Maristella Janice La Bellafleur.
She was born as the eldest daughter of Count Bellafleur in the year 525 of the Empire.
In the year 545, she entered the palace as a lady-in-waiting of Lady Dorothea.
In the year 547, she was given the death penalty when she was found guilty of attempting to assassinate the Crown Princess.
Poor Maristella's 22 years of life could be summed up in those three lines. I closed the book shut.
"Maristella. Is this girl kind or stupid?" I muttered in a dissatisfied voice.
Maristella was a supporting character in the novel My Dorothea that I had just finished. As you could probably guess, the protagonist of the novel was Dorothea, not Maristella. Nevertheless, I found myself strangely attached to the latter girl. Maristella supported her close friend—or who she thought was her close friend—Dorothea, only to die from betrayal. It was Dorothea herself who initially schemed to kill the Crown Princess and was sentenced to death.
The author justified Dorothea's actions, but from my point of view, Dorothea was no more than a villainess who used her friend Maristella for her own success. I almost ripped the book apart when Dorothea told Maristella to die quietly in her last moments. I couldn't believe she was using her like this!
Had I been the author, I would have written the kind and smart Maristella as the main character. Regardless of her kindness, she was quite intelligent. The stupid one was Dorothea. In short, Maristella was an intelligent saint, and Dorothea was a stupid villainess. Whenever Dorothea was in crisis, Maristella always saved her, and Dorothea always took it for granted. All in the name of friendship.
Then the good Maristella saved Dorothea again. Oh, how frustrating. Under these circumstances, Dorothea's happy ending seemed like a tragic one to me. If I were Maristella, I would never be beaten by Dorothea. I would hit that mean woman on the back of her head for trying to use her friend!
***
…That was the last thought in my head.
"Lady Marie!"
I blinked my eyes open and looked at the woman staring at me with a spirited expression. She had thick, russet-brown hair that tumbled to her chest, and she kept calling me "Lady Marie". My true name was "Oh Mari", though I've never been called "Lady Marie" in my entire life.
I stared blankly at the russet-haired woman.
"You're supposed to meet Lady Dorothea today. You'll be late!" the woman said.
Lady Dorothea. The words dug into my ear like a pick.
"Doro…thea?" I said stupidly. "The Dorothea Demir Mill Cornohen?"
"Is there another lady in the Empire named Dorothea?"
Oh my god. A look of utter bewilderment crossed my face. Then perhaps…
"What's your name?" I asked the woman.
"Me?" the woman replied, looking at me like I had grown a second hand. "Did you forget my name?"
"Florinda." I put the name in my mouth with a trembling voice. If I recalled correctly… "It's Florinda, right?"
"Oh, My Lady. Why would you ask if you already knew?" Florinda said.
Yes. Florinda was Maristella's maid. I laughed awkwardly and touched my long black hair that came to my waist.
'How can this be?'
It seemed like I had become Maristella. The last thing I recalled before I fell asleep was that book. I had thought that if I were Maristella, I wouldn't be naive when it came to Dorothea. But I didn't expect it to come true.
As I continued to lay in bed with a dumbfounded expression, Florinda grew more frustrated.
"My Lady, you're going to be late!"
I snapped back into alertness. "Where am I supposed to go?" I asked slowly.
"You were supposed to go to the tea party at Trakos mansion with Lady Dorothea!"
Florinda impatiently forced me out of bed, then began to help me prepare with the other maids of the mansion. Wash, dress, make-up… I surrendered myself to the maids like a doll. Until now, I was still unable to fully comprehend what had happened to me.
What was going on here? I couldn't believe that what I was experiencing was real, even though I was seeing it with my own eyes. This was all like a dream.
"It's done, My Lady. You look so pretty."
"You really are beautiful, Lady Marie. Your beauty grows with each passing day!"
But the lavish praises of the maids did not impress me. Florinda pulled me towards a full-length mirror, and as soon as I saw myself, I let out a laugh.
"Ahahaha."
My reflection in the mirror was exactly as described in the novel. Long, lustrous black hair fell to my waist, and my eyes glistened like pomegranate seed jewels. With my small, egg-shaped face and pale skin, I was reminiscent of a gloomy cold beauty.
This suddenly felt real now. I had possessed Maristella. I gently touched my cheeks, and another maid came into the bedroom.
"Lady Marie, Lady Dorothea is here," the maid said.
I pulled my eyes away from the mirror and walked out of the room. Maristella's bedroom was on the second floor, so I had to go downstairs to go outside. My heels tapped against the stairs as I descended, then I went out the front door.
"Marie!"
In the novel, Dorothea's voice was said to be as lovely as a nightingale singing. Because of that, I knew that the red-haired woman smiling brightly in front of the carriage was Dorothea.
"Come on, Marie. We'll be late!" Dorothea chirped.
But I couldn't smile at her like she smiled at me. The more I tried, the more my mouth hardened. I knew the reason. It was because I hated her. She took advantage of the good Maristella, and abandoned her in her misery.
"…"
I failed to control my facial expression, and I pressed my lips and walked towards the carriage where Dorothea stood. As I drew close, she suddenly hugged me without asking my permission. I was taken about by the sudden touch.
"Do you know how long I waited?" she pouted in her honeyed voice. "I waited forever for you!"
"…"
I doubted it, as Dorothea's carriage arrived just as I went down towards the front door. The vacant expression was still on my face, and Dorothea released her arms around me.
I still didn't feel quite awake. Against all common sense, I was suddenly dragged into this story, and was expected to embrace this woman. No matter how well a person could adapt, no one could do it so quickly in this situation.
Dorothea suddenly looked down at her chest. "Oh, I guess the ribbon on my dress came loose when I hugged you." Her face turned sullen when she looked at the loose ribbon. I looked at it indifferently, when her face brightened.
"Tie it for me!"
"…What?" I said bluntly at the sudden request.
"Tie the ribbon for me!" she demanded temperamentally. "Or else it might unravel."
Her words jerked me into full awareness of the situation. The Dorothea in front of me now was the ungrateful woman that treated Maristella like a pushover. Dorothea would eventually betray her and have her killed. Instead of treating Maristella like a friend, Dorothea treated her like a maid, ordering her to tie a ribbon she could easily reach herself.
An angry heat crept up at the back of my head. Dorothea disrespected Maristella even before I came into this book. I twisted my foot and surreptitiously undid the red ribbon on my shoe.
"Dorothea," I sang in a friendly tone. "You want me to tie your ribbon for you?" I gave her a bright smile. "Alright, I'll tie it for you." I could easily tie a ribbon anytime. However, there was a condition.
"Tie the ribbon on my shoe first," I said.