Previously
Irenia meets Richard, a half-elf royal physician who heals her after her fall into the pond. She identifies the head maid Elda as the one who pushed her, but Elda denies it and claims she was trying to help.
Everything unfolded in such rapid succession that it felt as though my very soul were plunging into a bottomless abyss.
“…Giovinetta?”
What was she doing here? The sheer absurdity of the situation made my head spin, until I could scarcely keep my eyes open.
“I, too, happened to witness it while passing by.”
“…What are you trying to say?”
I shook my head slowly, prompting a wicked smirk to curl Giovinetta's lips.
“I saw that maid trying with all her might to save Irenia, who was on the verge of throwing herself into the pond.”
Incredulous accusations rained down upon me in relentless waves, leaving me with nothing to do but tremble. A severe bout of dizziness washed over me, forcing me to sway on my feet.
“Wh-what sort of nonsense are you babbling?”
Giovinetta's sudden appearance had unleashed a vicious assault aimed straight at me.
“Irenia, don't tell me you intend to claim I'm lying?”
Just then, Countess Elvira, who had been watching the scene unfold, suddenly chimed in with recognition.
“I was wondering who it could be—is it not Lady Giovinetta? You met with Her Majesty the Empress this very morning, and here you are!”
At that, the onlookers began to whisper among themselves once more.
“A young lady personally acquainted with the Empress? Someone of such standing could never lie.”
“Lady Giovinetta is close to Her Majesty the Empress.”
The moment the Empress was mentioned, everyone nodded in assent. Giovinetta was a guest recognized by the Empress herself; her words were bound to be taken with utter seriousness.
Sensing this shift, Giovinetta lifted her chin with arrogant pride, her shoulders swaying with smug satisfaction.
“Yes, Countess Elvira. After concluding my audience with Her Majesty the Empress this morning, I was on my way to the Emerald Palace to see my sister Irenia…”
Then, bowing her head, her body trembled with apparent emotion. Her pitiable display instantly drew the sympathy of those gathered around.
“Irenia, why would you do something so foolish?!”
“Giovinetta? What on earth are you saying?…”
Giovinetta raised her head, thick tears trickling down her cheeks.
“I even visited the Emerald Palace yesterday to check on my sister, but she seemed in poor spirits. Far from welcoming me, she turned me away, which left me so anxious that I returned today.”
She sobbed, maintaining the pretense that all she had done stemmed from sisterly concern. Around her, quiet sighs of pity arose. Her trembling voice and tears were more than enough to bury the truth beneath the veil of her lie.
Lifting her chin, Giovinetta produced a handkerchief to dab away her tears.
“You were always like this, Irenia. Even your injured leg—though it was your own carelessness that caused you to fall—you placed the blame entirely on me, forever viewing the world with a twisted gaze. And as for this marriage…”
A violent shudder tore through my body. I could not allow her and Mercedes to spin their lies any further. Yet, try as I might, I could see no way out of this tightly woven trap.
“Your Highness…”
Delfina clung to my arm in sheer terror, shaking her head at me in a silent plea to stop.
I bit my lip hard. There had been no witnesses to prove Elda had shoved me into the water. Even if there were, the present tide was set firmly against me. The unified words of those three would be taken far more seriously than anything I could muster.
Above all, I had to rid myself of the accusation of attempted suicide. That stigma had to be erased at any cost.
“…I was careless.”
“What did you say?”
Giovinetta responded with a broad smile. How I longed to spit in her face, yet I forced myself to hold back.
“I merely wished to take a brief walk alone. Seeing a frog by the pond, I drew closer to look, lost my footing, and tumbled in.”
I was forced to concede that my plunge into the pond had been an accident, claiming the ground was slick and that I had failed to mind my surroundings.
Yielding to that confession was an unavoidable choice. Bitter though it was, it remained the sole path out of the predicament.
A short while later…
“Giovinetta and Mercedes are in league with one another!”
The more I turned the matter over in my mind, the more certain I became. I gnawed at my fingernails in sheer frustration.
I had possessed no other recourse in that moment, but dwelling on it now made fury flare within my chest.
“How… how could they do such a thing?”
What chilled me to the bone was their calculating, cold-blooded deceit. Neither of them had batted an eyelash as they backed me into that corner.
