Francesca’s Regret

“The true daughter has returned, so I have decided to vanish as her adoptive daughter — Volume 1: A Happy Past and the Virgin of the Barrier”

“Volume 2: First Love and the Debutante”

“The true daughter has returned, so I have decided to vanish as her adoptive daughter — Volume 3: A New Family and the Beginning of Tragedy”

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Starting July 25th, Comic Seamo will begin releasing “The True Daughter Has Returned, So I Have Decided to Vanish — Volume 4: School Life and the Creeping Malice.” Pre-orders are now available.

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Since childhood, I have possessed an odd power.

Ah… snow will fall tonight…

I merely felt it, and that very night, the first snow of the season fell.

Ah… this path will collapse under a landslide…

When I told my father, he laughed and said, “That will not happen. Do not worry over nothing.” The following year, that path was sealed off.

It was not something that happened often. That peculiar sensation, rare yet striking, was strange in its certainty—and it was often right.

I had confided in the maids and lady-in-waiting assigned to my chamber, but none would listen.

Even my sister and mother recoiled, calling it unsettling.

This gift was often right...

There were times it missed, but truly, my intuition had been accurate far too often to ignore.

In those days of restless doubt and reluctant acceptance, I was struck once more by that same sensation.

The place was the Imperial Palace. Sudden, unbidden—before me, clear as dawn, I saw my friend collapse in a pool of blood, walking beside me down that very path. She wore a dress identical to the one I had on today, sinking beneath a sea of crimson...

No... If we continue, Shishi will die...!

I urged a detour, my voice thick with dread. My friend looked at me with quiet surprise, but accepted.

At that moment, I walked as one who prays—each step a silent plea.

At the tea gathering hall, where she had finally arrived unharmed, a sense of relief lingered, yet was shadowed by unease—perhaps this was the last time she would be here. Soon afterward, word came that the day’s gathering had been canceled. A noble lady with hair the same shade as Sisie’s had been attacked by an assassin…

It was surely an attack aimed at the friend of the crown princess’s foremost candidate. The location was exactly the place I had envisioned in my intuition.

I could not stop trembling that day. The relief of having saved my friend.

The guilt of having sacrificed the wrong one.

The hope that the future shall change.

Yet the unease over what had not changed…

She was overwhelmed by a tide of mixed emotions and could not fall asleep that night.

When asked whether her friend had known about the incident, she confessed her own abilities. Bowing her head, unsure whether she was filled with anxiety or resignation at the thought of not being believed, her friend said, “Spica does not lie. Thank you for saving me.” And then, she took her hand.

That hand was warm, and my heart was truly saved.

Thus, I made a solemn vow to use this power for others. I even moved of my own accord when the moment seemed too dire to wait.

What I came to understand was that the future can indeed be changed. More precisely, the future is not a fixed fate.

It can be prevented. It can take another path. The future is shaped by the accumulation of small choices made by people.

I chose to serve the realm with this power, hoping to help make it a better one. Fortunately, I have no aversion to study—indeed, I find it deeply cherished. And my fiancé, Lord Elbaum, upon hearing of the power I had revealed, smiled boldly and said, “That is quite useful,” then added, “If you wish to pursue it, go forward as you see fit, without regret.”

To have spoken so openly, yet be met with such ease, left me momentarily stunned—and I could not help but laugh in turn.

From that moment, I set my place within the palace, serving as a loyal attendant to my friends, now, Lady Elizabeth and the Crown Prince.

Though I was betrothed, I felt a quiet guilt toward Lord Elbaum, yet I deferred marriage, devoting myself instead to daily practice and discipline.

I had grown so arrogant as to believe that, having prevented the assassination of Your Highness the Crown Prince and the accident of Her Majesty the Empress Dowager, I could alter the future in any way I wished. That after marriage, this power would surely serve the royal family…

It was only after meeting those children that I realized the extent of my arrogance.

That day had been a gathering of young noblewomen who might become companions to His Highness the First Prince.

There, my gaze settled upon two pairs of mother and child, and I froze in confusion. I could not comprehend what I saw.

I had clearly seen two visions: a young man crowned as emperor, with two women standing beside him as mothers…

Even as I tried to compose my face, my longtime friend had already seen through me and pressed me with questions. I could have lied, continued the deception—but instead, I spoke the truth. Only this friend had once believed in me, and so I had thought, surely this time too, things would turn out well. Her smile then felt unlike that of any human being, sending a chill through me. I may have taken a wrong path… I thought.

Anxiety clung to me still. No one could say for certain whether this was the right choice. To move forward without knowing was frustrating, and so I fled to the quiet refuge of home. I had once longed so fiercely for the palace, but now I resigned from it, citing the birth of my child. I have heard she visits the court often, favored by Elizabeth. I pray my fears are groundless.

She will surely make the right decision. I thought, with a heart full of dread. Yet I was afraid to confirm it.

The royal court is truly a den of corruption. It is a suffocating place—either one is born already stained by its poison, or one becomes accustomed to it, for only such a person can find a way forward. I feel remorse for having brought innocent children into such a place. I could only pity them, with the well-meaning concern of an old woman, wishing they had entered willingly, not by force…

Nearly ten years have passed since she left the palace. They had grown, as was expected, into noblewomen worthy of consideration as consorts. And when the First Prince was named heir, it was one of the two young girls from that time—Miss Charlotte—who was called forth…

I believe the feeling I had then was a subtle hint, that neither of them could be certain which would be chosen as Crown Princess. Yet still, deep within my heart, a vague unease remained, like sediment settling at the bottom of a vessel.

