Epilogue (2)

As the snow melted and the spring breeze blew, tiny green sprouts began to stir in the earth, and the trees, bare and adorned with snowflakes all winter, sprouted cute buds from their branches. As the hard-frozen ground softened in the warmth of the new spring, the soil yielded beneath one’s feet, leaving traces of each step on its surface.

The Princess-nim, once locked in a box of loneliness, licking her wounds and indifferent to the world-like a person who only understands the sky after seeing a well-was belatedly trying to change her surroundings and venture out as a Princess-nim.

Even a hedgehog thinks its own young are smooth. Mullaba greatly welcomed and rejoiced in her master’s change, and Serina, though she didn’t show it, secretly agreed.

Mirabilis wanted to decorate the Main Chamber of the Rose Palace. It was one sign showing the change in her heart. Mirabilis wanted to ask her Older Sister-nim’s opinion, but Serina carefully refused. The inner world is reflected even in decorating a space. Serina was curious about how Mirabilis would decorate the Main Chamber and didn’t want to add her own colors to it.

The Princess-nim was a little taken aback by the ‘maid’s’ attitude, but she gradually decorated it while talking with Mullaba. She couldn’t change everything at once, but as she slowly added decorations and brought in items, it changed dramatically before she knew it, like getting soaked in a drizzle without realizing it.

She didn’t plan to decorate it as grandly as Padrentia’s Main Chamber. However, the desolate Main Chamber of the Rose Palace also gradually transformed into a residence befitting a Princess-nim. The space, once a bleak wilderness with only the bare necessities like a monk’s room, took shape as a warm and gentle form.

Having found a place to lean on, the Princess-nim, like a turtle carrying a mountain, like a crayfish carrying a stone, mustered courage to gradually change her surroundings and prepare to go outside the palace. As she gained peace of mind, her personality, once sharp and hard like a broken stone, gradually rounded out.

Although they had never openly fought, Padrentia did not welcome Mirabilis’s change. But after her ambitious attack failed and returned to nothing, she rarely found an opportunity afterward.

Neither Serina nor Mirabilis could understand Padrentia’s excessive malice. Serina, using the excuse of being Mirabilis’s messenger, frequently visited the Chrysanthemum Palace and met with Supanita and Padrentia.

Padrentia wanted to make Serina her spy and subordinate. In a way, she might have been trying to create a direct, unofficial line between the Chrysanthemum Palace and the Rose Palace.

Thus, in the spring of the year 307, Mirabilis, through Serina, conveyed her intention to meet Padrentia in the garden of the Chrysanthemum Palace and talk. The people at the Chrysanthemum Palace were surprised. Padrentia had visited the Rose Palace, but Mirabilis had never visited the Chrysanthemum Palace before.

Most people at the Chrysanthemum Palace thought Padrentia would refuse. Few courtiers truly knew the deep relationship between the two, but everyone knew that their external appearance was not good, unless they were newly arrived rookies.

But unexpectedly, the owner of the Chrysanthemum Palace readily agreed. Talking briefly in the garden was not a burdensome task. Amitale thought that since their relationship couldn’t get any worse, it was worth having an open-hearted conversation.

On the day Mirabilis was to visit the Chrysanthemum Palace, the people of the Chrysanthemum Palace tidied up the garden and pergola, and forbade courtiers from entering the inner garden. So, even the gardener stopped working after a brief morning shift.

Mirabilis, accompanied only by Serina, visited the Chrysanthemum Palace. Both palaces were annexes of the Awimika Palace, but they functioned like separate residences. Therefore, the Chrysanthemum Palace had a different architectural style and decoration than the Rose Palace.

The Chrysanthemum Palace actively reflected Padrentia’s preference for splendor, decorating even the garden as brightly as possible. Because of this, even the same gardener had much more work on the Chrysanthemum Palace side than on the Rose Palace side. The Chrysanthemum Palace gardener was dissatisfied that the Princess-nim liked excessive splendor and broke the balance, but he had no choice but to obey the orders of the palace’s owner.

