episode_0005

[Episode 5] – Conversing with the Mirror – The Mad Queen (4)

Exiting Vivian’s room, Ellie walked down the corridor not with a sad expression, but with a joyous smile, her quick steps echoing her relief at being alive.

Even though blood trickled down her forehead, Ellie didn’t mind. In fact, she felt no pain, only elation that it had ended with just this minor injury.

“I’m alive! I made it!”

It was almost miraculous that she could return alive with just a cracked forehead after confronting “Her Majesty the Queen.” Normally, one would have to be knocked unconscious and even endure a beating before leaving the room.

“Ellie? What happened to your forehead?”

“Oh… this?”

As she tried to escape in her excitement, a maid passing through the corridor called out to Ellie. Seeing the blood running down her forehead, the maid seemed to vaguely sense that something had happened to Ellie.

“Could you gather some of the resting maids? I have something to tell them.”

Looking at the maid who had called her, Ellie resolved to tell her what had happened. She had had enough of maids who blindly believed in mere “rumors” and confronted Her Majesty the Queen on their own.

*

“Is that really true?”

“It’s absolutely true! Claiming that the Queen has lost her memory is a complete lie! A blatant lie! Her damn personality is still intact, isn’t it?”

Like someone who had returned from a battlefield, Ellie boasted to her fellow maids about her recent ordeal, relaying the story from earlier.

Then, almost as if her forehead wound were a badge of honor, she lifted her bangs and proudly displayed it to her colleagues.

“Still, I envy you. Last time, even after ten knocks, I wasn’t forgiven.”

“I only got three… I got hit ten times and an additional blow with a club. My wounds still sting when I dip my hand in cold water.”

“Where among us can’t relate? We’ve all been knocked out with our heads hitting the floor at least once, haven’t we?”

Listening to Ellie’s story, her fellow maids swallowed hard, dryly, in response.

Honestly, I hadn’t considered thoughts like Ellie’s. If the queen lost her memory, wouldn’t it be okay to speak up a little? But when the maids saw Ellie’s shattered forehead, they changed their minds. “Ah, if we speak up to the queen like before, she’ll end up with a cracked head like Ellie, hands torn apart, and even get scolded by her parents.”

“The heavens are indifferent. It would have been better if she had died as she was drowning in the lake.” The maids all sighed deeply at the same thought. While sharing various stories, including gossip about the queen, one maid mentioned the story of the “witch.”

“Come to think of it… Is that rumor true? That ‘the queen’ is ‘that thing.’”

“Hush… Honestly, everyone saw it, right? The queen rising up from her bed in the palace, coming back to life. How chilling it was… I was cursing inwardly, but when I heard that, I thought she had risen because of that.”

“You too…?”

“Who wouldn’t think that after seeing that sight? Even before the queen married His Majesty, such ‘rumors’ were rampant, weren’t they? Everyone just dismissed it for lack of evidence.”

“But this time, there’s even ‘evidence’… It’s strange that the story isn’t spreading.”

The maid who brought up the ‘witch’ story clicked her tongue. The rumor about the queen being a witch didn’t arise in just a day or two.

In the first place, many noble ladies gathered to select a new queen. They chose and selected those noble ladies as if collecting treasures, and among the numerous candidates, only five were chosen.

However, except for Vivian, all four of the chosen ladies had some problem and voluntarily gave up their position. They had mental issues or family discord.

In particular, one lady’s household collapsed completely. Just at the most crucial moment, scandals about the lady’s father’s corruption and disgraceful sexual preferences burst out all at once.

“Where would you find a noble who doesn’t even stir up a speck of dust when they shake their fur?” This saying was so commonly uttered among the commoners, signifying the corruption and authority of the nobility. In the end, Lady Yeongae had no choice but to step down from her position as the prospective queen, and other ladies-in-waiting had to relinquish the position of queen for similar reasons. And among them, the current Queen Consort, Vivian Lirienne Sol, stood out as someone about whom there were no issues or rumors. Everyone suspected Vivian, but ultimately no evidence surfaced.

Countless suspicions and distrust—Vivian became queen by smearing herself with these. However, far from making any effort to dispel such rumors, upon becoming queen, she did nothing but abuse and assault her maidservants… No one could possibly like Vivian.

Well… it was rumored that the reason she assaulted her maidservant on the first day was “because Her Majesty didn’t return to her chambers until dawn,” but that was not the kind of thing that would come from the mouths of mere maidservants.

Anyway, because of this, Queen Consort Vivian did not receive the ‘surname’ of the royal family. Instead of the royal surname “Snow White,” she continued to use the surname “Lirienne Sol.”

“Ha… should I just beat her and go back to my hometown?”

“…If only you could have done that, you would have beaten her and gone back to your hometown long ago.”

Sighs escaped simultaneously from Elli and her fellow maidservants at those words. It wasn’t spoken aloud, but they all found themselves in similar situations. Why was Vivian’s maidservant work considered the most prestigious among the palace maidservants? A little thought made it clear.

