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Four days passed, and I was already getting bored of this dumb routine.
Cleaning, --oh lots of cleaning, I wasn't a big fan of it,-- eating, and then not sleeping.
I hadn't slept much in days...my nightmares...hurt too much.
I was bored, bored, bored.
Or was I just
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No, that was so silly.
I didn't think I could take it much longer....
Today I felt...nothing...so I decided I'd mess with my favorite Marie!
Y-know, she really did deserve it--she was annoying--but she had funny reactions, and made killer sweets.
So,when, I had a brief break, and I couldn't see Marie anywhere, I skipped down to a wonderful spot,
There were some beautiful paintings in the hallway!
I could destroy them, but I knew something that would annoy her even more.
If I just...slanted them... a little.
So I walked through the hallway, thinking about which ones to tilt.
I laughed hollowly, with my brother and sister behind me.
It didn't really matter if I got in trouble--because why would it?-- just as long as I annoyed her.
Just as long as I could feel something again.
I felt oh-so-light headed, like I was walking on clouds.
Like nothing mattered.
So, I kept on skipping, slanting all the pictures of previous kings and queens, all with their colorful outfits and stoic expressions.
I went on and on, until I got to the last painting: which had to be Scorvis.
Except it didn't look anything like Scorvis.
And for some reason I paused to look.
He was...normal...looking.
His skin was tan, his eyes were glowing happily...but I looked...and understood.
Because there, right beside him holding his hand with an equally huge smile, was his wife, Lalian.
Her belly was bulging, even in this portrait.
Nine months pregnant.
Nine months when she died, and the baby died too.
Normal.
Normal like I had been normal.
I let out a breath, feeling the world just go briefly back into place, while the hole in my stomach grew bigger and bigger....
How can the world just move on?
How can it?
How can people just forget?
I wondered, feeling something burn at the corner of my eyes.
The world should stop.
The world should stop like it stopped for us...but it didn't
It didn't matter who dies...it didn't matter how important they were, because there will always, always, be people who couldn't care less.
It
Didn't
Matter.
I heard bells ringing outside, vaguely, but I just kept standing there.
Because why not?
I hummed softly to myself, doing a little twirl where no one could see.
Dancing.
Yes, I liked to dance, I could remember that.
I could still feel like I used to, when I let myself spin and spin, skirts whirling with me.
It even made my scars hurt less.
"Very pretty my dear."
Mariennete's soft voice came down from the hall, like silk, and I stopped to look at her.
She was wearing all white, so it must be a saturday or a sunday then: She only wore white on those days.
Obviously.
She was the very picture of elegance, with every single thing about her appearance perfect.
It always made something in me hurt...and my wrists started to burn.
"Thanks?"
"Of course, now, what did you do to these paintings? Hmph, you will fix them after we see what His Highness needs, alright?"
I laughed softly, but not from sadism, for whatever reason.
She was to happy, to nice for a world that would just forget.
Had she ever felt pain like this?
"Wow, we both gotta come from this?"
"Well, no," She said casually, and her eyes crinkled as she smiled.
"But I'll come anyway."
"Good for you," I commented, automatically rubbing my wrists.
I noticed, despite what she said, she was casually fixing all the paintings she could.
"But uh, how are you gonna get in then?"
She grinned far to maliciously for her gentle face, then pulled out her keys.
How could I not laugh at that?
And maybe it sounded just a touch more like my real one.
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131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwcKfV96bjr
--
"Hello Madeline...hello...Miss Miseria."
Scorvis, who looked even more tired then I did, somehow, said when we were all in the meeting room.
Marienette winced very briefly, but sat down, a tray of tea and pastries with her.
I collapsed, didn't sit, into the chair and both of them gave me brief worried looks.
"Heya. Looking good. Needing something, buddy?"
Whatever it was must be rough, because he wasn't looking to great, what with his suit looking like it had been thrown on last second, and his curls unruly and uncombed.
Eh, guess it was better than him just wearing pajama's.
"Yes, You're Highness, what do you need?
