I sat in silence, thinking. With a yawn, Catherine said, “What’s up? Did you get into a fight with Rae or something?”
A few days had passed since I found out Yu’s secret, and the issue had plagued me the entire time, so it was no surprise that Catherine eventually sensed something was wrong with me. It was nighttime, so we talked in darkness with the lights out, as we usually did. She was sucking on some of her favorite licorice candy today too.
“No, we’re not fighting,” I replied.
“Reaaaally? You don’t have to hide it from me.”
“We’re really not.”
“Well, then what’s bothering you?”
“It’s just something to do with Master Yu’s body. Don’t worry about it.”
“Master Yu’s body? Ah… So you found out?”
“Huh? Wait, you don’t mean…?”
“Yep. House Achard knows her secret and is keeping quiet, just like House Jur,” she said matter-of-factly.
“You’re kidding.” Catherine was in the same position as Misha, then.
“Hundred percent serious. The only difference is that House Achard went out of their way to dig up the secret as leverage against Master Yu’s faction.”
“That does sound like something Master Clément would do.”
It was almost as if Clément had schemes laid everywhere he could. Scheming was par for the course where the nobility was concerned, but people didn’t usually try to put their fingers in every single pie—stretching yourself too thin made it easy to have the rug pulled out from under you. Then again, maybe the standard logic didn’t apply to Clément. Nobody had ever succeeded in pulling the rug out from under him, after all.
“I suppose I can talk to you without hiding anything, then,” I said. “A lot has happened these past few days…”
“What, like a rival in love appearing?”
“Catherine!” I rebuked her.
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be serious,” she said with a giggle. There wasn’t a trace of ill will in her teasing. She was just having fun, albeit at my expense. I couldn’t see her from my lower bunk bed, but I was sure she had a wide grin on her face right about now.
I told her all about Lilly…even the part about Lilly falling in love with Rae. Looking back on it, I probably didn’t have to go into that much detail, but I was a bit too worked up to realize in the moment. She’s since teased me about it every moment she could. Ugh.
“You know, if you keep hesitating, Rae might just get swept away by another girl right under your nose.”
“Such a thing would never happen…Rae’s nothing more than my maid, anyway. What do I care what she does?”
“Oh c’mon, quit being so shy,” she groaned. “From what I’ve heard, this Lilly girl seems pretty straightforward about her feelings. She might have a serious advantage over you.”
“Hmph. I doubt that.”
“Really? Have you even managed to tell Rae you like her yet?”
“Wh-what?! Absurd! Wh-who would like that commoner?!” I could feel my face reddening. Catherine didn’t ease off me, however.
“Rae’s made her feelings clear for you countless times so far, but you only ever brush her off. It wouldn’t be a surprise if her love ran dry at this rate, you know?”
“Urk…” She had a point. If I were in Rae’s shoes, I’d have given up trying to win over someone so cold a long time ago. “…But I just don’t know what to do.”
“What do you mean? It’s easy. Just tell her you like her.”
“I could never! That’s just…embarrassing!”
“Ah, right… You were raised to be the quintessential noblewoman, weren’t you?”
Indeed I was. From a young age, I’d been taught that noblemen were always the ones to make their love known. For a noblewoman to do the same was vulgar. That was why I found it shameful to express feelings of affection.
“But Rae’s a girl, you know? Don’t female friends tell each other they like one another all the time?” Catherine said.
“This is different. Rae isn’t a female friend. She’s something more sp—” I got that far when I realized Catherine was hanging upside down from her bed looking at me.
With a fat grin on her face, she said, “Go on. She’s what now?”
“Catherine!” I threw my pillow at her, causing her to retreat back up.
“Whoa! Close one. Aha ha ha, I was only kidding,” she said. “I’m glad, though. You’ve finally realized your own feelings.”
“Yes, yes, this topic is over. We’re talking about Master Yu now.”
“Ah, Master Yu. Poor thing.”
I recalled Lilly’s explanation. Yu had been born female, but afflicted by the Crosswise Curse by Queen Riche. She wanted Yu to have a right to the throne, which was perhaps noble of a mother, but to hurt her child in the process was awful of her.
“So, there’s a way to heal Master Yu?” Catherine asked.
“There is. We can uncurse her by using a certain ritual item kept with the Church.”
“I see… But it’s not so simple as heading over and using it, I’ll bet.”
“No, no, it is not.”
We may have had a way to heal her, but doing so would affect more than just Yu herself. If the fact one of the three princes had actually been female this whole time came to light, the royal court would be livid. It would be a scandal unlike any other, especially since she was made male to cheat her way into the line of succession.
There was also the fact that Yu was fifteen years old, an age when she had to think about marriage. Odds were high that the royal court was already searching for a suitable woman among foreign royalty. There was no way they’d just be okay with her coming out and saying she was a woman now, of all times.
“But if things continue as is, no one will be happy. Except Queen Riche, that is,” Catherine said.
“Yeah…”
Yu couldn’t live as her real gender was. Her future spouse would likely keep her secret, but they would have unknowingly entered into a same-sex relationship, which would put a lot of strain on their marriage. The only one who benefitted from this arrangement at all was Riche, who got her way and got her “son” in line for the throne.
“What’d Rae have to say?” Catherine asked.
“She said we need to hear what Master Yu wants before doing anything.”
Rae seemed to have her own opinions on the matter, but she still wanted to place Yu’s wishes first. Nothing was going to be done without hearing from her.
“So that’s why you requested an audience with Master Yu?” Catherine asked.
“I’m surprised you heard about that. Yes, that’s right. I’m a bit hesitant to go, though…” Yu’s problem was tied to an unbecoming side of the royal family, so there was real danger in diving into it. I didn’t want anything bad to happen to Rae, so it was a bit hard to get enthusiastic about this visit.
“Are you worried about Rae?”
“Of course I am. Why shouldn’t I be? She’s my maid.”
“Here we go again…”
“Oh, be quiet.” I was indeed worried about Rae (and not just because she was my maid), but it was still a bit too difficult for me to say it outright. “I’m sleeping. I have a visit to the Palace tomorrow.”
“All right. Good luck, Claire.”
The two of us went to sleep then. Before I drifted off completely, however, I heard Catherine’s sadness-tinged voice.
“Maybe it’s time… You have that Rae girl by your side now…”
I would not remember it come morning, however.