It was almost morning when Flavia arrived at the workhouse.
“I think the Crown Princess has already arrived.”
Anne Mille said, pointing to the carriage with the royal emblem. Flavia’s lips trembled as she shrank slightly. Her steps were reluctant and hesitant, but her stomach twisted at the thought that Judith had arrived before her and had heard all sorts of compliments.
“Madam, you too. There is no need for Your Highness to do such a thing.”
Anne Mille grumbled softly. Flavia felt the carriage slowly slowing down and pulled at the sleeves of her dress as if to tear them off.
“It was an order given by the Queen Mother. What would Mother do?”
“But since Your Highness's mother is the Queen Mother’s closest maid, wouldn’t you have been able to stop it?”
It was as if Margit could do something for her daughter, but she was not doing anything for her daughter. Flavia, who knew how her mother was treated by the Queen, had no other way to respond. Her pride was hurt, but she had no choice but to keep quiet.
No, there was another reason why she had to keep her mouth shut. Flavia rubbed her fingers against the cloudy, stained window and recalled what her mother had said to her ten days ago.
"No matter what happens that day, don't be surprised. No, be surprised! Pretend to be surprised and bewildered and not know what to do! In ten days... In ten days, our wish will come true. If that girl disappears, neither you, nor I, nor your father... No one will look down on us. Do you understand?"
Flavia quickly learned that her mother and father were conspiring to do something and that it had something to do with Judith.
Flavia thought that this was heaven giving her a chance. She had failed. Because of that damned Prince, there was no hope of ever trying again.
But what a chance this is! Father and mother come forward and offer to get rid of Judith!
This was exactly what she had been hoping for. Her hands would never be dirty. She would remain clean forever, and Judith, the thorn in her eye, would disappear. By any means necessary.
“Other people will do the hard work anyway. Your Highness, you just need to say a few words.”
“I wonder...”
Anne Mille looked at Flavia with a strange look at her absent-minded answer. She looked like she had been absent-minded since this morning. Anne Mille, who did not know what Flavia was thinking, had a hard time understanding her reaction.
Flavia, who was helped out of the carriage, was surprised by the many eyes on her, just as Judith had been. Anne Mille frowned at the sight of people sitting on the ground or on dirty logs, not at tables or chairs, eating their rationed breakfast.
Judith was handing out soup to the latecomers in front of a makeshift barracks. Anne Mille, who saw her from a distance, whispered with a frightened expression.
“Your Highness, look at the Crown Princess’ attire.”
Flavia then looked down at her clothes in embarrassment. Today, she was wearing one of the best dresses she had. She had also done up her hair carefully and had taken out a hairpin that she usually didn't wear. She looked like she could go to a tea party at any salon.
The reason she dressed like that was because she was conscious of Judith. Even in a place like this, she didn’t want to see anyone paying attention to her, so she pestered the maids all morning to get some attention. Because of that, she couldn’t help but be late in leaving, and Flavia’s face turned bright red.
Someone ran towards Flavia and Anne Mille, who were barely able to move. It was Narni. His hands were dirty and black as if they had been stained with something.
As Flavia hesitated and stepped back without realizing it, Narni took out a handkerchief and wiped his hands as if he had no face. However, the handkerchief was also dirty, so it didn't seem to be of much help.
“Your Highness the Princess, I am Narni, in charge of this place.”
“Her Highness the Crown Princess... Come this early?”
“Yes, Her Highness the Crown Princess arrived before the breakfast distribution even started. She has been standing like that all morning distributing food to people. I told her to rest, but she didn’t...”
When Narni showed no sign of stopping talking, Anne Mille frowned and gave him a hint. Narni coughed in confusion.
“I’m sorry. I’ve left Your Highness for too long. Please come this way.”
Flavia's narrow eyebrows furrowed even more at Narni's words. She had no choice but to follow him, but with every step she took, Flavia's face grew even redder. Not only the people gathered around the barracks, but also none of the workers were dressed as extravagantly as she was.
“Flavia, you’re here.”
Judith, who was giving bread to a child, smiled briefly at her. Flavia just stood there frozen in place.
The thought of what she had done to Judith was no longer on Flavia's mind.
She was obsessed with the idea that Judith had dressed up like that on purpose to embarrass her. Otherwise, she couldn't understand why the arrogant Crown Princess would come out in front of everyone dressed like that. She even started to have a delusion that the fact that she had just laughed at her was because she had intended to.
