146. Isabel Hands Over the Flashlight
"Your Majesty."
At the call, the Queen turned her head, and Olivia turned with her. Several noble ladies were standing there, including Mrs. Lehman, Lucy's nanny.
"Oh, you've all come."
Beatrix gently took Olivia's arm.
"Olivia, these are noble ladies who are close to me. Let me introduce you."
Then, a petite noble lady with a red shawl approached Olivia and urged the Queen in a friendly voice.
"Your Majesty, please introduce me to Her Highness first. Me first. I've been waiting for this moment since the Royal School founding celebration."
"Oh, my. I need to have an entrance consultation, so me first, Your Majesty. I must find out about admission to Herollington University today. It's very urgent."
Beatrix let out an exaggerated sigh and said as if she couldn't help it.
"I'll introduce you in order of age. Starting with the eldest."
"Oh, my goodness. How cruel."
A burst of laughter erupted, and Olivia couldn't help but laugh along.
Time flew by quickly.
Olivia genuinely laughed for the first time in days and had a real conversation with people. She momentarily forgot about Noah, who occupied a corner of her mind, forgot about the Magic Dome that was shaking Herot, and thus forgot even about time.
As the sun, which had been hanging overhead, slipped westward and slowly set, someone approached Olivia and spoke to her.
"It's been a while, Your Highness."
Mrs. Lehman, who had been talking with Olivia, subtly stiffened.
When Olivia turned her head toward the person who had called her, there stood someone with magnificent red hair that seemed to have melted the sunset.
How could Olivia ever forget this red hair?
Olivia raised her lips in a smile and greeted her.
"It's been a while, Seymour Young Lady. How have you been?"
Queen Beatrix, who had been watching the scene from afar, put down her wine glass with a clatter, revealing her discomfort. A noble lady standing anxiously beside her bowed politely.
"Duchess Coleman, I'm curious as to why you brought Seymour's daughter to this gathering."
At the Queen's direct words, Duchess Coleman wore an earnest expression.
"Isabel is scheduled to marry my son Jackson Coleman soon, Your Majesty. I ask that you see her not as Seymour's daughter, but as a Coleman woman. Isabel will apologize to the Princess consort today for her mother's rudeness."
Duchess Coleman turned her head and looked at Isabel. The light in her dark brown eyes was as hard and stern as mahogany wood.
The Duchess then turned back to the Queen and spoke as loyally as a knight.
"Coleman exists for the glory of Astrid."
"……."
"Please forgive us for deciding to accept Seymour's daughter, who dared to challenge the glory of Astrid, as a member of our family, Your Majesty."
At that moment, Olivia stood up from her seat. Then, she headed to the empty terrace with Isabel. Mrs. Lehman, who had been with Olivia, gave her a look of urgency.
After agonizing over it, Beatrix picked up her wine glass again and opened her mouth.
"I'll try to believe those words. Coleman has always been loyal."
Duchess Coleman nodded as if asking to be believed, then murmured in a weary voice.
"Parents can't win against their children."
"……."
"I just couldn't win."
The Coleman couple had opposed it, but Jackson Coleman insisted that it had to be Isabel. They couldn't win.
The Duchess's deep, heartfelt sigh reached the Queen.
Beatrix raised her eyes and looked at the terrace where Olivia and Isabel had disappeared. What could they be talking about?
The fences of family and parents were so solid.
Isabel realized that only after the fences had disappeared.
"I didn't want to take you as my daughter-in-law."
The Coleman Duchess's fierce gaze, which had once held her hand tightly and praised her to her mother, felt like it was cutting into her skin.
"The Coleman Marquess family must maintain a friendly relationship with the Royal Family. But didn't Mrs. Seymour commit rudeness to the Princess consort? I didn't want to create trouble by taking you as my daughter-in-law."
"Then why……."
"Because of Jackson."
Her dark brown eyes were so cold that Isabel felt a chill. The Duchess stared intently at her face.
"Today is Queen Beatrix's charity party. I heard that Her Highness is also attending. Come with me now. Attend and apologize to the Princess consort for your mother's rudeness."
"But……!"
"Why? What more do you have to apologize for regarding that matter?"
Duchess Coleman chuckled and picked up her teacup.
"If you don't want to, call off this marriage."
"...Pardon?"