Another decade passed, and the unease I had felt then had nearly faded from memory, when I learned the consequence of my own words at a tea gathering with a former friend—now Empress.

"Thank you, Keika, for speaking of those girls. Thanks to you, we have welcomed a worthy Crown Princess and the mother of the future Emperor into the royal family."

The phrase "mother of the future Emperor" struck a discordant note. A Crown Princess naturally becomes the mother of the future Emperor—this was expected.

"Your Majesty, what do you mean by that? I have heard, quite clearly, that the Crown Princess is with child…"

My old friend—once a friend—smiled, her lips curling upward in a slow, unsettling grin, as if she had long since become something else entirely.

"Actually, it is Catherine who is with child. Because you said both of them would appear as mothers to the Emperor, I commanded Catherine to share the Emperor’s bed. And she became pregnant immediately."

It pains me to say this, but the girl herself is not in good health… If the Crown Princess were to show no sign of pregnancy, her position would be truly untenable. That is why I devised this plan—thank you for the excellent suggestion, Cecilia. It seems to have worked out well!

The vibrant hues before my eyes vanished abruptly. A dark weight surged up from the depths of my soul, staining my vision black.

If only I had not spoken my instinct so recklessly then…

I wrote at once to Nephie, my senior from the imperial court days, my close companion in shared chambers, to confirm the truth.

The Empress’s words were indeed true…

How cruel and unjust… to treat one who might as well be my own daughter in such a manner…

And I learned then that Nephie now serves as attendant to Catherine-sama, stationed at the detached palace. From there, I arranged a secret meeting with Catherine-sama.

For the confession of my sins...

The woman I had not seen in so long greeted me with a smile, though her face bore the signs of weariness. Even as I was the cause of her suffering...

"Long time no see, Countess of Emmental. Forgive me for this appearance. There has been a matter of some urgency... I am currently under treatment."

A clumsy lie, indeed. Her form was unmistakably with child, no matter how one looked at it...

"Princess Catherine, I have heard of the circumstances. Please do not hide yourself behind false smiles."

A tear traced the edge of the smile she had forced. Seizing the moment of privacy, I drew Princess Catherine close, enfolding her in my arms.

After she had wept her fill, I listened to her words slowly, softly. And I apologized—my own power, the visions I had once seen of Princess Catherine and of Lady Charlotte, and how I had relayed them to Her Majesty.

"No, Your Highness, Lady Francesca is not at fault. Indeed, I feel anger at the Empress’s actions. Yet now, I am joyful—because I carry her child. My beloved Lotte stands beside her, and I have long accepted that I could never be near her. But even if only for one night, to have shared her time, that truth remains unchanged… This is my choice. Is it foolish?"

I could only shake my head in reply to her fierce gaze.

And that was the last time I looked upon Her Highness, the last time I spoke with her.

After the birth of the Prince, she was given the poison prepared for her and sent away.

Upon hearing the news, I immediately requested an audience with the Empress Consort.

I apologized to Lady Charlotte, who held the Prince in her arms, her face drawn with exhaustion.

"You were granted permission to keep Kitty, were you not? Then I have nothing to say. And Kitty left behind such a precious treasure. So raising this child is my chosen path. I will not accept your apologies... But if you would, refrain from using that power henceforth. Do not let others endure the suffering we have known."

"As you command... as you wish."

I had intended this all along.

Yet I felt relief at being told.

I am sorry I was not blamed, and I swear—henceforth, I shall seal this power away, so that no one else may suffer as we have, by such unjust fate. Even if it means abandoning lives that could be saved... I will bear that injustice as my own sin. I have had enough of twisting the fates of others.

This is the beginning of my lifelong regret...

But even that conviction wavered, once, some ten years later.

I never thought I would see a day when my granddaughter’s fate would be bound to the royal house… and at the same time, I saw her lying within the coffin of the sacred domain…

By the hue and the passage of time, her entry into the royal family seems certain… I do not wish to tell her of it…

Yet if that is so, perhaps I could grant her the strength to survive the abyss she must endure…

Francesca spoke with a stern voice.

“Once more, offer your greeting.”

I never dreamed that even this choice would become a regret…

The regret of the old rose continues.

Recently, I have been leisurely writing a different story—“A Single Wing: The Princess Shrine Maiden Sets Forth on a Journey to Find Her Successor.”

It seems that when I begin a tale with a different world, it draws me in and I can no longer write as I once did…

Even as I write, I think of Francesca, too, fighting against senseless things—things that no amount of intelligence or strength could overcome.

Francesca’s manners and knowledge were her armor and her weapon, protecting the fragile self she was. Perhaps she was a clumsy soul, unable to convey such things well…

I find it pleasant to imagine such a person.

As mentioned in the preface, the pre-order for Volume 4 of this work has now begun! The cover features Spica and Stella, not seen within the story itself!

I requested a smirk from Stella, and the artist delivered a most splendid, grotesque grin!

Personally, I am utterly satisfied. And this volume includes substantial additions. New episodes, never before seen in the web version, have been added—giving it a powerful upgrade（笑). If you’d like, do take a look.

Mashiro Sato