Clairette…It's really Clairette!
Vivia shot out of the bed the next morning, her messy air flying in every direction and light circles already forming under her eyes.
"Clairette, Clairette, can you hear me? Can you talk to me?"
The gemstone gave no response. The veins didn't shimmer emerald again. Learning of Clairette's existence had taken her to every layer of shock imaginable. First gear, then confusion and then realization dawning upon her that her life had just become considerably easier when one of the important characters in this story had been living with her all along.
I don't have to live in suspense anymore!
"If I could just speak to Clairette, I'd know who killed her, whether she truly visited Stras and…" her heart hammered at the memory of last night. "Was Priscilla behind my death…?"
But why? I've never met Priscilla in my entire life! Our worlds were so far apart. Why'd she kill a random woman out of nowhere?
No matter the amount of puzzling questions tangling her, Vivia sensed some level of truthfulness in Clairette's allegations. Priscilla's face had struck with genuine fear upon being confronted, her outward confidence merely a facade.
Priscilla…If you were behind my death, then I'll see to it myself you pay for your crimes!
Then Raffert crossed her mind and she let out a humorless sneer. "No wonder that coward was afraid to expose her. He'd never have the guts to mess with one of the Great Three Families."
"Princess!"
Erissa came rushing in, jolting her out of her stupor. "Erissa?"
"His Majesty has summoned you urgently, my lady!"
Vivia closed her eyes and exhaled a long, slow breath. There wasn't a single moment of rest for her.
It must be Priscilla…
—
"What is this I hear, Clairette?" Rosrell looked as fiery as a volcano about to erupt.
From across the room, Vivia observed two new faces, though not unfamiliar to Clairette. The couple were Sierra and Priscilla's parents, comforting their weeping daughter. Sierra stood beside them in silence.
"Lady Priscilla says you've deeply hurt her. Care to explain yourself, Clairette?"
She smiled. "I had only asked a simple question about taking my coat, Father."
He palm struck against the throne's armrest. "Doesn't that imply you're accusing her of stealing? And further accusing her of harming that no-name woman?"
Her gaze turned frigid. She spoke slowly, enunciating every word. "Vivia. Vivia was her name, Father. She wasn't a no-name woman."
"I don't care who she was, but how dare you blame Priscilla? Do I need to remind you of her status!"
"Rosrell," Regina intervened. "We know Clairette has always been responsible with her actions. You must allow her to speak."
"Your daughter is causing me nothing but problems ever since she returned! So stop speaking in her favor like always, or I'll have you dismissed."
Vivia watched Regina's unchanged expression, but the hint of hurt and humiliation still showed through her tightly clasped hands.
Her darkened gaze fell upon Rosrell, a glint of rebellion surfacing in her eyes. "Do not talk to Mother like that."
Rosrell's ire only heightened further.
Elvin sneered. "Of course, you'd defend Mother. You've always been her dearest daughter, haven't you?"
Rosrell drew a deep breath. "You won't be excused this time, Clairette. Apologize to Priscilla. Now."
From the corner of her eye, Vivia caught Priscilla's expression, tears brimming in her eyes but lips curved into a victorious smile.
"No," said Vivia plainly.
"Are you defying the King's order?" He asked quietly.
"I'm defying a biased one. I remembered the tea time we shared - after which I fell sick. I remembered her rummaging through my clothes and taking the coat while she thought I was asleep. Then months later, I was suddenly accused of a murder because Vivia's friend presumably saw 'me' wearing that same brown coat despite me not visiting Stras. So tell me, Father. Did I not have reasonable grounds to question her?"
Priscilla trembled. "Th-This is ridiculous, Mother, Father…I didn't know Clairette hated me so much. Why would I ever think of stealing her clothes?"
"You certainly thought about stealing my room," she smiled.
She froze. "T-That wasn't stealing! I just-"
"You just assumed I was dead, so it was a good opportunity to hijack my chamber. Apart from being the Blessed, you must've wanted to feel like the royal princess too, I believe."
"Mother, Father, do you see now? This is how Princess Clairette keeps accusing me…" Fresh tears followed.
Vincent, Priscilla's father, voiced his heavy dissatisfaction. "Princess Clairette wasn't like this before. Staying in the Demon Realm has changed you so much that you can no longer recognize your own people."
Vivia jeered. "It's only now that I'm beginning to recognize people, Sir Vincent."
"I don't care!" This time, Priscilla's mother, Calista, cut in, her gaze distorted over her daughter's pain. "You must apologize to Priscilla."
