Princess Resilia, who mentioned the events of that time, looked very excited, and her eyes sparkled.
“That day, you and I were looking for a place to hide, and we ended up in the study of the court wizard Logan. Do you remember?”
How could I not remember? It was the day you accidentally spilled a red vial with a handle-with-care label on it all over my right face.
“What are you trying to say? Are you suddenly trying to apologize for what happened that day?”
Princess Resilia blinked her long eyelashes with a face that seemed to ask, 'What apology now?'
“No... what I want to say is.”
The Princess lowered her voice as if confessing a secret.
“My brother cleaned up the mess I made on purpose so perfectly. This is it. When I see things like this, I know it’s right to love you.”
"On purpose?"
I heard the sound of my rational string snapping.
“Oh, I’m thirsty. Can I get some water? My voice isn’t coming out properly.”
Princess Resilia fumbled around her neck and muttered something else.
“Please wait a moment.”
I turned around and went out of the bedroom door. I was already planning to go out for a while, so I thought it was a good thing. Sharon, who was waiting in front of the bedroom door, looked at my face and asked with a worried look.
“Your Majesty, what’s wrong? You don’t look well.”
“Sharon, get all the servants out of the bedroom. I have something important to discuss with the Princess.”
I approached her and spoke quietly.
“And just a glass of water.”
“Yes? Oh, yes!”
Sharon quickly poured glasses of water from the beverage cart in the waiting room outside the bedroom and placed them on a tray.
“Give it to me. I’ll take it.”
“But Your Majesty the Empress...”
“It’s okay. Just let the servants out into the hallway.”
I whispered again.
“Yes, I will do that.”
Sharon seemed to sense something was going on between me and the Princess in the bedroom. I carried the tray myself and went back into the bedroom. I handed the Princess a glass of water, but she took a sip and handed it back to me.
“That day... you spilled the poison on my face on purpose?”
I asked curiously, placing the tray on the table.
“Yeah, but why do you keep saying no? It means that my brother really loves you.”
Princess Resilia didn't seem to know what she was talking about. She was talking as if my refusal to acknowledge that her brother cared for me was a bigger deal than the fact that she had burned my face.
“It wasn’t a mistake, it was intentional... You did it on purpose?"
“Oh my, mistake! It was a real mistake to say that just now.”
Princess Resilia covered her mouth with both hands and wrinkled her nose.
'Hold on, Zelda. You still have to hold on.'
The incarnation inside me was soothing me. Shut up. Be quiet. This was the most important thing in my life. Even my severed sanity was burning away with boiling anger.
“Just this once, let me ask you again. Was that really intentional?”
I clenched my teeth and barely managed to make a sound.
“That time... Yes, I did it on purpose. I was annoyed because it seemed like my brother took care of you more than me.”
Surprisingly, from my perspective, it seemed like it was something that couldn't be helped.
“How could you do that!”
I bit my lower lip. I could taste blood in my mouth.
“You still don’t know that I did it on purpose. Do you know what I mean? Right, this is a secret that only you and I know.”
Princess Resilia put one hand to her lips and whispered.
“Don’t you feel sorry towards me? How can you be so calm and shameless, with no sense of guilt on your face?"
As I spoke, my voice got louder, and I felt a heat rising all over my body. It felt like my body would burst into flames and explode at any moment.
“You did it just because you were mean? You burned a person’s face, a woman’s face, for that reason? How could you do that!”
Princess Resilia, who had never seen me this angry before, flinched for a moment, then tilted her head to the side and spoke venomously.
“Because that’s what revenge is all about.”
"...What?"
“Revenge is when no one is around, pretending to be wrong. That’s the opportunity.”
“You’re saying that now...!”
“Because there were only the two of us there, they had no choice but to believe me when I said it was a mistake. So don’t even think about telling my brother what I just said. He won’t believe you.”
“That’s true. It was just the two of us then and now.”
I agreed with the Princess, laughing vainly.
“Right? Besides, the words of a person in a high position who tells lies are more powerful than those of someone in a low position.”
Princess Resilia, who had been speaking in a sharp tone, took a breath for a moment and then raised her eyebrows and gave me some advice.
"...Ha."
The Princess, who had been looking at me with a curious expression on her face as to how I would react, waved her hand with a look of disinterest when she saw that I didn't say anything.
“I’m going now. I’m hungry. Is it because I took a deep sleep and woke up?”
She turned toward the bedroom door. I followed her movements and slowly turned my body. But the speed of my arms was fast. I grabbed Princess Resilia's hair.
“Aaah!!”
The Princess's head was thrown back.
“You have no conscience, no concept, and you must be hungry because you have so many things you don’t have.”
I have no regrets about my actions. I deserved to be caught, and you deserved to be caught.
“Whoa! You, you, what are you doing!”
She screamed and thrashed.
“An act of revenge.”
"What?!"
“Oh my, it’s just the two of us? Is this the opportunity you were talking about?”
I whispered the same words she had just said, mimicking her tone.
“Do you think you’ll get away with this?! You’re crazy, you’re a crazy bitch!”
“Yeah. I’m crazy, and you’re crazy. Like this.”
I spun around while holding Princess Resilia's hair. She grabbed my arms with both hands and tried to pull them away, but it wasn't enough.
“Hey, you won’t let this go! I’ll tell everything that you just did! Aaak!”
“Oh my, do you think people will believe you? Come to think of it, my position is higher than yours now. You’re the Princess, and I’m the Empress. Right?”
“Wh, what are you talking about!”
Princess Resilia's voice trembled. It was a trembling not so much from fear as from being humiliated by me.
