Ahh, we have finally reached this point in the tale, Master. If your memory has been refreshed, then we can return to the mansion immediately.
… Very well, then. If you insist, Master, we shall proceed with the story.
It was a stormy night, much like the one the White-Haired Girl had first arrived on.
It was quiet as a crypt in the mansion, not a single light visible in the halls. The house sat in wait for the sun to peek out over the horizon.
The darkness is, generally speaking, something that rushes by like a gust of wind as we sleep.
The flaxen-haired young man too lay in bed, pale blue moonlight sporadically streaming through the gaps in his drawn velvet curtains as he attempted to submit to slumber.
He was having difficulty drifting off, but as time trickled onward, he drew closer and closer to the arms of Morpheus.
—Nnn…
Suddenly, he sensed a presence in the room–much like the one from those nights some weeks earlier.
—Is someone there? … Answer m– …
A slender, feminine finger pressed gently against his lips.
There was no hostility in the motion, but rather a great deal of affection.
—...You're–'
The silhouette faintly visible in the dark room was the same as that night. A flash of lightning shone through the drawn curtains, illuminating her beautiful white hair.
Several silky locks spilled over her shoulders and brushed against Mell's cheeks.
A couple soft puffs of air tickled his face, as though she were silently laughing.
He assumed her finger, held against his lips, was her way of telling him to stay quiet.
She began to slowly, delicately trace the outline of his mouth, moving down his cheek and along his jawline as if over porcelain.
—You're, uh, rather more forward than I remember… Well… I supposed you always were quite daring. This isn't the first time you've sneaked into my bedchamber…
The boy said in an attempt to conceal his surprise.
Do you remember the night she came to exact revenge on him for her father?
Indeed, she had proven herself to be a rather bold girl once already.
—It's dark; I can't see you very well. Why don't I light a lamp, or perhaps we could open the–
Before he could finish, the White-Haired Girl sealed his lips with her own. In the near-total darkness of his bedchamber, the two shadows appeared as one.
They remained that way for several minutes. Their kiss was innocent–no more than the pressing together of two pairs of lips.
And at the same time, the White-Haired Girl lovingly ran her fingertips across his skin.
When their lips separated, Mell gasped for air. It seemed he had been holding his breath.
Slightly embarrassed at himself, he said–
—Dearest Mell.—That was what Mell heard from the 'White-Haired Girl' in front of him.
–nothing. He could not speak.
The silhouette hanging above him was certainly the White-Haired Girl's. Or was it? Because his next were were–
—G-Get off me!
He reflexively shoved the girl straddling him aside.
She rolled off the bed, landing on the cold floor, but slowly, gradually she crawled her way back toward him.
—That wasn't very nice…
Veiled in darkness, she slowly lifted her head. And then–there was another flash of lightning.
The heavy fabric of the curtains rustled, bolts of light streaming between the gaps.
Her flaxen irises glimmered. Though in the blush-white light, they took on a twinge of almost golden glow.
—No need to be so rough. This isn't the first time she's visited your bedchamber, is it, Mell? Or did I not kiss you the same way? Tell me, how does she run her fingers across your skin? What does she do when she nuzzles up to you?
—S– Stop– Stop this madness, Nellie! Wh-Why would you… Why would you do this?!
—Because you like white hair, don't you, Mell? You like white hair, which is why you fell for her, isn't it? Ahaha… So if I have white hair, then you'll fall for me too. Then I can be your princess again, dearest Mell.
—What… What are you even talking about?
He could not escape from her–from his sister's piercing gaze. "Wyh"? "What Happened?" "How could she?"
Questions crashed into the young man's mind like waves in a stormy sea.
But one of them found answers; they simply caused him further perplexity.
—Y-Your hair… What happened to your hair? How did you… get it that color?
—Oh, this? Hehe… You like my wig?
But as soon as the words left her mouth, Mell was in motion, propelled by pure instinct. He clenched Nellie's shoulders tight enough to dig his fingers into her flesh.
