Chapter 44.
“How clever.”
It was a phrase Mari had never heard before in her life, making her doubt her ears.
“The fortune-teller clearly said it would be a son! You ruined my life by being born. My body is wrecked, and I lost my job!”
Even her birth mother had said that.
“You’re creepy. Why are you so un-childlike for a kid? If you’d at least act cute and sweet, it might be worth taking care of you.”
Neither her mother nor Lady Noivan, who took over after her, had ever said such a thing to her.
“This little child, trying so hard to protect herself… Sigh.”
That’s how she survived so long. Incomprehensible words followed.
“It’s a relief the princess is smart. We almost had a real disaster.”
“Yes, the court physician says the organ damage isn’t beyond recovery, so you don’t need to worry too much. More importantly…”
Elsa asked cautiously.
“Do you plan to continue caring for Princess Mari at Rene Palace?”
At those words, Mari tensed naturally.
It was absurd. Caring for her was an incredibly bothersome and annoying task.
That’s why Lady Noivan had been feeding her sleeping pills from so long ago.
“Of course? Who else would properly take care of this child if not me?”
But the response that came was unbelievable.
“She’s my little sister. Even if she weren’t, I couldn’t stand by and watch a child abused like this. I’ll raise her myself.”
Rene paused in silence before continuing.
“I’ve vowed to make everyone happy.”
Happy. The unfamiliar word filled Mari with confusion.
‘Why is she trying to be so good to me?’
Of course, Mari knew that Rene was her half-sister. But the gap was so vast that she felt embarrassed even thinking of calling her sister.
Rene Stade was the Emperor’s legitimate eldest daughter, a figure unprecedented in Stade history with her immense magic, known as the goddess of war.
For someone like her, born as the illegitimate child of a mere dancer, to dare call Rene sister was impossible.
It was only natural for her not to pay attention to Mari, like ignoring an ant on the roadside. And yet…
“Of course, everything might feel sudden to you, but I’ve come to realize anew how long I’ve neglected you.”
Suddenly, Rene started visiting Nox Palace and showing interest in her. It was bewildering, but Mari decided not to make a big deal of it.
“You’re not thinking it’s special that Princess Rene is interested in you, are you? Wake up. That woman is so fickle. She even canceled her own birthday banquet on the day because she was in a bad mood. It’s just a passing fancy.”
That’s why she couldn’t speak about Lady Noivan’s abuse.
If she rashly mentioned it and Rene lost interest, an enraged Lady Noivan might really kill her.
After all, the Emperor didn’t care about her anyway. She couldn’t risk her life on uncertain attention.
“Hello, Mari. You sleep a lot more than I thought. You don’t seem to grow much for how much you sleep, though…”
“I brought some roses from the garden today. The roses in Rene Palace’s garden are quite pretty. Come visit sometime.”
“Do you like tart? Our chef makes apple tart really well. I brought some so we could eat together.”
But Rene’s visits were quite consistent.
To avoid Lady Noivan finding out, she had to keep pretending to sleep, making Rene make many fruitless trips despite that.
“That leech of a woman. Why does she keep coming? You didn’t say anything unnecessary, did you?”
Lady Noivan started getting anxious too. Meanwhile, Mari remained cautious.
It was probably a temporary whim. There was no reason for Princess Rene to keep paying attention to her.
“It would be great if you came to the wedding. You’re part of my family too.”
But when she received the dress as a gift and was invited to the wedding, even Mari felt confused for a moment.
‘…What if I go and His Majesty the Emperor gets angry? Maybe Her Highness just said it casually? Or perhaps to mock me…’
After deep deliberation, Mari decided to go to the wedding.
Even if Rene had called her to ridicule her, it seemed okay. She could think of it as repaying the interest shown so far.
But Lady Noivan was vehemently opposed.
“Have you gone mad?”
“Ah!”
“How dare you show your shabby self to His Majesty the Emperor? At the princess’s wedding, no less? Absolutely not!”
…But there was no need to shred the dress gifted by Her Highness with scissors.
The moment she saw the dress torn to shreds by the scissors, Mari felt her vision spin.
For the first time in her life, she screamed and lunged at Lady Noivan, but she was no match for the sturdy woman.
“After all I’ve done raising you, you dare talk back? Fine, today you’ll die!”
In the end, she was beaten severely and locked in the wardrobe. After starving for over a day like that, her stomach ached terribly.
When she thought this might really be the end.
Suddenly, the wardrobe door opened with a sound, and a maid she’d seen before, with a stiff expression, lifted her body and whispered.
“It’s okay now. Everything will be alright.”
As promised, she received luxurious treatment.
A physician came to examine her body, prescribed proper medicine, and she was laid down under clean blankets that smelled fresh and soft.
“You have to drink it all. Not a drop left.”
That’s why, even when Rene said those dreadful words, she could smile and drink all the medicine.
“That way, you’ll get better soon, and we can eat desserts together, go for walks, and sightsee in the city.”
She felt certain this person wouldn’t harm her.
“I…”
Surely, after receiving such treatment, she should repay it.
As she slowly opened her eyes, Princess Rene asked in surprise.
“You’re awake? How do you feel?”
“I can clean well.”
Rene furrowed her brow at the abrupt words. Of course, cleaning alone wouldn’t suffice.
“I-I’m good at laundry too, and I can learn to cook. I’ll do anything.”
In her urgency, Mari said whatever came to mind.
Then she thought of one more thing, but it was embarrassing as a skill, so she held back.
She didn’t want to raise expectations and disappoint. Still, this should be enough…
“So… could you use me as a maid…?”
Immediately, Mari felt her heart drop. Glancing up, Rene’s expression wasn’t good.
Was she disappointed that Mari wasn’t as useful as expected? She waited anxiously for the verdict.
“Mari.”
Suddenly, Rene leaned down and embraced her.
It was the same warmth from yesterday, but hugs were still unfamiliar, so Mari froze stiff.
The deep sigh brushing her ear made her tremble even more.
“You’re my little sister. How could I use you as a maid?”
“But to be useful…”
“You don’t have to be useful.”
Rene patted Mari’s back and whispered.
“Your role is to get healthy. Yeah, that’s all.”
Words she’d never heard before were hard to believe, leaving Mari stunned for a moment.
“Th-then I… can stay here?”
“Of course.”
“I-I’m all grown up, I don’t need much care. Really… I can do laundry and cleaning myself, and I’ll stay out of sight.”
“No, you’ll stay in the room next to mine. Wearing pretty dresses, not getting a drop of water on your hands, eating desserts with me and chatting away.”
Rene, quickly correcting herself, looked at Mari and grinned.
“You’ll stay by my side, right?”
The moment she saw that smile, Mari felt a hot surge welling up from her heart.
But she strained not to cry. What if Rene changed her mind, hating crybabies?
‘…I’ll become someone truly useful to Her Highness.’
Mari resolved. Somehow, she’d repay the grace of being rescued and taken in.
If her life was needed, she’d give that gladly too.
After all, without Rene, her life would have ended yesterday in that narrow wardrobe.
***
After checking on Mari’s condition, I headed straight to Solara Palace. The Emperor must already know about the situation anyway.
“Send Lady Noivan to a nunnery in the slums. In a dark, musty cell, eating rotten food, getting beaten by a nasty nun, and taking sleeping pills with every meal—that might ease my anger a bit.”
At my words, Emperor Otto made a slightly annoyed expression and sighed.
“That’s excessive. Must you go that far?”
“I know what you’re worried about.”
I didn’t hesitate to say words that would have made Joachim faint if he’d heard.
“You don’t want to be criticized for neglecting Princess Mari until things got this bad, right?”
