Previously
Giovinetta aligns herself with Empress Cornelia and later witnesses Elda attempting to drown Irenia in the palace pond, choosing to watch with malicious delight rather than help. Caesar arrives just in time to rescue Irenia and performs mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, which Irenia perceives as a transfer of life and warmth.
He possessed an alluring beauty, appearing at most to be in his late twenties or early thirties. At first glance, it was difficult to tell whether the figure was a man or a woman.
His long silver hair reached down to his waist, half gathered up while the other half was plaited in an intricate braid, adorned with colorful threads and beads that gave him an ethereal air.
His eyes were a striking bluish-purple, radiating a mysterious power that felt impossible to fathom.
From between the folds of his cloak and his silver strands, his ears twitched faintly, revealing a long, distinctly pointed shape entirely unlike those of mortal humans.
“…An elf?”
I murmured the word while staring at him, then hastily clapped both hands over my mouth.
These long-eared beings were known by various names depending on the region—Albro, alf, or elf.
They were a mysterious race dwelling predominantly in dense forests, and the name “elf” meant “those born of trees.”
It was said they possessed peerless beauty regardless of gender or age, alongside extraordinary physical prowess. Because they rarely strayed from the forests of their birth, they were enigmatic folk seldom seen in the human realm.
As for me, everything I knew about them had come solely from books. This was the first time I had ever laid eyes on one in person.
“To be precise, my blood is half-human, which makes me a half-elf. My name is Richard, of the Silver Birch Forest.”
He answered in a melodious, gentle voice, flowing like the sweet notes of an instrument—mesmerizing and harmonious to the point of sheer elegance.
I found myself gazing at him in an absent daze once more, despite knowing how rude it was.
His long ears fluttered with subtle, delicate motions, catching my eye at every turn.
“I have cast a healing spell. Does any part of your body still trouble you?”
“…Pardon?”
I could do nothing but foolishly echo his words. A healing spell? Now that he mentioned it, my body felt remarkably lighter.
I clenched and unclenched my fists several times, then slowly rose to my feet.
A crowd of people had gathered all around me. Men from the Emerald Bow stood encircling the area on every side, and among them, the knights of the White Rose Cross wore the sternest scowls.
Had they lost faith in me because of what happened earlier? A thick, suffocating tension hung about them.
“When the report reached us that Your Highness had fallen into the pond, the knights rushed to the scene immediately.”
Delfina pressed her lips tight, glaring reproachfully at the guards.
I hastened to placate her.
“No, I went out entirely on my own this time…”
“Still, Your Highness! Isn't it their duty to prevent something like this? How could they let you wander out alone to a place like this? When I heard you had fallen into the water, I felt as though…”
“The reason was…”
In truth, the reason had been that vision.
The vision had led me straight to this pond, as though something had been lying in wait for me here…
“Someone pushed me.”
At that, Delfina gasped in sheer astonishment.
“Really?!”
“Yes, I am certain of it.”
Richard then rose and pointed toward a woman sprawled upon the ground.
“Was it this one who pushed you?”
“That woman?”
I looked toward where his finger aimed, finding a woman frozen in an unnatural posture, as though time itself had stopped while she was mid-stride.
Her face was unmistakable… It was Elda, the head maid I had expelled from the Emerald Palace.
“Yes, without a doubt. It was her.”
Richard casually waved his hand through the air. At once, Elda began trembling violently, and a sharp shriek tore from her throat.
“Aaargh! What is this?! Let me go!”
“Noisy.”
Richard's brow furrowed again as he flicked his hand, and Elda was instantly silenced. Nothing escaped her mouth save for muffled groans, as though an invisible barrier had sealed her lips shut.
She writhed helplessly as if bound by unseen cords, utterly unable to move her upper body.
Richard approached her with measured, confident strides.
“I have no desire to meddle in human affairs, yet I shall ask one thing. Did you push Her Highness into the pond?”
Elda offered no answer. In truth, she could not have spoken even had she wanted to, her voice smothered beneath an invisible force.
“Ah, pardon me.”
Richard raised a finger, dispelling the restraint over her mouth.
Terror marked Elda's face, yet she did not scream again. She merely shivered, glaring in our direction with venomous fury.
Countess Elvira approached at that moment, bowing in greeting toward Richard.
“May glory be to the Holy Cross, Court Mage. I heard an unfortunate incident befell Her Highness.”
“May glory be to the Holy Cross.”
Richard responded with an impassive expression, then calmly recounted what had transpired.
“As there was a suspicious figure skulking about the vicinity, I placed a binding spell upon her.”
The Countess furrowed her brow, turning her gaze toward Elda.