And Vivian’s maidservants all had some pressing “background” needs. They were either paying off family debts, supporting impoverished relatives as fallen nobles, and so on…

As they were once again about to release a heavy sigh in the midst of this dark reality, someone tugged at Elli’s apron. She turned her head to see who it was, but there was no one in Elli’s gaze.

As her head naturally lowered, Ellie’s gaze fell upon a young girl. Ellie and the other maids looked at the small girl with astonishment, as if their breath had been taken away.

“Princess?! W-what are you doing here?”

The young girl, with hair darker than ebony and ruby-red eyes sparkling beneath her disheveled bangs, grasped Ellie’s apron and looked up at her.

“What are you doing…?”

“Oh, we were just taking a break with my colleagues. What brings the princess here…?”

Ellie squatted down, meeting the princess’s gaze. As the princess clutched a book almost as large as her torso, she glanced at Ellie. Seeing the book, Ellie understood where the princess was headed and why she was there. Realizing they had been making noise in the corner of the corridor, Ellie cautiously asked the princess,

“Ah… were you on your way to class?”

“Yeah…”

Blushing slightly, the princess half-buried her face behind the book. Watching her, Ellie chuckled and took out a candy she had hidden in her pocket, placing it in the princess’s hand.

“It’s a secret from the teacher, so you have to sneak it after class, okay?”

Grasping the candy, the princess smiled contentedly and hurried away. Ellie trembled with concern, seeing her running off with the book. “Be careful, Your Highness!” Sometimes giving the princess a treat felt like one of the few small joys she could find in her harsh life as a maid.

Watching this, the other maids pursed their lips enviously. While there were many maids close to the princess, such opportunities were rare.

“Well, at least the princess didn’t hear about Queen Mother’s story.”

“Huh? Why all of a sudden?”

Ellie abruptly asked, as if questioning what that meant.

“Didn’t you know? They say the princess gets so terrified that she foams at the mouth whenever she hears stories about the late queen ever since the funeral. Imagine seeing someone you thought was dead suddenly rise in front of you. Even without that, she’s still a young princess. Wouldn’t she develop a trauma? I get scared just by looking at the late queen’s face.”

“Ah…”

Upon hearing that, Ellie made a bitter expression as if to say, ‘It’s already hard enough for Her Majesty… the poor princess.’

There are rumors blaming the late queen for what happened to Her Majesty, but Ellie didn’t think so. If the late queen could really control Her Majesty, she wouldn’t have caused such a mess.

“…Let’s get back to work. Who’s in charge of the late queen’s duties tonight?”

“Did dementia hit you? You’ve been doing it all day today.”

“…I got a bruise on my forehead today. Can’t someone else do it for me?”

The fellow maids simultaneously shook their heads and then hurriedly found excuses to leave, claiming they remembered some urgent tasks. Watching them, Ellie thought to herself, “Indeed, the bond between maids is as fragile as a piece of paper.”

*

As Bangsio left the room, I crossed my legs, rested my chin on my hand, and fell into contemplation. Is it too harsh to be subjected to a ‘witch trial’ after pulling off something akin to a ‘resurrection’ at the funeral home?

There’s nothing special about witch trials in this world. If you can’t prove you’re not a witch, they burn you alive, a cruel method. How do you prove you’re not a witch in the first place? No matter how much I justify, they’ll find a way to label me as a witch. Did I resurrect because I wanted to? What am I going to do now that I’ve woken up in a funeral home?

“…What should I do, really?”

– It seems like things have gotten bigger than expected… Is it okay to retract my offer to help?

“…..Are fairies normally this heartless?”

– Even if Vivian had a face, she’d probably say the same thing. She’s like an emotionless mirror.

First, with a slightly cooler head, I was able to come up with a few ways to handle this situation.

First, persuade the council.

The Elder Council was a gathering of noble houses with considerable power on their backs, much like a meeting of old nobles. They were bothersome individuals who vied for power with the king and were somewhat troublesome even in games.

It might be difficult to persuade these stubborn old folks, but if I could somehow appeal to them by saying, “People have changed,” and gradually win over the elders of the council, it might just work.

Secondly, pleading with His Majesty not to divorce.

Well, it’s ridiculous to beg not to divorce when I didn’t even get married and am pleading to a man whose face I don’t even know, but it was one of the easiest and surest ways for me to survive. But… there was a problem with this too.

-The king is in seclusion right now. It’s been about two years since he ordered no one to enter his chambers… Since Vivian remarried, he suddenly started secluding himself, so everyone thinks Vivian did something. In reality, Vivian didn’t do anything.

The ‘player’ of this ‘child-rearing simulation game’ is a recluse in his room. The king is in seclusion, seeing no one, living only in his chambers. So, practically, the country is being managed by Prime Minister Bangsho and the Elder Council…

Just from what I’ve heard about the king, there are more than a few odd things. The king is a recluse, isn’t he? Even the state of the first queen is strange compared to what I know.

How on earth is this country being run?

“…I’m going crazy. Seriously.”

And finally, the third option was very simple.

“…Ainsel, want to run away with me?”

Leaving Wangseong with a certain amount of property. Right now, every fiber of my being felt like saying, “Let’s run away from here immediately.” If I stay here, I might really get caught up in some strange business.