But she recovered in an instant and hurried after Princess Rene into the hall.
“Your Highness!”
Rene Stade meant everything she said. This was not a threat. It was a statement of intent.
If this became public, even the Empress’s private promise of the consort position would mean nothing — she would change her mind.
Adelina broke into an undignified run and barely managed to catch up, helped only by the fact that Princess Rene was walking at a slower pace than usual, accommodating Princess Marie beside her.
“Wait — please, just a moment—”
“You have guests inside. A hostess shouldn’t simply disappear like this.”
“I — I have committed an unforgivable wrong. Please, just this once — spare me… please—”
As she begged, something cracked open inside her, and the tears came without warning.
How much had she sacrificed, for how many years, in pursuit of becoming Empress? She had suffocated her own nature, smiling sweetly in public like a doll, suppressing every emotion that might betray her.
She had cultivated herself — her manners, her knowledge, her bearing — all to give herself an edge against Princess Rene. And for what?
Poor, wretched Adelina.
The self-pity surged through her, and the sobbing would not stop.
But Princess Rene’s expression did not soften in the slightest. At that moment, Adelina’s instincts told her to try a different angle.
“Princess Marie!”
She darted forward, seized the hem of Princess Marie’s dress, and sank to her knees.
As she had anticipated, the young princess — small and gentle-natured as she was — looked flustered and entirely at a loss.
Adelina gripped her hem tighter and pressed her case.
“Please, I beg your mercy. I know that what I did to you is beyond forgiveness — but if you would only look past it this one time, I swear I will never forget the grace you have shown me.”
“Oh…”
“Don’t put Princess Marie in a difficult position, Lady Adelina.”
Even as she said it, Rene’s eyes flickered briefly toward Marie — quietly, involuntarily.
That Rene Stade of all people could be moved by a bastard princess of all people.
Adelina found it almost incomprehensible. But it also told her exactly which string to pull.
“If your anger cannot be appeased any other way — I would offer myself as Princess Marie’s lady-in-waiting. I would prove my sincerity in whatever way you required—!”
“Honestly, Marie. She’s doing this because she knows you’re soft-hearted.”
“…Lady Adelina.”
And then — after a long silence — Princess Marie spoke.
Adelina pressed down the sudden surge of hope and looked up at her.
In that same instant, the hand that had been clutching Marie’s hem was gently but firmly detached.
“…Hm?”
“I will simply follow whatever Her Highness decides. You don’t need to do this.”
“Your — Your Highness—”
“Let’s go.”
And with that, Princess Marie linked arms with Princess Rene, and the two of them walked away down the corridor without a backward glance.
Adelina watched them go, frozen in place.
Then, under her breath, something slipped out.
“This— you little—”
“Lady Adelina!”
Someone had followed her out into the hall and was calling her name. She turned to find the same oblivious young lady from before.
“A-are you all right? I’m so sorry — I shouldn’t have said what I said to Her Highness, I—”
At least she knows what she did.
Every impulse in Adelina’s body screamed at her to unload her fury — to say exactly what she thought, to make the woman feel every word of it.
But she was not so foolish as to act on it. The game was not over yet.
Adelina drew a slow breath in the depths of herself and brought her composure back by force. Then she turned to the woman with her most sorrowful eyes.
“How could any of this be your fault? It’s all down to my own stupidity… I’m just so…”
She let the tears come again. The hapless young lady fussed over her, speaking all sorts of reassurances that Adelina couldn’t hear at all.
All right. Back into that drawing room, and make the most of what’s left. I’ll say I nearly fainted from the heat and had to step out for air. Who would fault me for that?
Adelina’s resilience was, if anything, equal to her ambition. Even now, her mind was already spinning, already building the next plan.
* * *
“You look troubled, Marie.”
I said it lightly, leaning back in the carriage on the way back to Rene Palace, and Marie started and shook her head. I smiled a little.
“You’re not fine. A girl as good-natured as you can’t possibly feel all right after something like that.”
“But Your Highness was so composed…”
“That’s because I’m not particularly good-natured.”
Marie’s eyes went wide, as if I had said something genuinely baffling.
“There is no one in this world as kind as Your Highness.”
