Day Nine: A Brief Goodbye
The following day unfolded quietly, with no notable events. I began by waking up, enjoying the food and candies Lulu had given me, fetching water from the well, and then settling back into the storage room for the day. The rough blanket and even the dusty surroundings had become somewhat familiar.
My routine involved cycles of waking up, dozing off, waking up again, and occasionally slipping into deep sleep. As the day transitioned into night, Lulu would appear seemingly out of nowhere.
"Behaving yourself?" he'd ask, peering down as I sat up from the blanket.
I'd nod in response. "Yes."
"Good girl, good girl," he'd pat my head, and I had grown accustomed to the feel of Lulu's large hands.
After withdrawing his hand, he'd rummage through his pockets and present a familiar package. "Here, I brought some food."
For Lulu, all meals seemed to be called "food," and this time, there were two packages offered.
"Two?" I questioned. We still had some left from before.
Lulu blinked in acknowledgment. "Yeah, I thought I'd give you a bit extra since I might not be able to come for a couple of days. Got some busy work ahead."
His words prompted me to look up at him. "Not coming anymore?"
Lulu shook his head as if to dispel my worries. "No, no, it's not like that. I'll still come, but work's piling up, so I might not make it for a day or two."
Relief washed over me. "Oh, it's because of work."
I unintentionally sighed, realizing that I had feared he might never come again.
Accepting the packages, I asked, "Will you really come back?"
Lulu chuckled. "Of course! I wouldn't leave you hanging. Just bear with me for a little while."
With those reassurances, I felt comforted. Lulu had work to attend to, but it wasn't because he disliked me. Grateful for the clarification, I took the packages from him.
"Hey, can I see how your injuries are healing?"
Upon his request, I nodded and began to undress. In my underwear, I felt no embarrassment as Lulu examined my body. With a thoughtful expression, he commented, "Hmm, it looks like the injuries are healing well. I guess you don't need any more medicine."
He peeled off the bandages with a gentle motion. Indeed, the burns and scratches were improving. The salves and ointments Lulu provided were quite effective.
After inspecting and discarding the used bandages, Lulu focused on my face. "Oh, open your mouth for me."
"Ah," I complied, allowing him to examine inside my mouth. His gray eyes squinted in slight displeasure.
"It seems your mouth still needs attention. Do you still have those herbal candies I gave you earlier?"
"Yeah, there are four left."
"Then, eat them all. Remember, just in the morning and night, okay?"
I nodded in response. Once my mouth was closed, Lulu's face moved away. Surprisingly, he settled down beside me, playing with my unkempt hair as he spoke.
"Do you want to know more about yourself, Lucienne?"
...About myself?
Hmm, come to think of it, besides what's revealed in the game's original story, I know very little about Lucienne. The fact that Lucienne lacked magical power and the journey to become Lucienne were revelations I hadn't known.
I am Lucienne, and Lucienne is me. So maybe I should know more about Lucienne.
"...I want to know."
Upon my response, Lulu released my hair from his fingers. "Do you know about me, Lulu?"
His gray eyes locked onto mine. "I know everything."
With a swift movement, he lifted me into his arms, placing me on his knees over the blanket. His large hand gently caressed my head.
"Can Lucienne say her own name?"
"Lucienne La Vérie?"
"That's right, quite impressive."
Lulu spoke slowly, carefully choosing his words.
"Lucienne is the child of the king, the most important person in this country. The king is her father."
"Father?"
"Yes, exactly."
"And the mother?"
Lulu's hand continued to stroke my head.
"Your mother was the daughter of a count. She was a noblewoman, originally a maid who worked in the castle."
"I see."
"Oh, you understand?"
Yeah, well, I've known from the beginning, so I'll just play along.
"The maids working here were talking about how there are many nobles."
"Ah, I see."
It seems that even among the servants and maids in the inner palace, those close to the royal family are often from noble backgrounds. They gossip about which family they're from, how much favor they have with the royal family, and more.
"Lucienne's mother, well, after giving birth to a child of the king, in other words, as soon as Lucienne was born, she was brought here to the inner palace. She gave birth to Lucienne, but she was weak and died."
"So, my mother is not here anymore?"
"That's right."
After that, Lulu openly shared with me Lucienne La Vérie's upbringing and circumstances. Her mother, the daughter of a count, and even that count's family, no longer existed, having fallen out of favor with the queen.
Ideally, Lucienne should have been killed when she was born. However, Lucienne, with her unique amber eyes, was born.
Those with amber eyes have the right to inherit the throne.
Even the queen hesitated to kill someone with amber eyes, and for some other scheme, Lucienne was spared.
The second prince born of the queen also has amber eyes.
"But you know, Lucienne's eyes are a more beautiful amber."
The queen planned to assassinate the second prince and make Lucienne, who retained the amber eyes, the next queen, manipulating her as a puppet queen from behind. With this intention, the queen sought to dominate Lucienne by resorting to abuse such as violence and harsh words, attempting to turn her into a mindless doll.
The queen's children, the princesses and princes, were merely imitating their mother's behavior. I now understood why Lucienne was not killed despite the abuse.
There was another issue with Lucienne. Nobles and royals usually have a document sent to the temple, akin to a birth registration, stored at the time of birth. However, Lucienne's document was missing. The documents were there, but they hadn't been submitted to the temple. It seemed they intended to hide the fact that there was a princess with amber eyes until the last possible moment. If the documents about the princess had been submitted to the temple, it would have been revealed when the nobles investigated. Noisy noble factions would inquire about the princess, and they might have noticed Lucienne's situation. To avoid this, Lucienne's existence was kept hidden.
