125. I'm Always Watching
125. I'm Always Watching
[Chapter 125] - I'm Always Watching You.
"Can you read this for me?"
A few days after Titania cut her hair.
Titania quietly placed a thick envelope in front of Veronica and Ainsel. Veronica glanced at Titania once, then opened the envelope on the table and took out the contents.
"This is..."
Veronica let out a low groan as she began to read the contents written on the documents. Most of it was personal information about the nobles working in the royal castle. From ministerial positions down to the lowest-ranking nobles.
Which family they were from, which department they worked in, and even their family relationships. As Veronica read the detailed and meticulous documents, she furrowed her brow slightly.
"...Why are you showing me this?"
"Because I want Eonni and Ainsel to help me. It's nothing big, I'm just thinking of dusting off a little bit of dirt."
"Dirt?"
When Veronica glanced up to look at Titania, Titania smiled brightly, snatched the document from Veronica's hand, and continued her explanation. Why she had shown this document to Veronica and Ainsel.
"The people written on this document are the nobles who 'voted in favor' of sending Mother out of the royal castle. I had Vin Chaud help me narrow it down, but even then... there are so many. Right?"
Titania smiled brightly and flipped through the documents with a pararak sound. Veronica couldn't help but make a bitter expression as she watched her. After all, what Titania was about to do was exactly the same as what Vivian had done in the past.
"...So, are you planning to do the same thing Vivian did back in the day, digging up nobles' weaknesses to blackmail them? Since they kicked Vivian out of the royal castle, you're going to kick them out too?"
"Eonni, that's impossible. How could I kick out innocent nobles? Didn't I tell you? I'm just thinking of dusting off a little bit of dirt, that's all."
"That's the same thing...!"
Veronica tried to argue that it was the same thing, but after seeing Titania's expression, she couldn't continue. The reason Titania had come to have eyes like that was because of her and Ainsel.
Her coldly sunken pupils were shining icily. The red pupils that used to be full of spirit, always looking at her with bold eyes, now looked as if they held nothing at all.
"I'm not really planning to kick out innocent nobles either. Really, if you and Ainsel investigate and find they're clean, I won't kick them out just because they voted to exile Mother. But, but you know? If I dust them off just a little bit and dirt comes out... wouldn't it be better to just plow them over?"
Titania smiled brightly and placed the document back in front of Veronica. Veronica took the document and looked up at Titania once more.
"Eonni, you said you'd help me, right? Hmm?"
Clearly, there was a faint smile on Titania's lips, but her eyes were not smiling. If she had known it would turn out like this, she wouldn't have shown her Vivian, Veronica thought, sincerely regretting her choice.
Veronica flipped through the documents again, checking the identities of the nobles written there. As she saw faces she had seen many times in her regression every time she turned a page, Veronica let out a deep sigh.
"...Do whatever you want."
"Always grateful, Eonni. Ainsel, you'll help too, right?"
Titania turned her head to look at Ainsel, who was sitting on the table, and asked with her eyes curved into a smile. Ainsel stared at Titania blankly for a moment, then soon made a tearful face and nodded.
Once Ainsel's permission was granted, Titania smiled. However, neither Veronica nor Ainsel could smile along with her. They knew that Titania wasn't smiling for real.
Veronica was worried about Titania's behavior. The actions Titania was taking now seemed like preparations for when Vivian returned to this place.
If Vivian didn't return like this...
'...Vivian. I guess both you and I misjudged Titania. I thought Titania could only stand on her own if you left this place. That's why I let you go, too...'
Veronica sighed softly and shook her head.
It was because she could imagine what would happen to Titania if Vivian didn't return. She started to think that maybe, even for Vivian's sake, not just Titania's, they needed to bring her back here.
*
Whenever she had time, Titania watched Vivian through the mirror on her desk. She watched through the mirror every single day to see what her mother was doing and where she was living after leaving her.
As she kept watching, she came to know what her mother was doing after leaving her side, where she was living, and even who she was living with.
Her mother had opened a small confectionery shop in a rural area far from the capital and was living there. She was living under the same roof as a 'witch' named Katarina, making the shop built in the forest their home.
'Katarina. Don't make too much today. The weather is bad, so I don't think the children will come.'
'Y-yes. O-okay.'
Perhaps because it was a rural confectionery shop, most of the customers who visited were village children. Other than that, there were occasionally ladies who seemed close with her, and elderly people who came to have tea.
Most of the villagers who visited the shop came to talk to her mother rather than to buy sweets. Her mother seemed to be quite popular in the village.
One day, a lady who seemed close to her mother visited, and they drank tea together and talked about her mother's 'remarriage'.
'Vivian, you still have no thoughts of remarrying? Isn't it too hard living alone with your daughter in the shop?'
'As I always say, I have no thoughts of it yet. And I don't lack anything living with my daughter.'
'That's a shame... If it's you, Vivian, all the men in the village would surely line up. Shall I introduce you to a good man?'
'I prefer a fateful encounter over being introduced. Don't you, Ma'am?'
'Hahaha! That's every woman's dream! I thought my husband was my destiny before we married, too. Besides-'
Giggle, the conversation between her mother and the lady, which was full of laughter, lasted over three hours and only ended after the sun had set.
Her mother wouldn't have liked long chats in the royal castle, but perhaps she felt at ease in the countryside? She didn't show any signs of disliking the long conversation with the lady at all.
Only after the lady left did Katarina, with her frizzy hair, peek her head out from the kitchen and approach her mother. Since when were the two of them this close?
After that, Titania flipped the mirror over on the desk. It was because she didn't want to see her mother being close with another woman when she wasn't there.
And then, another day.
