CATB Chapter 35

The beautiful flower Belkellion had placed by my ear hadn't even withered yet when the next day dawned. I was leisurely eating a combined breakfast and lunch, resting, when Ariel's maid came to remind me of our tea appointment.

"Ugh, damn it. It's not like I forgot."

Grumbling, I roused my sluggish body, only to find Lily and Jen already prepared for everything.

"Princess, you have to go to Laila Palace! Please get up quickly."

"If you want to be presentable compared to Princess Ariel, we need to hurry with preparations!"

Looking at the two girls who became subtly energetic whenever Ariel was involved, I spoke up.

"This time it's just Ariel and me meeting alone. There's no need to wear yourselves out."

"Still! I'm sure the people at Laila Palace will..."

From Jen's sullen muttering, it seemed there was some rivalry between the maids of Iris Palace and Laila Palace. Otherwise, these girls wouldn't get this worked up.

"Why, what did they say about me? That I'm uglier than Ariel?"

"...Uh...well...that's..."

"Did you fight?"

"...We didn't hit anyone."

Looking at Lily's honest confession, I grinned at her.

"Next time something like that happens..."

"Yes."

"Just hit them once."

"Yes...yes?"

Both girls stared at me with wide eyes. Oh, how cute.

"I'll take responsibility, so don't worry about the consequences and just hit them once. After all, you're the beast's maids, so you should live up to my reputation, shouldn't you?"

"...R-really?"

"Yeah. But only once or twice, okay? Do it too many times and you become thugs."

I'm speaking from experience.

Chuckling to myself at this thought, I smiled at them, and both girls nodded enthusiastically. Since there was no reason to look good for the royal family anyway, there was no need to pretend to be nice and endure the petty malice that would be directed at me and my maids.

Thanks to my words, I arrived at Laila Palace in more comfortable attire than usual, having put in less effort. From the entrance, the place was decorated with subtle yet sparkling flowers and gems, befitting the residence of Pellipe's beloved Princess Ariel. The old maid who had tried to lecture me yesterday greeted me with a bow.

"We meet again, Giselle."

When I called her by name, Giselle raised her head. Perhaps due to her years of experience, she didn't show any signs of surprise or fear toward me. Feeling mischievous, I firmly grasped the maid's wrist. I gripped it hard enough that she could feel the pressure, and her face twisted slightly.

"Remember this well. Yesterday was quite impressive."

When I applied a bit more pressure, a flicker of fear appeared in Giselle's eyes. It was instinctive fear that I might break her wrist just like that. I smiled wickedly and released her wrist.

"Lead the way."

Like the seasoned maid she was, Giselle quickly composed her expression and guided me to Ariel's room. When the prettily decorated door opened, a sweet scent wafted out.

"You came?"

A gentle voice welcomed me.

"Yeah. What's this? It smells delicious."

"Madeleines that you like."

As soon as I sat down, Ariel personally poured tea and handed it to me. It was apple mint tea, which I liked. I was a bit surprised that she knew my tea preferences so precisely, but I pretended it was nothing and sat down with my tea. Ariel looked at me intently before speaking.

"Did you see the Grand Duke off safely?"

"Hm?"

Even though yesterday's events couldn't have been pleasant for her, Ariel directly brought up the subject, so I answered.

"I saw him off properly without being rude, so sister doesn't need to worry."

"Alexa,"

"I didn't break any of the royal protocols that everyone makes such a fuss about."

Ariel started to say something but swallowed her words. Then she affectionately pushed the plate of madeleines toward me again.

"Eat up. I specially requested these from the royal head chef."

"...Yeah. Thanks."

I didn't bother to confront Ariel about her blatant flirtation with Belkellion yesterday. For people at our level, it would be more appropriate to express our intentions through unspoken actions rather than discussing everything verbally - a more sophisticated and troublesome approach. Even if I found fault with her, this girl would smoothly slip away as always, and to others, it would only look like I was picking on my innocent sister.

However, I knew that yesterday's behavior couldn't be seen as simply Ariel's sudden approach. She probably scattered all her charm like that to enchant the people around Alexa one by one. And as a result, Alexa would have become isolated.

Just from watching yesterday's Ariel, I could fully deduce how smoothly and seamlessly each step of that process had proceeded. I put the sweet madeleine in my mouth while looking at Ariel, who was smiling at me. My expressionless face made her beautiful brow furrow with worry.

"Does it not taste good? Should I have them make new ones?"

