“What does that mean……?”
Seeing Yeffa ask in confusion, I couldn’t help but suppress a smirk.
“Literally. I never said I’d let you out, so I don’t know why you’re asking me to.”
“B, but Sis clearly said…”
Yeffa blinked rapidly, as if searching her memory, and then continued speaking.
“You said there was a way to avoid going to the southern labor camp. You definitely said that!”
“I kept my word on that. If it weren’t for me, you’d be there by now.”
“Are you kidding me? Even if you did, nothing has changed. What’s the point?”
The corners of Yeffa’s eyes flared red, and a tear slid down her cheek.
I maintained eye contact with Yeffa, slowly lifting the corners of my mouth.
“Why hasn’t anything changed? You committed an even greater crime by attempting to escape.”
“That’s all a scheme by Sis, isn’t it?”
“What are you talking about, Yeffa? Do you have any evidence that it’s a scheme by me?”
For a moment, a spark of life flickered in Yeffa’s eyes. Resentment, betrayal, and anger mingled in her hazel eyes. I smiled even more profoundly.
“Yeffa, no matter how desperate you are, you shouldn’t conspire against the Crown Princess.”
Yeffa’s hand gripping the bars trembled violently. She glared at me, her eyes flashing with defiance.
“…Why are you doing this to me? What did I ever do so wrong to you? Why!”
Her voice was filled with resentment, seemingly only concerned about her own well-being.
‘She thinks she’s the most important.’
Forgetting all the mistakes she made and only focusing on what is happening to her now. I couldn’t help but pity her, wondering what had shaped Yeffa into this.
I pointed out each of Yeffa’s mistakes, facing her.
“You haven’t forgotten why you ended up here, have you? You ruined the empress’s boat party and almost killed Countess Rivolain.”
“…….”
“Even then, you never admitted your mistakes and denied them to the end, even when evidence like the Elento vial was found on your body.”
“If you hadn’t brought a canary, I wouldn’t have been caught. It’s all your fault!”
I couldn’t fathom her bizarre way of thinking.
“By that logic, even if you didn’t have Elento, there wouldn’t have been any problem, right?”
“That’s……!”
Yeffa’s expression contorted.
Soon, excuses spilled out of her lips.
“Sis is bad. It’s your fault. It’s because of you. Why did you become the Crown Princess? Why are you happily enjoying royal favors in the palace?”
“How does being the Crown Princess and enjoying royal favors have anything to do with you?”
Yeffa fell silent, biting her lip.
“……We’re sisters.”
The words she managed to squeeze out were choked.
“So, we should be similar. If Sister is happy, I should be happy too, right?”
Yeffa seemed to find her own words convincing, and as if questioning when I became so obstinate, she began pleading again.
“Huh? Please, Rottie, help me. I’m begging you, please!”
“Then let me ask you a question, Yeffa.”
With my calm response, Yeffa swallowed her saliva.
In her hazel eyes, hope and anxiety were simultaneously revealed. The dreadful gaze that hadn’t changed since the night the nanny died.
Staring directly at it, I asked in a low voice.
“When I’m sad, are you sad too?”
“…Of course. Isn’t that a given?”
“Then, why did you act like that on that day?”
Yeffa lowered the hand that was gripping the bars and clenched her fist tightly. She seemed to already know what I was going to say.
“I begged you to turn a blind eye to the nanny’s situation, but you told Roxis and got her killed.”
“…….”
“While I was crying, holding my dying nanny in my arms, you were smiling joyfully.”
“Rottie.”
“If I cried, you should have cried too. Isn’t that what sisters do?”
Yeffa lowered her gaze and finally, with a small sob, spoke.
“Back then, we were just kids. I really didn’t know anything. I’m sorry, Sis…”
The hand gripping the bars trembled, and droplets of tears fell onto it, leaving marks.
Thinking about how she had to squeeze out her tears, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Yeffa, do you really feel sorry?”
“I do. I was wrong. I want to ask for forgiveness, even now.”
“Really? Then beg.”
Yeffa, tears streaming down her face, lifted her head again.
The gaze I met was tinged with red.
“What do you want me to do? I’ll do anything you want.”
Tears welled up in Yeffa’s eyes as she looked up at me.
Her eyebrows drooping and her lower lip tightly bitten portrayed a pitiful sight.
“I want to ease Sis’s heart even now. So, anything… anything you ask for, Sis.”
Now, she seemed to be playing the role of a completely repentant younger sister.
