05. The Mad Queen Who Talks to the Mirror (4)
05. The Mad Queen Who Talks to the Mirror (4)
[Episode 5] - The Crazy Queen Who Talks to a Mirror (4)
Walking down the hallway after escaping Vivian's room, Ellie wasn't wearing a look of sadness, but was instead beaming with the joy of having survived, practically speed-walking down the corridor.
Ellie didn't care that blood was streaming down her forehead. If anything, she was so relieved that it had ended with just this minor injury that she couldn't even feel the pain.
'I survived! I actually survived!'
It was nothing short of a miracle that she had managed to talk back to 'that Queen-nim' and return alive with nothing more than a cracked forehead. Usually, you'd have to bang your head against the floor ten times and even take a beating before you were allowed to leave the room.
"Ellie? What happened to your forehead?"
"Ah... this?"
As she was scurrying away with a spring in her step, a maid passing by the hallway called out to her. Seeing the blood streaming down her forehead, the maid seemed to have a vague idea of what had gone down.
"...Could you gather the girls who are on break? I have something to tell you all."
Looking at the fellow maid who had stopped her, Ellie resolved to tell her what had happened. She was enough of a cautionary tale; she didn't need any other maids talking back to the Queen-nim based on nothing but 'rumors.'
*
"Is that for real?"
"I'm telling you, it is! That whole thing about the Queen-nim losing her memories is a complete lie! A big fat lie! Her batshit crazy personality is exactly the same!"
Ellie recounted her tale to the other maids as if she were a war hero boasting about her survival.
And as if her forehead wound were a medal of honor, she lifted her bangs to show it off to her colleagues.
"I'm still jealous, though. Last time I banged my head ten times and she still didn't forgive me."
"Only three times? I had to do it ten times and got caned on top of that. My hands still sting whenever I put them in cold water."
"Is there anyone here who hasn't? We've all had to bang our heads against the floor and crack them open at least once, haven't we?"
The other maids gulped, swallowing dryly as they listened to Ellie's story.
Honestly, it wasn't as if they hadn't had the same thoughts as Ellie. They had wondered if it might be okay to talk back a little, assuming the Queen-nim had really lost her memories.
However, seeing Ellie's cracked forehead made the maids change their minds. Ah, right. If you talk back to the Queen-nim, you get your head cracked like Ellie, get beaten until your palms tear, and she even insults your parents.
'The heavens are so cruel. It would have been so much better if she had just died when she fell into the lake.'
The maids all shared the same thought and let out a deep sigh in unison. While they were chatting about various things, including badmouthing the Queen-nim, the topic of the 'Witch' slipped out from one of the maids.
"Come to think of it... do you think that rumor is true? The one about the 'Queen-nim' being 'that thing'?"
"Well... honestly, we all saw it, didn't we? The way the Queen-nim just bolted upright in her coffin and came back to life. It gave me such goosebumps... I was cursing her in my head, and I thought she woke up because she heard me."
"You too...?"
"Who wouldn't think she's 'that thing' after seeing that? Besides, even before the Queen-nim married His Majesty, there were all sorts of 'rumors' about her, weren't there? Everyone just kept quiet because there was no proof."
"But now that we have 'proof' too... it would be weird if people weren't talking."
The maid who had brought up the 'Witch' clicked her tongue.
The rumor that the Queen-nim was a witch hadn't just sprung up overnight.
To begin with, countless noble ladies had gathered to be selected as the new queen. They were screened and selected, picked from the crowd like panning for gold, until only five ladies remained.
However, among those five, everyone except Vivian ended up having some sort of issue and voluntarily gave up the position. Some developed mental health problems, others faced family discord.
In particular, one lady's family was completely ruined. At the most critical moment, all sorts of scandals—her father's corruption, his sordid sexual proclivities, and so on—exploded all at once.
Even though corruption was considered the authority and symbol of the nobility—to the point where the common saying "Show me a noble who doesn't have a little dirt on them" was taken for granted—...
Eventually, that lady had no choice but to step down from her position as a queen-to-be, and the other ladies had to give up the position for similar reasons.
And the only one among them who had absolutely no issues or rumors surrounding her was none other than the current Queen-nim, 'Vivian Liliensole'. Everyone suspected Vivian, but in the end, no evidence was ever found.
Countless suspicions and distrust.
Vivian had become queen by slathering herself in all of that.
However, far from trying to quell those rumors, the very first thing Vivian did upon becoming queen was to beat and assault her own maids... so it was impossible for anyone to like her.
Well... there was a rumor that the reason she assaulted a maid on her very first day was 'because His Majesty didn't return to their room on their wedding night.'... but that wasn't the kind of talk that should be coming out of the mouths of mere maids.
Anyway, that was why the Queen-nim hadn't been granted the royal 'surname'. She still used the surname 'Liliensole' instead of the royal 'Snow White'.
"Ha... should I just quit and go back home?"
"...If I could do that, I would have quit and gone back home a long time ago."
Sigh.
At those words, Ellie and the other maids let out a deep, collective sigh. They didn't say it out loud, but they were all in similar situations. Why was being Vivian's maid the highest-paying job among all the maids in the royal palace?
It didn't take much thought to figure that out.
Furthermore, all of Vivian's maids had 'backgrounds' that required a lot of money. Whether it was paying off their family's debts or being a fallen noble who had to support their family, and so on...
