08. I Hope We Get Closer (1)
08. I Hope We Get Closer (1)
[Episode 08] - I Hope We Get Close (1)
The sunlight was so strong that even with her eyes closed, the Princess could feel the light through her eyelids, causing her to frown deeply. Her face grew hot from the beating sun, and beads of sweat began to form on her white forehead.
Eung-eung.
The sleepy Princess didn't want to move, but she felt like her face would bake like a bright red apple if she didn't escape to the shade soon, so just as she was tossing and turning...
Sabak-sabak-
The sound of footsteps on the grass tickled the Princess's ears. Drunk on sleep, the Princess had no interest in who was approaching her.
She just couldn't stand the sunlight beating down so hard it made her eyes ache. Just as the Princess was groaning and trying to get up to take refuge in the shade.
Tok.
There was a sound of something dropping onto the grass, and the sunlight that had been blinding her was blocked.
As the sunlight that had been tormenting her was blocked, a cool summer breeze pleasantly cooled the beads of sweat on her forehead.
The feeling was so nice that the Princess's deeply furrowed brow slowly relaxed.
She wanted to fall into the encroaching sleep while feeling that pleasant breeze, but for some reason, she felt a large presence right next to her.
And a gaze, for some reason, staring intently at her.
Who could it be?
The Princess, eyes narrowed as if extremely sleepy, stared at the someone looking at her. She had narrowed them too much, and because of her blurry vision, she couldn't see well.
The Princess could only vaguely tell that the person in front of her was a woman. Long hair, slender fingers, a woman crouching down and smiling at her.
'Omama...?'
How is Omama, who should be with Abamama, here?
Did she finally come out of that dark room?
The Princess smiled bashfully at the thought of seeing Omama after such a long time. Just as she tried to open her eyes properly because she wanted to see Omama's face clearly—
"Ellie? The Princess's maid is—"
That's not Omama's voice.
Flash.
The Princess's eyes flew open wide.
Turning her head to look where the voice came from, the Princess felt her heart drop. Along with the feeling of her body turning cold, her heart, which had dropped, began to pound.
'U-uh...?'
The Princess's pupils shook as if there were an earthquake. She was so shocked that she couldn't even scream.
Right now, the blonde hair that looked yellow in the sunlight, and the green eyes that looked dark in the shade.
It was so terrifying that she felt like she would cry at any moment.
*
When the Princess looked at Vivian's face, memories of the funeral came to mind.
Hearing that the scary woman had died, and that since Abamama wasn't attending, she had to attend the funeral herself, the Princess had detested the idea.
'Why should I...'
The Princess, pouting her lips, kicked her feet on a chair where her feet couldn't reach the ground. The maid, dressed in funeral attire, gave a bitter smile and comforted the Princess.
In the first place, the number of times she had met the Second Queen, who had supposedly drowned in a lake, was so few she could count them without even using all ten fingers. For some reason, the Second Queen had disliked her.
So the Princess didn't bother trying to meet the Second Queen either. Even if they met, she only remembered hearing nasty things from the Second Queen, like "I hate brats," or "Don't let me see you, you ugly kid," and so on.
So, even though the Second Queen had died, the Princess was slightly surprised, but she wasn't sad or anything. After all, it was someone who used to insult her. Her feelings were just along the lines of "That's unfortunate" or "I feel sorry for her."
With such indifferent feelings, the Princess entered the funeral hall and slowly headed toward the Second Queen's coffin. The maid who handed her a white lily explained that she just needed to place the flower on the coffin and come back.
With everyone watching, the Princess slowly moved her feet toward the coffin. Thinking she should just place the flower and come back immediately as the maid said, she moved with slightly faster steps than usual.
Having approached the coffin, the Princess lowered her head and glanced at the Second Queen. The skin, pale as paper, and the bloodless, white-stricken lips were scary.
'I have to put it down and leave quickly...'
It was truly the moment she was about to lay down the lily.
"Kkeureuk-! Cough!"
The moment she reached out to the coffin to place the flower, the Second Queen, who shouldn't have been able to move, snapped her bloodshot eyes open and looked up at her. Water gushed out from her bloodless lips.
"Uwek, uwe-ek! Cough! Cough!"
The Second Queen, scratching her chest and neck with her fingernails as if in pain, sat up abruptly in the coffin and began vomiting water in front of her. Thin, reddish water gushed onto the floor.
"Heuk, heu-euk..."
Teol-teol-teol.
The Princess's legs trembled.
It was exactly like the scary ghosts the maids used to tell her about. The terrifying ghosts and monsters that dig up the dirt from graves, crawl out, and torment people.
'Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry.'
Up to this point, the Princess's reason was still somewhat intact. Even in a situation where grown adults were all running away, shouting "Save me!", the Princess alone stood firmly in front of the coffin with her trembling legs.
Just as she was catching her breath to calm her trembling legs and heart, the Second Queen's hand, flailing in pain, brushed against the Princess's wrist.
