---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
--------------- ‌

Chapter 8
After that day, I seized every ‌‌‌‌‌opportunity to wander through the Garden. Yet I never encountered him again—not until a towering elm tree had been planted where I'd discovered the dying bird, and ‌‌‌vibrant flowers in brilliant hues had filled every barren corner of the Garden.
I felt the ache of losing a treasure I'd stumbled upon by chance. How I wished I had ignored the Nursemaid's call that day.
My father, ‌‌‌who had promised to visit me, never appeared that evening, and my mother made no effort to seek me out either.
Surrounded by cold Handmaids, I picked at a tasteless dinner and regretted everything.
I should have chased after that boy. Had I been stubborn enough, he would have pretended to be helpless and taken me with him. Lying beneath the frigid blankets, I longed all the more for those large, warm hands that had once enveloped ‌‌me.
Perhaps he was nothing but ‌‌a phantom born from my loneliness. Just as I ‌sank into such doubts, the boy appeared before my eyes once more.
No—it would be more accurate to say ‌‌‍that I discovered him.
The seasons had shifted, and I ‌‌‌‌had aged from eight to nine ‌years old. Instead of raindrops, the sky now poured down scorching heat.
As I passed through the long corridor leading to the ‌‌Emperor's Private Chamber, a resonant shout drew my gaze toward a massive arched window. On the broad Training Ground, bleached white by summer light, apprentice knights in black surcoats wielded ‌‌‌wooden swords.
Though there were nearly thirty trainees, my eyes found him as ‌‌‌naturally as a moth drawn to flame.
His faded ‌‌linen-blonde hair glimmered with a silvery sheen beneath the intense summer sun. It was the first time I'd seen him without his hood, yet I recognized him instantly—the boy who had appeared in that unseasonable spring rain.
I leaned my upper body over the windowsill to observe him more closely.
The Blue-Eyed Boy moved with such economical precision that he stood distinctly apart from the other trainees.
Each time his long, supple limbs moved with grace and power, it seemed as though I could ‌‌‌hear the sound of wind being cleaved.
"Do you know who that person is?"
The elderly Attendant who had followed me to bring me to The Emperor ‌‌‌cast an indifferent glance toward the window.
"They are apprentice knights training to ‌‌‌enter the Imperial Guard Corps. All of them are children of prominent noble families."
He seemed utterly uninterested in whom I was curious about.
The Attendant shot me a disapproving look as I ‌‌lingered.
"His Majesty is waiting. Come along now."
Reluctantly, I tore myself from the ‌‌‌window and walked ‌‌down the corridor, silent as a ‌tomb. Though I was meeting my biological father for the first time in months since arriving at the Imperial Palace, I felt no particular emotion.
Even ‌when I'd glimpsed The Emperor visiting the Taren Family Estate from a distance in the past, I had never felt he was my father.
The stern-faced Nobleman had shown me little interest, and I had despised him only for being the man who stole my mother's affection.
This remained unchanged ‌‌‌even after I was formally registered in the Imperial Family genealogy.
As I entered the spacious, ornate chamber, I fixed a wary gaze upon the broad-shouldered ‌‌man standing with his back to the light.
After a silence stretched between us, the man sitting motionless beyond the fortress-like desk finally opened his mouth, his eyes still fixed upon the parchment document.
"From now on, you must learn the proper etiquette of the Imperial Family."
Then he pressed his seal upon the document.
I waited for him to lift his head and look at me. But no matter ‌‌how long I waited, his gaze never reached me.
I could not comprehend it. How could a man who loved Senebier so passionately refuse even to look at his own daughter, who resembled her so perfectly?
The man, who had been scribbling something on the table with his quill, continued speaking indifferently.
"I have arranged several excellent tutors for you. From now on, come to the Main Palace before noon to attend your lessons. You must do your utmost to catch up on the studies you have fallen behind in."
My response was unnecessary. The man waved his hand dismissively, and our reunion after a year came to an end ‌just like that.
I retraced my steps, searching ‌‌‌for the boy's figure through the window. But the training had already ended, and the empty Training Ground held only the brilliant white glow of summer sunlight.
