Episode 125. The Cry of a Lion Cub
Olivia and Lucy's class proceeded as scheduled. Lucy took the class very seriously.
“Yes, Your Highness! Yes! ...I understand this, but I’m not sure about this.”
She answered clearly and distinctly, and had a clear distinction between what she knew and what she didn't. In particular, the youthful aspiration in the girl's blue eyes was conveyed to Olivia in its entirety.
Olivia, who had been sitting across from her during class, moved her seat completely next to Lucy.
"Okay, let me explain it again."
In the Princess's room, the sound of two people having a lesson echoed steadily.
Naturally, this news reached Beatrix.
The Queen, who was attending to her morning duties, quietly headed toward Lucy's room and stopped in her tracks at the sound of Olivia and Lucy's voices coming from outside the door.
“Hehe! Your Highness! I understand it right away because you teach me like this!”
As Beatrix heard Lucy’s excited voice, the corners of her mouth curled up.
"Right? I explained it to you the way I understood it."
Olivia's gentle voice followed.
"It seems Her Royal Highness the Princess is conducting her lessons well."
When the head maid chimed in, Beatrix smiled and nodded.
“Isn’t she the kind of kid who might be working as a professor at Harrington University by now, had it not been for the territoriality of the Pulder Noble Alliance?”
"Yes. She is also the top graduate."
Beatrix remained silent for a moment due to an inexplicable bitterness, then changed the subject.
“I’m grateful to Olivia for many reasons. What can I do for her?”
As Beatrix turned around and muttered, the head maid laughed and made a joke.
“There is a rumor these days that the Duke of Rosemond is buying up all sorts of luxury goods in the capital.”
"That guy Noah."
“Oh, and I hear that Princess Lucy’s classmates are planning to visit her this afternoon.”
"Really? That's commendable. Prepare some refreshments and get a small gift ready."
"All right."
Beatrix returned to her office, listening to Olivia's voice coming from behind her.
The class was peaceful. Since it was an enjoyable time for both of them, the class passed in the blink of an eye. By the time Lucy's friends arrived, Olivia had also gotten ready to go back.
As she packed up her books, Olivia quietly asked Lucy.
“Princess, what do you like about school?”
Lucy answered by tapping her chin with the tip of her pen.
“Hmm... first of all, I don’t teach embroidery or flower arranging, which are things I really hate. But above all, the best thing is...”
"Hmm?"
"The school teachers told me, 'Do it on your own."
At the unexpected words, Olivia widened her eyes and looked at Lucy.
"Was that the best part?"
“I heard that for the first time at school. At the royal palace, I’m just a doll, but at school, I’m not a doll.”
“...?!”
Olivia was shocked by Lucy's words. She never dreamed that Lucy, who looked like the protagonist of a famous painting, would call herself a doll.
When Olivia remained silent, Lucy quickly whispered.
“It’s a secret, Your Highness!”
"I never imagined you would think that."
As Olivia whispered softly, Lucy let out a chuckle. However, it was by no means the kind of laugh a ten-year-old girl would make. There was a hint of boredom in her laughter.
Lucy shrugged her shoulders and muttered.
“My father always tells me, ‘Just grow up to be pretty.’ But to my ears, it sounds like he’s saying, ‘Become a pretty doll.’ I actually knew for a very long time that people call me the ‘Palm Princess.’”
Olivia felt a tightness in her solar plexus at Lucy's words.
She recalled the saying that every path is infused with its own pain. Olivia forced a smile and whispered.
"You will be able to go to school once you get better."
"I suppose so?"
As Lucy smiled back, Mrs. Lehmann entered and announced the visit of her friends.
As Lucy shrugged her shoulders in delight, Olivia picked up her bag and greeted her.
"Well then, see you again tomorrow."
“Wait a minute! Please don’t do that. Can’t you stay a little longer? I want to introduce Your Highness to my friends.”