Ariel was kind. She took care of me with actions as kind as Belkellion's.

However, these things only happened when we were alone together. When other people were around, this beautiful girl attacked me little by little with transparent blades. Ariel was both Alexa's greatest ally and her greatest attacker. I felt confused by that contradiction.

The problem was that Ariel's behavior was too complex to simply see her as someone trying to screw me over. Having experienced many types of human scum - bitches, bastards, and complete specimens - I recognized that the emotions she harbored toward Alexa couldn't simply be seen as pure hatred or malice.

So was it love-hate?

But to see it as mischief mixed with a bit of affection, Ariel's actions seemed excessive. Having directly witnessed her systematically seducing her sister's man and sending pawns one by one to attack her sister, I had never once felt any affection in that series of actions. That's why I couldn't be certain.

'Ugh...my head hurts.'

My head became complicated and I naturally frowned. Seeing Ariel's face worriedly concerned about my health made me a bit irritated.

'Whatever feelings she has toward me, who cares.'

I never planned to take revenge on behalf of Alexa from the start anyway. If I could just help her regain what she had lost but rightfully should have had, I didn't include revenge in my plans. Though it was a bit selfish, that would be too exhausting.

To bring someone down, I'd have to be prepared to fall about halfway myself. I wasn't noble enough to sacrifice myself that much for others.

'Isn't this enough?'

If I could make it so Alexa is treated well and protect her completely from those who would use and harm her, wouldn't that be enough to say I helped Alexa quite conscientiously?

So rather than trying to analyze Ariel's behavior, it would be right to just avoid her quietly. As long as she didn't mess with me, I wouldn't try to strike this pretty girl first. I wouldn't go out of my way to cry for Ariel's downfall.

However, considering yesterday's incident and Ariel's increasingly noticeable behavior of ostracizing Alexa since I came to the capital, I felt my patience gradually wearing thin. Perhaps I felt that way because of my sensitive temperament that reacts acutely to people's emotions and actions. In any case, it wasn't behavior that suited my disposition, so I didn't like it much. Actually, I really didn't like it.

"Alexa."

"Yeah."

"...What did you talk about with the Grand Duke?"

I looked intently at Ariel's face.

"Curious?"

"......"

"Well, since you're my sister, I'll tell you. We decided to go to the festival."

"Festival? You mean the Harvest Festival?"

Looking at Ariel's stiff smile, I felt a bit of pleasure. Since Belkellion, who had refused tea with her yesterday, agreed to go to the festival with me, I had a bit of a "see that!" bragging feeling.

Damn, thinking about it, it seems a bit childish. What am I doing competing with this girl?

"You can't."

"Hm?"

"You can't go with the Grand Duke that day."

I casually twirled a strand of hair that had fallen to my shoulder with my index finger.

"It's not like I particularly need sister's permission."

"...There's a royal celebration on the festival day too. You'll naturally have to attend."

"I'm not going that day."

"Then?"

"......"

I can't tell you exactly when we're going. You might follow us.

I had absolutely no intention of including someone prettier than me in my outing with Belkellion.

Crazy, why would I dig my own grave? A woman's enemy is another woman.

Comrades, repeat after me. Beware of pretty women.

"Alexa. When are you going?"

Ariel's voice, which had been soft, had turned cold at some point. As someone who had considerable skill in turning people's insides out with a perfectly calm face, I wasn't particularly frightened.

"Who knows. It's a secret."

"Alexa!"

Unable to hold back her anger, Ariel raised her voice. For the always composed and elegant Ariel, it was quite a loud outburst. I pretended to be startled (though I was actually a bit startled) and widened my eyes.

"How surprising. Sister, why are you getting angry?"

"Sorry. I'm not angry. I'm just disappointed that you've started keeping secrets from me too..."

I smiled wickedly and moved closer to Ariel.

"Sister Ariel."

"......"

"Everyone has secrets they want to keep to themselves. I can't tell you everything like a little child forever. I want to keep my conversations with Belkellion just between him and me."

"Alexa, but..."

Ariel tried to say something, but I quickly added:

"Just like how you didn't tell me about your affair with Marquess Harman."

Ariel was left speechless.

"You understand, right? At the very least, I told sister in advance, so I've shared more of my secrets than sister has. Right?"

"......"

"How about sister goes to the festival with the Marquess too? You're officially Pellipe's couple, but haven't you been too distant lately?"

I looked at her face—which seemed like it might burst with joy or collapse into tears at any moment—and smiled.

It was truly a bizarre expression.