Regina reread her father’s letter several times, trying to think positively.
Well, at least grape farming might work out.
Grapes could be made into jam or wine, products with a long shelf life that would sell well on the market. But could her family’s finances hold out until the grapes ripened? Her half-sister, born to her stepmother, was reportedly still sick. How many years of deferred land taxes from the royal family were they still contending with?
Her thoughts spiraled, one worry leading to another, and she let out a sigh.
“Madam, I apologize for interrupting, but you have a visitor.”
“A visitor? Who is it?”
“Lady Celestina from Biti.”
Celestina was a friend from her single days, someone she had navigated the social scene with. The familiar name brightened Regina’s mood, and she headed straight to the drawing room.
“Oh my goodness, Regina O’Dear!”
Celestina, already seated and sipping tea, rose with open arms.
“You’ve gone completely off the grid! I missed you terribly!”
“Sorry. I nearly died, you know?”
“Look at you, still as witty as ever!”
Celestina’s melodious, cheerful laugh hadn’t changed, but something else had. Regina’s eyes widened at the sight of Celestina’s prominent belly.
“Six months along now. It’s pretty big, isn’t it?”
Celestina pouted playfully, wondering aloud if it might be a large baby—or perhaps twins. Confronted with her friend’s innocent exuberance, Regina composed herself.
“That’s wonderful news. Congratulations, Celestina.”
Thankfully, the congratulatory words came out smoothly.
“Wonderful, my foot. It’s the beginning of endless struggles! Once my body gets heavier, I won’t be able to go anywhere for a while. Meeting you before then is the only good thing about this!”
Celestina pulled Regina to sit down beside her. Though she maintained a lively demeanor, her eyes betrayed a sense of surprise. It was clear she was startled by her friend’s haggard appearance, her emaciated and worn-down figure.
“What in the world happened to you?”
“I was just a bit sick.”
“A bit? I nearly lost my baby when I heard you might die!”
“…You said you’re six months along. I doubt you even heard about it back then.”
“That’s not the point!”
Pouting again, Celestina bombarded Regina with questions.
“What exactly was wrong with you?”
“They called it an unexplained comatose state.”
“For a whole year?”
“Yes, for a whole year.”
“Wow.” Celestina’s lips shaped a silent exclamation of astonishment.
“I read in the newspaper once about a man who had been in a coma. He said that waking up felt like being a prince under a spell, suddenly finding thirteen years had passed.”
“It wasn’t nearly that romantic. Compared to him, my time was short.”
“So, Regina, do you have no memory of the time you were comatose?”
Regina didn’t answer. Instead, she simply smiled in silence.
***
She remembered that night a year ago when she drank as if to die. The endless cycle of marital fights had left her increasingly despondent. A husband who avoided her and her pitiful self chasing after him, begging him not to hate her.
What she couldn’t endure most was the immense disappointment. Every time her expectations were crushed, the flower-like emotions she had cherished dropped one petal at a time. Before the few remaining petals fell, Regina decided to sever this withered stem herself.
That night was more sorrowful than usual. Regina downed the poison she had secretly bought in one gulp.
Unfortunately, she did not die. The gods imposed a harsher punishment on someone who had abandoned her own life.
The next day, Regina regained consciousness and saw her hands and feet had turned as transparent as a ghost’s. What’s happening to me?
As she tried to make sense of the situation, she saw herself lying on the bed. Thinking it was a nightmare, she attempted to touch her own body, only to be repelled by a sharp, blue static shock. She needed help, but she was trapped in her bedroom, unable to leave, as if imprisoned in a transparent glass wall.
That was when the real nightmare began. Strangely, the doctor failed to discover that Regina had been poisoned. While she was diagnosed with a “mysterious vegetative state,” Regina could only stomp her feet in frustration from the sidelines.
The time that followed was suffocatingly dull and excruciatingly painful. No one could see or hear Regina. Trapped in the bedroom, she watched as her body grew thinner and frailer by the day. Occasionally, she could look out the window at the mansion or hallway, but it brought little solace.
The person she missed the most never returned to the mansion.
One day, as her frustration and anger reached their peak, Regina erupted. She screamed like a wild beast and struggled desperately to return to her body. Yet, it was futile; she couldn’t grasp anything with her intangible hands.
Collapsing in despair, Regina wept as she watched her dying body.
That’s right. I deserve this punishment. This is what happens when you recklessly try to take your own life.
Regina decided to accept her fate. Losing the will to live, she resigned herself to everything, and for the first time, her unrelenting consciousness began to fade.
Am I finally dying?
She surrendered her body to the immense force pulling her in. And then…
“Madam has awakened!!”
***
“…Hey, Regina. Wake up! You’re not sleeping with your eyes open, are you?”
Celestina’s exclamation jolted Regina out of her thoughts.
“You scared me half to death! From now on, you need my permission every time you close your eyes, okay?”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
Barely returning to reality, Regina forced a smile. Even her faint smile seemed to reassure Celestina greatly.
“I’m so glad you’re back, Regina.”
“Thank you.”
“But it’s upsetting that your beauty is all but gone! Look at how you’re nothing but skin and bones. Your husband must’ve been terribly worried about you.”
Regina’s hand, holding the teacup, paused. In the moments when she thought she was truly about to die, she had thought of her husband.
The cold man who had never once come to see her.
For the year she lay like a corpse, she had waited for him desperately and hated him just as much. And yet, she had considered staking her immeasurable heart on a few sweet words from him.
Never again. Never again.
Regina’s expression turned complicated. As a friend, Celestina noticed and subtly patted her shoulder.
“You know, Regina?”
“Yes?”
“I got married a little earlier than you, didn’t I? And I have a few older sisters who are also married.”
“Why bring this up all of a sudden?”
“Well, I’ve realized something lately: men are all the same.”
Regina blinked, confused by Celestina’s words.
“Love inevitably fades over time. What remains between a married couple is affection and loyalty. That’s all. We’ve already stopped sharing a bed.”
“That’s… a bit sudden and personal.”
“My point is, what’s important in marriage is loyalty! Loyalty, you hear me?”
Celestina clenched her fist energetically as she made her impassioned argument.
“After having one child, how many couples do you think end up cheating? Life is long; straying a few times is understandable. The key is to never let go of each other’s hands.”
Regina remained silent—not because she agreed with Celestina, but because she had too many counterarguments to voice.
Does she think Gray cheated? Or does she believe it’s enough that Gray didn’t abandon me during my vegetative state? For that matter, Celestina would be the first to make a scene if her husband ever strayed!
“My goodness, Regina!”
But Celestina’s scattered attention had already leapt to another topic.
“Try this lobster sandwich. The flavor is unbelievable!”
Perhaps because of her pregnancy, Celestina devoured everything with gusto, making Regina feel hungry as well. Thanks to her, Regina cleared her plate completely—except for one item.
“Regina, do you know what’s happened while you were gone? You’ll be shocked!”
***
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