[Episode 142] — The Things That Changed While I Was Away (1)
“So... you’re saying she’s Her Highness the former queen’s niece...?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“And what might your name be...?”
The moment had finally come. I squeezed my eyes shut and put on an expression as innocent as a child’s. It was time to do ‘that’—the act I had practiced in front of Titania and Veronica while gnawing away at my own shame.
I smiled innocently, tilted my head, and gave a laugh as though I knew nothing. I even added a slightly coquettish tone and did not forget the small gestures meant to stir a protective instinct.
“P-please call me Lily, ehehe.”
Ah. I want to die. No, I’m going to die.
I’m going to die of self-loathing...!
I felt this way every time I did this, but I truly wanted to die. I couldn’t call myself Vivian, so choosing a new name was unavoidable. But even so...
“Oh... What a cute name...? Ah, it’s a nickname, then. Is it ‘Lily’ because your name is ‘LilienSol’?”
“Yes, that’s right. Ehehehe!”
What do you mean, Lily? Lily?!
I was a thirty-three-year-old adult on the inside, so I wished people would spare a thought for my position when I introduced myself as Lily. There had been plenty of other names, but Veronica and Titania had insisted that using the ‘nickname’ Lily would be best.
I had nearly been in tears when I asked whether I could use ‘Vivi’ instead, but my opinion had been dismissed in an instant. Apparently, Vivian’s Vivi was not a ‘nickname’ one would give to a niece.
“...I see. Her Highness the former queen’s niece...”
Bansho was still leaning toward me and gazing at me intently. A reddish handprint stood out on his scalp, as though a red maple leaf had been placed right in the middle of his forehead.
“My mother asked me to look after her for a while.”
“Pardon? You’ve been in contact with Her Highness the former queen?”
That was what surprised him? Bansho’s eyes grew round as he looked up at Titania, as though it were astonishing that she was in contact with me. When Titania nodded, Bansho let out a small groan.
Since I couldn’t reveal my identity to anyone else, we had decided to push forward with the story that I was a young lady of the LilienSol family. Not that anyone would have believed me if I had said, ‘Her Highness the former queen has become younger!’
The child the queen had suddenly brought with her was the former queen’s niece. Before coming here, I had asked Titania, ‘Isn’t that a bit too far-fetched?’ But Titania had simply nodded and said it would be fine.
I had been worried, but since Titania kept telling me not to be, I had no choice but to nod as well. In the first place, I couldn’t think of any other excuse.
I couldn’t exactly claim, as Bansho had spouted nonsense, that I was ‘Her Highness the former queen’s hidden child.’ What on earth had Bansho been thinking when he called me a hidden child? The timing didn’t even make sense.
As I sat in the chair, sipping the juice the maid had brought me and looking between Bansho and Titania, Bansho slightly furrowed his brow and began protesting to Titania that this was unacceptable. But...
“Why did you not tell us first? If you had at least informed us before bringing the child here...”
“Do I have to obtain your permission for every little thing like this?”
“That is not what I meant, Your Majesty...!”
Titania merely replied firmly, her gaze crushing his protest beneath its weight. Did she really need to seek permission for every single thing? Bansho could not answer under that stare.
‘Huh...? What’s with this atmosphere...?’
Had Titania always treated Bansho so coldly? As far as I knew, Titania had never once spoken to him in such a manner.
The mood in the room began to turn strange. And not in a good way.
For a moment, a heavy silence settled over the room. Titania looked down at Bansho with cold eyes, while Bansho seemed to spend a long time choosing what to say, and how to say it, to her.
In the end, it fell to me to break the oppressive silence.
I didn’t want to see Bansho and Titania fighting, so I hopped down from the chair and ran over to them. I grabbed one of them with each hand and looked up at them both.
The gesture was much like a child scolding adults not to fight, and both Bansho and Titania let out a simultaneous sigh. What on earth had happened between the two of them while I was gone...?
“Don’t fight...”
“...We’re not fighting.”
Titania smiled bitterly as she looked down at me, then scooped me up into her arms. By now, I was used to using Titania’s arm as a chair and her chest as a backrest.
“Anyway, treat Lily as a guest for the time being. She’ll be sharing my room, so keep that in mind. Take out some of the dresses I used to wear and put them in my dressing room as well.”
“...Understood.”
“And... let me be clear: don’t conduct any unnecessary investigations. She’s a child my mother entrusted to me.”
“...As you command.”
As though she had nothing more to say, Titania hugged me and left the room. As we walked down the corridor, she let out a small sigh.
What could possibly have happened to make her relationship with Bansho so bad? There were too many ears and eyes around us, so I cupped my hands around Titania’s ear and whispered my question.
“...Are you on bad terms with Bansho?”
“It’s not like that. It’s just...”
Titania answered with a quiet giggle.
“I dislike him a little, that’s all.”
After saying that, Titania fell silent. Since it didn’t seem like the right time to ask anything more, I quietly remained in her arms as we headed toward the room where I would be staying from now on.
