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“Your Highness, you really are back!”
Countess Deles was delighted as soon as she saw Philomel entering her room.
“It’s been a while, Countess.”
“Where have you been all this time? You haven’t said a word to me, who’s been with you for a long time!”
“…sorry. I couldn’t speak.”
“No, no. Just being back is enough. I was worried that the princess might be wrong…”
The Countess sniffed and hugged Philomel tightly.
“Welcome back. Really.”
The Countess’s body and her voice were trembling. The hospitality, which was much more intense than expected, was a bit embarrassing, but Philomel slowly patted her on the back.
“I’m back.”
But the Countess was not the only one who had been waiting for Philomel until this late hour.
“Princess, I wanted to see you!”
“I knew you would come back.”
“Aren’t you leaving again? If you want to go, you must tell us.”
Philomel struggled to calm her maids, who each had their own words to say.
“You! I know you’re happy, but what are you doing holding onto a tired person?”
“I’m sorry!”
At the Countess’ scolding, her maids bowed their heads.
“Don’t reprimand them too much.”
Philomel stopped the Countess in a good mood. After soaking in the bath water they prepared, she came out and changed into clean clothes, feeling very refreshed. In the meantime, the maids had gone and only the countess was in the room.
“The Countess should go and get some rest.”
“No. I’m fine. I’m going to spend the night here. Here, I’ve brought a pastime.”
Sitting in an armchair, the lady held up her knitting. Philomel seemed to know how she felt about staying by her side, so she didn’t tell her to go again. They sat on chairs by the fire and waited for her wet hair to dry.
“Princess.”
Suddenly, Countess Deles opened her mouth.
“…Yes.”
Philomel answered quietly.
“I won’t ask why you left. A lot of other people have already asked. Instead, promise me one thing. Promise to never leave without a word again. Just let me know and then go.”
“…Yes. I promise.”
Philomel hesitated for a moment before answering with a nod of her head. When she left, she was the one she cared about the most, so she had no choice but to do it even though she knew it was a difficult promise to keep. To be honest, she was stunned that the Countess and her maids cared and thought of her so much. The time they spent together was a lot, so she wondered if she would remind her from time to time, but she never thought it would be that much.
It was clear that those who were closest to Philomel were in her worst position because of her own disappearance. What should she name that feeling of feeling sorry for them but slightly happy?
Meow.
At that moment, she was awakened from my thoughts by the sound she heard outside.
Meow, meow.
The crying didn’t stop at once, but the sound of scratching the window was also heard.
“Did a stray cat sneak in?”
The Countess rose from her seat and opened the terrace door slightly.
Shush.
Something like a small ball of hair broke into the room in an instant.
“Eh, oh my God!”
“Ohhhh.”
It was a cat. The cat passed the frightened Countess and approached Philomel.
“So beautiful.”
Philomel admired the shiny white hair, which was unusual there. The cat friendly rubbed himself against Philomel’s leg and she, gaining her courage, stroked his head. The hair was very fine, uncharacteristic of a street child. It didn’t even look dirty.
“I don’t know how he got here, but he seems to have eyes.”
“He doen’t avoid people, so maybe he is a child with an owner?”
“Well. If there is an owner, he’d be looking for this guy diligently by now. Judging from his condition, he seems to have grown up quite cute.”
“I’ve never seen a silver cat before.”
Looking closely, the cat’s coat was silver, not white. The Countess, who had been gazing at Philomel, who could not take her eyes off the cat for a while, said.
“Will he be taken care of here until we find the owner?”
“I’d like to, but I don’t know when I’ll be leaving again…”
The Countess’s face blurred.
“Are you going to leave? Can’t you just stay here with us?”
“I’m not the princess. I can’t stay here forever.”
“However, how anxiously did His Majesty the Emperor search for the princess…”
“…You said that His Majesty was looking for me desperately?”
She knew he found her with a strange light in his eyes, but the expression ‘anxiety’ didn’t suit him.
“Of course.”
It was difficult for her to splash her cold water on the Countess’s unhesitating answer.
“Well. Although he said he wanted to register me in the family tree.”
“Really? So how did you answer?”
“I declined, but he told me to reconsider it a little…”
“Say yes!”
She cried out and covered her mouth with her hands.
“… I apologize. That’s a matter for the princess to decide, but I dared to be arrogant.”
“You’re welcome. You said that because you thought of me.”
In the Countess’ eyes, she would rather live comfortably with her there than leave the imperial palace, where Philomel was born and raised.
“I’m presumptuous, but to tell you my opinion, I don’t think life here is bad. I’m confident that you’ll do really well in the future.”
“You are only counting on what I’ve done so far.”
“After all, his real daughter is Princess Ellencia, so you won’t do all the hard work, such as taking the successor classes or working. So, the princess can live comfortably from now on, don’t worry.”
