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Chapter 26
Everything had already been prepared; all that remained was to leave. I followed Bella, who was setting off with a few attendants in a small party.
‘…….’
We looked at each other with complicated expressions. If we went into the open woods we could talk privately, just the two of us. That’s what I thought—then suddenly Clements said he would follow, and when he did, of course the Count creaked out in a gloomy state too.
‘Wow, what are we supposed to do if everyone comes along like this?’
In the end it turned into the event exactly as planned. Four targets had been prepared for Clements and Cassis, and the Monahan siblings.
“I’m not going to shoot….”
The Count sat under the tent slumping and weakly gestured. One target was taken away. Cassis drew his bow and began hitting his target. A few attendants gathered and murmured their admiration.
If Bella and I had come alone, I might have tried shooting too, but since the Crown Prince himself was participating, there was no target for a mere maid. At best I’d have the role of fetching arrows that fell near the target.
Then Bella suddenly approached Clements.
‘……!’
They seemed to be having a serious conversation just between the two of them. Even if I strained my ears, I couldn’t hear what they were saying from where I stood.
Bella glanced back at me once. Clements also stared in our direction for a moment, then the two returned to their conversation.
What on earth are they up to?
I was tilting my head when cheers rose around them.
“Wah!”
Bella and Clements stood side by side. One whispered word stuck in my ear from the people murmuring.
‘A wager.’
I didn’t know what was at stake, but the Crown Prince and Lady Honwood would be testing their skill against each other.
Ladies first. Bella’s turn came first. She took an elegant stance, drew the string, and released after a moment.
Thunk.
The arrow with a black feather struck dead center on the target. A low gasp escaped the crowd. Then Clements shot—and his arrow with the purple feather also landed exactly in the middle.
After that, every shot either of them took hit the mark. The attendants, who had been responding to flatter their superiors, were now standing with their mouths open in stunned silence. It was neck and neck. Not an everyday spectacle.
‘Of course. Who do you think our kids are!’
Pride straightened my shoulders too. A contest of archery between two people who don’t even appear in the original story — and such outstanding skill! That’s more like my protagonists!
‘…Although one of the two might not actually be a protagonist anymore.’
When I reached that thought my mood sank. Clements had only given me exactly one full day. Could I talk with Bella and untangle the thread of my curse within that time?
Before I knew it, Bella was nocking her last arrow. Their previous scores were perfectly tied. This one shot would decide the winner.
‘Win, Bella! I don’t know what’s at stake, but win!’
But Bella hesitated for a long time with the bow drawn. Just as I wondered why, the arrow flew off in the wrong direction. It drew a large arc past the target and vanished into the woods between the trees.
“Oh!”
Bella had never missed like that before. It was completely unlike the neat skill she had shown up to now.
The bet was Bella’s loss. I looked at her to comfort her, but she stood holding her bow like someone who had lost her mind.
“I’ll go get it!”
I raised my hand and called out like a dutiful maid. Even if I couldn’t make Bella win, I could at least fetch the arrow. I immediately ran toward the forest.
“Arroooow—!”
Thud thud.
“Where are you, arrow?”
Speed is everything in a case like this. Had I misjudged where the arrow would land? Should I have come on horseback?
Just as I wondered if I should break off a bunch of twigs to fashion a replacement,—
‘Found it!’
I saw the arrow lying beside a round gray rock. As I reached to pick it up, something grabbed my shoulder.
“Argh…!!!”
“It’s me.”
Her voice beat the scream that was about to leave my mouth. It was Bella.
Her black hair was messy from running, and her usually pale cheeks were flushed. I blinked in surprise.
“Bella? Did I take too long?”
“Yes. You were useless until the end…”
She muttered the usual complaint and grabbed my arm, spinning me around.
“Is the place that was hurt okay?”
“It’s fine. I’m completely well now!”
“…….”
“And you? I worried so much after what happened yesterday….”
“Who are you to talk! Ophelia Leora!”
Bella was holding my hand so tightly it left a mark.
“What is this look? Did that man lift the curse?”
“…Only for one day. I bought us some time.”
“Of course.”
Bella looked at me with a tormented expression.
“I’ll get rid of it however I can.”
