Chapter 1 - Maristella Janice La Bellafleur (1/2)

Chapter 1 – Maristella Janice La Bellafleur

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!”