Chapter 9
“AAH!”
Leopold, who’d ended up getting hot tea dumped on him, screamed and sprang to his feet. Dark tea spread hideously over his white trousers, forming a blotchy map.
For a moment, Mina panicked. She hadn’t meant to spill tea on the Crown Prince. But she had to find a suitable excuse to explain this massive, sudden incident. Her mind spun at full speed. In that instant, she spotted a single bee buzzing around right next to her.
“Kyaah! A bee! A bee…!”
Mina flailed both hands violently over her head and hopped in place. And that commotion combined with Leopold and Rose’s screams, creating a bizarre, discordant harmony.
“Ah! H-Hot!”
“Aaah! Y-Your Highness! Just a moment!”
With a stricken face, Rose didn’t know what to do and lunged in to help the Crown Prince. Rose whipped her head around and barked an order in a shrill voice.
“T-Towels! Bring towels! Anything you can grab! Hurry!”
A maid who’d rushed in at the screams and uproar received Rose’s sharp command and dashed out of the orangery. When she returned, she was clutching an armful of cloth.
Trembling as she held the unidentified bundle of fabric, unsure if it was kitchen towels or cleaning rags, Rose and the Crown Prince wiped at the wetness at the same time, but it seemed it was already too late.
On Leopold’s crotch, there was a dark stain, like he’d peed himself.
“Oh… Oh my goodness, what do we do…! I-I’m sorry, Your Highness!”
Mina stood there hesitantly, making her voice shake as she sniffled, trying to look as pitiful as possible. Either way, it was entirely her fault the teapot had gone flying, so there was no room for excuses.
“What on earth do you think you’re doing, Sister?!”
Rose snapped toward her and glared. Her sharp eyes, lifted all the way to her forehead, made Rose’s fury painfully clear.
“S-Sorry, Rose. I got startled by the bee and I just…”
She answered with both hands clasped tightly, pretending to tremble, but honestly, Mina felt like she wanted to thank that bee that had shown up like a savior.
Luckily, it seemed Rose hadn’t seen Leopold’s hand holding Mina’s. If she had, there was no way Rose’s interrogation would have stopped at this.
Rose’s face, which had already been slightly tanned, now turned downright dark. Rose was just about to spit out another sharp line at Mina when it happened.
“It’s fine, so calm down, everyone.”
Leopold, apparently a little calmer now, unexpectedly spoke in an even voice as he set the bundle of cloth, soaked through with tea, down on the table.
“Are you alright, Your Highness? M-Maybe you were burned…?”
Rose asked urgently, but Leopold quietly shook his head.
“Fortunately, the tea wasn’t scalding, so I don’t think I’ve been burned.”
Rose had just opened her mouth to respond in relief when a shrill scream, in the exact same voice as Rose’s, burst out from the orangery entrance.
“My goodness, Your Highness!”
Mina reflexively darted aside to avoid the figure charging toward them in a fury. She could tell exactly who it was from the voice alone.
Red hair pinned up, extravagant clothing, and the same green eyes as Rose. It was Rose’s birth mother, Gisella. With a helpless expression, she pleaded with the Crown Prince again and again.
“What in the world happened! Are you alright, Your Highness?”
“I’m fine, Duchess.”
“No, you are absolutely not fine, Your Highness! You must see your physician at once! We cannot allow even the slightest mishandling!”
Leopold looked troubled at the even bigger fuss than Rose’s, but Gisella didn’t yield an inch.
“Call the physician at once!”
Gisella shouted as she turned back. The moment she pictured how she would explain this later to Empress Tilda, cold sweat rose up along her back.
A maid hurriedly ran out of the orangery. Leopold had no chance to stop it before his future mother-in-law grabbed one of his arms tight. As if he were a soldier injured in war, he even had to accept Rose’s support as well.
Gisella was practically clinging to her future son-in-law. The way she made such a fuss as if he were her own husband was almost a little ridiculous.
Mina watched them leave in quick steps without sparing her a single glance. Even this sight was becoming familiar now.
In truth, her life before transmigrating hadn’t been all that different. A drunkard father, a gambling-addicted stepmother, a troubled half-sister. A life where her very existence was thoroughly ignored by both the world and her family.
Maybe that was why she’d ended up empathizing with Wilhelmina so strongly.
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