As Mirabilis entered the Chrysanthemum Palace, the court ladies quickly prepared simple tea and refreshments inside the pergola and all left the garden. So, only Padrentia with Supanita, and Mirabilis with Serina, remained in the pergola.

It was spring, and the sunlight was warm. It was still a bit early for the full bloom season, but the garden of the Chrysanthemum Palace was filled with white, blue, and red flowers in extreme colors, swirling like a vortex of colors. As the spring breeze swept under the open blue sky, the trees and flowers swayed as if dancing among the newly laid grass.

The two Princess Yangwi and their two maids sat facing each other inside the pergola. The maids’ outfits were completely identical except for the color on their collars, but the Princesses were different.

Mirabilis wore a long, flowing black tunic. She wore a circlet, a Princess’s accessory, on her forehead, made of the Myohyeol stone that Padrentia had given her before. She wore earrings made of deep green stone, a gift from the Muriel Kingdom.

Padrentia wore her often-worn sky-blue dress with a gold sash around her waist, and a gold bracelet decorated with emeralds on her wrist. Although they each had only one attendant and their attire was not fully formal, they each tried to maintain dignity and reveal their status.

,”I never thought you would come to me first. You’ve definitely changed since being ennobled as a Princess.”,

Padrentia opened her mouth calmly. Although she hated Mirabilis more than before, she didn’t show her tangled emotions. She skillfully suppressed the surging feelings with just a single layer of skin and greeted her ‘half-sister’.

,”I have been indebted to Older Sister-nim a lot, so I have been thinking that I should repay you someday. As the place where you stand changes, your perspective also changes, and my thoughts have changed since becoming a Princess.”,

Mirabilis smiled brightly and lightly put her words on the tip of her tongue. Padrentia also smiled along with her half-sister’s bright face, but she was busy figuring out the true meaning of her words in her head.

‘There’s something there. I shouldn’t believe her words as they are.’

,”Supanita, step back with that child. I want to talk here alone.”,

,”Yes, Your Highness.”,

As Padrentia pointed at Serina and spoke, Supanita answered politely and tried to step back with the maids. She also had many things she wanted to ask Serina. It was then.

,”There’s no need for that. Supanita, you stay here too.”,

The Chrysanthemum Palace’s maid hesitated at Mirabilis’s words. Even though her master was Padrentia, it was quite awkward for another Princess to say this so directly. Padrentia frowned.

,”This child is my maid. Why are you ordering her around as if she were yours? Supanita, step back with that child.”,

Supanita looked at Serina with a slightly troubled expression and nodded slightly. It was a gesture saying, ‘Let’s go out.’ Mirabilis frowned at that gesture.

,”Serina’s younger sister orders you. Kneel there and wait quietly.”,

,”……Yes.”,

The Chrysanthemum Palace’s maid answered Mirabilis’s words in a faint tone and obediently knelt on the floor of the pergola. Padrentia was startled and tried to raise her voice in anger.

,”Supani……ta?”,

It was too strange. The vitality had disappeared from the maid’s face, which was always overflowing with emotion. Her eyes lost their will like glass beads and sank into a hazy, unreal hallucination, making her look more like a doll than a living person. Supanita just knelt blankly, staring ahead with vacant eyes.

Something was wrong. An unknown unease crept eerily into Padrentia’s mind. But when she thought about what trick Mirabilis had played on her beloved maid, an even more intense anger flared up from her whole body.

,”What did you do to this child, Mirabilis? Now you’re playing such tricks. Compared to when you were stuck in the Rose Palace like a stuffed animal, it’s hard to believe, but how dare you cast some dirty magic on my maid in front of me.”,

A murderous aura, as if flames were burning fiercely, spewed from Padrentia’s eyes. But Mirabilis didn’t budge and calmly accepted her gaze.

,”Serina’s younger sister orders you. Don’t make a loud noise, and don’t get up from your seat without permission.”,

In that instant, Padrentia felt like her legs were losing strength. She tried to get up from her seat as a test, but her legs didn’t move as if they weren’t even her own. She hurriedly tried to call the courtiers of the Chrysanthemum Palace, but no sound came out of her throat. Padrentia tried to shout loudly several times, but eventually gave up.