"Certainly. If she has a good reason for taking my coat - one which has nothing to do with Vivia's death, I'm ready to apologize."
"Accusing the Blessed of theft and murder…" Vincent trembled, enraged, "Do you even understand the severity of it?"
"Do you understand the severity of a lost life, Sir Vincent?" Her gaze held as much ice as her voice.
"On what basis do you make such accusations? The divine Blessed and the daughter of a Great Three has nothing to do with a woman from a small town whose name none of us have even heard of!"
Sierra stepped forward and placed her hand over his shoulder. "Please calm down, Father. Such anger is not good for your health."
Calista cast a disappointed look at her. "What have you been doing, Sierra? Your sister has been suffering in silence, and we're only hearing of it now?"
Just then, Regina stepped forward and looked at Clairette "Clairette, are you certain you remember you had seen Priscilla take your coat?"
"Yes, Mother. Lady Priscilla thought I was asleep, but I had seen her take my coat and leave. And the next morning, my coat had been washed. I could smell the difference. But I never asked Erissa to wash it."
"That's a lie! I never set foot in the Princess's room or touched anything of hers!"
"What would I gain from lying about this? I never had any enmity against you, but if you plan to frame me for something that you did, I'll not stay quiet about it either."
Rosrell's gaze darkened. "Regina! Didn't I tell you to stay out of this?"
She clenched her fists. "Clairette has never lied, Rosrell. The Fourfold Covenant, too, has recognized how wise and pure our daughter is, which is why Father Iorick invited her to study under him."
Calista's expression flickered with hurt. "Forgive my rudeness, Your Majesty, but as the Queen, you must uphold justice more than motherhood…"
Regina's gaze sharpened. "I'm upholding justice - and that means listening to both sides. But Clairette is being asked to apologize without getting a chance to explain herself. You say it's grave to accuse Lady Priscilla, but isn't pointing fingers at a royal princess equally severe?"
They stiffened.
"Regina!" Rosrell glared. "They're the respected Blessed family. You shall not treat them this way!"
Vivia chuckled half-heartedly. "So it's fine if I'm being humiliated and blamed, but not Lady Priscilla?"
"Quiet, Clairette-"
"You summoned me here to apologize to her the moment she came to you with her grievances. But what about my grievances? I had nearly died. Someone crafted a vicious plot to kill me, but I don't see anyone investigating it with the same urgency and importance as given to Lady Priscilla's matter. Where is my justice, Father? Where are the culprits who tried to have me killed?"
A pointed silence followed.
Rosrell gritted his teeth. "You speak of justice after sneaking out of the Covenant to help that rebel, that red-haired woman escape?"
She stared at him. Until now, only Erissa and Benjamin had known about her stunt. She glanced briefly at Benjamin once, standing at Elvin's side. His expression shifted with a hint of discomfort.
I see…
"First, you cause a ruckus at the tea party, then you betray the Covenant to help a rebel. The same rebel who tried to kill you? I struggle to understand your demand for justice from me when you're helping the perpetrator yourself!"
"Audreya didn't escape! Someone forcibly took her away. We need to find her before it's too late."
"Find her?" Elvin laughed. "Do you think our family is a joke to waste our time on her?"
"Didn't you want to find her to punish her?"
"She just wanted Lord Raffert's attention, didn't get what she want and ran away. Any more focus on her is a waste of our precious time."
Rosrell's expression darkened. "First, you accuse Lady Priscilla, then refuse to apologize and despite my warning, you went ahead and ran away from the Covenant. You even put your guarding knight to sleep. Given your continuous stubbornness to yield, I hereby command that you're to be placed on house arrest. You'll not be allowed to leave the palace!"
Vivia looked, stunned. "Not allowed to leave? I don't accept it!"
"Enough! Clairette will remain confined to her chamber until she comes to her senses and apologizes for her mistakes!"
Vivia trembled.
How am I supposed to find Audreya if I can't leave?
She stared into Rosrell's hateful eyes, Elvin's disinterested gaze, Aeren's unreadable expression, Benjamin's remorseful countenance, Sierra's silence and Priscilla's victorious smile.
Save for Regina, not one of them bothered to hear her side. She found herself reminiscing the day she was thrown out of the orphanage. The sisters and the children had looked at her exactly like how everyone looked at her now - pointed, cutting and loatheful. Surrounded by people who refused to listen to her - just like her old days.
Ah.
I'm truly all alone in this world…
Once again.