Chapter 9
When I only gave a faint smile, Luisa shut her mouth and quickly placed a black half-moon headband on top of my neatly combed hair.
“Wait a moment, this is a bit heavy…”
“I know, I know. I’m sorry, Lady Maribel.”
She only said that, but she didn’t stop.
Over the half-moon-shaped black headband, she wound a black lace cloth around and secured it, then let the veil fall down like a bride walking into her wedding.
Unfortunately, because it was black, it hardly stood out from Maribel’s dark hair.
The finely crafted lace was beautiful, and it didn’t block my view too badly, but still.
“So I used to wear this all the time?”
“Yes, to mourn your late birth mother.”
If he felt guilty about his wife in such a way—by making his daughter wear this bothersome veil—then he shouldn’t have fooled around to begin with. Still, since the Naparo Empire and all that couldn’t just cast me out, I supposed it couldn’t be helped.
In reality, my father had simply shipped me off to study abroad.
“It’s far too much for summer, though. It completely hides your beautiful face, Lady Maribel.”
“That’s why I got that nickname, isn’t it?”
“I—I don’t know what you mean.”
Luisa feigned ignorance, but the nickname appeared so often in the original novel that I’d memorized it.
“The dead pearl, wasn’t it?”
Not even the black pearl. Honestly, there really was a reason Maribel turned bitter.
At that, Luisa rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“Please don’t say such things. Anyway, this year the Duke said he’ll definitely find you a fiancé, didn’t he?”
Ah, right. There was that, too. Another headache to worry about.
I quietly closed my eyes.
Whether from the veil or from stress, my head throbbed.
Donna’s garden was beautifully arranged.
I had arrived exactly on time, but Gabriella, with her snowy white hair and blue eyes, was already seated and waiting for me.
Beside her, that hateful brat José was glaring at me with a sour expression.
“Maribel, sister.”
Even back then, when we met outside, Yoon Gabi always came early to wait for me. Just like now.
The overlapping memories almost made me burst into tears.
I bit my lip hard and, as soon as I sat down, got straight to the point.
“I heard there was a fire. Are you alright?”
“Ah… yes, of course. We were lucky. No one was hurt.”
“I heard Puerto’s juniper wood was water-damaged and unusable.”
At that, Gabriella faltered. She forced a smile, but her face betrayed her worry.
The one who snapped was José.
“Are you mocking us? This must surely be one of your vile schemes…”
“Gabriella. Gabi.”
I cut off the unnecessary noise cleanly. Then I pushed forward a small box I had prepared.
“This is for you.”
“For… me?”
Gabriella’s face lit up with joy—without even knowing what it was.
In the past timeline, in the novel, Gabriella had often soliloquized like that. She wanted to be close to Maribel. Simply because she was her one and only sister.
“Are you truly giving this to me?”
Her pale cheeks were faintly flushed.
I silently nodded, and Gabriella opened the box.
Inside, on top, was an old sheet of paper.
“It’s a certificate bearing the Pope’s seal.”
“…What?”
Gabriella picked up the paper, confused. Only then did the gift beneath it reveal itself.
“Sister, this is…”
A pearl rosary, crafted by the Moors of Sephardi.
The Moors had three rosaries made from the largest, finest pearls. The Moorish princess had offered one to the Pope, asking him to bless the other two.
Thus, the rosaries became holy relics. One came into the possession of the Duke of Sephardi, in exchange for taking responsibility for Maribel.
But Maribel’s birth mother never fully trusted the Duke.
To protect her daughter, she had secretly kept one aside.
That was how Maribel came to possess a blessed pearl rosary.
“It doesn’t belong to Father. I received it separately from my birth mother. It’s mine, but since it was blessed, it’s a relic too.”
“Why would you… give this to me…?”
Gabriella’s hand trembled as she looked back and forth between the rosary and my face.
Its value in this world was immeasurable.
In the original story, Maribel had torn it apart bead by bead, handing them out to nobles as bribes to secure Gabriella’s execution.
“I can’t accept this. Sister, I…”
“You.”
Tears threatened to fall, so I pressed down my voice.
“You don’t know this, but you’re very important to me, Gabi.”
Yoon Gabi had been the only younger sibling who became family to the lonely Yoon Mari.
She had been family, and also a friend.
Even if it was Gabriella and not Yoon Gabi, simply because she was Gabi’s creation, Gabi’s reflection, I could give her anything without hesitation.
“Sister…”
Gabriella seemed at a loss for words. Then carefully, she reached out toward the rosary.
“Don’t touch it, Lady Gabriella.”
José blocked her.
With a cold, mocking voice, he said:
“It could be poisoned. It must be tested first. Otherwise, what if they later claim it was the maid’s mistake?”
“José! How dare you—”
“Let him.”
I cut in before Gabriella could protest.
I spoke firmly once more.
“Let him test it.”
“You seem very well prepared, Maribel.”
José sneered, apparently unsettled by my calmness.
“That’s absurd.”
But Gabriella wouldn’t tolerate it.
“José, are you seriously suggesting Sister Maribel poisoned a relic certified by the Pope himself? If your faith in Saint Rosio is that weak, then I’ll have to tell Father. I’ll suggest you be sent to the monastery.”
“Lady Gabriella, that’s not what I mean. But look at the timing. The juniper wood of Puerto has just been ruined.”
“And that’s exactly why Sister is giving me this gift. Are you saying she deliberately soaked the juniper wood just to hand me something so precious? Do you truly believe that?”
“Lady Gabriella!”
José’s face flushed red as he shouted.
When he looked at me—silent, unsure what to say—he jabbed a finger at me.
“She has tormented you endlessly until now! Who knows what tricks she’s planning? At the very least, you should confirm it.”
“What kind of confirmation do you mean, José? Shall we fetch the Pope to verify it?”
Gabi countered without backing down, then shook her head firmly.
“I don’t want to hear more of this. If you keep behaving rudely, then leave. I prepared this tea time to enjoy myself, and at Mother’s request, I invited you. You promised to behave, didn’t you? But you started acting this way from the beginning. It makes me, the host, uncomfortable.”
At that, José let out a long sigh.
I thought of Yoon Seho at once. He had always doted on Gabi, and after Gabi left home, his hatred toward me had only grown fiercer.
“…No. I’ll stay.”
José finally calmed down. He could never win against Gabi.
Then Gabriella raised her eyebrows.
“If you’re going to stay, don’t you owe Sister Maribel an apology? She has just given me a gift of immeasurable value, and yet you behaved so rudely.”
Her voice was as sharp as frost.
“Just this once—”
Before José could say more, I cut him off.
“He’s not wrong. He’s only saying this because of how I treated you all before.”
Maribel’s sins were countless. She had always been the sort to lunge at others.
But as long as I was inside this body, things would be different. I wanted Gabi to know that. So I grasped her hand tightly.
“I want to promise you friendship from here on. The rosary is a token of that friendship.”
“…All of a sudden? And just after Lady Gabriella has been designated as Crown Princess?”