“I learned a thing or two about revenge from your brain, which is as big as a goldfish’s frontal lobe.”
“Ahhhh! It hurts! You’re making my hair fall out! I’m not going to let you go!”
“You get so angry over losing a few strands of hair, and don’t you feel any guilt at all after seeing what you did to my face?”
“It wasn’t there, what can I do!”
Princess Resilia was furious. My grip on her hair grew tighter.
“You said you had no regrets?”
“Ha, regret? Yeah, I regret it. I should have done the same thing to your other face, but I regret not doing it!”
I'm the same as you. If I let you go like this, I'll regret it for a long time, just like you. I slowly let go of the hand that was holding the Princess's hair. She glared at me fiercely as she fussed over her long, messy pink hair.
“Yes. You really haven’t changed. That’s why I’m telling you this in advance, so I won’t feel guilty either.”
“Wh, what are you talking about? What guilt?”
She flinched and took a step back. No face. No traces should be left. I took two more steps towards her and punched the side of her head with all my might. Princess Resilia fainted on the floor without even making a 'ugh' sound. If I left her leaning against the wall, I thought she would hit her head badly on the marble floor.
Before her head hit the floor, I put one of my feet into the side of her head that was falling on the marble floor. Then I kicked that foot up and caught the body of Princess Resilia, who had fainted. I lifted her up and laid her down on my bed. A moment later, as expected, there was a knock outside the bedroom.
Knock knock.
“Come in.”
Sharon cautiously entered the bedroom.
“Your Majesty the Empress...”
“Did you hear everything outside?”
I asked calmly.
“Yes... But don’t worry. I already sent the other servants out into the hallway before, so the sound won’t have leaked out that far.”
Sharon glanced at the unconscious Princess but didn't ask what was wrong.
“Thank you, Sharon. I’ll explain later.”
When I spoke bitterly, she seemed to have something to say, but she just nodded.
“Your Majesty, is there anything you need?”
“What do I need? I don’t think there’s anything else besides the Princess waking up from her nap.”
“Then shall I offer you a glass of cold grapefruit juice that will cool you down to the core? I think it would be nice to drink it before the Princess wakes up.”
Sharon said, seeming to be holding back a laugh.
“I wonder?”
After a while, Sharon brought me a really refreshing grapefruit juice. I sat on the sofa and waited for Princess Resilia to wake up while cooling off with the cool juice. After about 30 minutes, Princess Resilia opened her eyes.
“Ah... my head.”
I raised my body, placing my hand on the head of the bed next to mine, and our eyes met. Princess Resilia hugged her pillow in front of me like a shield and glared. I put the glass of juice down on the table and walked over to the bed. The Princess watched me approach, wavering whether she should get off the bed or continue to sit on it, and then she sat up on the pillow and got up from the bed.
“Please sit down.”
I placed both hands on the Princess's shoulders and laid her back down on the bed.
“You, you... If my brother finds out what you did to me, he won’t stay still!”
“It will be the same for Your Highness.”
“What did I do to you? I didn’t even touch you!”
“What do you know? It was just the two of us.”
“What, what...?”
Princess Resilia looked up at me with shocked eyes.
“If you were to say that I was hit by Princess Shattonil, wouldn’t that be all? And since quite a few of the servants saw you enter the Empress’s bedroom without permission, who would people believe?”
“You’re no good, you really are no good. Sob sob...”
Princess Resilia said with tears in her eyes. It was ridiculous. If someone saw me, they would think I was bullying the Princess.
“People don’t know what a scary mongrel you really are.”
It was quite refreshing to hear the term “mongrel” used to describe the illegitimate child of a Count. The Princess glared at me and touched the side of her head that was starting to swell.
“If you understand, would you please leave now? Before I take my revenge properly.”
I said, stepping aside.
“Zelda, I will pay you back for what you did today! Be prepared when I become the Empress. I won’t just let you go!”
“That’s good. We both have something we have to repay.”
As I lightly touched Princess Resilia's pink hair, she opened the bedroom door and ran out.
'Is it okay?'
The incarnation within me asked.
“She won’t tell Prince Tesla what happened today. It won’t be good for her either. Even if she does, as long as I’m here, the Prince can’t do anything to me.”
I don't know what it'll be like when I step down from the throne as Empress, but... I answered the incarnation and drank the rest of the grapefruit juice.
'But is Princess Resilia really stupid? Or is she just pretending to be stupid? She's too clever to be stupid. She also has quite a strong evil aura.'
“Yeah. I’m confused too.”
***
The next day.
'It's time to come in.'
I glanced at the banquet hall door while I was having lunch with Linel at the main palace. I wondered if there would be any reports today about the body of a servant murdered in the back garden of the Empress's Palace.
“No appetite?”
Linel asked with a worried look, looking at my plate that never seemed to empty.
“No, I’m eating.”
I was lost in thought, and then, at his words, I dug something up with my fork and put it in my mouth. Ugh, what is this? There were so many delicious things, but why did I pick up a lump of raw broccoli? Linel stared at me with a surprised expression as I chewed the broccoli. It was just for decoration, but his eyes were like, why are you eating that? I chewed it more thoroughly as if it was delicious and smiled bashfully.
“The forest is dense.”
He pointed to my mouth and laughed. At that moment, Raphael rushed into the banquet hall.
“What's going on?”
“Your Majesty, I am embarrassed to interrupt your meal. An urgent message has arrived...”
It looks like they've finally found the servant's body. I mentally prepared myself.
“Speak.”
Linel commanded in a commanding voice. Contrary to my expectations, what Raphael delivered was completely different news.
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