The Weight of an Unearned Mercy
"Besides, if I recall correctly, Mary was the one who always schemed at your side. Yet when you beg me to save you, you haven't uttered a single word on her behalf. No shred of camaraderie among thieves, I suppose?"
Sarah sobbed, offering a frantic, desperate excuse.
"Mary... Mary says Miriam only suffered that fate because she was foolish, and that she won't make the same mistake, so she'll be fine. She doesn't feel a hint of danger. She's just hell-bent on winning the Empress Consort's favor by any means necessary... She won't believe a single word I say..."
"Even if I leave you to your fate, I lose nothing. In fact, it would bring me peace of mind."
Who was it that opened that door?
I couldn't remember anymore.
Perhaps I had wandered out of the Rose Palace without even realizing it. I glanced toward the second-floor terrace.
The rebuilt Rose Palace was magnificent; whether on the second floor or the third, sturdy balustrades now ensured that no one would ever plummet from a terrace again, no matter what happened.
White curtains hung by every open window along the terrace, billowing softly in the summer breeze. It was a lovely scene. It had surely been just as beautiful on the day "Titania" fell.
"You felt no sympathy when Princess Titania was dying. Why should I show you pity over a mere possibility that your family or village might perish in the future?"
"..."
Deep inside me, that young, selfish, foolish Titania reawakened and hissed into my ear.
Kill them all! Don't you dare forgive them! Make her scream as she watches her family die before her eyes!
Such endlessly childish words. Words dripping with bitter inferiority and resentment.
Even wretched things like them have families. Even they have people who cherish them. So why was I the only one...?
Why was I the only one?
Amid the white curtains, midday shadows danced with every gust of wind—like the shriek of one cut down before their time, like the dry rustle of parched tears.
"I hold no sympathy for you, nor any pity. And I won't save you out of blind mercy. But allowing your innocent family or the village they live in to be wiped off the map simply because they were caught up in your mess would be unjust. Giving you a single chance seems fair enough."
Sarah hastily pressed her forehead to the floor.
"You'd best hope you prove useful to me. I don't trust you in the slightest, and the price of all the lives you must pay for won't come cheap."
"A-anything! Whatever I can do, I'll do it!"
Watching the fluttering curtains, I murmured silently to myself.
Still, Titania... resolving to change for the sake of the family you love isn't a crime. After all, it was thanks to my own mom and dad—who exist only in my memories now—that I chose to live differently in this life... And I will never, ever forgive the real culprit, Empress Consort Cleo.
Yet even that would sound like rank hypocrisy to the young Titania.
It is easy for those who have plenty to be generous. It is easy for someone who has never known starvation to yield a meal to a beggar. But for a beggar starving for a week, giving up the crust before them to another is harder than anything in the world.
How likely would a child, who had never once tasted familial love, be to forgive an enemy crying out for mercy over that very same family? Practically impossible.
...Yet I could not live that way.
"What if I order you to do something where you're certain to die?"
Though trembling violently, Sarah looked straight into my eyes.
"E-even if something happens to me, if I carry out everything you command... c-could you promise to save my little sister at least?"
"And what if I lose to the Empress Consort and end up unable to save even your sister?"
"...If it comes to that, dying now or dying later makes no difference in the end." Sarah pressed her head against the floor again. "W-whatever you command... I will obey. S-sincerely. I will devote my absolute loyalty to you. Please f-forgive my past sins... and show mercy to my sister."
"I'll consider it."
"Thank you. Thank you so much!"
Creak. An unseasonal draft pushed the window shut on its own. Thud. Like the sound of a phantom falling to earth.
Mary was in a foul mood.
And here I thought I had the princess wrapped around my finger again.
At first, she was certain she was a dead woman. Barred from returning to the Rose Palace and assigned to no particular palace at all, she had been relegated to menial chores and backbreaking labor she had never even imagined doing before. Even while toiling away, anxiety had gnawed at her. Would the Empress Consort have her killed? Even when Mary had last seen her, the woman had looked thoroughly displeased.
Yet before long, the Empress Consort had summoned Mary in secret to issue an order. It meant she intended to use Mary for an important role once more: Princess Titania would soon return to the Imperial Palace upon completing the Offering Festival. When she did, Mary was to rejoin the Rose Palace staff, worm her way back into Titania's favor, and stand by for orders—for there would be plenty for her to do when the time came.
Had she been sent alone, Mary might have felt far more uneasy. But Sarah had been with her. Sarah was every bit as shrewd, and the two had worked in tandem for years.