No sooner had Lucy finished speaking than four girls swarmed in and politely greeted her.
"Wow, guys!"
As Lucy ran toward them, cheering, the girls who had been demurely holding their hands together also lifted their heads with sparkling eyes.
“Lucy, no, Princess. This is a visit to the sick... no,...”
“Anyway, thanks!”
The girls surrounded Lucy, chattering away while intently glancing at Olivia. Then they whispered to each other.
"She's really pretty."
"Seriously. Even more so than in the newspapers."
"I told you, didn't I?"
"She is prettier than the actors."
Lucy, having heard her friends' whispers, puffed out her chest with a triumphant look, approached Olivia as if to show off, and gently took her hand.
"She is my sister-in-law."
Olivia held back her laughter at how cute the fingers were, fidgeting and taking her hand with a flushed face.
Olivia greeted Lucy's friends first, who were staring intently at her face.
"Nice to meet you."
Olivia's warm greeting became the starting point for the girls' social gathering.
The girls, who were relatively free from the conventions and customs of aristocratic society, clung tightly to the Princess, and eventually Olivia had no choice but to put down the bag she was holding.
The girls' social gathering was harmonious.
That was the case even up until the mothers who had brought the girls took their daughters away after having a meeting with the Queen.
While Beatrix went out to see them off, Olivia also got up from her seat to really go back.
"Then, Princess, I'll see you tomorrow."
"I'll see you off!"
"No, let's say goodbye here."
However, Lucy remained unmoved. She finally gripped Olivia's hand tightly.
Finally, just as she was about to leave the room with Lucy, the door opened with an unexpected knock.
Overwhelming space merely by one's presence—isn't that the royal family's heritage?
Olivia quickly knelt down and bowed to King Leonard, who had appeared suddenly.
"Your Majesty, it is a good afternoon."
Leonard nodded while looking at Olivia.
"Right, you worked hard today."
Then, he rolled his eyes and looked at his daughter. She had her mouth tightly shut, and to his surprise, he saw Marguerite in her.
"Lucy."
Olivia tried to step back from the father-daughter conversation, but Lucy desperately held onto her hand as if it were her last line of defense and refused to let go.
Lucy caught her breath and spoke earnestly.
“Father, my shoulder doesn’t hurt.”
“...”
"The scar on my forehead doesn't hinder my activities at all."
"Lucy."
"I want to go to school starting tomorrow."
The ten-year-old girl was anxious. Anxiety was gnawing at her small heart, as she felt that if she didn't go to school tomorrow, she would never be able to go again. This was especially true because she had just seen her friends.
Leonard let out a deep sigh and said.
"Let me think about it a bit more. But not tomorrow."
Lucy screamed at her father's roundabout refusal.
“You’re not going to let me go! You’ve hated me going to school from the very beginning!!”
"Princess..."
Olivia tried to calm the child down, but Lucy could not calm down easily.
And Leonard, who was already on edge due to a few things, was thrown into chaos by Lucy's violent reaction.
“Do you really want to leave the royal palace even after suffering such a dangerous accident?!”
“My brothers even fought in the war, so what’s the big deal about a mere carriage accident!!”
“A mere carriage accident?! Do you even realize you nearly died?!”
“I'm not dead!!”
The lion cub was also a lion.
Olivia was startled by the sight of Lucy baring her teeth and growling, and even more surprised by the sight of the King fighting with his ten-year-old daughter, with veins bulging.
What had built up in the ten-year-old girl's heart was also resentment. The child poured out the words she had never dared to say until now.
“You guys can do it, so why can’t I?!!”
Leonard blinked in stunned silence at the intense rebellion of the daughter to whom he had loved boundlessly, and muttered despondently.
“What on earth are you lacking...?”
Lucy's eyes turned bright red at her father's words.
“I wish I had been born a man like my brothers.”
Lucy's words unexpectedly pierced Olivia's heart.
'How I wish I had been born a man.'
