Previously
Irenia reflects on her past as a flower girl and her harsh entry into the Flores family, where Duchess Celestina treated her with contempt despite providing an education. She worries about her inability to dance at the upcoming ball due to her leg injury but tries to remain optimistic for Caesar's sake.
I felt utterly mortified being caught by the knights in such a state… So I quickly waved my hand, trying to pull away from Caesar.
“It is all right now.”
Every time this happened, my cheeks flushed bright red like ripe apples, while his arms only tightened their grip around me.
I was taken aback. Even so, wasn’t it a bit strange to handle people this way?
“Hey, put me down.”
“Ren, it hurts here.”
Caesar said.
“Oh, no, I’m… I’m fine.” ‘You bit me so hard it doesn’t even hurt anymore.’
I couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud, not with so many eyes watching us.
I worried I might have aroused their suspicions, but the knights’ expressions remained unchanged.
For now, I just had to find a way to get away from Caesar.
At the same time, I smoothed down the hem of my skirt… It would cause an uproar if the fresh wound was exposed.
As a result, it must have looked like nothing more than futile squirming. Doing two things at once was no easy task.
“It really is fine now, so let me down.” This time, I whispered in his ear with a somewhat firmer tone.
Caesar glanced down at my leg and then looked back up at me, as if asking whether I was truly all right. Seeing that, I was genuinely dumbfounded.
Just moments ago, he was acting like he would devour me whole simply because he hadn’t seen me in a while. Why the sudden change in attitude now? Frankly, no matter how hard I tried, I could never get used to the sheer contrast in his behavior. But the funniest part was that I was entirely mistaken.
The point was, it was hard to truly dislike him…. His antics might seem utterly exasperating, yet there was something endearing about him.
“Ah.”
Caesar seemed to have no intention of letting me go… and in any case, I lacked the strength to fight back. In the end, we headed toward the dining hall with him still clutching me tightly to his chest.
As we passed through the corridor, we ran into a few servants. The moment they laid eyes on us, they immediately bowed their heads and covered their mouths. Seeing their reaction, I couldn't even lift my head from sheer embarrassment.
“…I asked you to put me down.” Even though I knew it was futile, I still whispered into his ear. Staying still was so agonizing that I couldn't help speaking up.
“No.”
Yet the answer I received was always the same. He gave his flat refusal, wearing a rather smug expression. Breaking the will of such a stubborn man was impossible… He only held me tighter.
“Ahem…”
Mercedes cleared her throat uselessly as she trailed behind us.
Hearing her voice, I glanced back to find her expression deeply sour. Somehow, the sight weighed heavily on my mind.
I had wondered why Caesar was so fixated on this behavior, but nothing seemed to change. The more I struggled, the faster my stamina drained away.
If the hem of my skirt fluttered and revealed the wound, it would be a disaster… So, in the end, I quietly reached the dining room, carried along like a piece of luggage.
It was lunchtime.
Since it was a Friday during Lent, it was also a day of abstinence from meat. Even so, this was still the imperial palace… An exceptionally lavish meal was laid out.
On the long table lay smoked meats seasoned with vinegar and olive oil.
For other courses, there were salted mackerel, spinach omelets, lentil and mushroom soup, cod chowder with mustard seeds, nougat studded with hazelnuts and almonds, and lemon tarts.
The fare had certainly improved drastically since Countess Elvira’s visit. Fortunately, it was a light luncheon rather than a formal banquet or a heavy dinner.
It was the perfect setting to teach Caesar something. I took a seat and gestured to Caesar, and he sat down beside me. As though it were the most natural thing in the world, Mercedes brought over a small chair and sat right next to him.
She sat very close. Up to that point, everything was fine. Caesar, however, was the problem. The meal hadn’t even been served yet,
and he was already reaching his bare hand toward the food. Even with Mercedes sitting right by his side,
there seemed to be no intention of stopping him. Instead, she merely watched the whole display with a fond smile. Bewildered and at a loss, I asked,
“What are you doing?”
My question was why no one was stopping Caesar from eating with his bare hands. But
her answer was, “Is there a problem?”
She looked completely oblivious. I could tell without even looking in a mirror that my eye was definitely twitching. “Yes, there is.”
