Episode 109
The next thing I knew, I was sneezing in Aiden’s arms, jolted back to reality by the icy chill clinging to my bones.
Aiden, on the verge of tears, clutched me tightly.
“Are you all right, Your Majesty?”
I wanted to reassure him with a smile, but my chattering teeth betrayed me. Though I hadn’t actually been soaked, the chill seeped into my core, leaving me trembling uncontrollably.
As my body shivered, Aiden’s crimson eyes darkened, a fiery rage simmering within.
“What did the lake spirit do to you?”
The glare he directed at Lake Beryl seemed intent on boiling away its waters.
Fearing he might charge straight into the lake, I gripped his hand and forced a weak smile.
“The spirit agreed to destroy the marks of the oath.”
“That’s good news,” he said flatly before adding, “Then I’ll destroy the lake spirit next.”
The intensity in his voice left no doubt he was serious.
I shook my head, summoning every ounce of strength to steady my voice.
“Don’t, Aiden. The spirit isn’t truly malicious.”
A bit impish and lacking manners, perhaps, but nothing I couldn’t overlook if the oath was undone.
Buoyed by the warmth of Aiden’s hand, I managed to stand upright.
“What happened?” Aiden asked, his voice calmer now as he helped steady me.
“You were right,” I replied. “To summon the lake spirit, there needed to be an offering.”
“The jewelry you threw into the lake?”
“Yes. It seems the spirit has a fondness for shiny things.”
“So that’s why only the noblewoman was invited?”
Aiden quickly pieced it together, and I nodded.
Others who lost their lives in the lake likely took care to remove their valuables before entering the water, unwilling to risk losing them.
Since the summer palace was built on Lake Beryl’s shores, no one had dared defile the royal lake by throwing themselves in.
It made sense that the noblewoman was the only one invited to the spirit’s festival.
As for Barbados I, it was now clear he had cast his own treasures into the lake, forging a connection with the spirit and securing the power to bind the beasts with the oath.
The cost had been steep, but at last, the chance to break the oath was within reach.
I wanted to dance in celebration, but my body was far too cold.
Clutching the jacket Aiden had draped over my shoulders, I turned to him.
“Let’s head back. There’s still work to do.”
Before I could take a step, Aiden swept me into his arms and began striding toward the summer palace.
His jaw was set, his gaze fixed straight ahead, as if battling the force that bound him to his current master.
Though I insisted I could walk on my own, he said nothing, carrying me all the way to my chamber.
Once inside, Aiden gently set me down, letting out a heavy sigh as he finally looked at me.
Even in the warmth of the palace, I couldn’t stop trembling. Aiden’s crimson eyes softened with sorrow as he watched, his lips pressed into a thin line before he spoke.
“I’m going mad wanting to hold you.”
As he stepped back, the absence of his warmth hit me like a fresh wave of the chill, leaving my heart heavy with longing.
I wanted to hold his hand, to embrace him, to kiss him.
But with him so near yet so out of reach, my heart ached with unspoken words and unfulfilled love.
Still, I knew this torment wouldn’t last forever.
“Soon, Aiden. I’ll free you from this cursed oath soon.”
He straightened, his gaze unwavering. “When the oath is broken… marry me, Your Majesty.”
A proposal so grave, so earnest, could only come from Aiden.
His crimson eyes darkened as he forced himself to speak, veins bulging against the tension in his neck.
With the weight of his love and the chains of the oath bearing down on him, he struggled to finish his thought.
“I want to…”
He stopped short, his head shaking violently as if to drive away the searing pain of betrayal etched into his soul.
I couldn’t bear to see him in such torment any longer.
“Aiden, I already know. You don’t have to say it.”
Even as I tried to comfort him, he stood rigid, every muscle tense. With what seemed like his final reserve of strength, he opened his mouth again.
“I love you, Sione.”
His confession, born of rebellion against the oath and uttered at the risk of his own life, struck me to the core.
I wanted to embrace him, to whisper that I loved him too.
But I feared that if I did, the weight of my love would break him.
I offered him the smile he liked best.
Though still stiff, the corners of Aiden’s lips lifted slightly.