After that day, whenever I went to attend my lessons, I would ‌‌steal glances at him ‌‌as he trained in the Training Ground.
I loved watching the faint beads of sweat form on his sculpted face, and the delicate blush that rose to his pale cheeks from the intense exertion.
Sometimes I would speak to him silently in my heart.
'Tell me... what became of ‌‌that bird? ‌‌Did it die in the end? Did you bury it somewhere? Or did you release the recovered bird to fly far, far away?'
I longed to stand close to him as we had that rainy day, gazing into his eyes while we talked. I wanted to see if that silver crown still dwelt ‌‌‌within his gaze.
It was when that impulse had grown so unbearably intense that I could no longer resist it.
I had pushed my history lessons to the back of my mind and was ‌‌‌‌gazing endlessly ‌‌out toward the Martial Training Grounds when a deep shadow fell across my back.
I flinched and turned around. My mother, whom I hadn't caught ‌‌even a glimpse of for ‌‌a fortnight, stood at the boundary between light and shadow.
It was a face I had once seen every single day. And yet, for a moment, I felt my heart stop.
Senebier, adorned with meticulous care befitting the dignity of ‌‌an Empress, appeared as though all the beauty the human imagination could conceive had been gathered into one form. Even the elf mages who frequently visited the Taren Family Estate dared not presume to rival her beauty.
"What were you staring at so intently?"
Senebier asked, looking down at me.
I, who had been gazing up at her with vacant eyes, ‌suddenly snapped back to awareness and quickly stepped away from the window. For ‌‌some reason, I ‌‌‌‌‌was reluctant to speak of that boy.
But Senebier seemed to have immediately discerned what ‌lay at the end of my gaze.
The Empress turned her head toward the window and looked down at the tall, golden-haired boy on ‌‌the Training ‌‌‌Ground, her ‌‌smile laden with meaning.
"He is the son of Grand Duke Sierchan."
I looked up at her in surprise. ‌‌‌‌I had suspected he might be a noble of high birth, but I had never anticipated he would be from such a distinguished house.
Senebier's deep blue eyes gleamed ‌‌with meaning, as though she ‌‌could see straight through to the depths of my heart.
"Do you wish to have that boy?"
My face flushed crimson, and I ‌‌‌‌could offer no response.
Merely from seeing my expression, Senebier seemed to have obtained her answer. She laughed with amusement, bent down, and pressed her lips to my cheek.
"If you desire it, I could give him to you as a gift."
That whisper sounded as ‌‌eerie as the wind blowing through a dark forest on a deep night. Senebier straightened ‌‌herself and smiled, her lips drawn like a vivid crimson line.
"But it will not come without a price. If you wish to receive a reward, you must first satisfy your parents' hearts."
Detecting a faint note of reproach in her voice, I hurriedly gathered up the history book ‌‌I had carelessly left on the windowsill. Then I turned and began to run. I could feel ‌‌‌Senebier's gaze clinging to the back of my head like ‌‌a spider's web. ‌‌
She was the mother I had yearned for every single night. And yet, why was I fleeing ‌‌‌from her?
When I saw my ‌‌‌‌mother, I had planned to throw a tantrum about how much I despised studying. I ‌‌‌had intended to pour out all the resentment and grievance that had accumulated over time, demanding why she would not stay by my side.
But Senebier, who had become the Empress of The Empire, no longer seemed to be my mother. She had transformed into something strange and terrifying, and I ‌did not dare to make a scene.
That ‌‌‌‌night, I ‌‌lay awake until late, tossing and turning.
Even when I was at the Taren Family Estate, I was not particularly happy. But at least then, I had Senebier as my ally. She was less a mother and more a best friend and comrade-in-arms. No matter how much the whole world pointed fingers at us, as long as we were together, I could endure it.
But now Senebier stood tall as the Empress of The Empire, and I was left alone in a strange place, among strange people.
I felt loneliness burrowing deep into my bones. I desperately wished ‌‌for someone to be by my side. If only someone would hold me in their warm arms and gaze upon me with gentle eyes, I felt I could give them anything.
That was why I resolved to meet that boy directly, the one I had only watched from afar.

---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on ‌‌‌our official site: valirscans.org
---------------