Episode 50. The Competition is an Opportunity, Your Highness, the Princess
I sneaked out of the reception room. I felt a terrible fatigue from life after seeing the scene just now.
Eria, who was waiting in the anteroom, looked at me worriedly, but I smiled and said it was okay.
When I sat down on the sofa, there was a basket next to me filled with newspapers. They were all unopened.
I listened to the laughter coming from the reception room and opened today's Targan.
"...!"
"The recent theft of Princess Milliora's ring at the Princess' Palace suggests another perspective.
Where is the line between maintaining dignity and extravagance for the royal family? Has Her Highness the Princess indulged in excessive extravagance and become involved in a crime?"
'What kind of nonsense is this...'
The tone of the article was strange.
It was reporting the theft of the Princess’s ring from an anonymous source, as if she had too many jewels to be exposed to crime.
Not only was it impossible for an incident within the palace to be reported in the newspaper, but the ring had never been stolen in the first place.
And to blame the victim.
The ladies cheered in unison in the reception room.
‘This is not the time to be doing that!’
I glared at the reception room door, clutching the newspaper tightly.
‘Your Highness, I’m busy today, so why don’t you stop being popular?’
As I held onto my fading patience, the Empress’s attendant appeared.
He frowned at the noise coming from the reception room, then checked the medal on my chest as I approached.
“Does the Princess have a guest?”
“Yes. She’s having a tea party.”
“I think Her Highness should leave her seat and come in. Her Majesty the Empress has requested that she come in immediately. Do you know what’s going on?”
I held up the crumpled newspaper that was almost hanging from my hand and said,
“Is this why?”
“Yes. Her Majesty the Empress is furious.”
“I will bring Her Highness over right away.”
I sent him away and went into the reception room.
“Your Highness, someone has come from the Empress’s palace.”
The young ladies glared at me as if I were their ancestral enemy, having poured cold water on their joyful time with Prince Kydel.
“You are now being asked to enter the Empress’s palace.”
The expression of the Princess’s face turned cold, and the young ladies each had a sad look on their faces.
However, Prince Kydel stood up gracefully and greeted me.
“Thank you for inviting us today. I cannot disturb Your Highness’s business, so I will now leave, Your Highness.”
“Yes, Locard.”
As soon as Prince Kydel left, the Princess spoke coldly.
“You too, go back.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The young ladies answered with tears in their eyes and stood up.
As soon as the door closed, the Princess asked fiercely.
“Why!”
I unfolded the crumpled newspaper and handed it to Her Highness the Princess.
“This... is because of you!”
The ring theft incident was her own doing. But now it’s because of me. My mouth fell open in absurdity.
Her Highness the Princess, suddenly got up and said as she left.
“I’m going to have the person who wrote this article arrested!”
***
The only place I could follow was in front of Her Majesty the Empress’s reception room. Her Majesty the Empress’s attendant let Her Highness the Princess in, leaving me behind.
However, I couldn’t hear anything inside. Her Majesty the Empress didn’t seem to be the type to yell like Her Highness the Princess.
That meant that Her Majesty the Empress really exploded with anger the last time I got beaten.
“...”
After a while, Her Highness Miliora ran out crying. Her silver hair stuck to her soaking wet cheeks, making it impossible to see her face.
She didn’t say anything as we walked back to the Princess’s palace, and I couldn’t say anything to her, so I followed her.
As soon as we returned to the reception room of the Princess’s palace, Her Highness threw herself on the sofa and burst into tears.
I sat quietly on the other side.
There is no need to soothe tears that can be stopped by someone.
And tears that cannot be held back cannot be soothed by someone. Those tears simply need to be let out of the body.
After a while, Her Highness, exhausted from crying, lay down on the sofa.
The usually noisy reception room felt unusually quiet.
Suddenly, she asked honestly,
“You, do you find me funny?”
“No.”
When I answered calmly, Her Highness Milliora smiled faintly.
Her hostility toward me seemed to have flowed out of her body like tears.
It would have accumulated again as time passed.
I asked softly.
“What did Her Majesty the Empress say?”
“A dirty woman who has poured filth on the path of her brothers. A mutation that has occurred in the noble Tagar bloodline... She asked how she would restore the honor of the imperial family that I had tarnished, but I had no answer.”
