Her lips twisted into a strange smile. “In retrospect, he might have punished you more harshly to set an example for me. So I would never dare to disobey or rebel against him…”
Maxi racked her brain to remember a ten-year-old Rosetta, but her memories felt shrouded in mist. The image imprinted in her mind was of a perpetually beautiful, perfect, and haughty Rosetta. And yet Rosetta had also been a defenseless child desperately trying to protect herself.
The moment the realization hit, Maxi was able to see her sister as clearly as though a veil had lifted. The delicate frame, the forlorn eyes…Standing before her was a young girl three months shy of nineteen.
“I have witnessed all the torment you were made to suffer,” Rosetta murmured. “I know how your spirit was crushed…. I know how powerless women are, and how cruel and heartless men can be….”
Her sister’s voice felt like a faraway echo. After glancing up at the sky, Rosetta lowered her gaze once more.
“I know I’ll never be able to truly love someone, nor will I be able to trust completely,” she said dully. “It would be impossible even if I wanted to. Something in my heart prevents it, like it’s broken. I doubt, test, and eventually push away all who approach me. If I’m like this…how much worse must it be for you?”
“I-I…”
Maxi staggered as if she had been forced into a corner. She looked down at the ground as her face crumpled. Theirshadows stretched out from their feet, tall and scraggy, like dead trees. A chill crawled down her spine.
Rosetta spoke again, this time with the graveness of delivering a prophecy. “It can never work out. Your relationship will eventually fall apart.”
“Y-You’re wrong. I am…different from you.” Maxi’s words sounded unsure even to her own ears.
“You were unable to trust that man when it truly mattered,” Rosetta blandly pointed out, “and you will continue to do so. Whenever your heart grows weak, you will be plagued with doubts. We are twisted that way.”
“I-I…” A needle-like sting scratched at Maxi’s throat. Resistance to the future her sister painted came surging up from the depths of her heart, and she clutched at her skirt. “I-I am…going to change.”
She spoke with conviction, as if to pour out and lay bare this defiant feeling inside her. Rosetta’s gloomy eyes told her that she thought it was an impossible feat.
Maxi squeezed her eyes shut. “I am going to change!”
A fierce gust blew past, rustling the dried leaves still clinging to the trees.
After quietly watching the shaking branches, Rosetta muttered skeptically, “Then I wish you luck.”
Maxi and Rosetta returned to the great hall where the delegation was already making preparations to leave. Seeing their guests, who had traveled a great distance, being forced back on the road without proper rest made Maxi feel terrible.
Ignoring Riftan’s insistence that she should not mind them, Maxi went out to the castle gate with the servants to see them off. She was upset at the princess for threateningRiftan, but that did not mean she could throw the royal delegation out so coldly.
“You don’t have to look so apologetic,” said Princess Agnes. “We were planning on leaving immediately anyway. We intend to stay a night in Earl Loverne’s estate, then proceed to Croyso Castle. We should let the duke know that Riftan has withdrawn his declaration of war as soon as possible.”
A faint smile tugged at the princess’s lips as she gazed down at a clearly uncomfortable Maxi. “I don’t know what happened, but the duke must have made a grave mistake for Riftan to be like this. I hope you will forgive me for not being able to take Anatol’s side.”
Maxi cast her eyes down and muttered stiffly, “Y-You need not apologize, Your Highness. I understand…the royal family’s stance.”
Though she was disappointed by the princess’s business-like manner, in the end, it was entirely Maxi’s own fault that things had come to this. If she had not followed her father that day, there would have been no reason for the princess to travel all over Wedon to act as mediator. Maxi was so guilt-ridden that she could not lookup.
“Please…b-be careful. I wish you…a safe journey.”
“Thank you for seeing us off. I was…” The ever-dignified princess hesitated before continuing awkwardly, “…reassured when I saw you in good health today. I know there is much I need to apologize to you for.”
Flustered, Maxi waved her hands. “N-Not at all, Your Highness.”
The princess adamantly shook her head. “I’m afraid I’ve been thoughtless. I’m sorry you had to find out in the worstpossible way. But the duke was wrong when he said everyone in Drachium Palace was talking about it. That man blew it out of proportion.”
Maxi stiffened when she realized that the princess was referring to the gossip surrounding Maxi’s miscarriage.
“Of course,” Princess Agnes added quickly, “I’m not trying to defend the king’s actions. He shouldn’t have used the issue to mock the duke. That was not right. Please allow me to apologize on His Majesty’s behalf. If you ever need my help, do not hesitate to let me know.”
After dumbly staring at the princess’s solemn face, Maxi turned her gaze to Rosetta. Her sister had her back to them as though uninterested in listening to their conversation. Should she inform the princess of her father’s plans now?
After briefly debating the matter in her head, Maxi cautiously opened her mouth. “If, in the future…th-the Duke of Croyso…tries to threaten Anatol…p-please intervene as earnestly as you have today. I ask…only that.”