How much she thought about it back when she went to school, hearing people call her a commoner girl. She had been thinking that way since she was exactly this age.
Lucy looked at her father with tears welling up in her eyes, then let go of Olivia's hand and ran to her bedroom.
As the door slammed shut, Leonard let out a slow, sigh-like lament and spoke to Olivia.
“I am showing you a disgraceful side of myself. You must have worked hard today, so go back and rest.”
His tone was filled with fatigue.
Olivia, who had been staring at the spot where Lucy had disappeared, quickly turned her head, but Leonard had already turned his body.
"...Your..."
Olivia could not bring herself to call out to him. The King vanished without a second thought, but Olivia remained motionless in that spot.
“...”
Those who have do not know the hardships of those who do not.
She doesn't even think about it.
Old emotions, weighed down like a heavy stone deep within her chest, reared their heads again. As the moments when she had to walk alone with her head held high amidst all kinds of discrimination flashed through her mind like a fleeting dream, her heart burned as if someone had poured oil on a small spark.
"Why can't I do it?!"
Lucy's words touched young Olivia. They were words she had to swallow inside, words she had never been able to say to anyone.
Olivia wanted to follow King Leonard and dare to speak to him.
If you truly love Lucy, you should send her to the school she wants to go to.
However, she was not in a position to follow King Leonard and ask him to send Lucy to school. She was not in a position to argue that Lucy was no different from the princes or to take Lucy's side.
Olivia's dark eyes sank deeply.
“...To do that, I have to do my part too.”
The lesson of life etched into her bones during the days of struggle was that the only way to gain a voice was to do jer part.
Then, only one thought crossed her mind. The task at hand was clearly visible right before her eyes. Since it was something that had to be done eventually anyway, there was no reason to hesitate.
Olivia sat back down on the road and took a piece of paper and a pen out of her bag. Recalling the contents of the newspaper article and the information regarding the establishment of the Royal School, she calmly began to write something down.
She was calm, yet there was not the slightest hesitation, as if it were something she had been thinking about all along.
Olivia and Lucy's class proceeded as scheduled. Lucy took the class very seriously.
“Yes, Your Highness! Yes! ...I understand this, but I’m not sure about this.”
She answered clearly and distinctly, and had a clear distinction between what she knew and what she didn't. In particular, the youthful aspiration in the girl's blue eyes was conveyed to Olivia in its entirety.
Olivia, who had been sitting across from her during class, moved her seat completely next to Lucy.
"Okay, let me explain it again."
In the Princess's room, the sound of two people having a lesson echoed steadily.
Naturally, this news reached Beatrix.
The Queen, who was attending to her morning duties, quietly headed toward Lucy's room and stopped in her tracks at the sound of Olivia and Lucy's voices coming from outside the door.
“Hehe! Your Highness! I understand it right away because you teach me like this!”
As Beatrix heard Lucy’s excited voice, the corners of her mouth curled up.
"Right? I explained it to you the way I understood it."
Olivia's gentle voice followed.
"It seems Her Royal Highness the Princess is conducting her lessons well."
When the head maid chimed in, Beatrix smiled and nodded.
“Isn’t she the kind of kid who might be working as a professor at Harrington University by now, had it not been for the territoriality of the Pulder Noble Alliance?”
"Yes. She is also the top graduate."
Beatrix remained silent for a moment due to an inexplicable bitterness, then changed the subject.
“I’m grateful to Olivia for many reasons. What can I do for her?”
As Beatrix turned around and muttered, the head maid laughed and made a joke.
“There is a rumor these days that the Duke of Rosemond is buying up all sorts of luxury goods in the capital.”
"That guy Noah."
“Oh, and I hear that Princess Lucy’s classmates are planning to visit her this afternoon.”
"Really? That's commendable. Prepare some refreshments and get a small gift ready."
"All right."
Beatrix returned to her office, listening to Olivia's voice coming from behind her.
