A week after she had started practicing magic in secret, Liliana received a letter. She read it in her room, with a pen and paper beside her so she could communicate with Marianne. As the handmaiden set some tea on the table, Liliana looked up and showed what she had written.
“Mikal from the stables is soon to become a father. Can you get him a guksi?”
A guksi was a wooden cup, a popular gift for commoner households with newborns. Simple yet thoughtful, it was meant for weaning foods—and later for tea or alcohol when the child came of age. It wasn’t popular among nobles and royals, however.
Marianne looked surprised at first, having been hired by House Clarke around the same time as Mikal, but then she smiled warmly. She was likely also in disbelief that Liliana would know a stableman was about to become a father.
Conscious of her handmaiden’s reaction, Liliana returned a weak smile and continued writing: “Mikal would refuse anything more expensive, wouldn’t he? I thought a guksi might strike the right balance.”
Marianne read the note, then nodded firmly. “Yes, he should certainly be pleased.”
Liliana beamed and began writing detailed instructions for the patterns to be engraved on the guksi. The handmaiden would only need to take them to an artisan; from there, the item would be delivered to Mikal as a gift from her lady.
“What about the letters of gratitude for the gifts I received for my birthday?” Liliana wrote. “Have they been prepared?”
“Yes, without issue,” Marianne replied. “The presents themselves are being stored in another room—except for the potted lily of the valley from the mistress, which the garden keeper is caring for. I have a list of the letters of gratitude that have been sent so far.”
Liliana had fallen ill the day after her sixth birthday, and while no celebratory banquet had been held, she had still received gifts and letters from the butler and housekeeper on behalf of her family. She had looked at them but hadn’t had time to send thank-you letters, which was why she had entrusted the task entirely to Marianne.
A quick scan of the list confirmed the handmaiden had arranged everything flawlessly. She was clearly talented, despite her young age. Calmly observing Marianne, who was several years her senior, Liliana concluded that her skill was most likely the result of the education she’d received from Marquess Kenneth.
Next, Liliana showed Marianne the letter she had just been reading. The handmaiden looked momentarily at a loss, then seemed even more puzzled when she saw the name of the sender.
“Am I truly allowed to read this?” she asked. The letter was from Duke Clarke, Liliana’s father.
“Yes, please do.”
The letter Liliana had received for her birthday hadn’t been in the duke’s handwriting, but this one was. Despite the long gap since she had last received correspondence from her father, it expressed no concern for her condition—only a brief, matter-of-fact message.
“‘If your voice doesn’t return in four years, your status as candidate for the crown prince’s fiancée will be revoked,’” Marianne read in shock. She clearly hadn’t intended to speak aloud; the words had simply slipped out.
Without her voice, it was only natural that Liliana would lose her candidacy—yet the letter also instructed her to continue her education as crown princess for the next four years. Most surprising of all was the final line: She was to have an audience with the crown prince the following day. How well could their conversations possibly go, given that she couldn’t even speak? Liliana couldn’t hide her astonishment, and neither could her handmaiden, who nodded with a sigh.
“Yes, my lady. I understand exactly what you wish to say.”
However appalled they might have been by the duke’s greed, they had no right to refuse him.
“My lady—per the master’s orders, you will need to depart early tomorrow morning. You might wish to decide now which dress you intend to wear.”
“Indeed. Could you start getting things ready? And please put these letters away for me, if you would be so kind.”
An audience with the crown prince required considerable preparation. Marianne gathered the letters scattered across the table and tucked them into a nearby drawer. Then she bowed and departed, no doubt heading to the dressing room to fetch outfits and accessories for her lady to choose from.
Liliana brought her tea to her lips, and its mild aroma made her smile.
In a way, this is a stroke of good fortune. Even if my voice returns, as long as I spend the next four years pretending it hasn’t, I’ll automatically forfeit my status as a candidate for the crown prince’s fiancée. Still, I wish I could study magic or explore the estate instead of going to see His Highness.
From what Liliana remembered of the otome game, her in-game self had been thirteen at the start and sixteen at the time of her execution. If things went well over the next four years—that is, until she turned ten—her relationship with Riley would be a thing of the past by the time the game began. The actual outcome would, of course, depend on how determined her father was to make her a crown princess, but for now, it was at least something of a relief.
Liliana’s plan was precisely why she would rather immerse herself in books than meet with Riley. She could even have spent the time reading more of her uncle’s memoirs, which she had found in the library, and searching for the hidden rooms and passages around the estate mentioned in them.
My relationship with His Highness is strictly formal. Though my in-game self was obsessed with him, she wasn’t actually close to him either.
In the game, Liliana had likely fixated on Riley only because of Duke Clarke’s influence. Having regained the memories of her past life, the current Liliana felt no such attachment to the crown prince.
“My apologies for the wait, my lady,” came Marianne’s voice. She had returned with another maid in tow, carrying clothes and accessories.
Liliana inspected the lineup. Her in-game self had favored alluring and extravagant garments, so she made a point of showing interest in simple, high-quality attire instead. She wanted to take every opportunity to carve a different path for herself and change her fate.