"Hik-"
The sensation of skin as cold as a corpse crawled up the Princess's spine, and thus, she had no choice but to let go of the reason she had been barely holding onto, due to sheer terror.
That was the Princess's last memory of that day.
*
"Aaaah-!! Aaaah-!!"
"I-it's okay..! Her Majesty the Queen has no intention of harming you, Princess..!"
"Aaaah-!!"
I had no choice but to watch helplessly as the Princess hid behind a tree and cried her heart out. Because if I took even one step closer, she wouldn't just wail, she'd scream "Aaaah-!!" and cry.
All I could do was keep my distance so the Princess would cry a little less. I never imagined the Princess would be this terrified of Vivian...
Ellie was trying her best to soothe the Princess, but...
If Ellie went to the left with the tree in the middle, the Princess would dodge Ellie and go the other way, so they just kept circling the tree and couldn't meet.
They were circling so much that it was making me dizzy.
"I didn't know the Princess would dislike Vivian this much..."
-It's not just dislike, she's terrified. She must have seen something at the funeral...
"...Is that it?"
Hearing Ainsel's words, the funeral came to mind. Come to think of it, when I woke up, the Princess was right in front of me, wasn't she...?
If she saw that, it would be natural for her to be scared.
I had intended to keep my distance from the Princess from the start, but I didn't mean to keep it in this way. Even if she stays scared of me and we drift apart, I don't really care, but...
"Go awayyy!! Aaaah!!!"
"P-Princess... but there's blood on your palm..! I'll just treat the wound..! Okay..?"
"Aaaah!!!!!!!"
I started to worry that this might leave her with a trauma. They say traumas formed in childhood are hard to fix even after becoming an adult...
I didn't want to see the Princess still being afraid of me when she grew up.
"...At least I should get her to stop crying."
-What? How? Even if you get a little close, the Princess screams like that...?
"I have a way."
I lowered my head, picked a small wildflower, and tucked it between my fingers. It was something I learned as a hobby a long time ago, but I wonder if it still works? I approached to the point where the Princess wouldn't scream and made eye contact with her.
Knowing I had approached, the Princess tensed up and hid behind the tree. She was glaring at me as if threatening to burst into tears if I came even a little closer.
Whether she did or not, I took out the flower I had just picked from my dress sleeve. The Princess was staring at me without a word, and I smirked, thinking it was time to start.
"Now, look closely here."
I held the flower the Princess was looking at in my right hand, making it look big. Then I flipped my hand to show the back of my hand to the Princess, and bumped it against my left hand.
"Princess? Where could the flower be?"
"......"
Feeling awkward because the Princess said nothing, I turned my gaze and asked Ellie. Since Ellie was also looking at me as if curious.
"...Ellie? Where do you think the flower is?"
"Uh... the left...?"
Ellie tilted her head and pointed to my left hand.
Perhaps she thought that because of the gesture I made bumping my left hand earlier, I giggled, held out my left hand in front of Ellie, blew on it, and opened my hand.
However, there was nothing in my hand, let alone a flower.
"Huh? Then it must still be in my right hand..."
I did the same, blowing on my right hand, and showed it open in front of Ellie. However, the flower didn't exist in my right hand either.
"Wow!"
Ellie was amazed, looking at my palms here and there.
Seeing Ellie's reaction, I glanced over to check on the Princess. The Princess, who had only poked her upper body out from the side of the tree, was looking at me with sparkling eyes as if amazed.
"Where did the flower go?"
"Watch closely, to see where it is."
Finally, I brought my right hand behind Ellie's ear and pulled out the flower I had tucked between my index and middle fingers. As I gently tucked the flower behind Ellie's ear, her face turned red, perhaps because she found it amazing.
"How is it? Isn't it amazing?"
"I-it's amazing..."
The magic trick I practiced out of boredom during my school days was quite well-received. It's closer to acting with a flower tucked between my fingers than actual magic, but since the reaction was this good, I felt good too.
I picked another wildflower from the ground and slowly approached the Princess.
Unlike before, she didn't scream "Aaaah-!" or cry, but was peeking up at me.
Half curiosity, half anxiety.
With that kind of gaze, I smiled and performed the same magic trick for the Princess. I tucked the picked flower between my fingers and acted so she wouldn't notice.
If there was one slight difference from the previous trick...
When I went to pull the flower from behind the Princess's ear at the end, the Princess raised her hand first and tapped her own ear to check.
She must have thought the flower would be behind her ear, but...
"Huh...? It should be here...?"
Would the flower be there?
The Princess looked up at me with wide eyes as if she couldn't understand. That look was so cute that I smiled and put my hand behind the Princess's ear.
"It's right here, isn't it?"
When I tucked the flower behind the Princess's ear, she looked at me with surprised eyes, as if she found it truly amazing. She had completely forgotten about crying earlier and was now pestering me to do it again.
"One more time! Just once more!"
Before I knew it, the Princess's body had completely moved away from the tree and was clutching the hem of my dress. At that sight, I found myself stroking the Princess's hair and smiling brightly just like her.
"How is it? You're not scared anymore, right?"