Jilted Guilt: the Mermaid and the Hunter - Chapter 17
“Lav, I came straight after class today!”
“Careful, you might trip!”
Lavinia halted the running princess. Yesterday and today, for two consecutive days, the princess had been seeking her out. At this point, one might think Rosander come to stop her at least once, but he was nowhere to be seen.
“Is it okay to come like this every day?”
Eizentine laughed as if the answer was obvious.
“It’s fine since Rosander isn’t here.”
“He’s not here?”
Lavinia reflexively responded and then bit her lip in surprise. His absence almost felt like a relief.
Eizentine spread a yellow cloth by the lake and settled down. It was one of the ones she’d brought with her yesterday because she didn’t want her dress to get dirty.
“Surprised, aren’t you? Even though Ross lives in the royal forest, he often goes out.”
“Really?”
Lavinia took a cookie that Eizentine retrieved from the basket, took a bite, and chewed. The sensation of the cookie disappearing with a crackle inside her mouth was unfamiliar, yet the sweet and nutty taste was subtly pleasant.
“Yeah. Ross’s wife’s memorial is coming up.”
“Ah…”
He had a wife. Lavinia, who had casually passed over that fact along with the cookies, suddenly felt her throat tighten. Memorial. Trying to disguise her choked feeling, Lavinia brushed the cookie crumbs off Eizentine’s lips.
As her damp touch made contact, Eizentine laughed, finding it ticklish. The sound of her cheerful laughter was pleasant to Lavinia that it almost wiped away the unpleasantness she felt earlier.
“Do you want to see the water spirit?”
After the queen left, the spirit hid without a word, feeling sorry for not being much help. However, with the hope that once she had legs and that she could walk to the sea anytime, Lavinia brushed that aside for now.
The water spirit popped out of the surface, a round little blob, landing with a tiny splash on Lavinia’s palm.
“The water spirit?”
Eizentine made a small sound of admiration as he watched the water squirm in Lavinia’s hand.
“How cute.”
“It seems even more excited to hear you call it cute.”
As Eizentine, who couldn’t understand the spirit’s words, was entertained by the dance of the spirit for a while, it suddenly plopped back into the lake.
“Huh?”
“I think there’s someone else besides us.”
Almost before Lavinia had finished speaking, a voice called out from nearby.
“Penny, Penny!”
As expected, the spirit disappeared, moving with the swiftness of an animal wary of strangers. Eizentine recognized the name, and immediately began packing her basket.
“Ah…! I can’t. It seems like one of my mother’s maids will come around here soon, so I’ll be on my way!”
Perhaps it would be best if the princess’s travels in and out of the lake did not reach the queen’s ears. Lavinia bid Eizentine farewell with a slight regret.
As Eizentine departed, the spirit whispered beside Lavinia. “Is that child the woman’s offspring?”
“…Yes.”
Lavinia gently caressed the spirit’s form.
“That child doesn’t resemble her mother. The queen seemed to have a black snake coiling around her whole body.”
“A black snake?”
Levius recalled the sea serpents that invaded the Isle of Larme. Could that have been the queen’s doing too?
Should she consider myself fortunate for not attempting to undo the queen’s curse? What would happen when the queen, who only appears unharmed on the surface, returns to her knowing the true state of her body?
Lavinia felt a fleeting sense of unease at the thought. She felt compelled to leave the castle as soon as possible.
She heard a conversation not far from the lake.
“Uh, I don’t know what’s going on, but would you mind tying my hair back up?”
Mary spotted Penny doing dishes by a basket filled with lake water and hurried over. Pointing to the side pocket with a hair tie, Penny, whose apron was soaked, gestured to Mary.
“He’s there. That… um…”
Mary hesitated for a moment, suddenly unable to recall the name of the person who had asked her for the favor.
“Oh, the knight?”
Penny chimed in, pretending to know, as she dumped the water over the last plate. Mary nodded, taking off Penny’s hat and grabbing a new hair tie from her pocket.
“Yeah… Rosander, that person.” Mary readjusted Penny’s braided hair.
“You thought he was okay, too, didn’t you? What’s your actual impression after seeing him?” Penny, who enjoyed gossiping with the maids about Rosander Wayne, mischievously chuckled, thinking Mary had finally noticed the man.
“Oh… He looked quite imposing, didn’t he?”
As the princess’s guard, Rosander Wayne didn’t possess the same dignity as other knights, but exuded an aura akin to a well-forged sword. Mary responded neutrally, praying Penny’s gossip wouldn’t start. She thought if she didn’t encourage her, they might get to the point quickly.
“His expression… but how impressive were his eyes! By the way, he hasn’t been seen much lately. I wonder what’s going on?”
“Well, that’s—” Mary opened her mouth with a flushed face but was promptly cut off by Penny.
“By the way, it happened the other day… I mean, I misunderstood something and told the housekeeper to move the brewing cask to another place. I was just sitting idle, not knowing how to handle it… then he asked if I needed help and brought some people with him.”
Satisfied with Mary’s handiwork, Penny put on her hat, twirled in place, and dipped her wet hands into her front pockets. She didn’t notice Mary’s disgruntled expression at all.
“I mean—”
“So, I don’t know if I answered well then. I felt too embarrassed…He’s a widowed man, and what if I was rude?”
Penny slowly wiped the plates, staring into space. Mary, feeling frustrated as Penny rambled on dreamily, glared at her plates until she finished talking.
“He asked you to do something,” said Mary.
“Huh?”
“I came to talk about that, but why are you just talking about what you want?” Mary snapped.
Penny looked down. She thought she understood the implication of Mary’s words and giggled with delight.
“I’m sorry, it’s just that I’ve had a falling out with Dan lately and all I can see is him, and if a man with a body like that proposes to me, I’ll take it, even if it’s a second marriage.”
Mary’s patience had reached its limit regarding Penny’s incredible imagination, making it difficult to indulge her any further. When Mary narrowed her eyes, Penny, flinching, finally steered the conversation to what Mary wanted.
“Okay… What did he ask me to do?”
“He asked you to feed the mermaid.”
