[Episode 50] - A Little Tea Party for Princesses Only (3)
“Because I don’t want you to end up like me.”
Titania could say nothing as she looked at Princess Fiona, who wore a bitter smile. Why was this woman suddenly acting like this? Why did she hate Mother? Why was she telling Titania these things?
Titania could not understand any of it.
When she unconsciously clenched her fist, the chocolate she had been holding melted and turned sticky in her palm. The tacky, mushy sensation reminded Titania of Princess Fiona’s words and actions, making her frown.
As she opened and closed her mouth, unable to figure out what she should say, Ainsel, who had remained silent until then, suddenly shouted at Princess Fiona.
“Just what do you mean by that?! It’s true that, as the rumors say, Vivian used to order people around, bully the maids, and be utterly beyond saving, but...!”
Ainsel clenched both fists tightly and shrieked at Princess Fiona.
“She’s different now! The Vivian of today is genuinely trying to become the princess’s ‘parent’! How dare some outsider who knows nothing say such things to the princess just because she believes some rumors...!”
The mirror hanging around Titania’s neck seemed to tremble violently. Ainsel was shouting so passionately that Titania could almost picture her furious expression without even looking, and a small laugh escaped her.
Wrapping one hand around the agitated Ainsel, Titania glared at Princess Fiona. Princess Fiona was still looking at her as though she was genuinely worried.
“You said you didn’t want me to end up like you...?”
“Yes. It’s obvious that staying by her side will only end badly for you. Princess Snow White, I’m telling you this because I truly worry about you.”
The answer came immediately, as though it contained not a trace of falsehood. How could she be so certain? Titania hated those lips that spoke as though it were only natural that she would regret staying by Mother’s side.
She hated that this unexpected guest was insulting Mother without knowing anything about her. Titania wanted to refute Princess Fiona’s words with an elegant retort and make her unable to utter another word, but...
Ten-year-old Titania did not know how to insult someone elegantly. She had never insulted anyone before, and did not even know how she was supposed to respond in a situation like this.
Having never set foot in high society, Titania had never learned the art of veiled mockery. After thinking as hard as she could, she had no choice but to imitate the ‘memory’ she had seen and grown up with.
There was only one person around her who could serve as a textbook for this sort of thing.
It was only natural that Titania would act this way.
Titania folded her arms, narrowed her eyes, and raised her chin while tilting her head ever so slightly to the side. Then she lifted the corners of her lips just a little, forming an expression that seemed to mock the other person.
Yes—
“Thank you for worrying about me, but it’s a needless concern, Princess Fiona.”
Just as Vivian treated other nobles.
“I’m perfectly fine as I am.”
“...Really? But that woman...”
Titania plopped down into her chair and even crossed her legs, lifting her chin. The sight made her look exactly like Vivian, and Princess Fiona seemed slightly flustered as she frowned.
As though she truly disliked the sight.
“Don’t casually call her ‘that woman.’ She is my mother now, as well as Her Majesty the Queen of this country. Or is calling one’s parents ‘that woman’ the proper form of address in your country?”
“Gasp.”
Ainsel could only inhale sharply and cover her mouth. In an instant, she realized exactly who had taught a princess of only ten years such wicked words and behavior.
“People say children are mirrors of their parents...!”
Ainsel was horrified, but Titania took it as a compliment and let out a proud snort. Ainsel’s words were as good as saying that Titania had acted exactly like Mother.
‘I did it! It was perfect!’
Just as Titania confidently lifted the corners of her lips, convinced that she had perfectly imitated Mother, Princess Fiona covered her mouth and began to giggle.
The laughter sounded as though she was mocking her. Titania frowned and looked at Princess Fiona, but Fiona showed no sign of stopping. She laughed so hard that tears even welled in her eyes.
“Hehe, hehehe, ah... Was I really this audacious when I was young?”
“......? What? What did you say?”
“Nothing. Princess Snow White. Ha... I suppose that’s true. I was being terribly rude. I am a princess participating in an envoy to a neighboring country, after all.”
“...?”
As though reminding herself of her role, Princess Fiona said this, then ran a hand down her face and sighed softly. She rolled her eyes to the side and glanced at Titania, who was sitting with her legs crossed.
The girl was imitating Vivian to a tee. The arrogant way she looked down on people, the way she bobbed her head as though dismissing them. Her behavior was less that of a princess and more that of a delinquent.
Princess Fiona let out a deep sigh as she watched her. Shaking her head as if she simply could not understand, she forced the corners of her lips upward once more and smiled.
“...I suppose this is where we should stop for today, Princess Snow White. I’m sorry for being rude.”
“If you understand that, then it’s fine. I hope this never happens again.”
“Hehe. You won’t tell Her Majesty the Queen about what happened today, will you?”
One of Titania’s eyebrows twitched upward. Fiona was still treating her like a child, to the point that Titania almost thought, ‘Perhaps I really should tell Mother.’
But... if she really told Mother about what had happened today, just as Fiona suggested, she felt she would truly become the ‘child’ Fiona treated her as. So Titania decided to keep her mouth firmly shut.
“...I’ll keep today’s events a secret. So don’t insult Mother again. The person who raised you and my mother are different people, after all. Don’t look at them as though they’re the same.”