—...Nnh. You're hurting me, Mell.
—Wh-What did you do to her?! Tell me! What did you do?!
—I made her leave… It was a perfectly reasonable decision. She was obviously not nobility, and thus hardly fit to be a part of this household. But there's no need to worry, Mell. I'm here to take her place–
—You sound like a madwoman! I-It doesn't matter if she was of noble blood or not… She promised she would stay by my side! So why… How could you… do that to her?!
— I promised you that long before she ever did! And I… I love you far more than she did, Mell!
—Have you lost your mind? You're not making any sense! Where is she now?! What is she doing?!
—It's always her with you! What more could you want from me?! Tell me, what does she have that I don't?! What do I have to do to get you to focus on me, and only me?!
—We're siblings! Don't you understand what you're doing?!
—Oh, I understand it quite well. Far better than you do, dearest Mell. I even know that a former queen was executed for it. But… if we don't get caught, there's no problem.
—Nellie… you–! Are you saying you've always felt this way about me?!
—Oh my, you didn't notice, dearest Mell? You truly are a dense one. I guess romance just isn't your strong suit. But you've noticed now, haven't you? You know exactly how I feel about you, right?
—Quit it… Enough! Don't say anything else! Stop… Stop having these insane feelings for me! It's disgusting!
—Heh, hehe. Aha… ahahaha…
—Wh-What are you laughing about?
—Poor, poor Mell! Content in your complete ignorance! All right, I'll tell you everything. Mell, you… can only love blood-related women.
—...Huh?
His cackling sister appeared to him like some kind of inhuman life form. Her actions and incomprehensible exclamations slowly drained him of his strength.
—What kind… of deranged nonsense is that? I love her. She's–
—Your sister, Mell.
—...Hah, haha. Very funny… How far out of your mind have you gone, Nellie?
—Poor, poor, poor Mell… Do you honestly know nothing? Say, that her father was a painter?
He painted pictures for a living.
—Wh-What of it?
—For a time, her father painted for our family. You've seen the picture before, dearest Mell. The one hanging in my room of the two of us. That was painted by her father. Hehehe, he did a good job, didn't he? I kept asking and asking you finally agreed to hold my hand. And how did you feel about that? You were rather embarrassed, weren't you? Do you remember that day… dearest Mell? Heh, hehe… You couldn't possibly remember it. But there's a chance you might remember this: before we moved to this mansion… we had a painter with white hair.
—I– I don't… remember… any such thing…
He was, long ago,
a painter in service of the Rhodes family.
—But that painter did something very, very bad, and because of that, he couldn't remain a part of our household. Do you know what he did, Mell? He lay with Mother.
My father was chased from your house!
If the child had been born with flaxen hair, then the painter would not have been thrown out. The baby would have been accepted as part of the family. But that wasn't how it turned out. The child had white hair! She didn't look at all like she carried the Rhodes family blood! But see, Mother had me, heh, hehe… That I'm here is all the proof you need! The girl born sixteen years ago didn't have flaxen hair!
Up until his last breath, he was only ever concerned about me…
He held me in his arms and ran his hands through my hair, an apologetic look on his face.
—Y-You're talking total nonsense… What… What proof do you have?
—If you want to see it, I'll gladly show you… The artist left a message in the painting in my room… Tell me, am I truly wrong? What did that girl tell you?
—Y-You're lying…
—What part of it is a lie, Mell? Everything I'm telling you is the truth! Why don't you go ask Mother?! Ahaha! I'm sure she would throw quite the fit!
—M-Mother wouldn't…
The mistress did not send me away when she saw men.
Quite the opposite–she took me in as a servant.
—It never made sense to me! Why would she hire a maid she knew nothing about, someone who just showed up at the door one day? And when I asked Mother to make her my maid, she stubbornly refused! From a good house? Don't make me laugh. If she were really a nobility, she would have given us her name. But Mother was so desperate to cover up her mistake… Aha, hahaha!