“You have to… you must…”
No sooner had the words left my mouth than fierce blue eyes sparked. I didn’t want to anger her further, but the question had to be asked.
“Bella, why do you have to hurt His Highness?”
“Is that even a question? Because I want to.”
“If you want to, why?”
“You want to protect him, right?”
She spat the words fiercely, but she seemed to pause and think a little.
“I hated him from the moment I first saw him. The Crown Prince… it felt like he was someone who’d been planted in my life from childhood as a thing I must catch.”
“‘A good match,’ you mean?”
Bella nodded.
“You don’t know. Even before you came, I always—always felt angry. The spacious mansion felt like a prison. The only time I could do what I wanted was when I ran out into the forest.”
Ah, Bella. How could I not understand.
As a small child she must have held her breath and stared helplessly at the wide world outside the window. Before she met me, no one had told her, “You may do as you please.”
“I just lived like that because there was no choice. I went about with a stupid face and said stupid things. If asked to embroider, I embroidered; if told to wear makeup, I wore it.”
“…….”
“All the things I had to endure and give up were, in the end, for that one person.”
For the single person who would become her husband.
“You saw it at the salon yesterday too, right? You have no idea the humiliation I suffered to make a good impression on him.”
Bella, as she spoke, seemed to become more certain.
“You told me to do as I wished. So of course it’s only natural that I would decide to harm him. Just wait. With these hands of mine, I will—”
Bella’s eyes as she looked at her white, pretty hands were strange.
“And then I will be free.”
“…Bella.”
Who could know Bella’s words and anger better than I? Because of that, I had to tell her. I worried whether revealing the truth I’d kept back would confuse her further, but I dared to say it.
“The one who locked you up as a child, scolded you, suppressed you, forced you into roles that don’t suit the grown you, treated you like an object to be sold—”
“…….”
“Was your brother the Count and your parents who died when you were little. It was not the Crown Prince.”
For a long time there was only the sound of wind rustling branches and birdsong. Bella’s blue eyes sparked and shimmered with moisture.
“That can’t be.”
Bella Lucia muttered. That can’t be.
“You have to listen, Bella. For the good of our family.”
“Yeah—everything for the glory of the Monahan house!”
Monahan.
Even through the haze, it was a name with no pleasant memories. It was the name of a brother who only shouted and acted recklessly. It was the name of a house where she had to be cruelly confined.
But it was also her own name. How could her bloodline hurt her?
Was the target of her murderous intent not some strange, beautiful man who arrived from another land, but the brother who had been a ceiling above her—unbreakable, unflippable—forever?
“That can’t be,” she said.
Bella realized her voice was trembling. The maid in front of her shook her head sadly.
“Denying your family is not easy.”
“Shut up, please. Ophelia. You don’t— you don’t know how I felt the moment I first saw him. Every cell in my body screamed. I’ve never felt such fierce emotion since I was born.”
“Could it be that—”
“No! It’s not love or anything like that. You taught me that.”
The foolish maid began to cry, big wet tears falling.
‘Why are you crying, you fool.’
Even her untidy swipe of her sleeve to wipe her face made my chest ache.
From the day she saw Crown Prince Clements, she had made up her mind. She would take him, and with her own hands destroy him. If necessary, she would follow him to the palace or even to the depths of hell.
This afternoon had been a chance to talk to the maid, and unexpectedly the man who acted so high-and-mighty also came along. It was an opportunity of sorts. She had a bow, and the highborn liked wagers.
“You asked earlier that I take you to the palace. Have you reconsidered?”
“I refuse. You suit Honwood much better than Klasha.”
I didn’t expect him to agree easily.
“How about this? Let us shoot. If my score is higher, you take me with you.”
Only then did he look up with his violet eyes and regard her.
“And if you lose?”
“I said it— if a price must be paid, I would pay anything.”
“Could you even send your maid to me?”
My heart seemed to drop. I unknowingly turned toward Ophelia. She was still standing like a little yellow chick even as a person.
“Have you no conscience? How can you demand Ophelia? You already put a curse on her and stole her from me!”
I snapped and hissed the words under my breath, but the Crown Prince remained composed.