“Different people... Yes, they are different people. I’m sorry. I suppose I was a little emotional today. I enjoyed the tea party. Let’s have a more pleasant conversation next time.”
After Princess Fiona bowed her head, Titania walked out of the garden in long strides. Just in case, she turned her head and glanced back at Princess Fiona, who was waving lightly at her.
What an unpleasant woman. And what an ill-mannered woman.
That was how Titania thought of Princess Fiona. She felt bad after discovering that all the smiles Princess Fiona had shown Mother until now had been ‘false.’
For some reason, Fiona hated Mother and was trying to turn Titania against her. Thinking of her as an ‘ill-mannered woman,’ Titania shuddered and began running toward her room.
And yet, at the same time, Titania also thought that Princess Fiona was a pitiful person.
If it was really true, as Fiona had told her, that she had grown up hated and despised by the ‘Second Queen,’ then Titania could understand at least a little of what Fiona had said today.
The memories were beginning to grow hazy now, but until Mother had changed, Titania’s own situation had not been so different from Fiona’s. There had been a time before she turned seven when she had no one around her.
Titania shook her head vigorously, casting away her gloomy thoughts, and ran toward her room. She wanted to see Mother right away, but Mother was still in a meeting and could not be seen.
‘When I see her at dinner, I’ll apologize first.’
Titania thought that if she sincerely apologized, saying she was sorry for avoiding Mother all this time and that she would not do so anymore, Mother would accept her apology with a smile.
Thinking that Mother would embrace her if she apologized, and imagining herself cuddled tightly in her mother’s arms for the first time in so long, Titania could not stop the corners of her lips from rising.
She had been unable to spend time with Mother for nearly two months. It would be nice to sleep together again after so long, Titania thought. They usually slept in the same bed, but lately they had been sleeping separately because things between them had grown awkward.
Still lost in such happy thoughts, Titania arrived at her room. With Ellie’s help, she removed most of her accessories, then flopped down onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. According to Ellie, the meeting would end before dinner.
Looking at the clock, Titania saw that there was still a long time before dinner. Pouting slightly and complaining that time was passing too slowly, she crawled under the covers and chatted with Ainsel.
When Titania asked Ainsel what she should do if she wanted to make peace with Mother, Ainsel advised her to write a letter of apology. Titania blushed and said that writing a letter would be too embarrassing.
As she passed the time chatting with Ainsel, drowsiness gradually crept over her. Titania blinked sleepily, then yawned widely and gazed at Ainsel with unfocused eyes.
“Wake me before dinner...”
“Yes. When you wake up, we’ll go apologize to Vivian together. I haven’t been able to go to Vivian lately because I promised the princess, either... To be honest, I’m scared of how angry Vivian will be.”
“Then I’ll ask her not to scold you...”
“Please do...”
Unable to resist the sleep overtaking her, Titania asked Ainsel to wake her in the evening. Then she slowly closed her eyes and settled down for an afternoon nap beneath the covers.
Softly breathing. Softly breathing.
A nap so deep that she would not have noticed even if someone had kidnapped her.
*
Immediately after the tea party ended, Princess Fiona covered her mouth and held back her laughter as she waved to Titania, who was walking away from the garden.
“She really is audacious. I wonder what makes her different.”
Seeing Titania glance back at her several times from a distance, Princess Fiona could not help but smile amid her complicated emotions.
She wore a bitter smile at Titania’s audacity, yet giggled at the way she kept sneakily checking to see how others viewed her.
“That’s right. I wasn’t quite that audacious.”
It was unclear whether she was speaking to herself or answering someone else. Once Titania disappeared from the edge of her vision, Princess Fiona dropped into a chair, lifted her head, and sighed.
“I only came here to check on her for a moment...”
Saying that she had no idea what was going on, Princess Fiona sighed softly and wiped her face. Then she crossed her legs and bobbed her head, imitating the way Titania had acted moments ago.
“...Honestly, what does she find so appealing about imitating that? She’d better not show this side of herself in high society. Don’t you think?”
Princess Fiona uncrossed her legs and shifted into a more comfortable position, staring blankly in the direction Titania had disappeared.
“...Even so, I just don’t understand. You know what she’s like. Selfish, violent, seeing people as nothing but tools, and unable to rest until she gets whatever she wants. There’s no way even a fragment of affection could exist in the heart of a woman like that.”
Frowning, Princess Fiona tapped her fingers lightly against the table and sank into thought. Just as she sighed, unable to understand, a good idea occurred to her, and she smiled brightly.
“Parents reveal their true feelings when their children aren’t around, after all. Don’t you agree? There’s no way a parent would treat their child according to their true feelings in front of them, right?”
Princess Fiona drained the half-full teacup in one gulp, then rose from her chair, stretched her arms high above her head, and yawned.
“So, let’s put on a little play. The title could be... ‘A Teenage Girl Runs Away from Home’? Ah, but isn’t she too young to call it adolescence?”
With a small laugh, Princess Fiona waved her hand through the air. The gesture resembled that of stroking a child’s head.
“I’ll prepare the letter. Her handwriting will be the same anyway. Perhaps I should make it a little more scrawled?”