Previously
Caesar names the chick Abraxas, which Irenia shortens to Abr. During the Debutante Ball season, Irenia's half-sister Giovinetta makes a surprise visit to the Emerald Wing, finding the couple covered in dirt while hunting worms for the bird.
“Is this really how you discipline your servant?”
As Giovinetta grumbled indignantly, Delfina came over to help me up. I smoothed the hem of my skirt and opened my mouth to speak.
“Mind your manners, Giovinetta.”
“What?”
“I said, mind your manners.”
I repeated the words in a calm, measured voice. Her insolence toward me was something I could bear, but her insult to Caesar was utterly intolerable.
“Caesar is not a servant.”
Granted, his scruffy appearance might give Giovinetta that impression, which even I could understand. But treating the Crown Prince of the Empire like a common servant? That, I could never allow.
“Caes… ar? Don't tell me he is His Highness, the First Prince?!”
Disbelief and dismay washed over her face. Not letting the moment slip, I adjusted my posture and stood straight. After all, I was the wife of the Crown Prince.
“And you will address me with proper honorifics.”
“What?”
Giovinetta’s face contorted in an instant, and a muted crack slipped out from between her fingers as she gripped her fan.
“Are you openly defying me now?!”
I let out a low, mocking whisper, as though suppressing a yawn.
“Goodness… what took you so long to realize?”
It was genuinely comical to see her grimace as though she had bitten down on a worm.
“What are you waiting for?”
I gestured with my chin, signaling for her to offer the proper greeting.
“You really are…”
Her cheeks flushed between red and pale. But this was not our private estate as in the past; we were in the Imperial Palace, where many eyes watched. She had no choice but to drop to one knee and offer her greeting.
“Glory everlasting to the Cross of Light. I pay my respects to Your Imperial Highnesses.”
I looked down at her, not entirely satisfied; a simple curtsy could hardly erase the deep-seated malice between us. Indeed, only the most naive fool would feel triumphant over a petty thing like this.
Still, it served as a fitting retribution for insolence toward Caesar. Had he chosen to make an issue of it, she could have faced severe punishment for labeling a member of the Imperial Family a ‘servant.’
“Glory everlasting to the Cross of Light. Lady Giovinetta, I trust you will show greater propriety in the future. As for the rest, let us discuss it inside.”
I spoke in a stern tone, and Giovinetta offered no reply. With that, I ordered a nearby servant to escort her to the drawing room.
Caesar then stepped toward Giovinetta and placed something into her palm.
“For you.”
“W-What is this…?”
What he had placed in her hand was the earthworm he had just dug up from the dirt. It wriggled vigorously in her open palm.
“Aaaaaaah!!”
Giovinetta shrieked in horror and flung the worm away, whereupon Abr, the chick, dashed in and swallowed it whole.
“Disgusting!”
Giovinetta went pale after watching the chick snap the worm in half and devour it. Looking faint, she pulled out her handkerchief and dry-heaved.
“Haha…”
I could not hold back a quiet laugh at the sheer absurdity of the scene.
“What is this! Aaaah! Are you people out of your minds?!”
Having entirely lost her composure, she yelled at the top of her lungs. I heard her furious shrieks behind me, but I kept walking forward without glancing back, focusing only on keeping my balance as I walked.
In the end, Giovinetta postponed our meeting under the pretext that her attire had been ruined.
“What… What in heaven’s name is that?”
Mercedes, who had been secretly tailing Irenia for days, swallowed hard in disbelief at the spectacle before her eyes.
What sane mind could fathom the beloved, exalted Prince sitting in the filth to play with bugs?
She felt an impulse to rush out and scream in his face, “What on earth are you doing!” Fury churned inside her.
“What are you doing to our precious Prince?!”
Her teeth ground together loudly enough to be heard. When Irenia was reading to him or teaching him etiquette, Mercedes had found no excuse to step in. But this time was different.
What rested in Caesar’s hand was neither a magnificent pet bird nor a creature of pedigree, but a vile chick.
The sight of that chick in the noble Prince’s hand was unbearable; she wanted to scream at that very instant. She could not stomach it, convinced that lowborn girl was the sole cause.
“You want to drag Caesar down to the gutter with you.”
The blood boiled in her veins, and a ringing echoed in her ears.
Just then, a beautiful young lady entered Mercedes’s line of sight, smiling softly like a little angel painted upon a fresco.
