124. Show Me the Person I Love
124. Show Me the Person I Love
[Chapter 124] - Show Me the Person I Love.
-Gasp...!
Along with Ainsel's sound of shocked breathing, the images of Katarina and Vivian that had been reflecting in the mirror vanished in an instant. It was because Ainsel had cut the connection to her clone right then and there.
Ainsel truly hadn't intended to show Titania this side of Vivian. She had simply meant to show her from afar, to see how Vivian was living. She felt sorry for Vivian, but...
'Because the Princess misses Vivian so much.'
Ever since Vivian disappeared, Titania had been missing her terribly and suffering so much. So, she thought that if she showed her that Vivian was alive, perhaps she might cheer up a little.
That was all it was, but...
"Ha..."
The corners of Titania's mouth, which had been watching Vivian's image, collapsed, and soon she wore a bitter, cynical smile. With that bitter smile, Titania stood up from her seat and slowly approached Ainsel.
"Why? Not showing any more?"
-I, th-that... this is...
Ainsel, not knowing what to do, rolled her eyes to avoid Titania's gaze. As Titania approached, Ainsel shook her head with a tearful face, but it was no use.
"Ainsel."
Titania, having reached Ainsel, grabbed the mirror's frame tightly. As the frame creaked and twisted, Ainsel looked at Titania as if she were truly about to cry.
Looking at such a Titania, Ainsel felt as if she were a different person. She trembled, on the verge of tears, thinking that this didn't seem like the Princess she had known until now. After all, everything was a first.
The ice-cold voice calling her name, the coldly furious expression she had never seen before, and the incredibly firm and heartless tone—these were all things she was feeling for the first time from the Titania she had been with for over a decade.
"Show me Mother."
-Ah, ugh...
In the end, Ainsel, with her head bowed, began to show Vivian again. The mirror blurred, and soon the images of Vivian and Katarina appeared in the large mirror once more. The two of them were holding each other.
Titania narrowed her eyes and watched the scene calmly. Her mother, sobbing in some unknown place, and an unknown woman holding her and comforting her.
The unknown woman reflected in the mirror stroked the hair of the mother she was holding tight and continued to say something incomprehensible. Truly, Titania could not understand the conversation between the two.
'It's, it's okay... Surely, that child will understand you too...'
'Will she...?'
Titania wiped the mirror and gave a wry smile. Understand? Understand what? What on earth do you want me to understand? You're suffering because Mother left my side, so you want me to understand that?
You want me to understand seeing her being held in the arms of another woman, receiving comfort so tenderly? That it couldn't be helped because she was suffering after leaving me? So you want me to understand?
If you were going to suffer like that, you shouldn't have left.
If you were going to be that lonely, you should have stayed by my side.
You thought by yourself, decided by yourself, and left my side without a word, and now you want me to understand even that? What on earth do you want me to understand? You didn't say a single word to me.
Just that it was a promise. That it was already decided. That you were sorry. If you leave after saying only those things, how am I supposed to understand? Did you think I would just go, 'Ah, I see,' and understand if you left behind nothing but a single letter?
No, I will never understand. I don't even want to understand. If you truly left for my sake, you shouldn't have left like this. No, you shouldn't have left my side. You should have stayed by my side no matter what.
"...What on earth should I do?"
A faint moisture touched Titania's voice. Soon, her shoulders trembled, and she clenched her fists, eyes wide as she stared at her mother reflected in the mirror. What on earth should she do with that person?
What should I do with that person who left as she pleased, only to suffer alone, be lonely alone, and be sad alone, all while being comforted by a woman other than me?
She gnawed on her fingernail in contemplation until it cracked halfway.
"...I have to bring her back, first."
Yes, she had to bring her back first. And she had to let her know. That everything she was thinking was wrong. That if she truly cared for her, she had to stay here and support her.
That there was nowhere else for her to be but here.
That there was no one else to comfort her but her.
That there was no one else to comfort her but her.
So, she had to be by her side for the rest of her life.
She had to let her know, even if she had to catch her and tie her up.
To catch her, who would run away like sand slipping through her fingers the moment she got close, she had no choice but to lock her up in this place, sealed tight like a glass bottle. Otherwise, she would just run away again.
That won't do. Absolutely not.
I might forgive you twice, but I won't forgive you a third time.
Truly, the bad thoughts wouldn't stop. She considered just having someone go and kidnap her, but she felt like she would just run away from her side again if she did that. However, there were various ways to catch her mother.
