FSW Chapter 7

Stepping Stone

"Joy, I think I don't need to wear this anymore…."

"Absolutely not! What if it scars?"

Nishina let out a deep sigh as she looked down at her feet, wrapped tight as a mummy's. Bandages wound round and round as if she'd suffered some grievous injury. Thanks to the massage with aromatic oil from the imperial physician, the muscle soreness had mostly faded. The scraped wounds still stung, but they absolutely didn't require this level of excessive treatment.

Joy had filled the void left by her former nanny's departure from the palace as her personal maid, but even the nanny hadn't been this fussy. Between her mother and the people around her, they all clearly viewed Nishina as fragile as an ocean sunfish. If she so much as pricked herself on a needle, they'd treat her like a critical patient.

If she'd had a sickly childhood, perhaps—but Nishina's early years had been the picture of health, aside from one or two minor illnesses.

Of course, her stamina was a bit—no, quite poor! But still.

So when Joy saw Lavis carrying Nishina into the palace, naturally she'd been horrified.

Her face had drained of color as she'd shrieked about injuries, and in the chaos Nishina hadn't even managed to thank him before they'd parted.

The imperial physician was summoned, intensive treatment administered, and for a full day Nishina hadn't been allowed to set foot on the floor.

No matter how many times she insisted she was fine, no one even pretended to listen. This was the result.

"I'm really okay! Besides, the shoemaker is coming to visit soon, isn't he?"

"Even so…."

"I'll have to take all the bandages off anyway to have my feet measured."

"Then at least let me apply ointment."

Joy clutched the ointment jar with fierce determination. For Joy's peace of mind, Nishina nodded. With lingering reluctance, Joy unwound the bandages. She'd wrapped them so thoroughly it took ages to remove them all.

Her feet didn't even have noses, yet she felt like she could breathe fresh air again. She wiggled her newly liberated feet with satisfaction. Though slightly irritating, this was perfectly fine—she could go train right now without issue.

She thrust her feet toward Joy triumphantly, but Joy only applied medicine meticulously to the faint wounds before leaving to fetch fresh bandages for later.

Alone in the room, Nishina set foot on the floor for the first time that day. She tiptoed barefoot across the room and carefully opened the door.

She'd been thinking of sneaking off to the training grounds just like this.

She ran straight into Sir Hilton, standing sentinel outside. The moment he spotted her, his gaze dropped immediately.

Ah. There was one more person prone to excessive fussing.

His brow furrowed as he examined her feet. Before Hilton could sweep her up again, Nishina hastily demonstrated her perfect health.

"Sir Hilton! Don't I look completely fine now? I could go train right this instant!"

"Even if you say so, you may not."

"Sir Russell must be waiting!"

"I've already informed him there will be no training for a while, so don't worry."

"What an utterly useless thing to do!"

Oops. Her inner thoughts had escaped. Hilton's eyes drooped sadly, but she pretended not to notice.

'Don't tell me he was asked to keep watch so I couldn't go train?'

Joy was more than capable of exactly that. This was problematic. Nishina stared anxiously beyond the door. Even if she couldn't train, she needed to see him today.

She'd delivered cookies that day, but her impression had surely plummeted to rock bottom. She needed to repair her image as quickly as possible. And she still had to give proper thanks.

Growing anxious, Nishina asked urgently:

"How long is 'a while'?"

"Until Your Highness's feet heal completely."

"But I'm really fine right now! Look at this!"

She stomped her feet loudly—tap, tap—and Hilton's face went pale as he slipped his hands under her arms and lifted her clean off the ground.

"…What exactly are you doing."

"It would be terrible if the wounds worsened!"

"They won't worsen. Put me down. And let me go."

"I cannot."

Hilton set Nishina carefully on the floor and shook his head. The refusal was for her last proposal. Nishina looked up at him stubbornly, but Hilton remained uncharacteristically firm.

Did they both eat tart cranberries today? Why was everyone so stubborn? At Nishina's sullen expression, Hilton finally sighed and spoke in a coaxing tone:

"Then once you have proper shoes, I'll let you go."

'What kind of ridiculous three-for-four bargain is this?'

The shoemaker was scheduled to visit today, so by the time the shoes were finished, the wounds would have healed without a trace. But she didn't argue, trudging back into her room instead. If she trained without proper shoes anyway, this whole mess would just happen again.

She couldn't abuse her feet further.

Having barely resigned herself, Nishina flopped face-down on the bed. Somehow she felt even more exhausted than yesterday.

Three days into her confinement—though lessons had continued—her first scheduled outing was tea time with her mother, Melissa.

Had the tulip garden always been this beautiful? Perhaps it was the rare outing, but everything seemed lovely. The brilliant blue sky! The flowers blooming in every color! Even the unremarkable tea! Even the scones she didn't particularly like!

