She was stubborn. Mayana thought to herself. But Ariante’s reaction was something she had anticipated all along. If she were a simple child who would be cheered up by a single gift, nobody would have struggled.

“Is that so? Well, there’s nothing I can do……. He insisted I give it to you, and you don’t need it……. What a predicament. I can’t throw it away. Hm, I guess I’ll have to keep it.”

Ariante looked at Mayana as if she were making no sense.

“Why would you keep it?”

Mayana answered calmly.

“Because it would be problematic if I got caught throwing away something the Duke gave me. I’d probably get a scolding from Head Butler Joslyn, so severe it would drive me mad, and I’d be thrown out without even my clothes. So I can’t throw it away. But you don’t need it, Princess, and you don’t want it in sight, do you?”

“Give it, it’s mine.”

A tiny hand reached out. Mayana, restraining a smile at the corner of her lips, carefully handed the box to Ariante. She did not forget to add.

“The Duke was very worried when he heard you were upset, Princess. He said he’ll come to see you once today’s affairs are settled, so please unwrap and see what the gift is.”

Ariante sat in the wicker chair by the window, looking down at the gift with a bloated face. Mayana crouched beside her, watching Ariante untie the ribbon.

The light cloth that had wrapped the box slid down. A small jewelry box, intricately made, appeared. Ariante’s eyes sparkled for a moment but quickly dimmed.

She doesn’t want a gift. Mayana thought. Ariante just wanted Sedilroy to worry about her, to come see her. It was a desperate and pitiable waiting.

“Princess, why were you like that at the lake earlier?”

Mayana changed the subject, and Ariante’s eyes shifted slightly. Her face did not show that she did not understand, but she did not answer.

Mayana’s hand gently covered Ariante’s hand.

“Were you scared of the fish?”
Ariante, with her lips pursed for a moment and her brows furrowed, spoke.

“Why do they look so disgusting? Are all the fish in the lake like this? You said they were rainbowcolored! And there are fish in the pond in the garden, and they didn’t look so dark and scary!”

“No, Princess. There are many other fish in the lake too. There must have been a lot of hungry carp today.”

“The fish are called carp?”

Mayana nodded.

“Probably. Carp, or something similar to carp……. Were you upset because the fish were disgusting?”

Silence returned. Ariante now stood with her hands off the gift box, her fists tightly clenched. She looked at Mayana with a wantingtospeak expression, then turned her head repeatedly.

Mayana waited patiently. Until Ariante spoke for herself……. Finally, the small lips quivered, and the mysterious blue eyes looked down at Mayana.

“People who fall into the lake and die become fish. Did you know that?”

“What?”

“My mother died by falling into the lake. Did she become one of those disgusting fish? What if she was among the fish that came to eat the bread crumbs earlier?”

Mayana couldn’t hide her shock. When she held Ariante’s hand, she realized her hand was as cold as the child’s.

“Princess, what are you talking about? Your mother is…….”

I trailed off without realizing it. I knew I had to come up with something else, but embarrassment choked Mayana’s words. Greta’s words vividly crossed her mind.

Did Ariante know that too? This child?

“I know! I heard it too! That my mother died by falling into the lake, I know it too! Did my mother really become…… such a scarylooking fish? So dark and disgusting.”

“Princess.”

Tears welled in Ariante’s eyes. The pupils looked like a shimmering lake. Underneath, swimming were an unchildlike fear and despair.

Ariante said,

“So, my father will hate me too.”

In that moment, Mayana unknowingly pulled Ariante into a tight hug. She felt the tiny body trembling in her embrace. The small hand gripping her shoulder was also shaking.

“Princess, who would say such a thing? That’s not true. I don’t know about the Duchess, but your mother must have been a wonderful person. She would not have become what you think she was. And the Duke too…….”

Sedilloi’s face flashed across Mayana’s mind. The expression when he was about to hand back the gift to Ariante, that face as if he had seen something offputting…….

“……doesn’t hate you. What father would hate his daughter? Why would you think such a thing?”

That’s when it happened. Ariante, who had been leaning against Mayana, stood up, pushing her shoulder, and shouted sharply.

“Everyone says so! That my father hates me! That he loves another child more. That he’ll kick someone like me out of here someday!”

What is she talking about?

Mayana stared blankly at Ariante.