“Thank you, but I’m really fine with things as they are.”
Sharing the seat of Ellencia would not be very comfortable, but she was grateful for the Countess’s heart for thinking of her.
Suddenly, Philomel’s gaze turned to the cat still nearby. His ears perked up as if he were listening to the conversation between Philomel and the countess.
‘Nonsense.’
It must be a misunderstanding, Philomel thought and ignored him.
“I’m not really going anywhere, so just go take a break.”
Even while Philomel dried her hair and lay down on the bed, the Countess did not let go of her knitting in her hands.
She said, “I will only stay until the princess falls asleep.”
Her sleeping seemed to be the thing that would allow the Countess rest, so Philomel closed her eyes. However, perhaps because she had slept so much in the emperor’s bedchamber, her dream did not come easily. She curled up and closed her eyes, as if the cat that had settled down in front of the stove was well prepared.
The cat decided to sleep here for now. She was going to see if there’s an owner tomorrow or someone to take care of him until they find his owner. The Countess asked softly to Philomel, who could not sleep.
“Is there anything that bothers you?”
She was full of things that bothered her. Things in the future, situations that are strangely different from the novel. And Ellencia’s dubious attitude. Even though it had only happened yesterday, her meeting with Le Guin and the secret of her birth felt like a distant past.
“It’s just a little complicated in my head.”
“I can’t be of much help, but I can listen to any story, so if you don’t mind, tell me. You know, just confiding in someone can make you feel better.”
Her heart was grateful, but most of her worries were of the kind that she couldn’t confide in. Philomel brought out the least of which she would be fine with.
“Um… His Majesty and Princess Ellencia when I wasn’t here… What happened between the two of them?”
“I don’t know. I don’t have the chance to see those two up close either. What do you mean specifically?”
“I don’t know what to say… For some reason, the two of them seem a little awkward.”
To be precise, Eustis was awkward, and Elencia was very friendly.
“That’s natural.”
“It is?”
“Yes. The two of them are father and daughter, but in person, they met for the first time a few days ago. Wouldn’t it be rather strange to be intimate?”
“… But isn’t there a kind of bond that is different from others between parents and their children, who are related by blood?”
Yes, the bond she never had between herself and Eustis.
Living in anxiety as if the floor would collapse at any moment, she had longed for a bond between blood ties. Neither Catherine nor Le Guin, with whom she shared blood, were people who could not give her that. The Countess paused her knitting and gazed at Philomel.
“Princess. No, should I call you Philomel from now on?”
“Do whatever you feel comfortable with.”
“Miss Philomel, do you remember what I said about my daughter?”
“Oh, you said she went to study abroad and came back a while ago.”
She seems to have been told that the daughter of the Countess went to college at Elita and that she majored in political science.
“Whoops. My daughter was a child who said she would marry her father when she grew up, but now she and her husband are very much in love. They were so awkward with each other whn she came back. They wouldn’t say a word between them.”
That was the first time she had heard of her family in detail.
“I believe that parent-child relationships are fundamentally no different from other human relationships. You have to put in time and effort to maintain a healthy, perfect relationship. Just as my daughter and her husband felt awkward because they have been apart for so long, I can relate to His Majesty the Emperor. Her Highness will be the same.”
Countess Deles, who began to move her hand again, showed years of experience in her eyes.
“…is that so?”
When she heard the Countess’s story, she couldn’t know more.
‘In the book, Ellensia Hwang became a special daughter to father as soon as they met.’
“That’s what happens. I would like to introduce my family to Philomel. Hearing my story, I just want to see you all meet” said the Countess of Deles, her eyes twinkling.
“Me?”
Philomel gave a timid reply.
“If you have to leave this place, why don’t you stay at my house for a while?”
“What about the handmaid’s job?”
“If you’re not there, I don’t have to work.”
“But if you become Princess Ellencia’s maid…”
“Oh. Did I look like a person who easily changes the person I serve? It’s a bit embarrassing.” the Countess joked. “My daughter must have returned. It was Champil who was about to go down to the manor. It’s not your fault, so don’t worry, Miss Mel.”
Philomel knew it was a lie for her. The Countess was very fond of her own work, and if Ellencia was original, she should become her maid of honor.
“Even though it’s rural, it’s a quiet and friendly place. If you come, you’ll definitely like it.”
Making the lullaby of her voice explaining her hometown softly, Philomel thought she may have been building a wall for herself for a long time. She thought that the Countess was Ellensia’s person anyway, so she tried not to get closer than a certain level to her. She did not want to be the villainess who coveted the protagonist’s things and was punished by her. Did she give up because she was intimidated by others besides Countess Deles?
‘If there is no way, even now…’
Meow.
It was as if the cries of the cat was the sound of a sheep in her consciousness.