The class was peaceful. Since it was an enjoyable time for both of them, the class passed in the blink of an eye. By the time Lucy's friends arrived, Olivia had also gotten ready to go back.
As she packed up her books, Olivia quietly asked Lucy.
“Princess, what do you like about school?”
Lucy answered by tapping her chin with the tip of her pen.
“Hmm... first of all, I don’t teach embroidery or flower arranging, which are things I really hate. But above all, the best thing is...”
"Hmm?"
"The school teachers told me, 'Do it on your own."
At the unexpected words, Olivia widened her eyes and looked at Lucy.
"Was that the best part?"
“I heard that for the first time at school. At the royal palace, I’m just a doll, but at school, I’m not a doll.”
“...?!”
Olivia was shocked by Lucy's words. She never dreamed that Lucy, who looked like the protagonist of a famous painting, would call herself a doll.
When Olivia remained silent, Lucy quickly whispered.
“It’s a secret, Your Highness!”
"I never imagined you would think that."
As Olivia whispered softly, Lucy let out a chuckle. However, it was by no means the kind of laugh a ten-year-old girl would make. There was a hint of boredom in her laughter.
Lucy shrugged her shoulders and muttered.
“My father always tells me, ‘Just grow up to be pretty.’ But to my ears, it sounds like he’s saying, ‘Become a pretty doll.’ I actually knew for a very long time that people call me the ‘Palm Princess.’”
Olivia felt a tightness in her solar plexus at Lucy's words.
She recalled the saying that every path is infused with its own pain. Olivia forced a smile and whispered.
"You will be able to go to school once you get better."
"I suppose so?"
As Lucy smiled back, Mrs. Lehmann entered and announced the visit of her friends.
As Lucy shrugged her shoulders in delight, Olivia picked up her bag and greeted her.
"Well then, see you again tomorrow."
“Wait a minute! Please don’t do that. Can’t you stay a little longer? I want to introduce Your Highness to my friends.”
No sooner had Lucy finished speaking than four girls swarmed in and politely greeted her.
"Wow, guys!"
As Lucy ran toward them, cheering, the girls who had been demurely holding their hands together also lifted their heads with sparkling eyes.
“Lucy, no, Princess. This is a visit to the sick... no,...”
“Anyway, thanks!”
The girls surrounded Lucy, chattering away while intently glancing at Olivia. Then they whispered to each other.
"She's really pretty."
"Seriously. Even more so than in the newspapers."
"I told you, didn't I?"
"She is prettier than the actors."
Lucy, having heard her friends' whispers, puffed out her chest with a triumphant look, approached Olivia as if to show off, and gently took her hand.
"She is my sister-in-law."
Olivia held back her laughter at how cute the fingers were, fidgeting and taking her hand with a flushed face.
Olivia greeted Lucy's friends first, who were staring intently at her face.
"Nice to meet you."
Olivia's warm greeting became the starting point for the girls' social gathering.
The girls, who were relatively free from the conventions and customs of aristocratic society, clung tightly to the Princess, and eventually Olivia had no choice but to put down the bag she was holding.
The girls' social gathering was harmonious.
That was the case even up until the mothers who had brought the girls took their daughters away after having a meeting with the Queen.
While Beatrix went out to see them off, Olivia also got up from her seat to really go back.
"Then, Princess, I'll see you tomorrow."
"I'll see you off!"
"No, let's say goodbye here."
However, Lucy remained unmoved. She finally gripped Olivia's hand tightly.
Finally, just as she was about to leave the room with Lucy, the door opened with an unexpected knock.
Overwhelming space merely by one's presence—isn't that the royal family's heritage?
Olivia quickly knelt down and bowed to King Leonard, who had appeared suddenly.
"Your Majesty, it is a good afternoon."
Leonard nodded while looking at Olivia.
"Right, you worked hard today."
Then, he rolled his eyes and looked at his daughter. She had her mouth tightly shut, and to his surprise, he saw Marguerite in her.
