Previously
Irenia confronts Giovinetta for insulting Caesar, forcing her sister to bow in respect before the Imperial couple. Caesar mockingly gives Giovinetta an earthworm, which Abraxas eats, causing Giovinetta to flee in disgust.
I realized at once that the woman before me was not in her right mind. But I held my tongue; that was hardly what mattered most right now.
“Yet… Your Ladyship… His Majesty… drove me out… me… me!”
Mercedes began to sob inconsolably, as though the humiliation she had tasted in the past was washing over her all over again.
‘This woman… harbors a deep grudge against Irenia, doesn’t she?’
I wanted to scream with joy on the inside. It seemed Irenia, with that foolishness of hers, had made enemies in the palace just as she had back home. Even without seeing it, the truth was obvious.
Now that the picture was clear, I resolved to win this woman over.
“Goodness… Did that really happen? How could Irenia do such a thing to you?”
I fluttered my eyelashes with practiced affectation; crocodile tears had always been one of my signature arts. The moment my eyes reddened, Mercedes lifted her head in disbelief.
“My lady…?”
“That is simply how she is… It pains me to air my family’s flaws, but… she was so harsh of temper. She even mistreated the parents who took her in, and she was always jealous of my character, causing me no end of trouble…”
I could weep at a moment’s notice thanks to my talent for total emotional immersion.
Giovinetta had always possessed that distinct quality: feeling her emotions with utter conviction.
What made it all the more convincing was that I truly had suffered countless indignities because of Irenia in the past.
Yes… those bitter memories… Just summoning them brought fresh moisture to my eyes, and a single tear slipped down onto the table.
“Truly… that happened?”
I threw myself completely into the role, driving my emotions to a fever pitch.
“That Irenia… Ah, sister though she may be, she brings me such shame…”
“Oh, oh…”
I placed my hand over Mercedes’s withered hand, whose fingers trembled without cease.
“Please, let me apologize in her stead, Madame.”
Once I had squeezed out my tears, I flashed the smile I had meticulously practiced before the mirror—a smile radiant with confidence, beauty, and grace.
Mercedes saw a brilliant light begin to shine in my face. She could not fathom how so wondrous a maiden had suddenly appeared before her.
How lovely it would be if this girl were Caesar’s match…
At that precise instant, as though a thunderbolt had struck Mercedes’s mind, an abrupt thought flashed through her.
“Yes… If I do that…”
Once more, her inner thoughts spilled aloud, but she paid it no heed. Nothing else mattered anymore.
Giovinetta wiped away her tears, wearing a sorrowful, serene expression.
“Pardon? What did you say?”
Mercedes suddenly let out a bright laugh.
“Hahaha! No, nothing at all.”
She could not hold back her laughter now that she realized what she truly wanted.
How could she have forgotten something so simple?
“Haha… Hahaha…”
Her shoulders shook with laughter, while a trace of awkwardness settled over Giovinetta’s face.
“At any rate, Madame… thank you ever so much for your kindness toward me.”
“No, no, I am the one who ought to feel embarrassed. Forgive me, haha…”
Mercedes laughed as though seized by a fit, pressing a hand over her mouth. Yet strange as the situation was, Giovinetta felt no annoyance.
This was hardly the time for it.
“Please, if you ever face any hardship, do not hesitate to speak to me. From now on, I shall be Her Majesty the Empress’s conversational partner.”
Then she offered her a warm, reassuring smile.
“Truly?”
“Yes, so if there is ever anything I can do to assist you, I would be delighted to do so.”
Giovinetta of Flores truly was an ideal young lady.
For a girl such as her, one would do anything.
Even after Giovinetta took her leave, Mercedes remained thrilled and impatient.
‘I must act swiftly. What is dragging Ilda down?’
Did he need more gold? Very well. If he wished, she would give him more.
So long as he swept that obstacle from their path, he could take all her wealth.
‘What a greedy man.’
She would go to him herself, press the gold into his hands, and order him to eliminate that woman.
If only he did that… everything would turn for the better.
Then, they could welcome the Prince with a fitting partner.
Mercedes wore an uncanny smile, cheerful to a terrifying degree.