She had already thought of more than five methods in her head. The worst idea among them was to declare her mother a Witch. To send letters all over the country announcing that 'Vivian Liliensole' was a Witch.
If there was any silver lining, it was that this country still had a culture that avoided and loathed 'Witches.' Even now, voices in the temple were still calling for Witches to be found and captured.
It was clear that her mother, once declared a Witch, would be caught in no time. She would just have to bring her mother, who had been betrayed and captured by the people she trusted, to the Royal Castle, fake her execution, and hide her in a room.
Then Mother wouldn't be able to go anywhere.
Socially, she would be as good as dead. She would have to live the rest of her life being protected by her side. Just imagining it, the sweetness of being able to be with the person she loved forever seemed to linger in her mouth.
However...
'...Then, Mother would be sad.'
Then Mother would be sad and suffer.
She didn't want to see her mother suffering.
Titania folded away her bad thoughts and let out a small sigh. The fact that she was having such bad thoughts just because her mother kept running away—didn't that mean she was that desperate?
She was so desperate that she wanted to see her, meet her, love her, and if she couldn't do that, she wanted to make it so she couldn't live without her.
Titania wiped the mirror where the crying Vivian was reflected and gave a gentle smile.
'So... I'll just tie you down.'
So you can't run away from my side.
*
Knock knock-
At the sound of the door being knocked, Titania turned her head to look at where the sound came from.
"Princess. It is Vin Chaud. May I come in?"
"Come in."
As soon as Titania's permission was given, the door opened, and Vin Chaud walked into the room with a dark expression. He then slowly approached Titania and, seeing the wounds on both her knees, continued to speak.
"...Does the wound hurt?"
"Not really."
Titania answered calmly, repeatedly bending and straightening the knee that had the wound. It wasn't that it didn't hurt, but compared to the wound her mother had given her, this was nothing.
Vin Chaud knelt to look at Titania's wound.
Perhaps because the maids had treated it properly, the knee, wrapped in bandages, looked fine on the surface. According to the maid who treated it, if she continued the treatment like this, there would be no scars left.
"So? Why did you come?"
"I heard that the Princess was badly hurt..."
"...It's nothing."
Vin Chaud made a bitter expression at Titania's cold tone. About eight months had passed since Titania, who had graduated from the academy, arrived at the Royal Castle.
The season, which had been spring when Titania arrived, had already gone through summer and autumn, and had become winter before spring came again. A cold late winter with snowstorms pouring down.
It was clear that spring would come soon, but for some reason, Vin Chaud felt as if this winter would last forever. That was how cold Titania's attitude felt.
Titania, who let out a small sigh, turned her head to sit at the vanity and look in the mirror. Then, brushing her hair that had grown down to her waist, she asked Vin Chaud.
"Vin Chaud. How much time is left until my Coronation Ceremony?"
"Yes? Ah... it is next autumn, so... less than a year remains. However, other nobles are asking to move it up to next spring—"
"The Coronation Ceremony will not be moved up. Tell the other ministers that it will proceed next autumn as scheduled."
"But..."
The moment Vin Chaud tried to continue, he couldn't say anything at the sight of Titania's eyes reflected in the mirror. Seeing that the Princess wouldn't listen even if he said more, Vin Chaud sighed and nodded.
"....Yes, I will convey that to the other ministers."
"Good."
Titania looked at her reflection in the mirror, gathered her long hair together, and watched the ends of her hair touch her lower back.
Every morning, the long hair that her mother used to braid first thing when she woke up. The ebony-black hair that her mother always said was as pretty as silk.
Because the mornings with her mother were so happy, Titania spent time every day grooming her hair. She had even tried hard not to let her hair get damaged while at the academy.
Because she wanted to be praised by her mother every morning. It was hair she had grown, hoping that the time her mother spent on her would be longer.
However...
"...Because there's no one left to praise me anymore."
"Yes?"
Titania took scissors from the drawer and chopped off the hair she had tied together in one go. The severed black hair fell to the floor in clumps.
"Princess Titania...?! What is this...!!"
Vin Chaud was shocked from behind, but Titania didn't care. Titania, looking at her hair that had become shoulder-length in an instant, steeled her resolve as she watched the sight.
The resolve to bring her mother here by the Coronation Ceremony. The resolve to bring her back by force, even if she had to become a bad daughter, if she ran away again this time.
She steeled her resolve for the final year.