Children swarmed into the shop reflected in the mirror. Perhaps they weren't afraid of her mother's sharp face, as the children smiled brightly and called her like this.
'Witch-nim! Witch-nim! Give me this!'
'I don't sell sweets to bad children who call me a witch~ Go away~'
'Oh, come on! Witch-nim is so picky! You should be grateful we don't call you an old hag anymore!'
'You, you're banned from our shop starting today. I'm going to tell your mother everything, so be aware of that.'
Giggle giggle, the children were excited, calling her Witch-nim for some reason. Titania chuckled at the memory of her mother lamenting that she was called an old hag because of her scary face when she was young.
"Witch-nim... Witch-nim... It sounds like a cute nickname."
Certainly, her mother's face was scary at first glance. A nose bridge that looked like it would cut you if you touched it, lips as red as blood, blonde hair shining like gold coins, and sharp eyes that looked like she was full of anger.
She, too, had been truly terrified of her mother's face when she was young, but now, everything about her mother was nothing short of lovely. It was such a lovely face that she wanted to meet her right now and just stare at it.
When Titania looked at the mirror again, the child in the mirror pointed at the sweets with their finger, asking for the one they had chosen, and shouted at Vivian.
'Witch-nim! Witch-nim! Hurry, give me this!'
'Yes, that will be 300 copper coins.'
'Yes, here!'
The child smiled brightly and placed 3 copper coins in her mother's hand. Her mother giggled and handed over the sweets the child had chosen, replying.
'I've received it clearly. That's 300 copper coins.'
'Hehehe!'
The child, holding the sweets, smiled so wide their teeth showed.
The sight of her mother stroking the child's hair and the child's happily smiling face looked so enjoyable that Titania inadvertently started biting her nails.
It was because of terrible jealousy and anxiety.
Clearly, it was a cute and happy scene that should warm the heart, so why did it hurt as if her insides were burning?
'Why on earth am I not in that spot? How can Mother smile so happily after leaving me behind? I... even now, whenever I think of Mother...!'
Crunch, the nail she was biting inadvertently broke, making a sharp sound. The nail broke, and bright red blood began to flow down between her finger and the nail.
She hadn't even realized her nail had broken, but because of the drops of blood falling from her fingertip and the fishy taste of blood left in her mouth, Titania finally took her mouth off her nail and looked at the wounded finger.
Titania roughly wiped the blood with a handkerchief, then turned her head to look at her mother reflected in the mirror again.
Seeing her mother laughing and chatting happily with the children, Titania felt a burning pain in her chest as if it were on fire.
'...Still, there isn't much time left.'
Titania turned her head to look at the window.
The scorching sun had faded a little, and the wind had started to blow quite coolly. Soon, summer would end and autumn would come.
When autumn came, the coronation ceremony was scheduled.
So, before the coronation ceremony began...
'I will bring Mother back, no matter what.'
*
A female merchant selling fruit at the village market looked up at the sky blankly. The sky was high and blue without a single cloud. The wind was cool, but the sunlight was warm, making it the perfect weather to get sleepy.
"It's autumn..."
The female merchant muttered, looking at the high sky. Then she lowered her head and looked at the fruits on the display stand. She needed to sell these quickly so she could go to a bigger village to do business during the upcoming 'festival' period.
Since they said they would hold a huge event with a week-long festival starting from the day of the coronation ceremony for the new queen, it was a money-making opportunity she absolutely could not miss as a merchant.
So, as she was praying to everyone from gods to fairies to let her sell the fruit quickly, a person wearing a hood covering their head approached the stand and asked for the price of the fruit.
"How much is this fruit?"
"Welcome! Well..."
The female merchant rolled her eyes and glanced at the customer who had pulled the hood down to the top of their head. They tried to cover their face with the hood, but they couldn't hide the black hair that poked out when they bowed their head.
The black hair, flowing like silk, proved that they were no commoner, no matter who looked at them. It was as if a nobility that couldn't be hidden even with a hood was flowing out from their demeanor.
As the female merchant stared at the customer blankly, the customer tilted their head as if wondering what was wrong.
"Ma'am?"
"M-Ma'am? Just call me Auntie. That fruit? I don't sell them individually, only in sets of 3. It's usually 6 copper coins, but I'll give it to you for 5."
"5 copper coins, right? Just a moment."
The hooded customer rummaged through their pocket and then asked the female merchant.
"By any chance... do you know about the sweet shop where the Witch-nim lives?"
"Witch-nim...? Ah, that shop? Just cross that fence over there and walk a little bit. Are you looking for that shop?"
"You could say that. Thank you, Ma'am. This is a token of my gratitude."
The customer placed a small gold coin they had taken out of their pocket directly into the woman's hand. A golden coin that sparkled more than a well-ripened wheat field reflecting the sunset. The female merchant stared at the gold coin in her palm, her mouth wide open.
Just as she was about to argue that they had given her too much, the customer shook their head and started walking in the direction the merchant had pointed out. However, the merchant started to feel anxious. When you receive something of higher value than the original price, it's natural to be anxious that the other person might have made a mistake.
Worried that perhaps this was an outsider who had come to catch the owner of that sweet shop due to the rumors of her being a witch, the female merchant shouted to the retreating customer.
"T-that shop's owner is called Witch-nim, but she's not a real witch! It's just a prank by the children...!"
Just as she was continuing her excuses, the hooded customer turned their head to look at the female merchant. As the wind blew, the front of the hood shifted, and the customer's face began to be revealed.
Ebony-black hair and blood-red pupils. The beautiful customer, smiling with her eyes curved, smiled brightly and replied to the merchant.
"I know."