"Don't worry, Lady Elaina. I will send her back right away..."

"No, it's fine."

Schuler's hurriedly spat out words couldn't continue any further. It was because of Elaina's answer that came back in a voice so resolute that it felt cold.

"It seems like you have something to say to me."

Various emotions were seeping out from Elaina's expression as she focused her gaze on Leila.

She already knew the fact that Leila had held hands with Melvin and Hister. And also that the previous scandal was caused by them.

...So when she should be hiding and running away to avoid Sinclair and her anger, she dared to come looking for her so blatantly like this.

Moreover, while hiding behind Hister's name, in such a cowardly and despicable manner.

Elaina's eyes shone, emitting something akin to murderous intent.

"Although I am a lowly woman of commoner status, since you say the Crown Prince sent you directly, I suppose I can spare some time to listen to your story. Isn't that right, Schuler?"

In an instant, the smile completely disappeared from Leila's face as if by magic, and it visibly stiffened just as Elaina's had earlier.

"But I expect you to show the proper courtesy befitting of that. No matter if you are the Crown Prince's maid, this is clearly Prince Sinclair's palace."

"La- Lady Elaina..."

"As the princess consort, I can give that level of advice to a subordinate, can't I? Isn't that so, Leila."

Grit.

The sound of teeth grinding could be heard from between Leila's tightly shut lips. But that was all. Leila couldn't refute with any words. She could only bow her head and pay her respects.

"I can spare you a brief moment of time."

Elaina pointed with her chin to the drawing room beyond the door where she had been sitting with Chaz.

"I am magnanimous enough to still remember that worthless name of yours, as you said."

"..."

"Schuler, please keep watch. If anything happens, I will call for you right away. And Prince Chaz, I am truly sorry but it would be best for you to return for today."

"Ah, I..."

"Tomorrow, an unwelcome guest like this maid will not come, so let us have a more leisurely tea time together then. Is that alright with you?"

"Y-Yes. Of course."

That was the end of it. Without saying anything more to Schuler and Chaz, Elaina gestured with her eyes while looking down at Leila.

As if feeling humiliated even in the midst of this, Leila stepped into the drawing room while tightly holding something large in her arms.

And Elaina, without any hesitation, closed the door.

"..."

Leaving Leila standing blankly in front of the door, Elaina returned to her original seat with a limping gait.

Across from her, Chaz's half-finished teacup was still placed, but Elaina spoke while turning to face Leila.

"Why don't you come closer?"

"..."

"You're not mistaking me for someone who has the consideration to offer tea even to a vulgar and black-hearted maid like you, are you, Leila?"

Blue veins bulged on Leila's white forehead. It was a sight Elaina knew very well.

She would always get angry like that, slap my cheeks, grab my hair and throw me onto the hard ground, and kick my stomach. Elaina snickered and sneered at Leila.

Meanwhile, Leila slowly lowered herself onto the chair where Chaz had been sitting, with her fists clenched tightly.

"I don't recall telling you to sit."

"...What?"

"No matter if Crown Prince Hister took you in, your status is still that of a commoner and a criminal who tried to kidnap the princess consort, isn't it?"

"..."

"Yet you dare to sit so boldly in front of me?"

Damn lowly bitch...

Elaina, who now had a status that she couldn't easily defy. Elaina, who was shining effortlessly unlike her, just as when they were young, was so hateful that Leila wanted to kill her right then and there.

But Leila was not foolish enough to recklessly commit such an act either.

Moreover, Leila already had the best card in her hand to shatter that insufferably noble Elaina.

So she stood up from her seat again and barely held back her humiliation as she parted her lips.

"You've changed so much since I last saw you."

"I could say the same about you, Leila."

Elaina answered in a voice full of ridicule.

"You were always going on about nobility, nobility... pretending to have something when no one was even curious, but it seems both a commoner's life and a maid's life suit you quite well after all."

"Ha..."

"If I had known, I would have introduced you to a job beforehand. Remember? You were the one who spread rumors that I was selling my body."