"But the second prince is quite persistent, and the queen has tried to poison him several times. However, he's quite suspicious and refuses to drink the poison."
The queen seems to be getting anxious about it. In another two or three years, he would become the crown prince. Until then, they are desperately trying to kill the second prince.
The current king is obsessed with surrounding himself with beautiful women, leaving all state matters to his vassals, and the affairs of the inner palace to the queen. The current king seems to be more interested in appearances.
By the way, the documents that were not submitted correctly state the correct birthdate, and Lucienne is about to turn five. Getting involved in such things from birth, Lucienne's life seems like playing life on hard mode. After the coup, she would be adopted by the Fayette family, become the first princess, receive royal education, be engaged due to political considerations, go to the academy, and eventually, lose her stepbrother or fiancé to the heroine. She would then treat the heroine harshly.
Though bullying and violence are not acceptable, Lucienne would finally be liberated from abuse, lead a normal life, find a family that doesn't mistreat her, get engaged, and eventually have her fiancé, who will become her family, taken away by the sudden appearance of the heroine.
…Isn't Lucienne the most pitiful one?
In the game, it was mentioned that she suffered abuse, but the details weren't elaborated. Despite having a strained relationship with her stepbrothers in the Fayette family, Lucienne was portrayed as growing up indulged and willful.
…But isn't that a reaction to having been abused? Maybe she behaved willfully to seek affection or wanted to indulge in luxury because her early childhood was so difficult. There could be reasons like that.
I never really thought deeply about the setup for the game's villainess. In comparison, the heroine had to deal with being 'mocked for being the daughter of a baroness and former commoner' but was protected by the capture targets, so it doesn't seem that tough.
On the contrary, the villainess Lucienne seems to be going through a lot of hardship.
Moreover, in reality, it's a big problem for a fiancé to be stolen, regardless of the reasons. If the fiancé, while Lucienne is present, tries to get involved with the heroine, it's quite insincere.
…Why was I so into that game?
…From a common-sense perspective, isn't the heroine the one in the wrong?
"Lucienne?"
Lulu called out to me, and I snapped back to reality.
"Are you okay?"
He peered into my face, and I nodded.
"Why did you tell me all this?"
Lulu scratched his head, looking troubled.
Then he hesitated, saying, "Well, you know, I wanted you to know that Lucienne isn't in a position to be bullied. …Lucienne is a real princess."
"A princess…"
"Yeah. Not lowly or shabby."
…Ah, I see.
This was Lulu's way of cheering me up. He wanted me to understand that I wasn't some lowly creature or a disgrace but a legitimate princess born between a king and a noblewoman.
And why I was being abused.
By explaining the reasons, perhaps Lulu wished for it not to become a reality.
Certainly, being turned into a puppet would be dreadful.
...Lulu is really clumsy, huh?
I grabbed the hand that was touching my head.
As I snuggled up to him, I caught a faint whiff of medicine.
"Lulu, I'll do my best. Thank you."
To avoid following the original too closely.
I'll struggle in my own way.
Looking up and smiling while staring directly into his gray eyes, Lulu's eyes softened.
"For a few days, it'll be okay without me, right?"
He said it teasingly, and I couldn't respond immediately.
Because I met Lulu every day, just thinking about not being able to see him made me feel down.
"Well... that's, a little lonely."
"Just a little?"
"...A lot lonely."
My bluff was easily seen through.
When I corrected myself, for some reason, Lulu laughed. He lifted me up, looking pleased.
"It's lonely for me too when I can't see Lucienne."
Even if he said it with such a happy voice...
He came closer, muttered something softly, brushed aside my bangs, and there was a soft sensation on my forehead.
"What is it?"
There didn't seem to be anything on my forehead when he touched it.
"I gave you a blessing so that Lucienne can do her best."
"Blessing?"
"Yeah, like a kind of prayer."
...Oh, a blessing.
Are there things like that in this world?
He stared at me intently.
Could it be...
I reached out my hand to Lulu's face, and he couldn't avoid it.
I touched his cheek with both hands, stretched up a bit, and lightly pressed my lips to his forehead.
"May Lulu also do his best."
"Thank you."
Apparently, this was the right response.
Lulu's mood brightened.
He tucked me back into the blanket, and Lulu stood up.
"Well then, I guess I'll get back to work."
After stretching once, Lulu said, "Good night," and disappeared.
Thinking that I wouldn't see Lulu for a while, I already felt quite lonely.
I lay down on the blanket, wrapped myself up, and closed my eyes.
...Is Lulu busy with work?
"...Huh?"
Wait, does that mean the coup is about to happen!?
I sat up abruptly.
Lulu mentioned that he wouldn't be able to see me for two or three days.
Does that mean...?
Come to think of it, Lulu said that Lucienne would soon be turning five.
In the original game, the heroine, who is the same age as Lucienne, mentioned that there was a coup ten years ago. So, if Lucienne is around five now, the coup is imminent.
...But what should I do at that time?
How did Lucienne survive?
...Should I hide? Or should I run away?
Faced with this sudden dilemma, I couldn't sleep at all that night.
No comments:
Post a Comment