Chapter 50.
As soon as we returned to Rene Palace, I called for the court physician to have Mari treated.
Mari’s wounds were deeper than I’d thought. Just watching her receive treatment made me feel the pain myself.
Fortunately, the diagnosis was that with proper application of ointment, there would be no scars.
“That’s a relief. No scars on this cute face.”
And all because of that mere Adelina Weiss.
The memory resurfaced, making me grit my teeth as I gently touched Mari’s cheek. She smiled shyly and nodded.
“I’ll apply the ointment diligently. Don’t worry.”
“Yes, you’re pretty.”
I smiled warmly and stroked her hair.
“You must have been really shocked today. Want to rest in your room? Or, even though it’s late, shall we have teatime together?”
“Teatime!”
Mari exclaimed immediately. It was the first time I’d seen her so enthusiastic, and while I was a bit surprised, she quickly grew shy again.
“I was… looking forward to it a lot.”
“Oh, I see.”
Come to think of it, Joachim had mentioned she seemed expectant starting two hours early.
“Yes, let’s go. Shall we get up now?”
“Y-Your Highness…!”
At that moment, Mari called out to stop me. I looked at her with an expression asking what was wrong, and she fidgeted awkwardly.
“Um, your hand, just once…”
“Hm? My hand?”
As instructed, I extended my hand palm up, and Mari carefully brought her clenched fist over it before opening it.
Something very light and smooth touched my palm.
When Mari withdrew her hand, a dainty four-leaf clover lay there.
“Oh, what’s this?”
“…For inviting me to teatime today.”
Mari spoke in a shy voice.
“It’s a gift of thanks. Though it’s humble…”
“You went out to look for this?”
Mari nodded, and in that instant, a wave of complex emotions washed over me.
It was the contrast between her wary demeanor when we first met and now, her going out to find a four-leaf clover for me.
The four-leaf clover was pristine, without a single crease. A suspicion dawned on me as I asked.
“You fell on your elbow earlier because you were holding this tightly?”
Mari smiled awkwardly. Overwhelmed with emotion, I pulled her into a tight hug.
“You fool, hurting your elbow over something like this. If you’d fallen on your palm, it would have hurt less…”
“Then the four-leaf clover would have torn. It was so hard to find… It would have been such a waste.”
“Nothing is more precious than your body.”
I gave her one more firm hug, then smiled brightly.
“Thank you, Mari. I’ll dry it carefully and treasure it. How did you pick one with such a pretty shape?”
“Princess Mari chose the prettiest one among the four-leaf clovers she found.”
A maid who had been watching from the side interjected.
She found more than one? I turned my head in surprise, and Mari said awkwardly.
“I wanted to give you the prettiest one possible. Since it’s for Your Highness…”
“You’re so thoughtful, I don’t know what to do with myself, Mari. Thank you so much. How can I repay you?”
“You’ve already given me more than I deserve. Earlier… thank you for getting angry on my behalf.”
“I didn’t overdo it. You’re a princess too. And my sister.”
Try saying sister again, I prompted, and Mari’s face turned as red as a radish. I gave her a light glare and asked.
“You did it just fine earlier?”
“T-That was…”
Seeing her fidget so restlessly, I decided that was enough for today and stood up with a laugh.
“L-Let’s go together, sister.”
Mari grabbed the hem of my dress firmly as she said it. My eyes widened in surprise, then I broke into a wide smile and clasped her hand in mine.
When we arrived at the garden like that, unexpectedly, the two men who had been laughing while holding their teacups spotted us and jumped up from their seats.
“Your Highness, are you all right? Princess Mari…”
“Hm.”
Come to think of it, if Joachim heard about today’s events, he’d probably clutch the back of his neck in frustration.
I smiled nonchalantly, led Mari to her seat, and sat down.
“It was nothing major. On the way here, Mari nearly got hit by Lady Weiss’s carriage and fell.”
“What? You mean really…!”
“So I twisted her wrist for her.”
Joachim’s voice, which had been rising, cut off abruptly. After a brief pause, he asked cautiously, looking utterly bewildered.
“Did you break it?”
“Hmm. I think I controlled my strength.”