It felt like someone was pricking her nerves with the tip of a needle. Flavia frowned and glared at Judith, then flinched and turned her head as she felt something pulling at her clothes.
When she looked down, she saw a small child curiously touching the hem of her skirt. Flavia was horrified when she saw the black, stained hand.
"Do not touch!"
As she was trying to take her hand away, she ended up pushing the child away without realizing it. The child who had fallen on his butt didn’t seem to be in pain, but he ended up dropping the piece of bread he was holding in his other hand. The child who saw the dirt-covered bread twisted his lips and burst into tears. Flavia’s face turned pale as she looked up in confusion. The cold gazes flew towards her and fixed themselves on her.
“Okay, shall we get up?”
The tense atmosphere that seemed like it would be sworn at any moment suddenly broke. Judith nonchalantly picked up the crying child and shook off the dusty clothes. At first glance, she seemed like an indifferent nanny who was tired of the child. However, the hands that took out a handkerchief and wiped the child’s dirty face were affectionate.
“It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt, right? The Princess must have been surprised. She didn’t mean to hurt you. You can get another piece of bread, right?”
The child, still feeling sad, kept sobbing until Maru Anne gave her a new piece of bread and she finally stopped crying. Judith patted the child’s bottom to comfort him and sent him off to his parents. Then she looked at Flavia for a moment.
“Flavia.”
Flavia glanced at Judith with red, swollen eyes. Judith said.
“Then the dress will be ruined.”
Her forehead suddenly became hot. Only then did Flavia release the strength in her hands that were twisting the hem of her skirt.
That was all Judith said to Flavia. She neither scolded nor laughed at her for pushing the child. Flavia gritted her teeth at the sight of Judith calmly turning away. She was so resentful that she wanted to scratch her with her sharp claws.
No. Flavia took a deep breath, calming her boiling emotions. Today was the day that all this humiliation would end.
"There's only one thing for you to do. Just a little way north of the slums is an old monastery. Take the Crown Princess there."
"If she say she won't go... What should I do?"
-"Then go, even if you have to drag her! You pathetic thing, you can't even think of that yourself!"
As she recalled that incident, the place where she had been stuck felt a new sting. Flavia pursed her lips and wheezed, then smiled awkwardly and approached Judith.
Judith, who had not been able to sit down and rest properly all morning because she had been distributing food, was now applying ointment to the child's knee. It was as dirty as the child that Flavia had pushed over earlier. However, Judith was applying ointment to the child's dirty knee with her bare hands, not even wearing gloves, and when the child whined because it was hot, she was blowing on it.
“Your Highness the Crown Princess.”
Judith turned her head and looked at Flavia.
“Tell me, Flavia.”
“Uh, uh... I heard there’s a monastery nearby. Would you like to go with me to light a candle?”
“A monastery?”
Judith, who had a puzzled expression, beckoned to Mary Anne.
“Go to Lord Narni and ask him where the monastery is.”
“A monastery? Just wait a minute.”
Flavia, who had been listening to the conversation between the two, glared at the back of Judith’s round head, her stiff smile fading away. The gaze that seemed as if a knife might be about to be shot out quickly disappeared as soon as Mary Anne, who had run away, returned.
“They say it’s not far from here. But they say there’s no one there?”
"So?"
Judith looked at Flavia again. Flavia flinched as if she had been pricked by something sharp and tried to smile again, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't seem to come up with a natural expression.
“Would you still like to go?”
"... Yes?"
“They said there was no one there, but I asked if you wanted to go anyway.”
“Ah, that... but still, lighting a candle and praying... it’s okay even if there’s no one around.”
Judith looked thoughtful for a moment, then waited for the ointment she had applied to the child's knee to dry before wiping her hands and standing up.
“I didn’t know I depended on God enough to pray.”
Flavia mumbled some excuses, but even she had a hard time understanding what she was saying. In the meantime, Judith brought Cheraan, who was distributing cloth to the people.
“Your Highness, where are you going?”
“There’s a monastery. Flavia asked me to go with her to light a candle. I’ll go with you.”
Flavia's eyebrows furrowed slightly as she turned around. But there was nothing she could do. If she tried to separate Cheraan from here, she would be suspicious.
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