When Miku awoke and found Rin missing from her rooms, she didn't question it. Rin could have been doing any number of things. Perhaps she left before anyone could realize what had happened between the two.
We were just talking. . . .
Sitting upright in her bed, Miku rested her forehead in her palms. She never realized how funny Rin was or how well she listened. There was a wisdom to her that only a hard life could give someone of so few years. As they talked, Miku grew to respect Rin. As they got to know each other – really know each other – Miku found herself liking Rin more and more.
"I miss living on a farm," Rin had admitted the night before. "I miss working in the sun, below the endless sky. Being within these walls is almost a torment in comparison. I'm constantly reminded how trapped I am here."
"I never thought of it that way," Miku had replied, sitting across from Rin. "Unless you were having an outdoor celebration or viewing a garden, there was no reason to spend excessive time outdoors. Too much sun isn't good for keeping your skin pale, you know."
"Even now, the differences between our worlds never ceases to amaze me. I miss my tan, but you say pale is beautiful. In my village, wrinkles are respected because they are a sign of a long life, but everybody in the elites detests the sight of them, especially on their face. I grew up envying bodies with extra weight because that person wasn't going hungry, but it seems most Cinderellas prefer to be slim."
At Rin's last comment, Miku looked down at her midsection. She had a noticeable belly now, or at least by this point she wasn't in denial of it. The fabric covering her gut was stretched out, signaling that Miku was way overdue for getting a larger sized nightgown. Almost without thinking, Miku rubbed her ball of a stomach.
"This isn't considered attractive," Miku muttered. Even though she tried to not care about her weight anymore, that didn't mean the insecurities drilled into her for years wouldn't go away so easily.
Rin merely shrugged. "That depends whom you ask."
Now Miku was curious. "What do you think?"
"I think as long as you're happy, and how you eat doesn't make you sick, then it doesn't matter."
"But which do you think is better: slim or soft?"
"Oh, must you pester me so?" Rin grinned, revealing all her crooked teeth. Miku had never seen Rin smile like this before, and the sight made Miku smile back.
Making a show of tapping her chin, Rin said, "I truly don't care either way. After all, it's not the body that matters, but the person inside."
"Then what do you find attractive?"
"Personality."
Unable to stop herself, Miku laughed. "You're serious?"
When Rin frowned, Miku knew she said something wrong. "Not everyone has physical interests," Rin said softly.
Curiosity overwhelming her, Miku asked, "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean sometimes, feelings are purely emotional," Rin answered. "It's possible to fall in love with someone without having sexual desires for that person. In this case, does how that person look really matter?"
By the way Rin said that, Miku could tell there was so much more to what Rin revealed. Watching as Rin lied on her side and rested her head on her arm, Miku followed suit and said, "No, I suppose it doesn't. Anyway, tell me more about working under the endless sky. Did you have dreams?"
Rin was smiling again, albeit a small one. "Oh, did I."
And she did. It was as Rin was telling Miku these dreams that she slowly but surely drifted off. Not wanting to wake Rin, Miku covered her newfound friend with a blanket, slipped under the covers on her side, and fell asleep herself.
Slipping out of bed, Miku wondered what this meant about their relationship going forward. After months without a fainting incident, she didn't need Rin following her around anymore. When Rin went back to her regular duties, they wouldn't be able to talk to each other lest Rin get in trouble.
Yet Rin said she didn't care about that anymore. Miku shook her head. If Rin didn't care, Miku would. This wasn't a time to be careless. Even though she had grown fond of Rin, Miku knew she couldn't be selfish any longer. Rin needed to be separated from Miku before she followed in Gumi's footsteps. It was for the better, or so Miku told her aching heart.
Before she could ponder any further, an urgent knock came at her door.
Knowing right away something was wrong, Miku rushed to the door and threw it open. Ona was on the other side, eyes wide with fear. Whatever Ona was scared of, Miku really didn't want to know.
"It's your Juliet," Ona whispered, her tone revealing nothing and everything all at once.
Miku felt the ground beneath her give way.
Rin told Head Juliet that she didn't want either the woman or the guards to escort her to Mistress Prima. Instead, Rin said she would walk there herself. It was easy to talk big, but as she walked to her doom, Rin felt her very bones tremble for what was to come. It was a conscious effort to walk with her shoulders back and chin high. All Rin really wanted to do was hide in a dark room and never come out again.
Entering Mistress Prima's office without knocking, Rin forced herself to look at the headmistress of the school. In return, Mistress Prima blinked at Rin's presence. Then she smiled sinisterly as she shut off her computer.