“...”
“She said that because I couldn’t answer. She said I should never have been born.”
Damn it.
I kept my mouth shut, afraid that I would pity her.
The pity of a worthless illegitimate child would only be harmful to her wounded pride.
“What do you plan to do?”
“Thoughts...? I have no thoughts. Even Her Majesty the Empress said the same thing. I don’t know how it is possible to live without thoughts like you.”
I ignored her and asked softly.
“What do you want to do?”
“Heh... There’s no way I could do anything. I’m like this.”
His Highness Milliora laughed weakly while lying down.
I said briefly.
“If I can.”
The Princess turned her head toward me, brushing the wet hair off her cheek.
“I wish I hadn't been born me.”
Why did my heart feel torn apart?
I cleared my throat, afraid that my voice would become choked up.
“There’s nothing I can do about that.”
“Of course.”
I really didn’t want to say that.
My goal was to safely bow my head here and, as the Count had said, gain the wings of my experience as a maid and fly far away.
But what should I do about my feelings of sadness?
I couldn’t just leave her in front of me like that. As a fellow human being, I felt that I shouldn’t do that.
I said firmly.
“But now, Your Highness, you have a chance.”
“...”
The Princess stared at me, wondering what kind of crazy talk that bastard was talking about.
“The competition. That’s a chance.”
The Princess raised her upper body in fear and anxiety.
“You, I know you think you’re great. But don’t you dare do anything.”
I had to be good at something to show off; it was ridiculous. But there was something more important to talk about now.
“All eyes are on the Princess right now. The competition is also a chance for you to show Her Majesty the Empress what kind of person you are. Make it that chance, Your Highness.”
But Her Highness the Princess spoke darkly.
“Don’t you understand? This competition is for my two older brothers. If I try to stand out even a little, they’ll get rid of me first. What do you know about Tagar? Just shut up and stay still.”
“Your Highness is not without greed either.”
Her Highness, the Princess, glared at me.
“You seemed happy when you were thinking about the competition with the tea party ladies.”
“...I was just pretending. Otherwise, Her Majesty the Empress would be angry that I was ignoring the competition. So don’t say or do anything that will cause me to misunderstand, you bastard.”
She spoke fiercely, but I thought it was a little funny.
She must have thought that I had heard the words “illegitimate child” several times by now.
The Princess noticed my composure and turned her head as if she were angry.
“If Your Highness doesn’t want it, I won’t do it. It’s easier for me.”
“...”
“But if Your Highness wants it... I can show Your Highness that you’re not such a worthless person. I’ll leave the splendid competition to your two Princes.”
I quietly stepped away. Before I opened the door, she said,
“How?”
I slowly turned around.
“By trusting me.”
“Am I crazy?”
Her Highness Milliora’s voice was weak as she spoke.
“If you trust me instead of suspecting me that I stole the ring or that I’m friendly with Prince Kydel... I’ll be able to do more for Your Highness than I am now. Your Highness.”
I saw her green eyes slightly shake. I thought that I was probably the first person she had ever asked to trust her.
Finally, she turned her head away and said,
“Do as you please.”
I turned to her and held out my hand. Then she opened her eyes as if to say, 'What?'
"Please give me that ring box."
***
The Empress, who had sent Milliora away, closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm her excitement.
In the meantime, Orl came in and sat down in front of her. That was why she could smile sincerely when she opened her eyes.
The Emperor’s eldest son, her beloved first son, spoke affectionately.
“Cool down, Your Majesty. Your beauty is hurt.”
“The Prince is right. It is foolish to upset my feelings because of such a child.”
“You are right.”
When the maid brought her tea and left, the Empress asked gently.
“Did you pay for that article?”
“Yes. I paid for it.”
Orl said that and smiled brightly.
“I was curious. I wanted to see if what the third messenger said when he sent his illegitimate daughter was true or not. I wanted to see how that maid would act in this situation.”
“You are right. But there was no need to be so harsh. I also had to think about the prestige of the imperial family.”
“I will be careful in the future, Your Majesty.”
However, the Empress knew that Orl had shaken up the Princess’s palace for more than just that reason.
She smiled as she sipped her tea.
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