She still remembered it vividly.

She would probably never forget it for the rest of her life. Leila's words that, just like her mother, she would also live a miserable life selling her cheap body, and the despicable men who made advances at her after hearing those false rumors.

"Those filthy rumors would have suited you better than me, it's such a shame I didn't realize. If you were lucky, you could have continued the family business early on with your parents."

Leila's hands holding something large tightened visibly.

It was absurd how she got so angry and humiliated just from hearing a few words like this. She had lived for over a decade constantly hearing worse things than this abuse...

"So, what errand did the Crown Prince send you on, Leila?"

"..."

"Seeing as he sent an untrustworthy person like you, it must not be that important."

"Well, I wouldn't say that's quite the case."

Leila, who had been biting her lip, suddenly raised her head and met Elaina's gaze as she began to speak.

"The thing Your Highness the Princess Consort has been searching for all this time. The thing you devoted your entire life waiting for. And so, the thing that repeatedly shattered and fragmented Your Highness's heart."

"...What?"

In that moment, Leila's bright red lips curved into an unpleasant arc.

At the same time, Hister's voice echoing in her ears, saying there was a hidden space in Prince Sinclair's palace, and wondering if she could still smile like this even after seeing what was inside...

"Back then. Even though your leg was ruined, and you couldn't even move freely, I thought it was strange how you would go out almost every day."

Leila continued speaking.

"But I never dreamed there would be such a deep reason behind it. If I had known earlier, I would have offered my help as well."

...Ren.

It felt like her wildly beating heart was instantaneously thrown to the ground.

"His Highness the Crown Prince seemed to find it so pitiful that you were unaware of the truth, Your Highness. Otherwise, how could he be so thoughtful towards you? Isn't he truly a kind person?"

"..."

"Here, please take it. It is an item His Highness the Crown Prince put in great effort to obtain as a gift for the Princess Consort."

But Elaina did not take the item Leila held out. As she silently sat and glared at her, Leila smiled and placed it on the table.

"Anyway, I have finished my errand, so I will take my leave now. I think Your Highness will need some time alone."

...She had a feeling she knew.

The identity of that item wrapped tightly in expensive silk.

As Elaina's black eyes trembled vacantly while staring at the portrait that was placed on the table, Leila spoke to her in a gentle voice.

"His Highness asked me to tell you. That everything was arranged from the beginning anyway."

...What?

"But it always pained him that you alone were unaware of it, Your Highness."

"..."

"Well then, I will truly take my leave now. I will convey your gratitude for the gift in a suitable manner, so you need not worry about that."

Unlike earlier when she was full of humiliation, Leila's face was now filled with rapture and excitement.

And the sense of elation from the thought of having trampled Elaina thoroughly.

'Princess Consort? A member of the royal family?'

You are still the same limping Elaina who couldn't escape from the past.

The parasite of the Aswald family!

So no matter how much you pretend to be happy, in the end you will fall into the abyss.

Just like back then, when you were subjected to Melvin's cruel violence just like me. That face of yours that smiled brightly in anticipation of tomorrow without knowing your place, it completely disappeared after your leg was ruined.

Nothing could make Leila happier than that.

Having perfectly set the stage for both Hister's errand and her personal revenge, Leila left without looking back.

...And in the empty drawing room, only the portrait sent by Hister and Elaina remained.

"..."

What truth will I face now?

That truth Sinclair wanted to hide so badly, will it end up driving me into a bottomless pit?

So if I don't look at it. If I pretend not to know and just brush it aside, can I remain safe and sound?

"No... No..."

If that were possible, it might have been better. But unfortunately, Elaina didn't want to live that kind of life.

So, she had to face it.

There was no other choice given to her in the first place anyway.

Eventually, Elaina rose from her seat and slowly reached out her hand. She unwrapped the purple silk that tightly covered the portrait.

...And she sank down into the chair.

Ren.

That name she wanted to forget so badly, missed so dearly, and also hated and resented so much... She couldn't spit it out nor swallow it.