She wanted to go back to her room.
Not even a few moments had passed since she left the villa, and Rosemarie was already whining.
The main court was accessible by passing through a few courtyards. The courtyard gardens were the mingling areas for aristocrats, but seeing as how there were no public events scheduled for today, there were barely any people out enjoying a stroll.
That should have been the case, at least. So that left her to wonder why there was a young miss before her eyes, blocking her way with a winning smile drawn across her face.
Her modest wish of getting through this without seeing anyone else had sadly gone unfulfilled.
Unnerved by the girl’s strong, confident stare—the sort that marked her as a high-ranking aristocrat—Rosemarie’s eyes fell upon the girl’s crimson-painted lips.
Oh, how she longed for her bucket.
“Good day to you, Lady Rosemarie. It has been far too long since we’ve last met.”
“...Q-Quite.” Rosemarie didn’t remember her, so maybe it was far too long. Seeing as how she barely showed up to any of those evening galas, she had no idea who this young miss was or where she was from.
“I have not seen you for quite some time now, so I was very concerned that you were unwell.” The young miss said, showing her consideration for her well-being. However, the look in her eyes had a hint of scorn in them.
(Ah, she’s changing.) Just as an ill feeling made her shoulders jolt, it happened. Those crimson lips started to warp like rubber.
“—!!” Rosemarie stood there breathless as, right before her very eyes, huge splits formed on the sides of the young miss’s mouth. Her soft, clay-like skin began sprouting black and pale-yellow fur in an instant.
Her abundance of well-maintained hair disappeared off her scalp, and her ears shifted their way up to an inhuman height atop her head. The set of pearly-white teeth in her mouth changed into a set so sharp they could rip apart flesh with ease. Her once beautiful human female face was slowly but surely changing form into something more grotesque, which made Rosemarie tremble uncontrollably.
“It’s the perfect hour to see the roses in the east garden. Would you care to accompany me there, Lady Rosemarie? Your health will suffer if you stay cooped up in the royal villa all the time.” Despite using that wide tongue peeking through that huge, slitted mouth, her voice still rang like a bell in a fashion no different from a few moments ago. The surreal mismatch sent jolts of fear through Rosemarie’s body.
The young miss’s maid stood there behind her, not shocked at all by what was transpiring. Not even Heidi, who was supposed to move into action if she felt something was amiss, was raising her voice in alarm. That also went for the knights guarding the courtyard from afar. None of them was up in arms at the abnormal goings-on in the bright, cheery garden.
(Aah... So I really am the only one who can see it.) She was finding it hard to breathe. Rosemarie gripped her skirt and lowered her head, attempting to keep her fingers from trembling so. The young miss poked her head into Rosemarie’s line of vision—most likely suspicious of her abnormal behavior.
“Lady Rosemarie?”
“Eee...!” What jumped in front of her eyes was the face of a carnivorous feline beast. Rosemarie stifled her shriek and backed away at the sight of this grotesque form—the face of a leopard, but the body of a human girl rife with radiant youth from the neck down.
“Whatever is the matter, milady? You look a trifle pal—”
“S-Stay back! Even should you eat me, I am in no way appetizing!” Gripped with the fear of possibly getting snacked on by those sharp fangs, Rosemarie let those words slip from her mouth as a knee-jerk reaction. It wasn’t until she pushed away the nervous young miss that she started to come back to her senses. The young miss ended up on her rear end, and proceeded to look up in a flabbergasted daze. Her face was back in order—skin as smooth as silk and beautiful.
She had really done it now. The color drained from Rosemarie’s face.
“I’m, uh, oh, sorry...” Rosemarie apologized in a whimpering tone, leaving the still dumbfounded young miss behind and making a break for the main court.
(I-I did it again... Aah, even more bad rumors are going to get spread...)
The crown princess was an eccentric shut-in; she would sometimes make appearances, but made for lousy conversation—she knew that all of those rumors were in circulation.
Once she was in the main hall and the young miss was completely out of view, Rosemarie squatted where she stood like her legs had given out on her.
“Princess! Are you all right?”
“Yes, I managed to survive...” She pressed a hand to her chest to calm her still racing heart. Heidi took to her knees and stroked her back gently, prompting Rosemarie to gradually regain her lost composure.
“Today they looked like leopards...”
“I figured that was the case. Hmm, well, it is common for animosity to lie dormant behind social pleasantries, after all. Is there nothing that can be done about it? How strange, that those who house negative emotions should appear to you to have the heads of beasts.” Heidi said with a troubled smile. Rosemarie then looked back at Heidi, tears welling up in her eyes now that she was safe from what she so feared.
“This is why I didn’t want to go outside...” The head of any person who harbors jealousy, anger, or any other negative emotions would look like that of a beast to her. Regardless who it may have been—even if it was a member of her family who loved and cared for her, or her trusted maid companion.
She didn’t remember exactly when they started looking like that to her.
However, she did know that she reacted far worse back in her childhood than she did now.
Believe it or not, she had actually gotten better about it. In her youth, it was so bad that she was too afraid to even stand in the presence of other people. When forced to be near them, she would cry loudly and start having convulsions. It was such a serious condition that her parents, concerned for their daughter’s well-being after seeing her highly emotional state, allowed her to live in the royal villa, and limited access to a select few.
Her parents had their suspicions that perhaps she was under the influence of some kind of spell. They even called for a sorcerer, despite Volland’s stance on them, to check her. Even so, they still couldn’t identify the cause.
Depending on who you asked, they might have thought that being able to tell if someone was harboring any animosity was actually quite a handy skill.
Nevertheless, no matter how many times she viewed the grotesque sight of a person with a regular face morphing into something else right before her very eyes, it would still cause her crippling fear. Simply put, it was because it could be construed as the animosity in these people’s heart manifesting visibly. Their faces would be all smiles, yet they silently scoff at you on the inside. That disparity was terrifying.
“Heidi...”
“No.”
“But, I haven’t said anything yet.”
“I can tell even without you doing so. You are going to say that you wish to return to your room, correct? That is a firm ‘no.’ Also, no, you may not put on your bucket. You see? The royal office is just a hop, skip, and jump away, so just try to keep yourself together, milady. Once your meeting with His Majesty is over, I shall brew up a nice steaming pot of your favorite Kaola tea.”
Upon hearing the word “Kaola,” Rosemarie’s sunken mood started to surface ever so slightly. Even she had to admit that it was pretty childish of her, but how could one resist indulging in one of their favorite things?
Rosemarie was finally to her feet, and with her favorite drink conjured in her mind, she resumed walking once more with a heavy gait.