Tug, tug
Just as she was about to let out another heavy sigh at their bleak reality, someone tugged on the hem of Ellie's skirt. She turned her head to see who it was, but there was no one in her line of sight.
As she naturally lowered her gaze, a young girl came into view. Ellie and the other maids were all stunned, their breath hitching as they stared at the little girl.
"P-Princess?! W-why are you here...?"
The little girl, with hair blacker than ebony and sparkling, bright eyes with ruby-red pupils, held onto the hem of Ellie's skirt and looked up at her.
"What are you doing...?"
"Ah, I was just... taking a short break with my colleagues. What brings you here, Princess...?"
Ellie crouched down to meet the Princess's eyes. The Princess, clutching a book as big as her own torso, glanced up at Ellie.
As soon as she saw the book, Ellie could tell where the Princess was heading and why she was there. Realizing only then that they had been chatting in the corner of the hallway, Ellie carefully asked the Princess.
"Ah... were you on your way to your lessons?"
"Yes..."
The Princess hid half her face behind the book, looking shy. Watching her, Ellie chuckled and pulled a piece of candy she had been saving for herself out of her pocket, placing it in the Princess's hand.
"This is a secret from your teacher, so you have to eat it on the sly after your lesson, okay?"
The Princess, clutching the candy, beamed with satisfaction, turned around, and scampered off. Ellie trembled anxiously, worried to see her running with an armful of books.
"Be careful, Princess!"
Whenever she occasionally ran into the Princess, slipping a treat into those small hands was one of the few small joys Ellie could find in this grueling life as a maid.
The other maids watched this and pouted, looking envious. There were many maids who were close to the Princess, but opportunities like this didn't come often.
"Sigh, still, it's a relief the Princess didn't hear us talking about the Queen-nim."
"Huh? Why do you say that all of a sudden?"
Ellie asked, confused as to what she meant.
"Didn't you know? Ever since that funeral, they say the Princess gets so terrified whenever she hears the Queen-nim's name that she practically foams at the mouth. Imagine someone you thought was dead just bolting upright in front of you. She's still just a little girl; wouldn't that give her trauma? Even I'm scared just looking at the Queen-nim's face."
"Ah..."
Hearing that, Ellie wore a bitter expression.
'His Majesty is already in that state... the poor Princess.'
There were rumors that it was the Queen-nim's fault that His Majesty had ended up that way, but Ellie didn't think so. If the Queen-nim could really wrap His Majesty around her finger, she would never have let things turn out like this.
"...Let's get back to work. Who's on duty for the Queen-nim this evening?"
"Are you senile? It's you, all day today."
"...But I cracked my forehead today. Can't someone switch with me?"
The other maids shook their heads in unison. Then, claiming they suddenly remembered they had urgent work to do, they scrambled to leave. Watching them go, Ellie thought to herself.
Truly, friendships among maids are as thin as paper.
*
After Vin Chaud left the room, I looked at Ainsel, crossed my legs, rested my chin on my hand, and fell into deep thought. Isn't it a bit extreme to be subjected to a 'witch trial' just because I pulled off something akin to a 'resurrection' at a funeral?
The witch trials in this world aren't much different. If you can't prove you're not a witch, they just burn you to death—a brutal method. And how are you supposed to prove you're not a witch in the first place?
It was painfully obvious that no matter how much I tried to explain myself, they'd just find some excuse to label me a witch. Did I choose to resurrect? What was I supposed to do when I opened my eyes and found myself at a funeral?
"...What the hell am I going to do?"
-Tell me about it. Things seem to have escalated more than I thought... can I take back my offer to help?
".....Are fairies always this heartless?"
-Coming from someone with Vivian's face, that's rich.
What a heartless mirror.
First, after thinking it over with a slightly cooler head, I managed to come up with a few ways to deal with this situation.
First, persuade the Council of Elders.
The Council of Elders was basically a gathering of old nobles backed by powerful families. They were the kind of annoying pests in the game who were always butting heads with the King over power.
It would be difficult to persuade such stubborn old geezers, but if I could somehow appeal to them by saying, "I've changed~," and win them over one by one, it might just work.
Second, beg His Majesty not to divorce me.
I mean, it's not like I was the one who married him, and begging a man whose face I don't even know not to divorce me is ridiculous, but this was one of the easiest and most certain ways for me to survive.
However... this had a problem too.
-The King is currently in seclusion. It's been about two years since he ordered that no one be allowed into his room... He suddenly went into seclusion after remarrying Vivian, so everyone thinks Vivian did something to him. Even though, in reality, Vivian didn't do a thing.
To think that the King, the 'player' of this 'parenting simulation game,' is a shut-in.
They say the King doesn't meet anyone because he's in seclusion, living only within his room. So, in practice, the ones running the country are the Chancellor, Vin Chaud, and the Council of Elders...
Just from what I've heard about the royal palace so far, there were more than a few strange things. The King is a shut-in, and unlike what I know, the first Queen's situation is also bizarre.
How on earth is this country even functioning?
"...This is driving me crazy. Seriously."
And finally, the third.
The third method was very simple.
"...Ainsel, want to run away with me?"
Taking some assets and fleeing the royal palace.
Every fiber of my being seemed to be telling me to run away from this place right now.
If I stay here, I might really get swept up in some bizarre situation.