In her mind’s eye, the ideal picture began to take shape: Caesar, Giovinetta, and Mercedes herself, the three of them holding hands and laughing in joy.
Lately, the palace had been teeming with visitors.
That morning, someone arrived requesting an audience with Caesar.
A month had passed since our marriage, and this was the first time anyone had come to call on him.
When I moved to accompany him, Delfina shook her head in refusal.
The visitor had requested a private audience with His Highness the Prince.
Truly? And who had come?
The Royal Physician and High Teacher to His Highness, Master Richard.
The High Teacher?
‘High Teacher’ was a title bestowed upon those who tutored the King.
A teacher, by nature, guides and directs, but such a person was no ordinary instructor. They were a figure of extraordinary stature.
More often than not, they were wizards.
For magic was a discipline pursued in search of truth, and wizards felt no hesitation in sharing it with others.
Because of that, they were addressed as ‘Teacher’ out of reverence and honor.
I had heard he had served as court wizard since the reign of the previous Emperor, and was now the teacher to Emperor Guido himself.
Yet with the Emperor in prolonged seclusion, hardly anyone ever caught sight of him. Thus, Richard was far better known as Caesar’s personal physician.
He had only just returned from his fief.
If he had been at court since the previous King’s reign… he had to be very old, wouldn’t he?
Delfina slowly shook her head.
“I do not know much regarding Master Richard either…”
It seemed she lacked sufficient knowledge of him, much like everyone else.
Wizards, by nature, did not show themselves easily in public. Even those belonging to the Imperial Palace were no exception.
For such a person to serve as Caesar’s personal physician… he must have come to conduct an examination.
I sent Delfina to ensure our guest received everything he needed.
With Caesar having stepped out, I sat alone reading a book in my room.
Yet I could not concentrate on the text.
My mind was crowded with thoughts… Giovinetta in particular.
‘In the end, she didn’t come yesterday.’
Just as I expected. I had only meant to tease her a little, but merely offering a greeting seemed to have delivered quite a shock.
Then again, considering what she had done to me, it was hardly comparable.
Whenever I recalled her foul temperament, a headache flared.
‘Giovinetta has become the Empress’s lady-in-waiting now?’
It had already been difficult enough to keep watch over the Empress’s movements, and now Giovinetta had joined the fray as well…
I pressed my aching head, only for something to stir inside my pocket.
Little Abr was trying to comfort me.
“Peep, peep.”
“Thank you for comforting me.”
Even the chick was worrying over me… How pathetic I was.
Yet my heart found no relief.
‘Is Giovinetta still at the palace?’
The moment that thought crossed my mind, a heavy stone seemed to settle upon my heart.
‘Why does she treat me that way? I truly cannot understand her.’
We had not been enemies from the very beginning.
When I first entered the Flores household, things were different.
In the beginning, when everyone else turned me away…
Giovinetta was the only one who showed any interest in me.
“Are you my sister?”
She was also the one who used to come up to my cramped, old attic room, frequenting it time and again to talk with me. I still remembered her childlike face, which looked so much like mine.
True, her features had changed considerably by now, but in our youth, the resemblance between us was so striking that I felt as if I were looking into a mirror.
Yet the resemblance lay only in our features; between the two of us stretched a vast, undeniable divide.
Back then, I had not fully shed my stray, vagrant life, gaunt as a pale mouse. My hair was dry as straw, my skin rough and dotted with blemishes from malnutrition, my cheeks hollowed by lingering hunger, and my frail frame resembled a withered twig… devoid of value or grace.
As for Giovinetta, she stared at me as if I were some strange creature, then simply remarked,
“You… are filthy, aren’t you?”
It was an inescapable truth, so I merely nodded in agreement without argument. I knew nothing of the world back then, so everything seemed simple in my eyes.
I simply stared at her pretty face in wonder and admiration, then murmured words that sprang straight from my heart.
“My lady… you are truly beautiful.”
Giovinetta looked taken aback for an instant before bursting into a bright, melodious laugh. And what a laugh it was… So breathtakingly lovely that I thought storybook princesses must surely look just like her.
That was how it began. It was not terrible. In fact, it was deceitful enough to make me imagine she might become… my new family.
FADE OUT