My offhand reply made Joachim’s expression even more flustered. It seemed he still hadn’t given up on his dream of making me the emperor.
“There was justification, so relax your face. You’re not suggesting I should have endured it right there, are you?”
Worried that Mari might pick up on it, I asked with a stern expression, and Joachim shook his head.
“I wouldn’t dare demand such a thing of Your Highness. I’m merely concerned that it might become troublesome for you.”
“It was just a fair punishment, so no need to worry.”
“Are you all right, Your Highness?”
At that moment, Friedrich, who had been quietly assessing the situation, asked. I nodded with a warm smile.
“My hand hurt a bit from the slap? But it’s fine now…”
Before I could even finish, Friedrich took my right hand and began massaging it.
Lately, he’d been doing this silently for me quite often, so I just accepted it with a laugh.
“Actually, I thought I might get quite close with Lady Weiss, but it seems difficult now.”
“There’s no need for Your Highness to go out of your way. Does that mean you’ll skip next week’s tea gathering with Lady Weiss?”
“Hmm, no? That wouldn’t be polite. I said I’d go.”
I shook my head with a smile, and Joachim, who knew about the incident from ten years ago, smiled back with a slightly worried expression. Then Friedrich added a comment.
“Perhaps due to today’s events, the tea gathering might be postponed.”
“All the more reason to attend. She might leave out her own fault and go around saying I twisted an innocent person’s wrist, right?”
Honestly, it wouldn’t matter much if she did, but I wanted to see Adelina’s uncomfortable expression when I showed up.
“I can’t stand people making up stories where there are none.”
***
When Adelina Weiss arrived home, the Weiss mansion was in an uproar. It was because Adelina had appeared with her wrist swollen and puffy.
“What on earth happened, Adelina!”
Marquis Weiss, who doted on his daughter terribly, flew into a rage at her condition.
“Who dared to do this to your wrist! Did you run into thugs on the way here?”
“You’re not wrong. I met a thug from the Stade Imperial Palace.”
“What do you mean?”
“Princess Rene did this to my wrist. She said I was impudent.”
As she finished speaking, Adelina began to cry. The marquis asked in confusion.
“Why would Princess Rene do this to you? Did you perhaps do something wrong?”
“Father!”
Earlier, he’d been acting like he’d punish anyone responsible.
At her father’s sudden shift to objectivity, Adelina screamed in disbelief.
“No matter what wrong I did, does that justify twisting someone’s wrist like this?”
“Well, no… but.”
The marquis, not knowing the full context, hesitated, and Adelina cried again, protesting her innocence.
“In this hot summer, just because I rode a carriage inside the palace, does that warrant treating someone like this!”
“You rode a carriage inside the palace? Adelina, why on earth would you do such a thing…!”
“I was so hot back then—my head was dizzy, and my legs were shaky.”
Adelina added symptoms that hadn’t even been there to elicit her father’s sympathy. And she subtly slipped in her true feelings.
“Besides, I’m going to be the prince’s consort soon anyway, so what’s the harm in riding one a little early?”
“Even so, riding a carriage in the palace has been permitted only to the imperial family ever since Emperor Max was killed by a noble’s carriage a hundred years ago.”
“…”
“Even Duke Rommel walks no matter if it’s raining or snowing…”
“Father, your daughter comes home after being treated like this by the princess, and you’re bringing up her lover? You’re saying since Duke Rommel walks, why should I ride a carriage?”
“Ah, no. I didn’t say that.”
Seeing no sign of the empathy she wanted from her father, Adelina wore a hurt expression and lashed out in anger. Only then did the marquis seem to realize his mistake, belatedly trying to soothe his daughter.
“Why on earth would Princess Rene…! Don’t dwell on it too much, Adel. She’s famously known for her capricious and unrestrained temperament. How about this—tomorrow, Father will buy you that dress you’ve been wanting. What do you say?”
“Forget some damn dress. I want to make the princess kneel at my feet. Just like I did in front of her today.”
Adelina ground her teeth and clenched her right hand tightly, only to quickly release it as the pain surged through.
“I’ll become the prince’s consort, then the crown princess, then the empress—and I’ll definitely make it happen.”
