"Your temper is getting worse day by day; you should play it out nicely. Prince Caius is coming within months. What would you do if he found this kind of you?" Princess Jasmine removed the dissenting notions invading her mind.
Princess Liezel made a mistake, and Princess Jasmine had to take the fall for this.
"He will never find out if no one would snitch on me." Princess Liezel said, "We're almost there, you should be the one to tell it to our mother."
"I knew it," Princess Jasmine uttered in disbelief. She knew well that her sister would not ever take responsibility. "You killed her with the pillow, Liezel."
Knowing that she had to take the fall for the mistake, she was fully aware of it, but she hated it whenever her sister must point it out, and never would acknowledge what she had done wrong.
"It's us, not just me! Don't look at me like that. You're older. You should be the one who had to go first in anything, remember?" The third Princess said with conviction. She understood this revelation would enrage their mother; she must not involve herself in matters that their mother would not be happy about.
"Princess Jasmine, Princess Liezel. Greetings to the moons of Menotalis. May the sun of Seerian bless you." A group of maidservants who were performing their chores passed by the two princesses. They reached the vicinity of the Fretum Palace, which was the castle for the Queen of Menotalis.
Princess Liezel and Princess Jasmine felt their feet cemented on the ground. They sauntered far enough from the forsaken castle of the first Princess that they could interact with the people already. They did not notice they had reached this far.
The aftermath of killing royal blood was still raging in their consciousness.
Princess Jasmine had recovered first from the startling state they were in.
"Where is Queen Mother?" She uttered most elegantly and assertively. The maidservants lowered their heads as a reflex to give respect to royalty.
"Her Majesty, the Queen must be in her garden, Princess Jasmine."
"Gaon," Princess Jasmine swiveled her attention to a man who was properly dressed as an attendant of the Queen. He appeared from somewhere and stepped in to guide the princesses. He gestured his hand to signal the servants to move along from this place.
"Greetings to the moon of Menotalis. May the sun of the Seerian bless you, Princess Jasmine and Princess Liezel."
"Enough with the formalities, I have to talk with the Queen."
"Yes, Princess Jasmine. This way, please."
With each step the second Princess would take close to the garden where her mother was located, she was starting to feel numb— Preparing herself for the outcome.
She could foresee how furious Queen Eriela would react once she told her the news of what happened. Princess Jasmine could not help biting her tongue to prevent herself from making an expression. She was undergoing such turmoil while the one who should really get worried about the situation was the very culprit; but when she turned her head to look at her sister, Princess Liezel was not displaying an ounce of guilt or fear.
Princess Liezel recommenced projecting her typical persona. A princess with a meek, naive, and defenseless demeanor who seemed oblivious to the blasphemous possibilities that exist in this world.
Princess Jasmine straightened her posture, as she was unable to express displeasure at the hypocrisy.
Once something had gone wrong, regardless of the degree of the blunder, the second Princess would automatically have to take responsibility.
If Princess Liezel would perform her duty poorly in the eyes of the public, Princess Jasmine had to take the criticism from their mother.
If Princess Liezel were misbehaving in high society; Princess Jasmine would be confined to her room to reflect.
If Princess Liezel suddenly caused an uproar or an embarrassment to the family; Princess Jasmine was induced to experience a violent bashing from their mother.
Concisely, Princess Liezel would dig a pit for Princess Jasmine to fall into.
Princess Liezel would never create a mistake; everything was always Princess Jasmine's fault.
Both princesses did not get what was the logic behind that reasoning, but they grew up in that custom and they got used to it.
Princess Jasmine though had once gathered the courage to question her mother; why was mother never disciplining the third Princess; why did she always have to take the burn of the fire her sister ignited?
Queen Eriela's answer was simple.
It was to provide support to the flawless image of the third Princess who was expected to become the greatest Queen of the next generation.
It did not answer Princess Jasmine's query. She did not understand, no matter how much she comprehended, she could not justify her mother's explanation.
It was unfair.
Since they were young, she was always required to take the position of being inadequate and unreasonable.
It was unacceptable, but Princess Jasmine became habituated to the prejudices of their mother. She had learned to accept that there was no need for logic or a reason for her situation.
Today was quite exceptional; this was not just one of the mistakes her sister committed in the past.
"You know what to tell Mother, right? Big Sister?" A few more steps away from the garden where Queen Eriela was, Princess Liezel, tugged Princess Jasmine's dress and spoke softly.
The woman who was screaming and hysterical earlier was nowhere in sight. If anything, this woman was talking so tenderly and smiled so modestly, her blue eyes sparkled with compassion; she looked like an angel descendant from above.
'Why are you telling me not to involve you with the gaffe that "you" did initially? You do not want me to say to our mother that you are the one who suffocated Princess Yanarym with a pillow? Should I take full blame for this? Of course, I should! That's my role, your scapegoat. Is it necessary for you to emphasize that?'