Episode 117

When I returned to the mansion, Lloydin was out.

Given how frequently he’s been going out lately, it seemed likely that a subjugation force would be formed again soon.

‘He just came back not too long ago.’

The thought that I might be separated from Lloydin again made me feel down.

‘No, it’s not certain yet, so let’s not get upset prematurely.’

Steeling my resolve, I went straight to the study.

“Hmm.”

I then began to think about the Crown Prince I had met at the princess’s palace.

For some reason, the brief encounter with the Crown Prince kept bothering me.

The way he looked at me didn’t seem ordinary at all.

‘Cloud Leteus.’

I quietly repeated the Crown Prince’s name to myself.

If Princess Daina was a spitting image of the Emperor, then Crown Prince Cloud took after his mother, the Empress, quite closely.

With silver-gray hair and the distinctive golden eyes of the imperial family, the Crown Prince bore little resemblance to Princess Daina, aside from the eye color.

Despite having the same father, they were so dissimilar that it was almost surprising.

One might say that the Crown Prince bore almost no resemblance to the Emperor.

The information I had about the Crown Prince was only what everyone else knew.

In the original work, the Crown Prince wasn’t a significant character.

The Emperor appeared occasionally from the start to the end of the original story, but the Crown Prince was so insignificant that I barely remembered him.

So why was this man bothering me so much?

It wasn’t any kind of personal affection.

An indistinct and uncomfortable feeling was swirling in my mind.

‘What is this?’

What could it be?

To find out, I would have to dream or face the Crown Prince directly.

However, one was not within my control and the other was too risky.

I didn’t have enough information to meet the Crown Prince based solely on this feeling.

‘I’ll just observe the situation for now.’

Something might come up if I wait.

Despite thinking this, the stifling feeling lingered, so I got up and approached the window.

“Oh? It’s almost done.”

I smiled slightly, looking at the unfinished pond visible from the window.

The bedroom and study were adjacent, so the pond was visible from the study window too.

But for a better view, I left the study and headed to the bedroom.

As soon as I entered the bedroom, I went straight to the window.

“It definitely looks better from here.”

The pond, whose shape was nearly complete, seemed like it would be finished in about a month.

Then, I would be able to see the two moons rising simultaneously, just as I had at the Anaïs mansion.

The thought of watching that beautiful sight with Lloydin lifted my spirits, which had been low just moments before.

“But he’s very late today.”

I had intended to wait for him, but night was already deepening.

I decided I should probably go to bed first, so I lay down.

Still, with a bit of hope, I kept looking at the bedroom door until my eyes unknowingly closed, and I slowly drifted off to sleep.

I awoke to the sensation of Lloydin holding me.

“Duke…?”

As I called him and barely managed to open my eyes, I saw Lloydin looking at me with a gentle smile.

“Sorry, did I wake you?”

“Did you just get back…?”

 

“Yes, it’s still far from morning. Please go back to sleep.”

As he spoke, he gently stroked my back.

“Mmm, yes. You should sleep soon too.”

“Yes, I will.”

“Ah.”

Just as I was about to fall asleep, the pond I had seen earlier crossed my mind.

I opened my eyes suddenly, which caused Lloydin to look at me with slight surprise.

“What’s wrong?”

“I saw the pond earlier, and it’s almost finished.”

“Ah, yes. It will be completed soon.”

“Yes, it seems so.”

As I thought about the pond and smiled, Lloydin also smiled softly at me.

After a brief moment of silence, Lloydin spoke.

“…Do you remember I said I had a lot to tell you?”

“Yes, I remember.”

A few months ago, Lloydin had told our story to Daliah, a story I hadn’t known. At the time, I thought he was making it up to avoid an awkward situation.

Later, when I told him that I thought it was just a made-up story, he had a meaningful look on his face. He was about to say something, but an urgent message from the Emperor arrived, and he had to leave for a subjugation mission, postponing our conversation.

Even after returning from the subjugation, Lloydin never brought up that story again.

I could have pressed him, but I remembered him saying he would tell me everything one day, so I waited.

‘Is today the day?’

As soon as that thought crossed my mind, I felt fully awake.

I looked at Lloydin expectantly.

“On the day the pond is completed, I have something important to tell you.”

“Oh, does it have to be on that day?”

“Yes. On that day, I want to tell you everything I’ve been holding back.”

Feeling a bit deflated, I nodded in agreement.

Well, it wasn’t long now.

Waiting for about a month wasn’t a big deal.

Though I didn’t understand why it had to be that day, I trusted that Lloydin had his reasons. I buried my face in his chest, pushing away the slight disappointment.

“Alright. Shall we sleep now?”

“Yes. Have a good night.”

We exchanged our usual goodnight wishes and closed our eyes.

* * *

A week later, I headed to the imperial palace to meet the princess again.

Since it was my third visit, I was now quite familiar with the princess’s palace.

After the princess greeted me, we settled in the reception room.

However, from the moment I got out of the carriage, the princess’s gaze had been fixed on one spot—the green leaf-shaped hairpin I wore today.

“Your Highness?”

The princess continued to stare at my hairpin without saying a word, so I cautiously called her.

Startled, the princess shifted her gaze to my face.

“I’m sorry. That hairpin…”

“The hairpin? Oh, it’s pretty, right?”

I replied casually, fiddling with the leaf-shaped hairpin.

“Yes, it’s beautiful.”

“My brother Jade gave it to me as a gift. It’s one of my most cherished items.”

“…Really?”

“Yes. Since I was often sick as a child, I couldn’t attend festivals. My brother gave it to me because he felt sorry for me.”

“I see…”

The princess remained silent, not seeming inclined to mention the hairpin herself. I watched her quietly before speaking again.

“Actually, Jade told me.”

“…Told you what?”

Her golden eyes wavered as if she had an inkling of what I was about to say.

The reason I wore the hairpin today was clear—I wanted to advance the relationship between Jade and the princess.

To do so, I needed to show the princess that I knew about their past and wanted to help.

Despite wearing the hairpin, the princess didn’t seem to want to bring it up first, so I decided to speak directly.

“He told me that he and Your Highness met in the past.”

“Oh…”

Though slightly taken aback, the princess didn’t seem too surprised, as if she had prepared herself for this moment.

“And he told me that you chose this hairpin for him.”

“…Yes, I did.”

The princess acknowledged it with a gentle smile and continued to recount the events of that day.

“It was my first time.”

“Your first time?”

“Seeing the festival, I mean.”

“Oh, was it the first time Your Highness went to see a festival when you met my brother?”

“Yes. You know I was at the temple from a young age, right?”

“Yes, I know.”

I nodded, focusing on her words.

“The temple… well, I felt a bit unsettled that day. I had never felt that way before, but I suddenly felt trapped and very stifled.”

I understood her words about feeling stifled more than anyone.

Even though everything was provided for me to live comfortably at home, there were times when I felt suffocated.

Limited freedom.

Both the princess and I were only given freedom within predetermined boundaries.