“Somehow, I just didn’t…think, about any of this!” Pitch cried, pacing the room. “Marriage, responsibilities, the people…none of it ever entered my mind!”

“All I ever thought about was going home…like a child. Like an infant!” she went on. “Even if I’d had to take back my place on the throne by force, I don’t know what I would have done with this place…how could I be so shortsighted and stupid??”

“This isn’t like me,” she continued. “At some point, I changed…probably during that trip to the moon, with you and the rest of them. I’ve gotten sentimental, self-righteous, impulsive…like the heroine of some fantasy novel! I should have known better from the start…I should never have come back here…!”

“I could have told you that,” Azor muttered.

Pitch stopped pacing, and slowly turned around. “…I beg your pardon??” she demanded.

Azor flinched. “Well, I…I don’t consider it my responsibility to tell you how to arrange your life,” he said, crossing his arms. “But if I did, and if I had felt compelled to say something at the time, I could have told you this whole idea was ridiculous.”

“As far as I could tell, you never enjoyed being a princess to begin with,” he explained. “And you certainly didn’t have any family members here that you were eager to see…so what did you have to gain?? Besides revenge…which I could have understood. But apparently, you weren’t interested in that, either…”

“I was…! A little…I came here expecting conflict, at least! But I just…it turned out that she didn’t want a fight; what could I have done??”

“You could have given her one anyway. Remorse— or lack thereof, as the case may be— does not exempt one from punishment. By simply accepting her flimsy apology, all you’ve taught her is that she can do the things she’s done and get away with it…”

“Oh, don’t start that again…”

Pitch sat back down at the table and buried her face in her arms. “All that is beside the point…the fact of the matter is that I am here now, and I am once again a princess…one who is expected to be married by next year…”

“So? If you don’t want to marry, then don’t. No one can force you.”

“…And even if they could, you wouldn’t let them.”

Azor’s false eyes flickered: he seemed taken aback by that remark. Pitch raised her head and smiled faintly.

”Still…as unsettling as it is, the idea of marrying some…person isn’t what upsets me the most,” she said. “It’s the idea that…perhaps I should, whether I want to or not.”

“I am my father’s only heir,” she explained. “I may be the last of my lineage…what will happen to the Goldtree name, to this entire territory, if I abandon it? If I could be angry enough to want this palace for myself, I should also want the obligations that come with it…shouldn’t I? Otherwise…I really have just been acting like a child…”

For a moment, neither of them spoke. The clouds parted outside, and the room was suddenly filled with bright light.

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“…This sort of moralizing will get you nowhere,” Azor said after a while. “Whether the choice you make is right or wrong, ultimately the consequences fall to you. The only thing you need to consider is whether you want them or not.”

“…That sounds very self-centered,” Pitch replied.

“Life is self-centered. Others may come and go as they please, but you have no choice but to experience every second of your existence, from first to last. And only a fool would spend that existence serving everyone but themselves.”

Pitch slowly sat up. “So what you’re saying is…whatever I decide, I’ll have to live with it,” she said. “Possibly for the rest of my life…and perhaps the quality of that outcome should be as important, if not more important, than the quality of the choice itself.”

Azor nodded sagely. “…Every once in a while, you do listen to me.”

Pitch smiled again. “…Well, every once in while you say something worth listening to.”

Pitch thought about Azor’s advice for the rest of the evening, and well into the night.

She lay sleeplessly in bed, thinking of her future. After about an hour of this, she decided to get up and go for a walk in the garden.

And to her surprise, she found the Queen waiting for her there.

“…You couldn’t sleep either, could you?” she said, turning to face her stepdaughter. “I’ve made myself much too excited, what with all the party planning…how do you feel about wearing matching gowns?? I think the both of us would look rather nice in seafoam green…”

“Yes…I’m sure we would,” Pitch replied.

She sat down next to the Queen on the bench. “…But that’s not what I’ve been lying awake thinking about,” she continued. “To be honest, I think the reason that I can’t sleep is because…I’ve decided on something. And I’m ready to tell it to you…and no matter how hard I try to convince myself that I need more time to think, the truth is that I don’t. I’ve got to just…come right out and say it.”

Pitch took a deep breath, then let it out. “…You should cancel the party,” she said. “Because I’m not going to be here by the time the date arrives. In fact, I may be leaving as soon as tomorrow morning.”

The Queen’s eyes went wide. “Oh my…b-but…why?? Was it something I did??”

“No, I—"

“It’s because I mentioned marriage, isn’t it? That must be it…I’ve frightened you. You’re still just a child; you weren’t ready…”

“No, it’s not that…I don’t really want to be married yet, but that’s not the reason I’m leaving.”

“I just…I’m not a princess anymore,” Pitch explained. “In fact, I may never have been…I used to think that the only problem with my old life was you. But now that I think about it, I never really liked any of it: the galas, the events; constantly being placed on a pedestal and shown off to the world…being used as a political pawn…you might have made my life worse, but there wasn’t much that I liked about it in the first place.

“But all that changed after I ran away…not right away, of course. And not all at once…I clung to many bitter thoughts and habits for a very long time. But in the midst of that, every once in a while, I would find myself happy. Truly happy, and truly at peace; not just desperately searching for it.

“And since then, things have only gotten better for me. I’ve made some wonderful new friends, and I’ve learned to appreciate Zellandine for the loyal friend she always was. I’ve gained the skills needed to defend myself, and to fight for those who can’t…and I’ve found a home where I feel content. Perhaps more than one…” Pitch smiled. “I think the highest point in my life was right before I decided to come back.”

The Queen turned away, still frowning. “So…you don’t think you can find that kind of happiness here. With me,” she said.

“I might. And then, I might not. It would be a gamble…but one that I don’t need to take, because I already have the life I want. And I think it’s about time for me to get back to it.”

Pitch stood up. “…I’d like to thank you for your hospitality, and for trying your best to be kind to me,” she said. “I suppose it’s better late than never…perhaps I’ll come back and visit from time to time. I think you’ve earned that level of trust from me, at least.”

The Queen didn’t reply right away. For a few moments, she sat still on the bench, with a dull look in her eyes.

Then she smiled. “…Alright, Margaret,” she said. “If that’s what you want…but before you go back to bed, would you mind…having just one last cup of tea with me?”