I Raised Snow White!

A few days had passed since Vivian mentioned to Titania that she might have to "meet a suitor."

Feeling an uncontrollable irritation, Titania puffed out her cheeks slightly and asked Ellie, who was fixing her hair.

"Ellie, what's a 'suitor'?"

"Pardon? Ah... it’s... a meeting with someone you might end up marrying… I guess?"

"Hmm."

Titania rested her chin on her hand, squinting her eyes and letting out a small sigh, feeling that it was just as she thought.

She then stomped her feet in frustration, sitting on her chair with her feet unable to reach the ground.

A suitor and marriage.

She had often heard the Marchioness say as a child that she needed to prepare to become a princess worthy of her future husband.

As if hoping that her mother had misspoken, Titania engaged in pointless daydreaming to escape reality, but she knew the meaning of those words better than anyone.

Watching Titania stomp her feet as if kicking the air in frustration, Ellie gave her a bittersweet smile and asked,

"Aren't you going to visit Her Majesty the Queen today?"

"...No. I'll just stay in my room."

Ellie let out a small sigh that Titania couldn’t hear, bowed her head slightly, and left the room, telling Titania to call her if she needed anything.

After Ellie left, leaving Titania alone, Titania let out a deep sigh and threw herself onto her bed, pulling the blanket over her head.

Since she was young, under-the-blanket hideouts had been Titania’s secret little hideaway.

She rolled around, lost in thought, unconcerned about how her freshly arranged hair became disheveled under the blanket.

Honestly, she wanted to run to her mother right away and apologize, but each time, her mother’s expression, saying she had a suitor, would come to mind and make something boil inside.

'Titania, there might be a suitor for you soon. It may seem early at ten years old, but why don't you meet him once? He might be a good match.'

"A suitor...?"

"Yes, a suitor. I hear the Third Prince of a neighboring country is arriving soon with the delegation. He wants to meet you… He's only eight, but they say he’s quite handsome, gentle, and well-loved by his people."

“Mother, do you… want me to marry him?”

Her mother's forced smile seemed as if she had given up on something.

Seeing that expression for the first time, Titania furrowed her brow, feeling an emotion she had never experienced before as she looked at her mother.

"Not necessarily marriage… but it would be nice if you could at least get engaged, wouldn't it?"

It felt as if her mother had included her in what she had given up on, and every time Titania remembered that expression, she felt a swamp-like feeling bubbling up inside her.

For some reason, all she could mutter was, "Liar."

It was a hot, sticky, and unfamiliar feeling welling up from deep within her chest.

This feeling left Titania at a loss whenever she saw Vivian's face.

Burying her face in her pillow, Titania rolled around and eventually poked her head out from under the blanket.

She tapped the surface of her mirror necklace twice.

The mirror shimmered, and Ainsel, with a worried look in her eyes, appeared and looked at Titania.

After a moment of hesitation, Ainsel raised her head and asked,

-Princess… are you staying in your room again today? Isn't secluding yourself not allowed…? Vivian and the others will be sad…

"It's not like that! Anyway... what is Mother doing right now?"

-Vivian is… one moment, I’ll show you.

The mirror shimmered again, and Vivian appeared, as though right before Titania’s eyes, sitting in her office, having a serious discussion with Bainshaw.

It was the serious, admirable side of her mother that Titania didn’t often get to see, and she smiled.

It was fine to watch from afar like this...

However, whenever she met her mother face-to-face, Titania would find herself shaking her head, pretending to be angry as her emotions bubbled up.

'It's not that I don't want to see her... I want to make up and be with her right now…'

Feeling sad that she couldn't control her feelings, Titania stared blankly at her mother's reflection in the mirror.

Seeing her mother like that, Ainsel whispered softly,

-It seems like she’s almost finished with work... Why don't you go to her now? Vivian would be happy if you visited her.

"But…"

What if she got mad when they met?

Titania was the one who’d been avoiding her mother in anger all along, but now she had no idea what kind of face to show her mother.

As she hesitated, her mother appeared in the mirror, stretching her arms up toward the sky as if she had just finished her work.

Seeing this, Ainsel encouraged Titania.

-Now’s the perfect chance! The office isn’t too far... Go quickly!

“Huh, oh…?”

-Hurry!

As Ainsel urged her loudly, Titania leapt up from her bed.

She ran out of her room, hastily smoothing her tangled hair, and sprinted down the hall.

What should I say when we meet?

Should I apologize first?

Should I say I’m sorry for avoiding her?

Panting from running to the office, Titania calmed her breath and peeked into the slightly open door.

Inside, her mother was seated, enjoying a moment’s rest with some tea.

The moment she saw her mother’s face, that same murky feeling clawed at her heart again.

It wasn’t simply a feeling of dislike.

It was a strange anxiety, something that made her heart race with discomfort.

She couldn’t quite identify the emotion that welled up every time she saw her mother.

But one thing was clear—she didn’t like the “smile” that always seemed to appear whenever her mother looked at her.

Titania stepped back from the door, turning to head back to her room.

Around her neck, Ainsel seemed to be struggling, asking,

-You’re really not going to go in...? You came all the way here…

“...No.”

-But…

Titania didn’t answer Ainsel’s question and quietly headed back to her room.

With each step, she felt as though a muddy swamp was pulling at her ankles.

And so it went, over and over again.

Persuaded by Ainsel, Titania would circle around Vivian’s office before retreating to her room, sinking into gloom.

Up to three times a day, Titania would hover around Vivian, caught between her desire to apologize and the swamp of bubbling emotions inside her.

As she continued to circle around, a thought suddenly came to her—if she couldn’t apologize in person, maybe she could ask someone else to pass it along.