"I don't want to bring someone into the family who will become a source of trouble, even if they can't be of benefit. The Marquess feels the same way. If you want to become a member of the Coleman family, follow our family's traditions. The Princess consort is the Princess consort. The Royal Family is the Royal Family."
"……."
"What will you do, Isabel?"
At Mrs. Coleman's cold question, Isabel eventually came to this place.
She couldn't leave the capital with her family. She didn't know where the obsession that she had to die in the capital came from, but she desperately wanted to stay in the capital.
As the terrace door closed, the Princess consort turned to look at her.
"Do you have something to say to me?"
The Princess consort, with the faint light behind her, was very beautiful. Isabel was unbearably envious of her for having both the Tiara and Noah Astrid, which she had been unable to give up on.
"You are someone who doesn't need her recognition. The Princess consort is the Princess consort. Just keep that in mind."
Recalling Duchess Coleman's voice, Isabel clenched her teeth tightly. Then, she bowed politely.
"I apologize for my mother's rudeness, Your Highness. Please forgive her."
Tears seemed to pour out at the flood of shame. As her eyes grew hot, Isabel pressed her eyes shut tightly.
How ridiculous must I look to you?
A fleeting moment felt like an eternity, and then a detached voice landed above her head.
"There's nothing for me to forgive, nor is there anything for you to ask me for forgiveness for."
A voice devoid of even a shred of joy or ridicule felt foreign.
Isabel opened her eyes wide. When she raised her head, the Princess consort was looking at her with a face as detached as her voice.
"What does that……."
"Just be polite to me from now on. I'll be polite too."
"Are you accepting my apology?"
"Does it matter whether I accept it or not?"
"It matters."
"Then let's say I've accepted it. If someone asks me, I'll say I have."
Isabel grew increasingly irritated. Her heart was churning wildly like a stormy sea, but the Princess consort was so unconcerned.
Knowing she shouldn't, Isabel couldn't take her eyes off the Princess consort, looking at her as if she were glaring.
"If you have nothing more to say, I'll be on my way."
The Princess consort gracefully straightened her back and walked past her.
Isabel's lower lip trembled.
'Don't you find it ridiculous, the way I'm floundering in this abyss?'
Isabel turned to Olivia and called out to her.
"Just a moment, Your Highness."
Olivia stopped. Because the lamp was behind Isabel, Olivia's face was clearly visible as she turned around.
Isabel looked her straight in the eye and opened her clutch. As she slowly took out the silver object that shone coldly even in the dim light, the Princess consort's gaze followed.
Isabel held out the flashlight to her.
"Isn't this flashlight… yours?"
Isabel's heart pounded.
How strange. She had clearly held it out wanting to hurt the Princess consort, but…….
As the Princess consort accepted the flashlight, why did Isabel feel like she was falling into a deeper abyss?
The Princess consort looked down at the flashlight with an inscrutable expression, then raised her head. And she slowly opened her mouth.
"That's right. It's the item I gave to His Highness the Prince."
Isabel's mind went blank.
How futile was the dream she had longed for?
"Why did you show this to me?"
"...To return it."
The Princess consort chuckled. Then, she handed the flashlight back.
"I gave it to His Highness the Prince, and if His Highness gave it to you, then it's yours. There's no need to return it to me. If you want to dispose of it, Seymour Young Lady, you dispose of it."
There was no lingering emotion in her clean rejection.
How could this woman be so clean? Why doesn't she ever waver, not even once?
"Aren't you curious how I came to have this?"
It was a foolish question.
The Princess consort's expression darkened for a moment, but she said calmly.
"That's probably because His Highness gave it to you before he married me."
"……."
"Each person's life has its own reasons, so no matter how much I love him, I don't want to dig into the past. If he gave it to you, he must have had a reason to, and it's not related to me, so I won't bother to pry."
"……."
"It would have been better if I hadn't known, but now that I know, there's nothing I can do. I'll give up and forget. So dispose of that item as you see fit. If you came here with the intention of apologizing to me, that is."
It was a clean rejection and an equally clean reason.
The Princess consort gracefully turned and disappeared, and Isabel was left alone in the mire. With the flashlight that the Prince had thrown away to her.
Standing there blankly, Isabel became genuinely envious of Olivia.
She was envious of her for uttering the word 'give up,' and she was envious of her composure to be able to turn away without regret.
Isabel stood there and stared at the flashlight for a long time, oblivious to the biting winter wind that was rustling through her clothes.
