3 bar menu

Chapter 80 Part 10 – The women take a step forward with pride in their hearts. To protect, to fight, to compromise.

「I get it!! This must be a fox or a raccoon dog in disguise. All right, Bradd, get the smoke ready. I’m going to smoke it out and drag out its hidden tail.」

「I’m not gonna do that. Besides, what do you mean by raccoon dog? Do you mean a raccoon?」

Bradd was stunned by my exasperated response.

Ah, that reminds me, raccoon dogs don’t live in Hydrangea. According to oriental legends, they can transform into people or monsters and crush their opponents. They are rivals to foxes, and in a certain ninja village, it is said that there are raccoon dog figurines with a sake bottle and an account book hanging from its body ……

「I’ve heard that they can enchant humans and even get into big fights with other raccoon dogs ……」

「That’s bullshit. I’m sure you’ve been tricked ……」

W-What. Don’t look at me with such disappointed eyes. I heard this from an oriental sailor when I was a queen in the previous 「108 times」, so I’m sure about it. There are demon wolves and demon dogs, so it would not be surprising if there are raccoon dogs as well. I even half-seriously considered requesting assistance from the raccoon dogs in order to save Hydrangea from its crisis. I was going to make the four great kingdoms dance using the magic of the raccoon dogs.

「…… I’ve learned that you’re actually an imaginative girl. It seems that you’ve always pushed yourself too hard. Even for tonight’s ball, you have prepared so many things in order to protect your mother. Duchess, you have a wonderful daughter.」

「Yes, Scarlet is my pride and joy.」

Countess Rosenthal looked at me affectionately and my mother nodded happily.

「I envy you. My body is incapable of having children …… You are really fortunate. God must have rewarded you for enduring the pain of infertility for 10 years. Cherish that treasure.」

「Countess Rosenthal ……」

「Don’t look at me like that. I hate being pitied. I’ve known since I was a child that I was infertile. Don’t you think it’s amazing? I was able to deceive the late king till the very end. Maybe I am a raccoon dog just like what that girl imagined.」

「Well ……」

Mother giggled.

Wait a minute …… Although it concluded like a good story, I’m still being treated like Anne of Green Gables …… Besides, I can’t trust you even if you pretend to be a good person all of a sudden.

「Imaginative? …… But aren’t you using magic as well ……」

In the first place, I myself have one foot in the fantasy genre, so I can’t accept this.

Countess Rosenthal laughed as if she were teasing an innocent child.

「You’re right. But I’m not going to have a magic battle like the raccoon dogs. I want a fair and honest battle between women. Duchess …… No, please allow me to call you Cornelia-san. At the ball 14 years ago, you suffered a great emotional trauma. You were helplessly trapped. At that time, I was the host of the ball. And I have no intention of apologizing. I wonder if you want revenge.」

The atmosphere in the carriage grew tense. My alertness level has reached the max. It sounded like a roundabout declaration of war.

…… Damn it, I knew she was going to come at us. But in my adult form, I can crush Countess Rosenthal’s eyes before she could activate her evil eye. Fortunately, I still have several folding fans with blades attached to it.

「……!!」

I was about to flash the fan from my pocket when Bradd discreetly stopped me with a firm grip on my wrist so that our actions wouldn’t be noticed.

With his gaze, he urged me to observe the situation for a moment.

Mother closed her eyes for a while and then quietly began to speak.

「…… That night, the red nobles tormented me for their amusement. I don’t think they were even aware that they were bullying me. It was a life-destroying incident for me. After that, I often woke up in the middle of the night due to nightmares with my whole body covered in cold sweat. To be honest, there were times when I wished for revenge. I couldn’t forgive those people who toyed with me with such a lighthearted feeling ……」

Bradd and I listened with bated breath.

This was the first time I’ve heard my mother speaking about the emotions she felt that night 14 years ago since that other time when I went to the secret storage room of the 「Poison Lady’s Kerchief」.