Mercedes then let out a quiet sigh. As if she had no other choice, she dabbed at Caesar’s chin with a napkin.
Her practiced motion of cutting the food on the plate into bite-sized pieces and loading them onto the utensil was utterly natural.
It was gentle.
“Don't do that.”
So I had to raise my hand to stop her. Nothing could be accomplished this way. She seemed startled by my intervention, wearing a look that said she couldn’t fathom why I was acting like this.
“I merely wish to assist His Highness the Crown Prince.” What I felt in that moment was an unsettling friction—the very feeling that had plagued me time and again.
I took care not to let my voice tremble. Mercedes was clearly devoted to Caesar's side, as he was the one who had told me she would stand by me.
“Madam, I taught Caesar manners last time….”
“I said I would do it.”
Could she truly not understand what I was saying? Even so, Mercedes merely toyed with the fork without another word. Feeding someone by hand like this was something I wouldn't even do for a five-year-old child.
“Please do not.”
I meant that she shouldn't treat him like a child. Still, she gave no reply.
Despite my warnings, she tied a napkin beneath Caesar’s chin, acting as though she hadn't heard a word.
“His Highness hasn’t eaten in days. I am worried his health might have deteriorated.”
“That doesn’t mean you should handle it this way.”
Seeing Mercedes pick up her fork once more, however, it was clear she had no intention of heeding my wishes.
My hand moved before my words did. I caught her wrist.
“Madam.”
It was a grave breach of etiquette, but there was no turning back now.
The woman whose wrist I held looked up and pulled me slightly toward herself.
“What are you doing?”
Instead of answering, I took the fork from her hand and slowly placed it into Caesar’s grasp.
“Now, you saw this last time. From now on, you must use this when you eat.”
“Ah.”
Caesar took the fork. But after a single glance, he promptly threw it into the corner.
At that, Mercedes’s expression instantly brightened.
“That must have been difficult, wasn't it? Come, let me help you.”
It was as though Caesar had been waiting for this very outcome. I had to stop my husband once again.
“Not yet.”
Shaking my head, I gestured to Delfina, who promptly brought me a fresh fork. I took it and held it out to Caesar.
“Do not throw it this time.”
I spoke firmly. Yet Caesar looked ready to fling the fork once more, as though he found tossing it amusing. Quickly, I caught his wrist.
Watching this unfold, Mercedes’s face flushed red and pale by turns. It looked as though she desperately wanted to say something.
“Oh—”
The moment my attention lapsed, another fork went flying through the air.
“So fun.”
Caesar smiled innocently. Seeing this, Delfina brought another fork, a bright smile playing on her lips.
“Would you like to try again?”
He seemed to have mistaken this for some sort of game. One might call my husband a fool, but I was equally stubborn. Once I set my mind to something, I saw it through, no matter the circumstances.
I could do this dozens, no, hundreds of times. After we struggled like this for a while, Mercedes fell utterly quiet, muttering something under her breath with her head bowed.
Just as I was about to open my mouth to ask why she was behaving this way, she spoke.
“You said you are going to the banquet with Prince Caesar…”
Her expression was unreadable as she kept her head lowered. Even so, a strange energy prickled over my skin, making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.
“That is correct.”
Mercedes gripped her skirt tightly, clutching it so hard that the knuckles on the back of her hands turned pale.
“That…”
Her body trembled, and she seemed to take a long, measured breath. I waited in silence for her to go on.
“Do you not think this is a scheme plotted by Her Majesty?”
Hearing that, I slowly shook my head.
“No.”
Mercedes's back jerked upright. She snapped her head up at once, her face twisting several times as though she were suffering through some agonizing torment.
“…Do you intend to make a laughingstock out of His Highness?”
“Pardon?”
Her expression hardened.
“That hall! All those people… How could His Highness ever endure being around so many people?”
The slender woman swayed, trembling violently. Was I planning to make a laughingstock of Caesar? I had never intended anything of the sort. Yet she was so emotionally distraught that I didn't even know what to say.
“Madam. You are taking this too far.”
Before long, Mercedes’s eyes began to fill with tears. Despite her age, those brown eyes brimmed with unmistakable sorrow.
FADE OUT