"I was about to send my men to fetch you," she said, a purr to her words.
"No need," Rin replied, wanting to say more but not trusting herself to speak further lest she cry.
"Do you know why I want to see you?" Mistress Prima asked.
Rin didn't answer. It was a silly question. "Do you know why I want to see you?" As if Mistress Prima didn't know herself why she wanted to see Rin. As if Mistress Prima was trying to trick Rin into telling the woman something she didn't know. When Head Juliet told Rin everything Mistress Prima did to Gumi – bribing the Sisters to change her caste, keeping her at this school even though Head Juliet clearly wanted Gumi far away, executing Gumi while forcing her adoptive mother to watch – Head Juliet was giving Rin a warning: Mistress Prima was a cunning snake who would wait years if necessary to get her revenge.
Tilting her head to the side, Mistress Prima then questioned, "Aren't you going to answer me, Juliet CV02?"
Rin didn't.
"Now, now, be a good little Juliet and answer your mistress. I own you, remember?"
A bite to her words, Rin replied, "I am not your property. I'm human like you, and I have a right to be treated like one."
Narrowing her eyes, Mistress Prima calmly said as she stood to her feet, "I can see you have been getting ideas in that pretty little head of yours. You won't answer me, but demand I treat you well. Haven't I treated you fairly up until this point, Juliet CV02? Haven't you been given more than any other Juliets could ever hope to receive? You have grown spoiled. You have forgotten your place."
Mistress Prima's sinister smile sent chills down Rin's spine. "Perhaps I need to remind you of who I am and what you are."
Ona had to insist Miku change before she ran through the halls as if she was on fire. Tripping over herself as she put on a simple dress, Miku tied up her hair without first brushing it and followed Ona down the halls. It wasn't until they began descending the stairs Miku realized what Ona was wearing.
"Are you wearing pants?!"
"Announce it to the whole world, why don't you!" Ona snapped. "Your Juliet is in massive trouble right now, and your main focus is my fashion sense?"
"I'm sorry, I'm panicking right now and can't think." Miku tried to keep the tears from spilling. "This is all my fault! I should have—"
"Blaming yourself will get you nowhere," Ona interrupted. "Now, silence. Your incoherent babbling is getting on my nerves."
"Ona," Miku began a few minutes later when she realized she didn't know where Ona was leading her, "where are we going?"
"The dungeons."
Miku didn't ask any more questions. She didn't want to know what was happening to Rin. She kept praying that at any second, she would wake up in her room with Rin lying across from her.
All hopes of this being a nightmare were shattered when she heard a blood curdling scream shoot down the dungeon halls. Miku's blood froze. Her heart dropped to her stomach.
"Rin!" Without thinking, Miku dashed forward. Ona called for her to wait, but Miku didn't listen. Each time Rin screamed, Miku pushed herself to run faster.
Following the screams, Miku traveled through the labyrinth and was able to find the room she searched for. Upon entering, Miku stopped stone still. She didn't want to believe what she was seeing.
Rin, naked, sat on her knees with her wrists tied to poles on either side so her arms were spread wide like a bird in flight. Her head was bowed, tears falling in fat drops to the floor. Behind the small girl was a tall, thin hooded figure dressed in all black. The figure held a whip. Blood poured out of the thick stripes of Rin's back.
Acting without thinking, Miku jumped between the figure and Rin. Arms stretched wide, Miku shouted at the figure to stop. All it did was laugh.
"I suggest you move out of the way before you get hit," a woman said from the side. Miku turned her head to see Mistress Prima observing the whole ordeal.
"I won't punish you directly," the woman continued, "but I and the school are not responsible for any injuries you may receive if you willingly place yourself within the whipping circle."
"You don't need to do this," Miku argued. "Nothing happened."
One corner of her lip lifting ever so slightly, Mistress Prima asked, "What did happen?"
"Miku!" Rin cried out.
"I'm here!" Miku returned before answering as she approached her headmistress, "We stayed up late into the night talking, and Rin fell asleep on my bed. That was it! Nothing happened worth punishing Rin over."
"Rin. Talking. Sleeping on your bed." Mistress Prima shook her head. "I know we allowed Juliet CV02 to follow you around for too long."
"Her name is Rin," Miku growled, prompting Rin to shout Miku's name again. This time, Miku understood what Rin meant. She wasn't shouting Miku's name because she desired to see the Cinderella. Rin was warning Miku. Be quiet. The very thing Miku didn't do.