People claimed the princess had changed and accomplished all sorts of feats, but surely that was an exaggeration. They said she had acquired an unusual sword and reconciled with her fiancé, but... that "Titania," throwing tantrums and smashing dishes across tables whenever her fiancé left? Everything would be fine.
Besides, what had she or Sarah really done that was so terrible? Nothing beyond what everyone else was doing. If that was a crime, every servant in the Rose Palace would be guilty. And honestly, was it a crime to mock someone foolish for being a fool?
If anything, weren't they the chief architects of the elaborate dress-up sessions Titania loved most? For maids of Mary's and Sarah's caliber, their skills were exceptional. It was only because of Empress Consort Cleo's orders that they were stuck in the Rose Palace—where no connections could be forged and no promotions could be had—squeezing out whatever coins they could. In fact, before she bumped her head, Titania had been quite fond of Mary and Sarah.
Yet Sarah's attitude had recently shifted.
"Think carefully. Haven't you noticed how the Empress Consort has changed?"
"Changed? Hey, the Rose Palace caught fire, and there was that whole mess about curses—of course she's in a bad mood! But she gave us another chance, didn't she? If we mess up this time, we're really finished. We need to keep our heads on straight and obey her orders."
"We aren't Head Maid Natalie! We're low-ranking maids who have to die if we're told to die. Aren't you terrified?"
"Now that you mention it, what's so special about Head Maid Natalie anyway? We only settle for being common maids because we were born commoners. If our names were on some noble genealogy—even a minor one—we could've lived lavishly as ladies' maids to grand noble houses, pampering high-born mistresses! In the Imperial Palace, that's what a head maid is!"
"...Don't you care about Miriam? She was closer to you than to me. When we sneaked out that entire dress, cut it up into ribbons, and sold them off, you said it was all thanks to Miriam that we made a fortune, that you couldn't thank her enough. Miriam stayed up all night basting seams with us..."
"Ha! Wow, you've really been acting strange lately. Why are you spouting such idiot nonsense? It's Miriam's fault we ended up in this mess in the first place! If you're going to steal, keep it quiet. Instead, she got caught, kicked up a fuss about some cursed magic sword, and dragged us down with her into the Empress Consort's bad books! If she wanted to die, she should've died alone!"
"I can't talk to you anymore. We don't see eye to eye at all. I'm leaving."
"Hey! Hey! Where are you going?!"
With that being the last conversation she had shared with Sarah, Mary naturally couldn't help feeling disgruntled.
Well, to be fair, she had been scared half to death when she first stepped forward to face Princess Titania again, terrified the princess would scream, "How dare you have the gall to show your face and serve me again?!" and order her beaten within an inch of her life. Her heart had nearly leapt out of her throat. Yet unexpectedly, the princess hadn't seemed all that different from before. She had greeted Mary with apparent delight, sulked childishly for a bit, and in the end forgave her and assigned her duties. Mary had grown rather smug.
Well, I'll just style her hair in that new braid I came up with, deck her out in all kinds of gems and fresh flowers, and she'll be purring with gratitude in no time. My skills are second to none, after all.
However, Mary hadn't expected to find a rival among the newly hired maids, besides Sarah.
Sifting through the dresses, Mary stole glances at the girl beside her.
"What's your name?"
"Bonita."
"Pretty name. Where are you from? I've worked in the palace for quite a while, but for someone in our line of work, I don't think I've seen your face before."
"Ah, I only entered the palace recently. That must be why you haven't seen me."
Bonita offered a polite smile as her clumsy fingers fumbled with the latch of a jewelry box. Seeing that, Mary felt an immediate wave of relief.
Hmph. Supposed to be a lady's dressing maid, yet she can't even handle a jewelry box properly? She must barely have any experience. Plain-looking, too... And since Her Imperial Highness didn't mention her, she's probably nobody worth worrying about.
Glancing sidelong at Bonita as she struggled fruitlessly with the clasp, Mary chimed in with mock sweetness.
"You don't pull it upward. You turn the latch to the side like this to open it."
"Ah..." Bonita blushed faintly in embarrassment.
"Where on earth are you from that you don't even know that?"
"I... come from quite far away. Where I'm from, the latches are on top, so you just lift them like this..."
"Is that so? What style was that again?"
Mary, who prided herself on being a cultured, knowledgeable dressing maid, racked her brain. Bonita provided the answer in a gentle, soft-spoken voice.
"The South. The very edge of the Southern Region."