The Prince's Personal Request
Theodore asked in a quiet tone.
It would have been simple enough to call one of the knights if all he needed was someone to watch over her. The fact that the prince had asked personally meant he needed someone he could trust beside the target. Who, then, could that trusted person be?
“Yes. You already know who it is. The entire estate has been buzzing with the story of me bringing that woman home.”
Vivienne… that woman.
Honestly, it was not at all pleasant to hear her name on the prince’s lips. There had been the princess’s request, of course, but she was a helpless girl with nowhere to turn. The kindness shown her had been the same pity a mother might feel for a lost fledgling.
Yet he had been ordered to take care of her. Why did it feel so uneasy?
Was it because she would one day become the prince’s wife? Or because keeping her close carried impure intentions?
Was he checking whether the rumors from around her—those he had spent so long dismissing—were, in the end, the truth?
The prince had never asked for such explanations before. But just as he was different these days, Theodore now wanted to know the reason as well.
“She has misunderstood something about me regarding my fiancée. I have no intention of clearing it up.”
The prince answered in a dry tone.
Even while speaking of a fiancée and a lover’s quarrel, he showed no sign of any genuine emotion. It could not be only because he lacked affection. There was clearly some clear purpose behind it.
He had heard that the duke’s daughter had visited. The prince’s tangled engagement with her was just as much a staple menu as the woman he had found on the beach.
This engagement had long since passed the point of being a mere promise. The appearance of another woman at this stage—long after the expected deadline for the engagement—could only bring him no joy.
It had only been a short while since the prince’s training had ended, and it felt rather sudden. Perhaps he had reacted to rumors surrounding Vivienne.
“To my thinking, it isn’t really a misunderstanding.”
“Then, Your Highness…?”
Theodore stopped mid-sentence. It would be a question that crossed a rather thin line.
“Speak freely, Theo.”
Whenever that happened, the prince himself would break the line.
In any case, he needed to hear the words. That was also the role of a close attendant.
Even if the words coming from Theodore were somewhat irreverent, they would not be unnecessary.
“I have not laid down any strict rules, yet everyone is already speaking of it in just that way, aren’t they?”
Theodore had deliberately kept his words gentle. He did not wish to defame the prince with his own mouth.
“It seems the fiancée has planted someone inside the estate.”
“Among the servants?”
“Yes.”
“If you give the order, I will root them out at once.”
“Well, that’s no great difficulty. But since I’m away from the estate often anyway, even if I do find them they’ll just appear again. So I thought I might as well let them see me.”
The prince answered with a careless, almost indifferent tone, as if it were nothing.
“At most it’s just gossip for now, so it’s no big deal. Once I attach my own people, she won’t be able to indulge in her own whims.”
He was referring to the interpretation that she was treasured by the prince to the point that only trustworthy people could be kept close to her.
In other words, Vivienne was no longer just a maid.
“Once the knight duties are settled, begin at once.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Complicated thoughts were a luxury.
Theodore was the prince’s dog.
A dog obeys the master’s command without second-guessing it. That was the dog’s duty.
***
Vivienne had spent the past three days locked inside her room. The physician had visited and formally treated her injured ankle.
Unwrapping the bandage the prince had tied for her felt painful, yet she had remained still, assured that it would leave no scar.
Even though she could walk, Matilda had kept pushing her back into bed, insisting she must rest until she was fully recovered.
She must not use her ankle if she wanted it to heal, the physician had said. Following the diagnosis to the letter was, in short, the prince’s command as well.
It was frustrating, but if she moved about on her own, Matilda would only be troubled.
Matilda was extremely busy. She had said there was much to attend to now that the estate had been left empty for so long.
She brought breakfast and dinner, and even lunch, but during the day Vivienne was mostly alone.
She had been told that once she took the medicine for her ankle, sleep would come easily, so she took it dutifully.
She would fall asleep like the dead, and when Matilda woke her she would eat and take the medicine again before sleeping.
Perhaps because she had rested enough, even the medicine no longer made her feel heavily drowsy.
It was far too boring. She almost felt the work of a maid would have been better.
The one saving grace was that even in the mermaid kingdom she had been able to amuse herself alone, for her world had grown too vast for a single day.
She would stand before the window gazing at the trees, count the eggs in a nest, guess what shape the clouds resembled, and hold her breath while the waves rolled in and crashed back again. After repeating it several times, she reached her limit.
On the fourth night, Vivienne sat on the bed in her negligee, hugging her knees.
Could it be that she was sleeping without rest? Sleep would not come. There was no one to talk to. She sat blankly alone, and with nothing to do, useless thoughts multiplied.
“Is the prince well drinking his wine? Is the newspaper arriving?”
