
Those thirteen years were spent undermining and ruining Rosetta’s reputation.
The servants who had been beside Rosetta, those who couldn’t stand the cruel treatment, were immediately cut off.
And all this time, Katie always knelt down in front of Damian, pretending that she was concerned for Rosetta, covering for the young woman’s supposed viciousness.
’It’s my fault for not guiding Lady Rosetta to the right path. Please forgive the young lady…’
Recently, even Damian couldn’t hold back and would always call for Rosetta to berate her, so Rosetta’s character in Damian’s eyes was already irredeemable.
At this moment, Katie dropped to the ground so hard that the impact of her knees to the floor echoed through the room, her head on the ground.
“It’s a misunderstanding, Young Master! It’s unfair!”
“Misunderstanding?”
The tearful cry was met with a cold smile.
The scene here was clear for all to see, so what misunderstanding could there be?
But Katie was more desperate than anyone.
Her life was on the line.
She gulped, then looked as upset as possible before raising her head.
“Y-Yes, it’s a misunderstanding! In fact, I heard that Lady Rosetta locked up Lady Alicia, so I was begging her to let Lady Alicia go. No matter how jealous Lady Rosetta is, she shouldn’t have done that, and…”
Crocodile tears ran down her face.
After a moment of silence and her sputtered breathing, Katie shook her head violently and continued.
“And she said she didn’t want to talk about it and threatened to fire me… Then she suddenly slapped herself and broke all the cups. She even said she’d kill me with the broken glass! I tried to stop her, but she still wouldn’t listen. In the end, she cut her hand with a piece of glass…”
The words she uttered were all in her defense, but they just further solidified her real role in this scene.