As Nishina chewed contentedly on a scone she normally wouldn't touch, Melissa spoke with satisfaction:

"I hear you've been visiting the pâtissier frequently lately? When I heard you'd become absorbed in developing new treats, this mother wanted to try as well. I added Earl Grey—how does it taste?"

"Mm, it pairs well with warm tea."

Contrary to rumor, Nishina hadn't visited the pâtissier because she was obsessed with new treats. Cornering the head pâtissier with various demands had all been in search of an exceptional quality bribe to make up for her disgrace.

In that sense, this scone wasn't bad. Even accounting for Nishina's above-average mood, the lingering fragrance was genuinely good.

'Would giving this make up for it?'

It seemed better than the sweet potato paste mont blanc she'd considered.

Unaware of Nishina's inner machinations, Melissa smiled radiantly and lifted her teacup. The subtle chrysanthemum scent, the warm spring breeze—the tea time lacked nothing.

"How is sword training going?"

Melissa set down her teacup gracefully and asked with concern.

"Mm, I haven't really started properly yet. I'll know better after trying more, but it's more manageable than I thought."

"That's good. Work hard, but always be careful not to get hurt."

If she knew Nishina had already been injured and confined for days, those beautiful amber eyes would fill with tears. Thank heavens she'd kept it secret from her mother. Breathing a hidden sigh of relief, Nishina nodded vaguely.

For someone worried about Nishina, Melissa herself didn't look particularly well. Nishina had heard she'd become noticeably exhausted since taking on the Empress's duties.

"Are you all right, Mother? I heard you've been very busy lately…."

"The work is fine, but I still haven't managed to prepare for the upcoming tea party. It's quite troubling."

Melissa held tea parties two or three times a year in her palace. Ostensibly for socializing among ladies, but more importantly, to strengthen her political position. Nishina set down her empty teacup and looked at Melissa seriously. Leisurely tea time with her mother was lovely, but it was time to broach the main topic.

"Mother."

"Yes?"

"If you don't mind, I'd like to attend your tea party."

She wasn't yet an adult and hadn't debuted in society, so until now she'd declined all such invitations. But now she needed to know.

The people invited to Melissa's tea parties would all be forces supporting her. Which meant they were the exact opposite of those supporting Aiden.

In other words, these were the people Nishina would need to persuade going forward. And before persuading them, she'd need to approach them first.

Of course, she had no intention of revealing her true thoughts immediately. At fourteen, she was neither very young nor old enough to be taken seriously. If she shared her opinions now, they'd likely dismiss them as childish whims or tantrums. This meeting was simply to distinguish—those she'd need to persuade from those she'd need to reject.

Some houses were loyal to the Emperor and supported his will, but there were also noble factions mixed in who wanted to profit by backing a young girl.

Plus she wanted to identify houses excessively hostile to the Prince. So this was a crucial foundation for her first plan.

"Really? Of course you can attend if you wish!"

The Imperial Consort's eyes, which had widened in surprise, soon curved like crescent moons. She seemed delighted by Nishina's proposal. Attending a tea party with her daughter—it was something she'd long hoped for. As if Nishina might change her mind, she even grasped her hands tightly and nodded repeatedly.

Nishina felt strangely guilty seeing Melissa so happy, and wriggled her captured hands free. She was terribly sorry for her impure motives, but it couldn't be helped.

This would be the starting point of a happy ending where both she and her mother survived.

And they all lived happily ever after.

Nishina closed the fairy tale after reading the last line. Like most fairy tales, this book ended happily.

How wonderful if this world were a fairy tale. A world where everyone was simply happy, with no one in pain or struggling. Too idealistic to even imagine. She knew no such world existed. Because when someone was happy, someone else had grown sad.

It was like shadows that inevitably formed when the sun rose. A natural cause and effect. When there was light, darkness naturally followed.

Perhaps her relationship with Aiden was the same. As much as she became happy, Aiden became unhappy. An absurd leap, but if that was their fate, what should she do then?

If her unhappiness could truly make him happy, she was prepared to become unhappy for his sake.

But separate from Nishina's unhappiness, Aiden would become even more unhappy than now. So unhappy he'd burn himself in rage.

A life where he'd only receive salvation from others after his entire body became tattered with wounds—she wanted to prevent him from becoming more unhappy in the future when he'd already been so unhappy until now. That was part of why she was so desperate about these plans.

Today she'd laid groundwork to persuade the Emperor. She'd established a point of contact with the Hunter. But Aiden, he….

She recalled the contempt when they'd met. He'd never particularly liked her, but he'd never shown it so openly. But now hatred dripped from his eyes. She'd never been hated like that in her life. So she didn't know how to avoid being hated. Everyone had loved her just for breathing.

And that was precisely what Aiden despised.

Nishina curled into a ball on the sofa. Then she called weakly to Joy, bustling about preparing for bed, and Hilton standing sentinel at the door.