Rosa's younger brother ran away from home.
This wouldn't have been a big deal—after all, he was already eighteen, which meant he was free to do whatever he wanted with his life.
If only.
But there was one "but."
Her younger brother, Gilbert, was the main heir to their family, the Rosmunds. Simply put, he was the person who bore all responsibility for the fate of their family.
And yet, one day before the official transfer of his title as the new count...
That bastard just took off from home!
Gilbert ran away, leaving his family with debts and in an extremely precarious position.
That alone was enough to curse that little bastard for the rest of his life!
After all, he must have been well aware of the truly difficult situation he would leave them in.
Countess Rosmund, the mother of Rosa and Gilbert, raised her two children alone.
This was because her husband, Count Rosmund, had tragically died in a carriage accident when their children were very young.
After his sudden and terrible death, Countess Rosmund had to take on a truly unbearable burden.
Not only did she raise two small children on her own, but she also managed all the family affairs that had passed to her after her husband's death.
Needless to say, their family was in dire straits at that time.
In order to keep the family afloat, the countess incurred enormous debts, although at the time she had no idea how she would repay them in the future.
In other words, Rosa and her brother had a very difficult childhood.
Nevertheless, this is precisely why Countess Rosmund hoped so much that Gilbert would become a worthy heir to the family and improve their situation when he inherited the title.
For this reason, despite the family's dire circumstances, the countess continued to spend most of her resources on Gilbert throughout all these years.
On his education and development.
So that in the future he could become a worthy heir.
And yet... in the end, the countess's dreams clearly diverged from harsh reality.
For Gilbert, simply disregarding all the support he had received over the years, simply ran away from home.
No matter how you looked at it, her younger brother was indeed a complete idiot.
And yet... Rosa was still an understanding older sister.
After all, he was still her beloved younger brother, whom both she and the countess had once adored.
She understood perfectly well that not everyone was capable of taking on the role of head of the family. After all, it was too significant and responsible a burden.
Besides, no one had even asked Gilbert about it in the first place.
Rosa herself had subconsciously understood all along that her brother was perhaps not the most suitable person for the role of heir to the family. Since childhood, Gilbert had been a rather sensitive and delicate person, which clearly did not fit with such a serious role as the future head of the family.
So now, when her brother had grown up and was ready to take his place, he simply became frightened of the responsibility and ran away.
Perhaps Rosa could even understand his actions.
As an understanding and kind-hearted older sister, she could have taken the place of the heir and led their family. Even though she had not been prepared for this since childhood, at such a difficult time for the family, she could have taken on this burden.
All this was for the sake of their family.
And so that her younger brother could be free from the role imposed on him.
Yes... everything could have turned out that way.
If, again, there weren't one "but."
The fact is that Rosa's younger brother was not only the heir to their family. He was also engaged to a woman.
A woman whose word alone would be enough to wipe out their entire family in the blink of an eye.
The Valentino family was the second most powerful family in the entire Cordone Empire.
Second only to the imperial family.
The Valentino family also had royal blood, so if something happened to the imperial family at any point, the Valentinos would immediately take their place.
And with all that...
How did it happen that the heiress of such a powerful family as the Valentino ducal house ended up engaged to someone like their family's son?
A modest noble family from the northern province, with no notable achievements or special merits to the empire. Compared to the Valentinos, the Rosmund family was not just insignificant—it was nothing.
And yet, how did these two families come to conclude a marriage agreement that was practically impossible between them?
It was simple.
The reason was that Rosa and Gilbert's grandfather, the late former head of the Rosmund family, had once saved the former head of the Valentino family from death.
One day, the head of the Valentino family went on a business trip and was passing through the northern province where the Rosmund family lived.
During that trip, Valentino's carriage was attacked by spies from an enemy empire, and a bloody battle ensued.
Count Rosmund, who was also on that trip accompanying Duke Valentino, risked his own life. He shielded the duke from the attack, resulting in serious injuries to himself.
After the attack, Count Rosmund spent two months in a coma.
When he finally woke up, Duke Valentino wanted to thank him properly for saving his life. He wanted to offer the count a large sum of money as a reward.
However, the count was too righteous and honest and refused the money. He said that he was only doing his duty to the empire by protecting the duke.
After the count refused the money, Duke Valentino decided to thank him for saving his life in another way.
He swore that in the future, the heirs of their families would be bound by marriage, thereby repaying the debt to the Rosmund family.
However, it took a whole generation for this oath to be fulfilled.
This was because both the count and the duke had only sons.
Fortunately, in the next generation, the Rosmund family had a son, and the Valentino family had a daughter.
Thus, the long-standing vow of their families could finally be fulfilled.
It could have been...
Ha-ha.
After all, now it was unknown what could have happened.
How would the Valentino family react when they found out that their heiress's fiancé had run away?
To be honest... Rosa didn't even want to think about it yet.
Fortunately, no one outside their family knew about Gilbert's escape yet.
But that was unlikely to last long.
"...Sister, forgive me. I'm really sorry. But I really can't marry that woman. Not her. I'd rather die than do it. I hope you and Mom can understand me..."
Ha...
Reading an excerpt from Gilbert's farewell letter, which he had left in his room before running away, Rosa sighed heavily.
Without hiding her irritation and anger, she crumpled up her younger brother's letter and threw it into the trash can.
He can't marry her... and so he's leaving their whole family to be devoured by the Valentino family?!
Rosa was ready to take back her words about feeling sorry for her younger brother.
No, she really didn't feel sorry for that little bastard at all!
Rosa was kind-hearted, but she was no Mother Teresa.
Sacrifice her younger brother to save the family?
Yes. Rosa de Rosmund was ready to do so without hesitation.
And that meant...
"Just you wait."
Rosa's angry violet eyes were fixed on the open window, as if she could see her younger brother somewhere out there.
"...Gilbert, I'll dig you out of the ground, but I'll make you marry that woman!"