"S-so," He said, picking at his sleeve before stopping himself, his constant smile still on.
Why could he never just drop it?
He was clearly anxious, why did the smile always have to stay on?
"There's a s-small--"
"Big then, cause it's never small."
"M-medium problem."
"Well, You're Highness, what is it?"
"Yeah, spill. You're wish is my command, afterall."
I said sarcastically, grabbing one of the cute tea cups Marienette had prepared, and sipping it.
Scorvis cut a piece of the tea cake, which made Marienette smile, and stayed silent for a bit before he responded.
"Well...I need your help preparing for something, Madeline."
Oh great.
"Wow. Very specific, friendo," I said, eating some of the tea cake, which made Marienette smack my hand, and I shot her a death glare in return.
Scorvis watched with a very small light of amusement in his face, before it went back to emptiness.
"If I may continue?"
I gestured widely, shifting uncomfortably, "Floor's yours."
"See," He said, fiddling with his fingers, and there was something in his eyes when he looked at me that gave a weird feeling.
I wished he'd just stop looking at me.
"There's a lot of...divide...on you're sentence, Tricksters want a harsher sentence, you're people want a lesser sentence, it's complicated."
My knuckles went white gripping my teacup, and sweat dripped down my forehead.
Everything went blank and I just stared into his eyes.
Because that didn't make sense.
That wasn't supposed to happen.
It wasn't there problem...it didn't end the world...it didn't matter to them.
They shouldn't care.
They weren't supposed to do that!
It didn't make sense.
It didn't make sense. 131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPEoRqeFBfx
It didn't make sense.
I shook my head hard, my wrists aching--of course it would be this way, it had happened recently.
They would forget soon.
Just like they always did, like they were destined to--
Marienette took my hand in her own soft one, and I jumped back.
Her hands were warm and soft...it had been...a long time since I'd been touched like that.
Brother used to do that...when I had a nightmare.
I could see the look on her face, worried and loving...just like my mom.
But she didn't know me, she wasn't my family, so what was she doing?
What did she want?
Why...why wasn't I pulling away...?
I shivered, forcing myself to pull away from her kind touch, and instantly my wrists throbbed.
"Madeline, did you hear?"
"No, I wasn't paying attention."
"Oh, but you were so eager for me to finish a moment ago,"
Scorvis sighed, a flash of annoyance playing in his eyes.
"Yeah, that was a moment ago. Are you gonna keep complaining, or are you gonna say what you need?" I asked harshly, wanting him to be angry, wanting to get a reaction out of him.
But that didn't happen, and he just said in a friendly tone,
"I'm going to have a speech to try and calm everyone down. I need you to, please, get a venue for it. Sometime in the next week, preferably."
"That fast, huh? Ok, I can try and do that."
"Thank you, Madeline."
I felt sick...this wasn't right.
I was princess of Illiout, I shouldn't be organizing a speech for The Trickster King.
But I wasn't princess, anymore, was I?
The thought made my heart hurt to much, and one single question was burned into my mind."
"Who is the new ruler?" The words burst out like lava before I could stop myself, and I gripped my teacup so hard the glass must have cracked.
Scorvis looked at me, then gave Marienette a I don't know, help me out here, stare.
"You're third cousin, I think my dear," She said without missing a beat.
Oh.
That idiot.
I twisted the table cloth under my fingers, my breath catching, I wanted to break something, I wanted to break something.
"Oh, that's another thing to worry about...I can't do this~!" 131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbIwUXjvjJ9
Scorvis said in his own language under his breath, and Marienette almost instantly shot him a worried look, then turned it on me.
"Tazan would have been better then that brainiac!"
I snapped, almost feeling the hot blood beneath my fingers, and my whole body burned.
Scorvis gave me this, knowing look, and his smile turned to a soft frown.
For the first time since I'd met him, his real emotions showed for just a second.
Pain.
"Yes...but...sometimes things don't work out the way we want them to. And the world...doesn't stop, does it?"
"No," I agreed.
"No it doesn't."
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