Matilda had said that even if it was skipped for a day or two it would be no great problem, yet days had passed now.
In any case, the task had been given to her, and it was to watch over the prince from nearby.
Thinking that someone else might take over the duty left her in no good mood at all.
That was why the maids hated her, she supposed.
“Was there no mention of any words?”
The most troubling part was what those words had been meant to say.
She had fallen asleep in the bathroom and missed them.
If it had been important enough to call on her late at night, she would have liked to know what it was. But she had no idea what to guess, and that had been her burden.
“He said I was the one he felt sorry for. He said he wanted to keep me.”
Anyway, it meant he needed her.
According to him, there was no benevolence without cause. Giving her such a fine room, letting her live with Matilda, and allowing her to use the bath—there must have been some purpose behind each of those things as well.
The problem was that Vivienne’s own purpose was impure. From the first moment she had seen him, she had wanted to nestle into his arms and bear his child.
In the battle between reason and instinct, there was no guarantee that reason would win forever.
The prince was engaged. He would marry.
Therefore, carrying his child was wrong.
Everything had faded in her mind while she had been lost in the events, and nothing had been resolved.
The conscience she had set aside in one corner of her heart had been buried under layer after layer of dust until it, too, had become faint. As time passed, the sweet lie of peace grew natural.
Was it truly right to go on like this?
What else could she do? Or was there another way?
The prince had told her to stay here. He had said she was precious and necessary to him. What choice did she have but to accept it? Such cowardly excuses.
Her own inability to shake them off filled her with disgust. Vivienne lay back on the bed and pulled the blanket up to her chin with forced effort.
“Still, from tomorrow I will be able to walk.”
Tomorrow. She would have to meet the prince.
Thinking about that night’s events made her ashamed, but there was no way to keep avoiding him forever.
***
“Why are you up so early? You could have slept more.”
Early morning. When Vivienne came out of the bed, Matilda asked with a dazed look.
She had already dressed herself in a simple indoor dress.
Her hair was tied back, and on her feet she wore the shoes the prince had given her.
“Three days have passed now. Since I haven’t been able to do anything in the meantime, I thought I’d serve the tea.”
“Oh, my. Vivi. What shall we do. The master isn’t at the estate.”
“The prince isn’t here?”
It was the first she had heard of it. Vivienne’s eyes widened.
“Yes. He said he had business in the capital and would return. Probably several days. And you don’t need to worry about serving tea anymore.”
“……Yes.”
She had only been waiting for today. The emptiness was unbearable.
Vivienne’s entire body drained of strength, and she collapsed onto the sofa.
“And Vivi, that shoe is still too much. I said three days, but you should be careful for at least a week. Once you hurt a place, it’s easy to hurt it again.”
“But there’s nothing else I can wear.”
That was true. For a long time there had been no reason to go out, so the only options had been bedroom slippers or high-heeled shoes.
“Ah, right. Then I’ll bring some more comfortable shoes.”
Matilda moved behind Vivienne and tied the ribbon in her hair with a pretty bow.
Vivienne’s face brightened.
“You like ribbons, don’t you? This looks better, right?”
“Yes! Teach me how to make ribbons. I want to learn.”
“For free?”
Matilda asked playfully, while tying a lace ribbon around Vivienne’s wrist to show her how to tie a ribbon bow.
“It’s easy, isn’t it?”
“It’s beautiful.”
Vivienne held up her wrist, admiring the ribbon like a child.
“Is Matilda busy today?”
“Almost all the work is finished. Only a little remains. I was bored being alone. Sorry for leaving you alone all the time.”
“I’ll help Matilda.”
“That…?”
It was not a good idea for Vivienne, still a maid, to mix with the servants right now.
On that day the maids who cleaned the bedroom had seen the prince’s sleeping form in Vivienne’s bed and caused trouble.
She had been firmly warned, but since Vivienne now had a new room the warning was useless. Besides, the matter was far too big to simply vanish overnight.
“Ah, Theo will be coming soon. You remember we talked about him, right?”
“Theo? The knights?”
“Yes. The knight duties are all settled. Starting today he will be coming to the estate.”
“Why?”
“Ah-, my mind. The prince entrusted Theo with guarding Vivi.”
Guarding. Suddenly?
Vivienne’s eyes darted about, still unsure of the situation.
“Not because he’s my son, but Theo is truly strong. The prince entrusting Vivi’s guard to him means he treasures her a great deal.”
Treasures her. Though she did not feel it in her bones, the words were pleasant.
“It must be frustrating. I’ll also pack a lunch and give you new shoes. You can go for a simple walk with Theo. Is there anywhere you’d like to go?”
Could she leave the estate? Vivienne’s eyes sparkled.
She wanted to go to the beach.