It appeared that she thought that if she could just ease my heart, she would help in any way.
“Then, first, apologize to Countess Rivolain.”
“…Yeah, I’ll do that.”
“Apologize sincerely to the Empress too for your sins.”
“I understand.”
“And sincerely apologize to the nanny’s family as well.”
“Did she have a family?”
“She had a husband and a young daughter. You participated in taking a wife and mother from them.”
Yeffa slowly blinks her eyes in response.
The revealed hazel eyes disappeared again, now distorted with sorrow.
“I must have been crazy. I don’t know why I did that… Ugh.”
Tears welled up in her eyes again.
‘I wonder what thoughts trigger such a sudden overflow of tears.’
After sniffling again, Yeffa cautiously asked,
“So, are you going to forgive me?”
“Yes, if you do everything I say.”
“I’ll do it! I’ll do anything if it means I can be forgiven!”
This time, hope filled Yeffa’s eyes.
If we weren’t in a situation where I held Yeffa’s life in my hands, would she have begged for forgiveness like this?
“Alright. Then, as soon as it’s daylight, I’ll speak to the Empress on your behalf.”
“…Thank you, Sis. I really appreciate it. So what happens to me now?”
“Well, I don’t know. I’m sure the labor camps will be hard, but I’ll see if I can arrange for you to work in a more comfortable place.”
There was a momentary flicker of disappointment in Yeffa’s eyes. Perhaps what she really wanted wasn’t a lighter sentence but a complete pardon.
“You said you’d forgive me, but why…”
“Yeffa, if you truly had a change of heart, I thought you would accept the consequences of your actions. Were all the things you said until now lies?”
“I… No. I understand. I’ll do as you say.”
Yeffa bowed her head again.
I turned to Zenid, who had been standing quietly in the back.
“Zenid, when does the security patrol pass by here?”
“They should be passing by soon.”
“Really? And then?”
“I believe they pass by every hour.”
In reality, Zenid couldn’t possibly know every detail about the palace’s security patrols.
Glancing at Yeffa, I sensed her attentiveness to my words.
I casually continued,
“Okay. Then, ask the next guard to bring a blanket and some food.”
“Sis, thank you so much!”
Yeffa, with a voice full of gratitude, hung on to the bars again.
If that innocent face was sincere, If you were truly repentant, Then maybe I could lighten this burden a bit.
“Well then, see you tomorrow, Yeffa.”
With those words, I turned away from Yeffa.
At the same time, I subtly dropped a small item hidden within the hem of my skirt.
To muffle the sound of it hitting the ground, I quickly shuffled my feet.
“Zenid, prepare as I mentioned earlier.”
“Yes, Your Highness. Don’t worry.”
That way, we ascended to the surface.
Upstairs, Julion was waiting for us.
“Is everything settled?”
Is it because I was in a dark place and came out, or is it because Julion’s beauty is especially dazzling today? Blinking against the brilliance, I momentarily lowered my eyelids and slowly raised them again.
“Julion, you could have come down if you wanted.”
“You didn’t ask me to come with you… I thought you might have something to discuss separately.”
His words were overflowing with consideration and even a touch of overflowing kindness.
Julion, always silently supportive, waited for me to speak first this time as well.
“It’s all taken care of. Did you come to see me because something urgent came up?”
“I heard you were going to meet Countess Rivolain. However, it seems like a somewhat dangerous time now, so I’m worried.”
“Oh, that. Um… Should we discuss it in Garnet Palace?”
“Sure.”
Julion casually agreed and started walking.
For a moment, I realized that I had spontaneously extended my hand toward him. I awkwardly withdrew my hand as I watched Julion move away.
‘Is it because there are no eyes watching us around?’
We always held hands outside.
“Let’s go together, Julion.”
Taking a few steps ahead, Julion suddenly stopped, then swiftly crushed a pebble lying on the side of the road.
“What are you doing?”
“Oh, isn’t it dangerous to have something like this on the road.”
“It doesn’t seem that dangerous.”
“…It’s better to be safe. Let’s go now.”
Saying that, Julion reached out his hand to me.
A hand that was white, large, and, by now, familiar to me.
I smiled and placed my hand over his.
Feeling the warmth transmitted through his hand, it felt like my heart, which had been desolate because of Yeffa until just now, was melting.
‘Yeffa, if you truly want to be forgiven… Please make the right choice.’
And that night.
I heard the news I wanted to hear—perhaps even the news I didn’t want to hear.