,”You’ve already…… already played a trick on me too. That’s why you wanted to meet here. To get rid of the others and have just the four of us. What do you want from me to go this far?”,

She glared at Mirabilis with animalistic eyes and opened her mouth in a tone as if she would chew her up. But Mirabilis shrugged her shoulders and nonchalantly retorted.

,”The person who will talk to you is not me, but Older Sister-nim.”,

,”What?”,

Padrentia’s gaze turned to Serina, who was standing next to Mirabilis. The Rose Palace maids’ uniforms, with red lines added to the collars, caught her eye. Black hair, brown eyes, a relatively slim face, and a thin body. Except for the fact that Mirabilis cherished her, she was an ordinary woman in the palace. Padrentia had also seen Serina several times, but she had never paid attention to ‘Serina’ herself.

Mirabilis stood up and switched places with Serina. As Serina sat in the seat facing Padrentia, Mirabilis stood next to Serina with her hands gathered in a respectful posture, as if she were a maid. It was a composition as if the Princess was serving the maid. Padrentia was flustered by the unexpected sight and stammered for a moment.

,”What the…… what on earth are you guys……”,

Suddenly, something flashed through the Chrysanthemum Palace Princess’s mind like lightning. It was what Mirabilis had said when she cast the ‘dirty magic’.

,”Come to think of it, Mirabilis called herself ‘Serina’s younger sister’ when she was casting the spell earlier.”,

,”That’s right, Padrentia-nim.”,

Serina smiled at the corner of her mouth and spoke to Mirabilis.

,”Introduce yourself to your former Older Sister.”,

Mirabilis looked at Padrentia and smiled brightly with a guileless face. It was a bright smile like the sunlight filling the garden of the Chrysanthemum Palace, but it felt rather cold to the owner of the Chrysanthemum Palace.

,”I, Mirabilis, am Serina-nim’s beloved younger sister and faithful slave.”,

Padrentia couldn’t believe her ears. She was so dumbfounded that her anger subsided and she felt annoyed instead.

,”Don’t joke around. I don’t know what you’re plotting with your maid to put on this act, but I won’t be fooled by such tricks.”,

Serina shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.

,”You don’t believe me. Well, I understand. To be honest, it’s hard to believe. But our relationship is as you heard.”,

Serina turned her head to Mirabilis and gave her a silent wink, and she nodded. Serina sat diagonally so that Padrentia could see easily, and Mirabilis stood in front of Serina.

Mirabilis took something black out of her bosom. Padrentia tilted her head, wondering what it was. But she was shocked when Mirabilis put it around her own neck. It was a dog collar.

Mirabilis slightly lifted the hem of her dress with her hand so that it wouldn’t get caught, and then knelt respectfully in front of Serina. Padrentia’s eyes widened.

,”To my true Older Sister and master, Serina-nim, Mirabilis vows reverence and loyalty.”,

The Rose Palace Princess bowed her head demurely and kissed the maid’s instep. It was truly respectful and sincere. As the hair, as thin as silk thread and as shiny as gold, flowed down to the floor, the faint bite marks on the back of her neck were briefly visible. It was obvious who had left those marks.

As if unable to bear the overflowing affection, Mirabilis blushed and repeatedly touched her lips to her feet. Serina looked at him with warm eyes.

,”That’s enough, get up.”,

,”Yes, Older Sister-nim.”,

Mirabilis stood up, tidied her disheveled hair, and stood next to Serina again. Padrentia let out a laugh, but it was a dry echo as if she was laughing because she couldn’t cry.

,”I can understand if you played some trick on me or Supanita. But, what is this charade? A member of the Imperial Family, a Princess who was even ennobled, serves her maid as her Older Sister and master? Even forming a Daesik relationship? A daughter of a mere fallen noble family, who grew up no different from an ordinary commoner?”,

Mirabilis’s face clouded over, and the texture of her voice changed roughly.