Despite the tempest in her chest, a sudden soothing breeze seemed to pass through her.
“Who could that girl be?”
From that distance, she could not hear their words, but certain details were obvious. First, that girl knew Irenia; second, the relationship between them was clearly strained.
“I must find out more.”
She had a peculiar feeling that something advantageous was about to happen. She slipped away swiftly, and thus never witnessed Giovinetta’s screeching… a tragicomedy missed entirely.
“What on earth was that? Martha, did you see what she just did?”
Giovinetta could barely contain her rage. The elderly maid, Martha, anxious that her mistress’s temper might turn on her, tried her best to soothe her, fanning her gently and measuring every word.
Ever since Giovinetta announced her intention to see the Crown Princess, Martha had known this meeting would not go smoothly.
From their days residing under the family roof, the enmity between the two was plain to see.
Yet the anger did not fade easily from Giovinetta’s features.
“My Lady, if you work yourself up like this, you will only exhaust yourself. Besides, Madame cautioned you to remember the eyes inside the Imperial Palace.”
“Ah…”
At last, Giovinetta produced a small hand mirror to inspect her face, checking that her powder had not cracked and that sweat had not spoiled her appearance. Little by little, her fury ebbed.
She exhaled deeply, though not all the bitterness subsided.
“She hasn’t changed a bit, that wretched girl.”
Then the face of Caesar, the First Prince, crossed her mind. The hand holding that filthy worm… It had been revolting.
Perhaps the whispers calling him the ‘Cursed Prince’ were no mere rumor; who in their right mind would do such a thing?
At that moment, an elderly woman stepped into her path.
“It is an honor to meet such a noble lady.”
“Who are you?”
Giovinetta looked inquisitively at the unfamiliar woman who had suddenly materialized before her.
“Ah, forgive me. I am Mercedes Arontio, a confidante of His Imperial Highness the First Prince.”
“The First Prince?”
“Yes.”
“And what business do you have with me?”
Giovinetta recalled the name. Before entering the palace, she had reviewed a list of key figures; Mercedes’s name was on it, recognized as one of the few close to the Prince. Rumor had it she had been his wet nurse during his childhood, so this had to be the same woman.
Mercedes cast a quick look around, then leaned in and whispered.
“Forgive the intrusion, but I saw you speaking with Princess Irenia and presumed you were acquainted.”
She seemed to see an opening she might exploit, wondering if she could use me to her advantage.
Giovinetta answered with an elegant nod.
“I am Giovinetta Flores, the eldest daughter of the Flores Ducal House.”
Mercedes marveled inward. Truly, this was the very model of noble grace.
‘Now this is a true noblewoman of a ducal house… not to be compared with that bastard.’
The longer she gazed upon her, the deeper her admiration grew.
‘If only she had been the one to become the Prince’s wife…’
Disorder invaded her mind once more… symptoms that had plagued her ever since she was kept away from Caesar.
“…If only it had been so, how wonderful it would be.”
Those words slipped past her lips unconsciously, a private thought uttered aloud without intent.
“Pardon?”
“No, it is nothing at all.”
Mercedes hastily shook her head and smoothly steered the topic to offer Giovinetta a suggestion.
“Seeing that your attire was somewhat disturbed by the earlier unpleasantness, why not come to my quarters to refresh yourself?”
Giovinetta hesitated for a second, then nodded in agreement.
‘There is an intriguing scent coming from this situation…’
Her sharp instincts stirred to vigilance. Mercedes had been the Prince’s wet nurse and might well be one of Irenia’s partisans, yet she was asking to meet in private? There was no harm in hearing what she had to say; it might yield something useful.
Mercedes led her guest to a chamber within the Emerald Wing.
“Madame Arontxo, thank you ever so much for your assistance. You truly saved me from quite an awkward spot.”
Giovinetta said, taking a sip of the warm tea. Its taste was quite ordinary.
Even though it stood within the Imperial Palace, this wing seemed old and worn, inferior even to the Flores estate.
“You mentioned you are a close confidante of His Highness the Prince, so why are you not by his side, living here all by yourself?”
Giovinetta posed the question lightly, prompting Mercedes to quickly draw a handkerchief as tears welled in her eyes.
“I… Truly, all I ever wished was to help him from the bottom of my heart.”
And in that very instant, Giovinetta sensed something deeply unsettling… a jarring discord that could not be ignored.
FADE OUT