His fierce features softened into an adorable expression when he smiled—a face I adored most.
I vowed to free him from his leash with my own hands, and when he was truly by my side, I’d give him my answer.
With that resolve, I stepped into my room.
To negotiate with that cheeky lake spirit, I needed to check something first.
I rummaged through my jewelry box but found I hadn’t brought much with me in my haste to come here.
Among the collection, there was only one set of diamonds.
It fell far short of the ten diamond rings the spirit demanded.
I called for Rosa, the head maid of the summer villa.
“Rosa, do we have any jewelry stored here at the villa?”
“No, Your Majesty. We do not keep valuables stored separately,” Rosa replied, looking deeply apologetic.
I wrote her a letter addressed to Tito in Brincia’s main palace, instructing him to bring all of the Empress’s jewelry.
Without enough gems, there was no use summoning the spirit, so I had to wait for now.
* * *
I spent a restless night unable to sleep, and as soon as morning broke, I recounted the events of the previous night to Lothania.
She jumped so high she seemed ready to touch the ceiling.
Grabbing Melbrid’s hand, she danced with glee before throwing a small tantrum about wanting to fetch the jewelry herself.
After breakfast, she dashed to the summer villa’s main gates and returned with her excitement barely contained.
“Mother! Tito is here!”
I abandoned the book I’d barely read a page of and rushed to the entrance of the villa.
“Your Majesty, I have brought everything you requested,” Tito announced, his face lit with anticipation.
But neither I nor Lothania waited to exchange pleasantries. We hurried to open the jewelry boxes he’d delivered.
The countless boxes were brimming with diamond rings, and the sight filled me with immense pride in being the empress of a grand empire.
Lothania and I promptly filled a sack with jewels and headed straight to Lake Beryl.
We brought along the relics of the three beasts and excluded only Rian, who couldn’t endure the cold wind.
Tito, bewildered by our urgency, trailed after us. When Lothania plopped a massive diamond ring into the lake with a splash, his jaw dropped.
“Y-Your Highness! That’s the ‘Spring Dew’ ring you just threw into the lake!”
Unbothered by Tito’s alarm, Lothania fixed her gaze on the serene surface of the lake.
When the blue girl failed to appear after some time, Lothania grabbed an even larger diamond ring.
Tito, his eyes as wide as saucers in disbelief, watched helplessly as the ring, the ‘Midsummer Dream’ used for the Empress’s coronation, disappeared into the depths of Lake Beryl.
“Y-Y-Your Highness?” Tito stammered, his voice quivering, but Lothania merely stomped her feet in frustration and clutched my hand.
“Mother, why isn’t the spirit coming out?”
I rummaged through the sack and pulled out a tiara adorned with a ruby as large as a walnut.
By now, Tito looked on the verge of fainting, and I hesitated before throwing it into the lake.
The spirit had appeared immediately when I’d tossed jewelry into the water the previous night. Why was it so silent now?
Pondering the discrepancy, the image of the spirit rising amidst moonlight rippling on the water came to mind.
“Maybe it only responds to summons at night, Lothania.”
“Could that be it?”
“It definitely showed up last night, so we’ll try again after sunset.”
Lothania gnawed at her fingernails anxiously, waiting for the day to fade.
As the sun sank and Lake Beryl was painted with the hues of dusk, both of us were seated at the edge of our chairs, biting our nails in identical postures.
“The moon’s out, Lothania.”
“Yes, Mother.”
With resolute expressions, we approached the lakeside.
All the preparations had been completed earlier that morning.
I retrieved the ruby tiara from the jewel-filled sack.
Throwing it with all my might toward the lake’s center, the tiara plunged into the water with a splash, accompanied by Tito’s audible sigh.
And then—
“What’s the big idea? I waited all night!”
The blue girl emerged from the lake, now wearing the ruby tiara on her head.
Gliding smoothly across the water’s surface, the lake spirit approached us. Her gaze lingered on Lothania, and she smiled mischievously.
“You… look familiar.”
Standing before the spirit, who resembled a playful peer, Lothania stretched her hands wide, revealing ten fingers adorned with glittering diamond rings.