After a long while, I arrived at the room where Titania and I had once lived together. I climbed down from her arms and looked around. The sight of the room, unchanged even after I had left, stirred a faint sense of nostalgia in me.
“You were still using this room.”
“Yes. I feel the most at ease here.”
I struggled up onto the tall bed, then tossed off the uncomfortable shoes and jewelry. As I lay down in a slightly more comfortable position, Titania let out a soft, amused chuckle and sat down beside me, looking down at me.
Then she began straightening my disheveled bangs. As she carefully tidied my hair, Titania curved her eyes into a smile, like a puppy waiting to be praised.
“I’ve kept everything ready in case Mother ever returned. The dresses you would wear, the cosmetics you would use, even the bedding you liked—I’ve taken care of all of it without missing a thing.”
“I see...”
“I never expected you to come back looking this young... but you won’t have any trouble staying here. If there’s anything you need, please tell me at any time.”
“Th-then... thank you...”
“...Is that all?”
“Huh...? What is...?”
“Is that really all you have to say to me?”
Titania leaned over me where I lay, wearing an expression of mild dissatisfaction. Had I been too brief? She stroked my cheek and waited for me to say more.
Instead of answering, I reached out and affectionately patted Titania’s head. But Titania still seemed dissatisfied. She pouted and gently covered the hand that had been stroking her hair.
Then she whispered to me with a suggestive smile.
“I think my reward is a little lacking...”
“...What is it you want?”
At my answer, Titania smiled sweetly, then tapped her pursed lips with a finger, asking me for a kiss. Realizing what she meant, I puffed out my cheeks and shook my head.
“That’s not allowed.”
“...Mother, how long do you intend to keep avoiding it?”
“What?”
As I glared at Titania, she reached out and traced my jawline with her fingers. Caressing my chin, she crushed my lower lip with nothing but her thumb as she continued.
“I know. I know that you’re afraid my kiss will break your curse.”
“......”
“You’re worried that I might become your destined partner, aren’t you? If my kiss really did break the curse... you would lose your excuse to reject me.”
Titania was right.
What if her kiss really did break this curse? If that happened, I would no longer be able to stop Titania from approaching me and telling me she loved me.
It would be the same as acknowledging that the curse had decided we were not merely mother and daughter, but destined partners like the prince and princess in a fairy tale.
Moreover, breaking the curse with Titania’s kiss was like using an eraser. An eraser created to wipe away the thin line between Titania and me.
If her kiss truly broke the curse, then the line I had drawn between us would certainly be erased completely.
The ‘mother-and-daughter’ line that had already been half-erased by Titania’s confession would disappear entirely, and there would be no way for Titania and me to return to being mother and daughter.
When I squeezed my eyes shut and turned my head away, Titania gave a quiet laugh and continued.
“To be honest, I don’t think Mother’s curse will be broken by a kiss from me. Reality will probably be that nothing happens.”
“......”
“But even so, I don’t want to give up that chance. Could you at least give me the opportunity to try?”
Titania looked down at me intently and pleaded. She was asking me to give her the chance to break my curse. To give her the chance to become my destined partner by breaking it. But I...
“Are you planning to run away from me again?”
For a moment, Titania’s words made my mind go blank. Once again, I found myself only thinking of excuses to distance myself from her.
Even though I had clearly promised to stay by her side for the rest of my life, I was unconsciously rejecting this child’s attempts to draw closer to me.
“...Fine. Do as you please.”
In the end, I squeezed my eyes shut and allowed her to kiss me. As Titania had said, destined partners were not so easily found. Besides, I had already promised to stay by her side.
Even if the curse were broken by a kiss, that promise would not change. I slowly sat up, settled demurely on the bed, closed my eyes, and simply offered my lips so that Titania could kiss them as she pleased.
When I closed my eyes, I heard Titania let out a quiet chuckle. And so, with my eyes shut, I received the small kisses she scattered over my skin.
Beginning at my round forehead, the kisses slowly descended with soft, smacking sounds. As though she were trying to make me grow accustomed to being kissed, she continued, and I found myself unconsciously pursing my lips.
The kisses that began at my forehead moved to my eyelids, the bridge of my nose, my cheeks, and finally my lips. They were not deep or sensual. They were the light, fleeting kisses that touched and withdrew—the kind I used to give Titania when I was young.
When Titania’s lips, which had been pressing against mine, finally pulled away, I slowly opened my eyes and looked at her. From the expression on Titania’s face, I could tell what had happened to my curse.
She looked bitter, as though she might cry. Yet she somehow managed to lift the corners of her lips and smile at me. I lowered my head and looked at my hands, just to confirm whether my expectations were correct.
As expected......
“...That’s too bad.”
“...I see.”
My curse had not been broken. My short, chubby fingers still opened and closed, confirming that I was in a child’s body. I raised my head again and looked at Titania. She was gazing at me with a smile she had forced onto her face.
What kind of expression was I supposed to show this child? No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t figure it out. So I simply looked back at Titania and smiled.
With no emotion in it at all. Just a smile.