The Rotten Lady Rosa Wants to Watch Over Love from the Shadows

Chapter 1.1 - Rosa Wants to Obtain Her 'Favorite Character' (ローザは「推し」を手に入れたい) (1)

Rosa didn't know since when she became like 'that.'

But she was already like 'that' since she was old enough to understand things.

In other words…

My. Seriously. Why does the romance between men make my heart throb like this?

When Rosa read Snow White, she imagined the drama that was secretly unfolding between the seven dwarves. That made her unable to contain her excitement.

When Rosa read the scriptures, she couldn't even measure how much thrill she experienced once she reached the part detailing the bond between the Chief God Berg and the War God and the rivalry between the Devil Gods. Meanwhile, she felt nothing reading the romance between the hero and the princess.

It also didn't take long for her rotten view to move to the real world.

In Rosa's early childhood, her mother died early and his father abandoned her. As the lady with the highest status in her family's territory, she had no close friends. Her father was a sex maniac, making it impossible to hire a woman in the mansion. Yet she was strong enough to keep smiling brightly… or that's how her surroundings saw her. But the truth was different.

Rosa simply secluded herself from the troublesome social interactions, thriving her rotten filter to her heart's content.

For example, the gardener's gaze at the butler was filled with jealousy.

For example, the head chef casually patted his subordinate's shoulder, but that gesture was mixed with the feelings of love he couldn't hide.

What if there was intense emotion that went beyond the line of friendship and deep agony within their bonds… Just thinking so made Rosa's words liven up, sparkling brightly.

Rosa only appreciated such a scene from the shadows with a grin.

For her, the love between men was like a beautiful rose.

Vivid yet somewhat obscene, decadent.

It was full of passion and had unforgettable charm, blooming with the sweet smell of roses.

In the garden where delicate flowers in pastel colors bloomed, she could only see a single rose now.

But one day, she would spread the roses all over the garden. No, all over the world.

At the age of five, Rosa decided so.

At the age of six, she defined the concepts of 'seme' and 'uke' to spread the rose teachings in the future.

At the age of seven, a good idea flashed her mind during the summer. That was to represent the men's pairing with an 'x' symbol.

At the age of eight, she named herself 'The Rotten Lady' in the winter after being inspired by the Pourriture Noble.

At the age of nine, she unraveled the 'erotic book' she brought out from her father's study for 'research purposes' in the autumn. She ended up fainting in great agony and suffering from a high fever.

Rosa was steadily pursuing the party of rottenness, but fortunately or unfortunately, someone barely managed to push her back to the right track of the society.

That was her maternal uncle, Anton.

Contrary to Rosa, he loved the romance between women. He talked about the good points of women-x-women's love, shouting in excitement, and unilaterally spreading his delusions. That made him receive black looks from his surroundings.

In the social circles, Anton was looked down and mocked as the 'lily pig.' By chance, his family's coat of arms was a lily, and he had a plump figure.

[T/N: Lily is the symbol of Girls Love, and Rose is the symbol of Boys Love.]

In the end, everyone found out that he was trying to make an obscene novel with two noble ladies as the model. Having enough of his antics, an affair of honor broke out. He ended up getting banished from the social circles forever.

His name became a taboo. Simultaneously, the talk about romance between women or anything related to that was thoroughly eliminated from society.

Goodbye, and thank you, Anton.

Upon hearing the series of those incidents, Rosa learned a lesson.

Never try to spread the romance between the same sex, whether it was a lily or a rose.

She had to take her time to make it gradually take its root.

And to do that, the originator must not be a heretic, ugly, or have anything that would bring forth others' ridicule.

Instead, Rosa's rose garden expansion plan would succeed only when she was recognized and admired by her surroundings.

With that, Rosa worked hard to improve herself.

Rosa read books, went along with the intense lesson of manners from the butler who came from an old family, and put it into practice.

To make sure there was no blind spot, she learned housekeeping, cooking, calculation, administration, chemistry, medicine knowledge, and horsemanship, disciplining herself as much as she could.

She also treated the people of the territory amiably, trying to be as useful as possible.

In particular, Rosa spread hummus used for healing magic, and that was well-received by the public. She did that because she was convinced that it was her duty to make something rot.

However, the bright Rosa also realized the danger of having too much value as a noble lady.

That was, her marriage period would be accelerated.

The marriage of nobles was to raise the social rank and keep up appearances.

Carelessly marrying into a family with high social status would be the beginning of days of hell for a lady. They had to rely on their husbands, exhausted by the worthless social obligations and the heir's making.

Regardless of how much influence she might have at the gatherings of noble ladies, her public appearance would serve as an obstacle on her mission to spread the heresy of teaching the rose love.

So Rosa decided to become a nun once her marriage period was approaching.

Nuns were single, and they had a fine reputation in public. Above all, nuns had an amazing manuscript ability. That means, they had the power to spread new cultures and knowledge with books.

Then Rosa would be able to write new scriptures named 'Rose Love' and send it around the monastery.

By doing that, a new faith would take root throughout the continent.

She would eventually become the founder of the rose teaching.

That strong determination kept Rosa moving.

As a preparation for the rose propagation, she endeavored to improve the people of the territory's literacy rate, not sparing herself in donating to the monastery so that she could get a private room immediately after she became a nun.

Yes, Rosa's donations were rooted in such an ulterior motive!