“Is what Her Highness says true? Did you truly push her into the water?”
Elda swallowed hard, her eyes going wide with feigned outrage.
“What is this baseless accusation?! When did I ever do such a thing? Do you have any proof?!”
A cry of indignance tore from my throat.
“What are you saying?! You pushed me—I saw you with my own eyes!”
Yet Elda seemed resolved to play the wronged victim, her voice taking on an unyielding edge.
“Your Highness, such wild claims shock me! I was merely walking nearby, and when I saw someone thrashing in the water, I ran over to help. And now you dare accuse me?!”
She feigned such righteous anger that words failed me entirely, prompting Delfina to step forward in my defense.
“Liar! You've harbored a spiteful grudge ever since Her Highness banished you from the palace!”
Delfina spoke with tearful vehemence, wrapping her arms around me protectively.
Yet Elda only pressed further into her brazen fabrications.
“I am nothing more than a dismissed servant! How could I have possibly known Her Highness would be here alone? And how could I have slipped past the watchful eyes of the guards?!”
“My, what an unsightly commotion. Whatever is going on here?”
The voice drifted from a distance, carrying a chilled familiarity.
A woman parted the crowd, strolling toward us, and a cold shiver seized my entire body…
It was Mercedes.
“Lady Arontsho…”
The very woman from my vision—the one who, with that horrifying visage, had slaughtered the prospective crown princesses.
Yet now she approached us with an air of pure grace and gentle poise.
“I had been watching from afar, and it seems something quite terrible has occurred. Your Highness, it has been far too long.”
Murmurs broke out among the bystanders the moment she appeared.
She surveyed them calmly before turning her attention back to me.
“I have been observing this entire affair, and it seems to me that Your Highness’s claims border on severe exaggeration.”
“Exaggeration…?”
“Indeed. I had not wished to speak out, yet… whatever reason could you have for coming to such an isolated and perilous place, entirely without an escort?”
A sharp prick of dread pierced my chest.
“I… I only…”
I could not very well tell them that I had pursued a vision visible to no one else.
Seeing my silence, Mercedes pressed her advantage smoothly.
“I know Elda's character intimately. And while I may not have served Your Highness for long, I am equally well acquainted with your temperament.”
Then, without warning, she turned the blade squarely upon me.
“What?”
“You cast out the maids chosen personally by Her Majesty the Empress, and then you banished me—the closest confidante to His Highness the Prince. And now you cast false blame upon others?”
This was utterly preposterous.
“But… Elda did it! She pushed me into the pond!”
At that, Elda shouted back, her eyes ablaze with theatrical fury.
“Where is your proof?!”
Mercedes seized upon the opening, raising her voice with practiced authority.
“Even the simple reason for being here all alone is something you cannot explain. Would you permit me to offer an explanation instead?”
The breath caught in my throat. Terror seized me over whatever words might spill from her lips next.
She offered a slanted smile, speaking in a deceptively serene tone.
“Is it not entirely plausible that Your Highness, crushed under the despair of your circumstance, sought to end your own life?”
Hushed whispers rippled through the gathered onlookers at Mercedes's chilling words.
“Suicide?!”
“How could anyone utter such an ominous notion…?”
Then, someone dared to speak in hesitant agreement.
“Yet… wasn't another of the bridal candidates found dead in this exact place? She threw herself into the pond just like this.”
“This place is surely cursed…”
The whispers swelled and the voices multiplied, the tide of opinion steadily turning against me beneath the weight of Mercedes's insidious claim.
“No!”
I cried out in desperate denial, shaking my head violently. In the Empire, suicide was considered an unspeakable infamy, heralded as one of the most heinous sins.
To harm one's own flesh was deemed sacrilege against the divine, a betrayal of God, and a transgression against the sacred vessel bestowed by heaven. It was treated as the hallmark of an apostate.
And now, they were attempting to brand me with that very stain!
The moment I shrank back in dismay, Mercedes's countenance brightened with triumphant malice, cutting in with an even sharper tone.
“If that is not the truth, Your Highness, then why did you come to this desolate place without your usual attendants or guards? Does that not reek of suspicion?”
“Th-that… that is because I…”
Yet how could I ever tell them that I had come following a phantom vision only I could see? It would sound like utter madness—or worse, an invitation to accusations of sorcery and divination. A charge sufficient to see me burned alive as a witch.
At that precise moment, the tall grass in the distance parted, and a figure stepped forth into plain view.
“As for that matter, I can testify to what I saw.”
The voice arrived wholly unexpected, and its owner… was none other than Giovinetta.
FADE OUT