You might be the only person who thinks so. A small laugh escaped me.
“Thank you.”
“I mean it…”
“I know.”
I reached over and ruffled her hair.
“Did it feel even a little satisfying?”
“…A little.”
“I found the whole thing infuriating, honestly. If I hadn’t gone today, what happened that day would have been twisted into something else entirely and spread through every drawing room in the empire.”
At least now, having been confronted so directly, Adelina would think twice before denying it again.
“Do you really intend to take it to His Majesty the Emperor?”
“There’s nothing stopping me.”
“…He might not take my side.”
That stung, because it was probably true. Even the punishment for Lady Noivan had ultimately come down to my stubborn insistence.
“That won’t happen. I’ll be on your side.”
That much I could promise without hesitation. Marie smiled — just a little, soft and shy — and I smiled back.
“And even if the Emperor doesn’t stand by you, it doesn’t matter. What I actually want is to make sure that woman never becomes Crown Princess Consort.”
To Adelina, that was a crueler sentence than death.
Adelina Weiss was a woman who had mapped out her entire life — Crown Princess Consort, Crown Princess, Empress — with perfect precision, from girlhood. She had always been full of anger inside, swallowing her sharp tongue and volatile temper for the sake of that single driving goal.
In the original story, right before her execution, she had cursed the Emperor with remarkable creativity — blaming everything on him for stupidly letting the defeated kingdom’s prince slip away.
“The one who should be taking her side is someone else entirely.”
“What? Who?”
The carriage arrived at Rene Palace just then. I smiled at Marie and said:
“Go on ahead. I have somewhere else to be.”
Marie nodded without asking questions and stepped out of the carriage. I directed it onward at once, toward Luna Palace — the Empress’s residence.
“Y-Your — Your Imperial Highness—”
The maid who received me at Luna Palace looked like she might faint on the spot, trembling where she stood.
And no wonder. In nearly ten years, Rene had not once set foot in Luna Palace. Not once.
It was her mother’s palace. The woman who had conducted an affair with her father while her mother lay dying had moved in and taken it for herself. Of course Rene had stayed away.
Not that Empress Gisela had been eager to encourage visits, either — ever since the incident ten years ago, she had been quietly terrified that history might repeat itself.
As expected, I could feel the maids of Luna Palace exchanging rapid, anxious glances. I smiled to myself.
“What — would you like to search me?”
“Well, if it would not cause offense, Your Highness—”
Someone answered with perfect guileless honesty, and the head lady-in-waiting shot her a withering look before turning to me and bowing deeply.
“We would never presume to subject Your Imperial Highness to such a thing. Please — allow me to escort you to the drawing room.”
And so I set foot in Luna Palace for the first time.
With every step, a quiet ache moved through me. It seemed that Rene had held this place in her heart far more tenderly than she had ever shown.
“Your — Your Highness.”
I had not been waiting long in the drawing room when Empress Gisela appeared. The pallor of her face told me plainly how shaken she was.
“What brings you here? You gave me quite a fright.”
“Have I come somewhere I’m not welcome?”
“Good heavens, don’t say that — I’m simply surprised, that’s all.”
Empress Gisela gave a bright little laugh and slid a teacup toward me.
“You should have had some while you were waiting. It has rather a lovely fragrance.”
“I was afraid it might be poisoned.”
“…Oh my.”
She looked flustered and swapped my cup for her own.
When I still made no move to touch it, the Empress pressed her lips together in a small pout.
“It has an antidote mixed in, anyway.”
“So you did put something in it.”
“I did not!”
The Empress spluttered.
“What on earth do you take me for?”
“A pretty stepmother?”
My offhand remark seemed to land somewhere between compliment and insult, because her expression turned distinctly suspicious. I took the teacup and said:
“I’ve come to ask a favor.”
“…You? A favor? Of me?”
The Empress looked as though she had misheard. I nodded.
“You’ve designated Lady Adelina Weiss as the future Crown Princess Consort, haven’t you?”
The Empress stiffened — how did you know written plainly across her face.
“Change it.”
“What? To — to whom?”
“Marcella Weiss.”
I set down the teacup.
“Lady Adelina’s younger sister.”