Chapter 1.2 - Rosa Wants to Obtain Her 'Favorite Character' (ローザは「推し」を手に入れたい) (2)

(Ahh… But… The rose road turns out to be this grim…)

But now, at the current age of fourteen, Rosa fully realized that she wouldn't be able to find her ideal 'uke' here.

The Langheims' territory where Rosa lived was a cold land with steep mountains and sheer inlets.

Although the weather was cool in the summer, the cold in the winter was severe. Inevitably, the people living here had a strong will to survive and a sturdy build.

In other words, most men had a sense of values of 'protecting' and 'leading' the girls and the children.

Naturally, their sense of love followed that. In Langheims' territory, it was expected that men had to lead women.

(In other words, this place is the treasure trove of 'seme' characters, but… it's hard to nurture the attribute of 'uke.')

Rosa sighed with a gloomy face, inspecting the farms to kill time. Specifically, the farmer men.

By the way, 'seme' was the one who played the role of the male in the relationship, and 'uke' played the female role.

'Uke' had to adhere to become the opposite of the 'seme' in general. Rosa decided so, believing that's 'because they are the ones receiving love.'

But the level of 'uke' in the Langheims' territory was overwhelmingly low.

That was Rosa's recent worry.

(No, pairing position is a relative issue, so it's possible to forcibly ignore the build to label someone as the 'uke,' but… I believe there's an ultimate 'uke' in this world!)

Looking at the sky with her violet eyes, Rosa thought so.

Even if she had an impure thought, her refined beauty made her look like a fleeting angel. But Rosa, who had grown abnormally in a crooked direction, was less aware of her charm.

(As I thought, I want a beautiful 'uke.' With a delicate body and childlike innocence, he awakens others' desire to protect. Yet his character has to be tinged with sadness so it has a shadow and a depth. But he's unexpectedly strong-willed, charming so many 'seme's just by walking… Ahh, I don't think that kind of person exists.)

All the men living in Langheims' territory, except her father, were nice guys. They were dependable and more than capable of leading. The perfect 'seme' character.

However, the supply of 'uke' was too small.

With this, her delusions would never get anywhere. In other words, the austerity in her belief reached a deadlock.

Recently, Rosa had begun to feel the limits of her rose path.

For some time, she even tried to nurture 'uke' by selecting people with slender bodies among the people of the territory who offered to take care of her.

But for some reason, everyone who took care of Rosa became a masculine man filled with chivalry spirits. So Rosa gave up and had them return to their home.

(Maybe my delicate appearance is at fault here…)

Rosa was frail and delicate because she secluded herself during her growing period and forgot to eat when concentrating on her rotten activities.

With this, even if someone had the potential to be a 'uke,' interacting with her would relatively reduce that person's delicacy.

If she knew this would happen, she rather became a muscular and tough guy with mud on her face who laughed loudly without caring for her manners. That way, she might be able to make an excellent environment to nurture 'uke'.

With such thought, Rosa suffered deep shame.

Moreover, Rosa had a bad habit. She would faint every time she got too excited.

Besides, many years of secluding herself had cursed her. Her skin was milky white. Not to say, she had a disappointing constitution. When she went out to try to get a sunburn, her skin would only get inflamed.

Thanks to that, she was treated like a sickly lady.

Upon seeing her, the men's desire to protect stirred up, and their masculine and 'seme' attributes began to flourish.

(Ugh… Even though I'm healthier than the delicate men around me…!)

She hated herself for not having the talent to nurture 'uke'.

No matter how wonderful a 'seme' was, rose love wouldn't begin without the ideal 'uke' to attract them.

Because in reality, 'seme' was usually attracted to women until they received a strong attraction to the 'uke'.

(Uke… Uke! More than anything, I need an uke right now…!)

Rosa's impatience had reached its peak.

She was already fourteen years old.

There were still two years left until her marriage period. That's why Rosa was planning to collect the materials for the ideal relationship in leisure. But now it might be better to give up her plan and go straight to the monastery.

By declining the relationship of the masses, she could devote herself to her delusions. As a result, she might be blessed with brilliant rotten ideas.

Rosa's heart had been severely corrupted.

While walking in worry, Rosa encountered farmer Karl and Timo along the way.

Neither of them had a very high 'uke' level. But Timo, who was dabbing his eyes and lightly elbowed Karl right now, wafted a sweet-smell of rose.

Looking closely, Timo was smaller than Karl by one first. Rosa could feel the 'uke' attribute from there.

Rosa's mood immediately improved and she smiled.

(I shouldn't lose my composure…)

As she reproved herself, she prayed to the Rose God, who should be somewhere in this world.

"Oh, God. Thank you so much for blessing my eyes again today."

The first step of her belief cultivation was to enjoy the roses that were here now—not begging for the impossible.

It's alright.

The number of 'uke' was small, but they existed.

If Rosa made the right efforts, she would surely meet the ideal 'uke'...

One second after reminding herself that, her pale servant called Rosa in a rush.

"Miss Rosa, this is bad! Please return to the mansion now!"

"My, Lutz. What happened?" Rosa asked with her eyebrows raised.

Lutz was a lovely boy with round eyes who worked as the stableman. But recently, his Adam's apple had become noticeable and he was rapidly growing in height.

The way he treated the horse also screamed that he was a 'seme.'

In the end, the Langheims' territory didn't have enough cuteness.

Lutz answered in a voice that began to get deeper. "Master came back from the royal capital. He brought his illegitimate child!"

That marked the turning point in Rosa's life.