And the first person who came to mind was none other than her grandmother, the Queen Dowager.

Trusting that her grandmother would convey her feelings to her mother, Titania knocked softly on the Queen Dowager’s office door.

“Grandmother… it’s Titania. May I come in?”

“...Come in.”

Receiving permission, Titania opened the door and tiptoed toward the Queen Dowager.

She was still working, diligently writing something, and Titania watched her silently.

"So, my granddaughter, what brings you to see this old lady all of a sudden?"

“Oh… that’s…”

When she finally tried to speak, the words wouldn’t come out.

Seeing Titania hesitating, the Queen Dowager sighed softly, then lifted Titania onto her lap.

“I’ve heard rumors that you quarreled with the Queen. Is that why you’re here?”

“It’s not like we fought…”

At the mention of a fight, Titania pouted and dropped her head.

Watching her, the Queen Dowager gently stroked Titania’s head and asked, guessing at the issue.

“They say she reduced your snacks—did you get upset over that?”

“Well, that’s part of it, but…”

“Or is it because she’s been busy and hasn’t been paying attention to you lately?”

“That… that’s…”

With each question, the things she had felt hurt about resurfaced, and Titania’s cheeks began to puff up.

The Queen Dowager chuckled softly and lightly squeezed Titania’s puffy cheeks.

“Or is it because of the upcoming ‘suitor meeting’?”

At the mention of a suitor, Titania gave a small nod.

Seeing this, the Queen Dowager sighed quietly and gently patted Titania’s head.

“Do you dislike the idea of meeting a suitor that much?”

Titania shook her head.

It wasn’t that she disliked the meeting itself, or the idea of meeting someone she didn’t know…

As she tried to express her thoughts, tears started welling up in her eyes.

The Queen Dowager tenderly patted her back as Titania’s shoulders shook with suppressed sobs.

“Take your time and tell me what’s bothering you so much. I won’t understand if you don’t tell me.”

As the Queen Dowager comforted her, the tears in Titania’s eyes finally started to fall.

Slowly, as if she were crying, Titania began to express what was in her heart.

“G-grandmother… do you also think I should get engaged…?”

“…I don’t think so, dear.”

“B-but Mother… she seems to want me to get engaged… She told me that it would be nice if I did…”

Once the tears began, they didn’t stop easily.

As they trickled down, the Queen Dowager began to gently dab Titania’s eyes with a handkerchief.

“It… it feels like Mother doesn’t want to be bothered with me anymore… like she doesn’t want to see me… So every time I see her, my heart feels strange… as if I’m both angry and about to cry…”

“…Your mother would never abandon you. I can’t imagine why you would feel this way and worry so much. Do you really think your mother sees you as a bother?”

Titania shook her head.

She knew better than anyone that her mother would never do such a thing, but her heart just wouldn’t listen.

The anxiety was overwhelming, and the impatience was unbearable.

And the emotions she felt couldn’t be explained by just anxiety and impatience.

It wasn’t only fear and apprehension about being abandoned—there was also something deeper and murkier that simmered within her chest.

Titania still couldn’t quite define that feeling.

It was simply something that lay between anxiety and impatience.

The Queen Dowager sighed softly, looking at Titania, who was wiping her tear-soaked eyes with a damp handkerchief.

“Since you already know this, try not to worry so much. From what I see, your mother neither finds you a bother nor intends to abandon you. When she said she wanted you to get engaged, it was only for your future.”

“…Sniff.”

“So stop crying and go see your mother. The Queen must be feeling troubled by now too.”

The Queen Dowager lowered Titania from her lap and waved her hands, urging her to go quickly.

Titania puffed her cheeks, looking back at the Queen Dowager, but it was no use.

“Until you two make up, I won’t allow you in my room. I assume you came here hoping I would pass on a message, but this is something you must say directly—it’s a matter of respect.”

Guilt.

Even though she hadn’t said anything yet, Titania’s plan had already been seen through, and she flinched, pouting before reluctantly leaving the room.

Once again, the cycle repeated.

Despite circling around Vivian, trying to speak, Titania couldn’t bring herself to approach her mother, even ignoring her mother’s requests to talk outside the door on the day the delegation arrived.

Afterward, it continued to repeat.

Each day, Titania would secretly observe her mother through Ainsel, then approach her mother only to return to her room, weighed down by her murky feelings.

She repeated this process dozens, if not hundreds of times.

***

After the delegation arrived, an unexpected situation brought a slight stir to the palace.

It was customary to prepare food according to a visiting foreign royal’s preferences as a sign of respect.

In general, it was standard to prepare meals according to the dietary preferences and allergies shared beforehand by the visiting country…

But there was no ‘Third Prince’ in the delegation, making all their preparations for his visit meaningless.

At the party carefully prepared for the ‘Third Prince’s’ arrival, an uninvited ‘woman’ approached me, lifting her skirt gracefully and offering a bow.

A poised, graceful woman.

Under the sunlight, her hair could have been mistaken for blonde, though it was a bright brown, and her eyes were a deep, dark shade as she looked at me with a gentle smile.

“Apologies for arriving so suddenly. My ‘younger brother’ fell ill unexpectedly, so I had to come in his place.”

“You are…?”

“My name is Fiona Silverward. The ‘Second Princess’ of the Silverward Kingdom greets Queen Vivian Lilienthal.”

A name and face with no previous mention or familiarity.

Yet, as I looked at Fiona, a powerful sense of discomfort washed over me, so intense it sent chills through my body.

‘What is this…?’

It was the first time I had felt this ‘discomfort’ since discovering that the First Queen, Aurora, was alive.

I unconsciously rubbed my arm at the same unsettling feeling that I’d first felt back then.