“They were trying to ruin me, without a shadow of a doubt.”
Just then, a knock sounded at the door. Delfina informed me that Richard, the royal physician and counselor, had arrived to see me, accompanied by Caesar.
“May I trouble you for a moment?”
Regardless of what had transpired, there was no denying that Richard had saved my life earlier. And I had not even offered him my gratitude.
I took a step forward and offered a polite bow.
“Welcome to the Emerald Palace, sir.”
“Call me Richard.”
He said it gently.
“Very well, Richard. I conducted myself unseemly earlier today. You aided me so greatly, yet I was unable to even express my thanks.”
“It is enough that you are unharmed.”
He then turned his gaze toward Caesar. I could not say why, but when Caesar smiled, Richard's expression softened into something warmer. An old acquaintance seemed to bind them, for Caesar treated him with clear affection.
Yet, despite having come to see me, he fell silent, fixing me with an unusually piercing stare.
His violet eyes bore into me with a calculating scrutiny that set me on edge.
After a heavy silence, I was compelled to speak.
“Is there something you wish to say?”
He shook his head and asked,
“Were you aware that the Prince's curse has stabilized?”
“The curse…?”
My eyes widened, and he gave a solemn nod.
“Ever since the Prince's curse first manifested, it has never been this stable.”
“Do you mean Caesar's condition is settled now?”
Still, even if he were a wizard, how could he be so certain with a mere glance? To begin with, I did not even comprehend what it meant for the curse to stabilize.
“What is this curse, in truth? And how can you know it has settled?”
I questioned him with mounting agitation, yet he merely looked upon me in silence before uttering words that stunned me to my core:
“Have you seen strange visions of late? Have you heard phantom voices, or had abnormal dreams?”
My eyes rounded in utter disbelief.
“H-how did you know?!”
“…Just as I anticipated.”
He kept his gaze upon me while I remained lost in confusion. Then, slipping off his black leather glove, he tucked it beneath his arm to reveal long, pale fingers.
“Your hand.”
I hesitated, but he had aided me before and showed no ill intent, so I extended my hand. He took it in silence and closed his eyes.
Before long, he spoke again.
“…You possess an aptitude for magic.”
“Magic…?”
I stared at him with profound suspicion. The events of this day were moving at a dizzying pace, and now he was telling me I had magical talent?
“Flores… You are a descendant of the Great Wizard Cosimo, so it is hardly unexpected.”
“Yet I cannot wield magic.”
Had I possessed any talent, it would have surfaced in my childhood. Magic was an innate gift; sensing and controlling magical energy was known as ‘magical affinity.’
Such affinity almost always manifested in one's youth, and magical lineages routinely conducted tests to confirm it.
Wizards were exceptionally rare, so gifted children were identified early and carefully nurtured.
I, too, had undergone that very test before being taken into the Flores household, which was why I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was devoid of magical talent.
“Regarding this magic… No, this is an exceedingly peculiar case. How strange.”
“Do you mean it is a different kind of magic?”
“And you, how much do you know of the curse?”
I lowered my head, attempting to recall what little I knew of that mysterious affliction.
“All I know… is that the King was cursed as the price for slaying the mad dragon Tigrush hundreds of years ago. Nothing more.”
“In other words, you know practically nothing.”
A pang tightened in my chest at his blunt assessment. Even so, was this not what I had longed for—to finally uncover the truth behind the curse? It seemed the conversation would be lengthy, so I proposed some refreshments. Soon, a small table was prepared in the reception parlor.
Taking a quiet sip of his tea, Richard set the cup down with deliberate, aristocratic grace.
“Though a thorough examination remains necessary, His Highness's condition appears remarkably stable.”
“And how can you be so certain?”
Richard was no mere physician; he was Prince Caesar's personal royal physician. The Prince's malady was not something an ordinary doctor could handle, demanding instead someone of extraordinary abilities.
“In addition to my mastery of magic, I possess a rare specialty… one dedicated to the study of curses.”
“Curses, then…”
And with that, he began to speak of the affliction reputed to be the curse of the mad dragon, unveiling for the very first time the truth that lay hidden behind all that had transpired.
FADE OUT