There’s No Divorce For You

“This body belongs to Carla.”

“If you want to mock me—” 

The knight behind the king brought his hand to his waist. I quickly waved my hand. I thought that if I said yes, even as a joke, he would cut my head and body apart.

“No! No! No, it’s not! I mean, I can prove it.”

After making sure that the knight’s hand was back where it should be, I coughed to clear my throat. Then, I rolled my eyes and put together the words to persuade the king.

Anyway, this body is Carla’s, so I thought I’d ask them to look for things about her that are physical even if they can torture the maid. But the king moved faster before I could say anything. She grabbed my face and commanded me wildly.

“Close your eyes.”

“Pardon?” 

She said again when I hesitated. This time it was a more ferocious voice.

“Close your eyes!”

I shut my eyes tight and felt myself being pushed by her. Then the king ordered again.

“Relax your strength.”

A fine hand gently caressed my eyelids. Her breath touched my cheek very slowly.

She ran her fingernails through my eyelashes so hard that it felt like they were pulling out my eyeballs. Then she fumbled around my eyelids again, this time more gently. She touched my eyes a few more times and then took her hand away.

I opened my eyes carefully. There sat a woman of the same age who was embarrassed and didn’t know what to do.

“The mole at the bottom of the eyelid, between the eyelashes—Carla was reluctant to tell me that there was a mole in a strange place. And there’s no way the Count would know—” 

She couldn’t hide the fact that her voice was shaking, as if there was a pain in the depth of her throat. I closed my mouth. Finally, the king asked.

“You…Who are you? Where’s Carla?”

I didn’t answer. No, I couldn’t answer. The king laughed in vain. It was more of a self-help laugh than a sneer.

“Did you hurt Carla?” 

“When I came to my senses, I was in this body.”

“It’s hard to believe. Is there any way to bring Carla back?”

“I don’t know.”

The king looked carefully at my expression. I wanted to give her an answer, but I couldn’t. Because this body belongs to Carla, and I don’t know where her soul is.

She leaned back against the back of the chair and looked at me. The king then sighed deeply and picked up a cold cup. She gracefully took a sip of her tea.

I looked at the king. I could read the deep sadness in her expression. 

“Now I have no choice but to believe what you say. I hope you’re not a big fool who deceives the king.”

The king’s gaze went down. The long eyelashes somewhat covered her sad eyes.

Not knowing what to say to the woman who had lost her friend, I shut my mouth. Fortunately, the king quickly raised his head.

“So, what are you going to do in the future?”

I swallowed my saliva.

“Your Majesty, I want revenge for Carla.”

I waited for the king’s answer. Instead, the king tapped the table twice with her finger.

“Revenge… Why?”

A mournful voice rang out.

“I looked at Carla’s diary. Did you get an answer?”

The king bent her eyes and smiled brightly. The smile was like a heavy knife, and I had to swallow my breath.

“Looks like you know how to negotiate, so you’re not just an idiot. The story will be long, so prepare dinner. I hope we can be friends.”

I could tell from her words that she was angry at the Count, and I could tell from the tone of her voice that her hostility toward me had lessened a bit.

All the feelings the king showed me must have been sincere. No, it would have been better if it wasn’t sincere. I had to grab even a rotten one if I could hold on to a rope.

I finished emptying the teacup and raised the corners of my lips.

“It is an honour.”

Making new friends is fun anytime, anywhere.

* * *

I gladly accepted the king’s favor. I sent a message to Bell that it was okay to return to the mansion and sent a message to Lisa to wait a little longer. The king, who had listened to me, asked curiously.

“Carla usually didn’t bring more than one maid with her. Didn’t people think it was weird?”

“One of them became my paws during the day and warmed the Count’s bed at night. I want her to say hello to you because she’s so pretty, but she has no manners, so it would be embarrassing to do so.”

The king took my sarcasm with interest.

“You, too, are not as bad as Carla.”

The king cleared her throat and spoke loudly.