—Th-That doesn't make any sense… I don't believe a word you're saying. It couldn't possibly be true.
—Wouldn't it be nice if you could bury your head in the sand? But Mell, feigning ignorance is a sin.
—No! I refused to believe it! Not a chance in hell!
—You… just don't understand anything… How I feel, how much I've suffered! Do you have any idea how long I've loved you?! Knowing that you would never accept my affection! But… But then… fancy that! You fell in love with your half-sister! Then I should qualify for your love too! Shouldn't I, Mell?! Ahahahahahahaha!
—Stop it! Enough! Shut your mouth! Not another word! I– I don't– I don't believe any of this!
—Mell! Ahah… ha, ha… I know you'll never love me… I know there's nowhere for me to run… Say, when we were kids, was that really me? Was I really by your side, Mell? If that painting tells the whole truth, I was never– Never once… did I get to be your princess. Not even once…'
Dearest Mell,
everyone just loves to dote on me.
They're always telling me how pretty I am.
Mother does, Father does…
and all the maids do too.
I can do anything I want.
So for me…
acting like a spoiled child is the only form of rebellion I have.
I don't have the kind of freedom you do, Mell.'
I'm just a doll for the family to play with.
When I have visitors, it's only ever for show.
So it's not my fault that I don't have friends.
Dearest Mell,
you're the only one who's ever cared about me more than anything in the world.
Dearest Mell…
I always knew how I would react if you fell in love.
I would cry my eyes out. I would envy her to death. I would get angry as a bull.
But eventually, I would have given up.
I knew I could never have it my way, after all.
That my feelings would never beat fruit.
So why…
why…
did she have to be your sister?
Tell me…
…..
The rose garden on the background. Two kids, a brother and a sister, are the only visitors at the time. The brother is calmly read his book, and girl just crosses the garden all around.
—Ohh, dearest Mell, here you are again reading such hard books. Your eyes will go bad if you spend too long staring at pages.
—I'll be fine, Nellie. It's not like I'm reading twenty-four hours a day.
—No, that's not good enough! If your eyes go bad, dearest Mell, you won't be able to see me anymore.
—Ahaha. You worry too much. I can see you fine and well, my princess. Your hair, glimmering like the sun, and your beautiful smile. I can see you clear as day, and that'll never change.
—Hehehe.
—Plus, the skies are clear today, so you're even more radiant than usual. Hehe. You know, this is my favorite season. Winter's cold and there's so much rain. I can't stand it. but as it gets closer to my birthday, the clouds go away! And I just adore the sun.
—Ah yes, it's almost your birthday, isn't it? Have you decided what you're going to ask Father for?
—No yet. I want pretty dolls, and shoes with sparkling gems. And I also want a pretty dress, like the ones Mother wears!
—Haha… A list that long is asking a bit much, even for Father.
—But… But dearest Mell.
—Hmm?
—I already have what I want the most. So the truth is, as long as I have that, I don't need anything else.
—Oh? And what would that be? The hairpin they bought for you the other day? Or maybe… the song they had written for you last year?
—None of that, dearest Mell.
—Huh, then what could it be? Now I'm really curious. What is it that's so valuable to you?
—That's… a secret!
—Girls have so many secrets, I just don't know what to do.
—Hehehe. Say, dearest Mell… Would you run your fingers through my hair? Just for a little bit.
—What's gotten into you, Nellie? Why are you so hungry for attention all of a sudden?
—Please, dearest Mell.
—Oh, Nellie… what am I going to do with you? Come over here.
—Hehehe. And I want to sit on your lap.
—Yes, yes, as you wish, my beautiful, beautiful little princess.
—Say, um, dearest Mell?
—What is it this time, Nellie?
—Right now… I'm so incredibly–
Happy
Oh, and out of curiosity…
who was it that you really cared so much about?