When Miku thought of Mistress Prima, she thought of a well-respected woman, the very portrait of poise, elegance, and respect. Miku feared Mistress Prima the way one fears an authority they admire and do not want to disappoint. Yet as this same headmistress approached her, Miku realized in that moment she feared Mistress Prima the way any logical person fears a poisonous snake as it slithers towards him.
"How I have failed you," Mistress Prima said, her words just above a whisper. "I'm supposed to oversee your learning to become a proper Cinderella, yet I have put you in the position to become a Juliet sympathizer. Darling, do you know what happens to Juliet sympathizers?"
"Stay away from her!" Rin snapped, forcing Miku to look at her former companion. Despite being naked, tied down, and injured, Rin glared at Mistress Prima as if Rin would give the woman hell if she hurt Miku. In return, Mistress Prima laughed.
With a flick of Mistress Prima's wrist, the figure resumed whipping Rin. As Rin bit her lip to keep from screaming, Miku cried out for her. The whip took away strips of Rin's flesh each time it connected with her skin. Muscle and bone peaked through. Blood and tears flowed unrestrained. All Miku wanted to do was throw her body over Rin's to shield her from further blows. Miku could barely breathe at the registration that this was her fault. Even if Rin survived the whipping, she could still die from potential infections, and Miku would be the one to blame.
"Come, dear," Mistress Prima said, taking Miku by the elbow and gently leading her out of the room.
Although she followed, Miku's eyes were still trained on Rin. They made eye contact one last time before Miku left the room. Then the whip came down on Rin's back again.
"You can't do this!" Miku hissed after she and Mistress Prima had walked down the hall. "This isn't right!"
"Juliet CV02 is my property," Mistress Prima reminded Miku, "and the law says I have the right to treat my property any way I see fit."
"She could die!"
"Juliet CV02 won't die," Mistress Prima promised. "However, as the result of her crimes, she will be whipped and be forced to clean the ballroom all by herself as her back heals."
"Won't the work reopen the wounds?" Miku questioned. "How will the room ever be clean if she keeps bleeding all over it?"
When Mistress Prima smiled, Miku gasped, "How wicked of you!"
"I'm not doing anything our ancestors haven't done in the past," Mistress Prima said gently, but the words still pierced Miku's heart.
"Our ancestors." Yours as well as mine. We aren't so different, are we, Miku?
"After that," Mistress Prima went on to say, "I'm afraid I will have to relocate her. After her . . . crime, I can't put her in the position to possibly repeat it. Not after last week."
Gumi's execution. An invisible hand gripping Miku's heart, she couldn't stop the tears falling from her eyes. She would never, ever allow anything like that to happen to Rin, no matter the cost to her.
"What can I do?" Miku asked, voice so soft she didn't really hear herself speak.
Mistress Prima, however, understood Miku.
"Forget about Juliet Cv02," she answered. "Go back to your life as it was before she was forced to be your constant companion. You have had no fainting issues recently, have you?" Miku shook her head. "Good, then I don't see why you need a ghost any longer. Return to your life as it was, and forget all about Juliet CV02 as if she never existed."
Miku couldn't help herself. "And she will be okay?"
The headmistress's response was a small smile.
Rin did not dare move. With how badly the very air stung her exposed, raw back, she did not dare discover the pain of even lifting a finger would cause to run along her bleeding body. If only Miku hadn't stormed into the room. If only Miku hadn't said what she did. Rin wasn't whipped for sleeping in Miku's bed, but now Mistress Prima had a just cause for the punishments she would later force upon Rin.
This was the fate of a Juliet. Misfortune followed Rin wherever she went. First her stillborn twin brother, dying before he could even have the smallest taste of life. Then Nero, dying so that Rin could live. Then Gumi, dying unafraid because she believed Rin would help change the world. Now Miku, not dying, but living in a world that would look down upon her for calling Rin, a Juliet of the worst kind, her friend. Unless she changed her mindset, Miku would be persecuted. If she heeded the voices of those telling her that Rin was nothing more than a thing that tried to be something it wasn't, Miku would never look at Rin as someone she cared for ever again.
As much as Rin didn't want Miku to be persecuted for her sake, she knew Miku forsaking her would hurt far, far worse.
Rin didn't cry. She didn't cry as she didn't move. All she did was lie still as a rug.
Gumi didn't die for nothing, Rin reminded herself. I wasn't whipped for nothing. I can use this. This can be the very thing that will bring the world down.
Gritting her teeth, Rin snarled. She still didn't move, but her mind was racing. Let them think they broke me. Let them think I have lost all will. Let them think they have won. Mistress Prima is patient. So am I.
Pain flared up her arm and through her back as Rin curled her fingers into fists. I will be victorious.