"Lucy."
Olivia tried to step back from the father-daughter conversation, but Lucy desperately held onto her hand as if it were her last line of defense and refused to let go.
Lucy caught her breath and spoke earnestly.
“Father, my shoulder doesn’t hurt.”
“...”
"The scar on my forehead doesn't hinder my activities at all."
"Lucy."
"I want to go to school starting tomorrow."
The ten-year-old girl was anxious. Anxiety was gnawing at her small heart, as she felt that if she didn't go to school tomorrow, she would never be able to go again. This was especially true because she had just seen her friends.
Leonard let out a deep sigh and said.
"Let me think about it a bit more. But not tomorrow."
Lucy screamed at her father's roundabout refusal.
“You’re not going to let me go! You’ve hated me going to school from the very beginning!!”
"Princess..."
Olivia tried to calm the child down, but Lucy could not calm down easily.
“Please promise you’ll send it!!!”
“Do you really want to leave the royal palace even after suffering such a dangerous accident?!”
“My brothers even fought in the war, so what’s the big deal about a mere carriage accident!!”
“A mere carriage accident?! Do you even realize you nearly died?!”
“I'm not dead!!”
The lion cub was also a lion.
Olivia was startled by the sight of Lucy baring her teeth and growling, and even more surprised by the sight of the King fighting with his ten-year-old daughter, with veins bulging.
What had built up in the ten-year-old girl's heart was also resentment. The child poured out the words she had never dared to say until now.
“You guys can do it, so why can’t I?!!”
Leonard blinked in stunned silence at the intense rebellion of the daughter to whom he had loved boundlessly, and muttered despondently.
“What on earth are you lacking...?”
Lucy's eyes turned bright red at her father's words.
“I wish I had been born a man like my brothers.”
Lucy's words unexpectedly pierced Olivia's heart.
'How I wish I had been born a man.'
How much she thought about it back when she went to school, hearing people call her a commoner girl. She had been thinking that way since she was exactly this age.
Lucy looked at her father with tears welling up in her eyes, then let go of Olivia's hand and ran to her bedroom.
As the door slammed shut, Leonard let out a slow, sigh-like lament and spoke to Olivia.
“I am showing you a disgraceful side of myself. You must have worked hard today, so go back and rest.”
His tone was filled with fatigue.
Olivia, who had been staring at the spot where Lucy had disappeared, quickly turned her head, but Leonard had already turned his body.
"...Your..."
Olivia could not bring herself to call out to him. The King vanished without a second thought, but Olivia remained motionless in that spot.
“...”
Those who have do not know the hardships of those who do not.
She doesn't even think about it.
Old emotions, weighed down like a heavy stone deep within her chest, reared their heads again. As the moments when she had to walk alone with her head held high amidst all kinds of discrimination flashed through her mind like a fleeting dream, her heart burned as if someone had poured oil on a small spark.
"Why can't I do it?!"
Lucy's words touched young Olivia. They were words she had to swallow inside, words she had never been able to say to anyone.
Olivia wanted to follow King Leonard and dare to speak to him.
If you truly love Lucy, you should send her to the school she wants to go to.
However, she was not in a position to follow King Leonard and ask him to send Lucy to school. She was not in a position to argue that Lucy was no different from the princes or to take Lucy's side.
Olivia's dark eyes sank deeply.
“...To do that, I have to do my part too.”
The lesson of life etched into her bones during the days of struggle was that the only way to gain a voice was to do jer part.
Then, only one thought crossed her mind. The task at hand was clearly visible right before her eyes. Since it was something that had to be done eventually anyway, there was no reason to hesitate.
Olivia sat back down on the road and took a piece of paper and a pen out of her bag. Recalling the contents of the newspaper article and the information regarding the establishment of the Royal School, she calmly began to write something down.
She was calm, yet there was not the slightest hesitation, as if it were something she had been thinking about all along.
Comments
Post a Comment