,”The fact that I am a member of the Imperial Family and Older Sister-nim is a fallen noble has no meaning in the relationship I have with Older Sister-nim. I know that you handed Older Sister-nim over to Changwei in an attempt to harm me, and that the courtiers under me were dragged away. So, don’t keep reminding me of the past.”,

Padrentia realized that Mirabilis called Serina ‘Older Sister-nim’, but only referred to her as ‘you’.

,”Do you really acknowledge the daughter of a fallen family, no different from an ordinary commoner, as your Older Sister, and deny the relationship of half-sisters who actually share blood, no matter how bad your relationship is?”,

Mirabilis’s eyes flowed down dryly like grains of sand scattering over Padrentia’s head.

,”I just did as you did. Have you ever truly considered me as your younger sister? So it’s the same even if I don’t acknowledge you as my Older Sister.”,

Padrentia had nothing to say about that. But she couldn’t accept it so easily.

,”Okay, let’s say that the breakdown of our relationship is the result of a long and bad relationship. But you’re still a member of the Imperial Family. As you said, I have never truly considered you as my younger sister. But I have never denied the fact that you are a member of the Imperial Family.”,

Padrentia stopped talking and gasped for breath.

,”If Awimika collapses, we will lose our status in an instant. There is no eternally immortal country in this world. It has happened countless times in history and will continue to happen in the future. But now, in our era, both you and I are undoubtedly members of the Imperial Family. As long as Awimika exists as a country, the bloodline of the Imperial Family deserves to be respected, and they themselves must protect the honor of their bloodline. But you not only make that maid your Older Sister, but you even acknowledge her as your master and give her your body. It’s truly despicable.”,

Padrentia’s face was truly filled with contempt and ridicule. But Mirabilis didn’t just listen quietly. She grabbed Padrentia’s chin and made eye contact.

,”Even if flowers bloom on a tree, they fall one by one when the time comes. Blown by the wind, some fall into the mud and are trampled, some fall into the garden and rot, and some fall on a book and become a bookmark. Their fate has changed against their will, but they are all flowers that grew from the same tree.

Didn’t you say it too? Status is ultimately something that people decide, not a priori distinction. Then, no matter what kind of relationship Older Sister-nim and I have with each other, there is no problem as long as we can cover the eyes of the people in the world. So I don’t care what you think of me, because it won’t last long anyway. But I won’t stand by if you carelessly mock Older Sister-nim by calling her a ‘fallen noble’.”,

Padrentia clenched her teeth, and the muscles on her molars tensed and twitched.

,”You’re really crazy. Just trusting in one strange spell that binds my body like this…… Could it be.”,

Padrentia cast her gaze in turn on her unmoving legs, on Supanita, who was kneeling with a blank face, and finally on Mirabilis, who was standing in front of her and looking at her. Her mouth dropped open, and sparks flew from her eyes.

,”It’s not the body, it’s the mind. I don’t know exactly what it is, but the wicked spell that bitch used acts on people’s minds. Me, Supinata, and you, Mirabilis……”,

At that moment, Mirabilis slapped Padrentia’s cheek. It was as if lightning flashed in her eyes, and her cheek felt numb and hot. Serina was also startled and paused in her seat. Mirabilis’s strength was insignificant and her slap was clumsy, so it wasn’t unbearable. However, Padrentia was driven mad by the fact that she couldn’t move even after being hit ‘by Mirabilis’.

,”Don’t call Older Sister-nim ‘that bitch’. Keep in mind that you are not in a position to be arrogant right now.”,

The voice of the Princess who became the maid’s younger sister was filled with blue venom. But Padrentia also glared back at her. She didn’t want to lose to a maid, and to Mirabilis, who had become that maid’s subordinate. Although she couldn’t move her body because of the strange spell, she was also sure that they wouldn’t directly harm her.

,”Mirabilis, I told you not to lay a hand on her.”,

The chain of hypnosis cast on Padrentia was strong, but it was not yet complete. If she hurt her body and the hypnosis was broken, things would become serious. Mirabilis realized this after hearing his words.