“If it was an animal, I would even take a good look at it. It’s clumsy and human-like, so there’s no place to use it.”

I could tell without her even explaining it. It was an imitation of Carla. It wasn’t very unique, but it was very different from the king’s accent. 

I realize how clumsily I’ve copied Carla so far. The coy and haughty nuance was similar at first glance, but the difference was clear if you listened carefully. 

And it was not necessary to say how long the king had Carla by her side. Then the king sighed.

“I heard that the Count hired the mistress, but I didn’t expect it to be a maid—” 

I swallowed the cold tea. I opened my mouth, mimicking the king’s imitation of Carla’s tone in my brain.

“It seems I speak less rudely than Carla. How did you know? No one knew until now.”

“When I complimented her for her looks, she always scratched my stomach. She didn’t like it  because she thought she wasn’t pretty.” (t/n: scratched stomach meaning to behave in an annoying manner or say something impudent to get on someone’s nerves.) 

She made me think of the compliment she said to me. It was to find out about something from me. 

“How much more can I help, Carla wouldn’t say such a thing even if she died.”

She raised her voice again, imitating Carla.

“Your Majesty is the most ambitious in the palace. Well, I’ll have to keep it even if it’s sold to another country, even if I don’t like it.”

The king shrugged her shoulders. The sentence that came to me was like a code that only the king and Carla could understand. It was obvious that I didn’t know. 

Even if they didn’t write anything down, the memories the two of them shared were bound to come out, so I had no choice but to be caught no matter what. 

This made it clear how little the people who worked for the Counts cared about Carla.

“No matter how much she scratched my stomach, I ended up with a crown on my head as the third princess.”

She said it out loud, but I could tell that those words were filled with a lot of longing for her.

There were things that couldn’t be said between the two. But I kept talking as if I didn’t know anything like that.

“Do you really believe that we can be friends?”

“The enemy of the enemy is a friend, right?”

“You are right.”

We looked at each other and smiled a little. The king was about to pour the tea, but when she realized that the kettle was empty, she put it back down.

“You’ll think why I like such a maid a lot. However…That kid was a little special. It was Carla who advised me to join hands with the temple.”

I knew to some extent the lives of the nobles, but it was difficult to understand these deep stories. Politics is poison. I blinked my eyes.

This story was unfamiliar because it was not written in Carla’s diary at all. Fortunately, the king seemed unwilling to continue the story.

“I wanted Carla to be happy.”

“Carla would have done the same.”

“No, not like that. I… If only I had been a little more against marriage…Or I could have introduced her to someone earlier….” 

She murmured softly.

“She wouldn’t have been sad if she hadn’t chosen the Count.”

I totally agree with that and sympathized with the king. No matter how royal you are, you can stop a friend from marrying someone they don’t like, but I also knew that you can’t stop a friend from marrying someone they want to. So she was blaming herself for nothing.

“She had no eyes to see.”

“I agree. If possible, she should at least choose handsome trash.”

The king burst into laughter at the absurd remark. With the bottom-up teacups in between, we felt a strange friendship being established. Finally, the king took a deep breath and said to me.

“What are you going to do?”

I straightened my back. I took a deep breath and opened my mouth.

“I made some plans…” 

The king didn’t say much as I talked about my plans in my head. Then, with a little excitement, I explain the plan to steal the Count’s fortune. 

Somehow, I even confessed the thought of feeding him lychee and aiming for a perfect crime. I can’t really kill him, but I spit it out to show how great my anger is. 

“So, if you provoke the Count’s mistress and the Count does nonsense, you’re going to find fault and take away the dowry? And you’re going to make a business out of it and buy that thing and feed him?”

“Yes!”

“It’s nonsense.”

The king clicked her tongue. I thought it was a good plan. When I was sullen, the king knocked on the table again. Is it a habit? I glanced at her, and the king laughed.

“Raise your head. Carla never bowed.”

The pink tongue licked the red lips in.

“I’ll help you with that stupid plan.”

The light of the chandelier shone in the king’s eyes.