「…… My husband, Wendell, surely still wants revenge. But I don’t want to. Not because of mercy, but because if I do that, I would surely no longer be the me that Wendell fell in love with. And also because I won’t be able to look at my daughter Scarlet straight in the eye. This isn’t about being pretentious, it’s just a little bit of stubbornness on my part. Rather than being caught up in the past, I want to protect the precious things I have now.」

Mother’s profile was more beautiful than anyone else when she firmly said so.

「Mother ……」

Bradd patted me on the shoulder as my voice choked with emotion, then he nodded deeply.

Yes, you were right. I had almost ruined my mother’s pride by being so imprudent. With the current state of our family, we have plenty of means to take revenge on the red nobles as long as we don’t care about the means. But rather than falling to the same level as the red nobles, mother accepted her regrets and sorrows and showed her determination to live for the future. This is the mental fortitude that a queen should have.

「…… As expected of masterrrr, you’re gonna make me cry ……」

Outside the carriage, Arnold sobbed so hard that he spoiled my deeply-moved emotions. He must have been worried and put his ear to the carriage door to eavesdrop on the conversation inside. I’ll punish this guy later.

「So …… you choose a bitter future for yourself for the sake of the people you care about over sweet revenge …… That may sound easy, but it takes a lot of courage to do. However, those people may not understand your feelings and would just continue to take advantage of you. Even though you have fists that can knock them down, will you still hold back?」

Mother smiled at Countess Rosenthal’s question.

「As long as it only affects me, I can endure it. But if they hurt or insult the people who are important to me, I will not tolerate it. I will show them hell right away.」

Looking at her calm but threatening smile, Countess Rosenthal nodded.

「I see. The wonderful women I know would have said the same thing as you. …… My mother and Marielle-san.」

Countess Rosenthal’s hazel eyes looked a little gentler as nostalgic feelings crossed through them.

Then Countess Rosenthal looked at mother’s green dress.

「…… Let me ask you one thing. Why did someone as determined as you tremble while protecting your dress when you were surrounded by the red nobles and was covered in blood and food scraps? It doesn’t seem to me that you’re cowardly enough to be frightened by something like that ……」

This woman!! She’s one of the leaders of the bullying and yet she’s acting so brazenly ……!!

I was about to seeth in anger again when I was interrupted by the sound coming from outside the window. Arnold was gnashing his teeth with a furious expression as he looked inside, while Seraphy desperately clutched his hands to try to pull him off the carriage.

「I can’t let her get away with this, I’m gonna beat the shit out of that woman ……!!」

「Arnold, calm down!! They’re talking about the past ……」

When someone gets mad before you do, you miss the moment to get angry. I sighed and gestured to Arnold to move back slightly and wait a little longer. I don’t want him to hear any more about this. If Arnold, who has a short temper, learns that the nobles behind him who are blankly staring at the situation are the ones responsible for the bullying, he will immediately retaliate. Even if he only intended to lightly hit them, if he swung around that steel bow with the physical strength of the adult Arnold, anyone hit by it would inevitably be seriously injured. The ball would end up becoming a carnival of blood.

Mother fondly stroked the dress of memories, which was reproduced exactly as it was 14 years ago by Countess Rosenthal’s evil eye. She looked a little sad, probably because she remembered that the real one had been defiled and ruined to the point where it could not be repaired.

「…… This dress is a precious memory of mine. Wendell had chosen it for me when we kissed for the first time. So, I didn’t care what happened to myself, I just really wanted to protect this dress ……」

Countess Rosenthal gasped when she heard mother’s answer.

「…… So …… that was the case …… Finally …… The long-standing question has been solved ……」

Perhaps the root of her tongue stiffened from too much surprise, she struggled to push the words out of her mouth.

「…… You were …… trying to protect your memories with Wendell-sama, weren’t you? I …… was foolish. I knew you were the woman he had chosen. At that time, why didn’t I take the first step ……」

I couldn’t understand what Countess Rosenthal meant.

But I couldn’t help but think back to the words my mother said earlier, 「While everyone else was making fun of me, she was the only one who was really angry」.

And when I saw a single tear fall from Countess Rosenthal’s eye and she wiped it with her fingers in an embarrassed and clumsy manner, I no longer hated this selfish queen of high society so much anymore.