“The lisianthus is very beautiful.”
“…”
Karnov, with an uncomfortable expression, placed the teacup in front of him. Asha tried to hide her smile as she buried her head in the bouquet of flowers that Karnov had brought.
Although Karnov’s expression seemed to indicate that he didn’t like something, there was a gloomy gray haze settling down from his shoulders. There were even amethyst particles mixed in. It seemed that Karnov was in a state of great worry and concern.
“But what brings you here, Karnov? So early in the morning without notice.”
“Ten o’clock in the morning isn’t exactly early. And surprising people without notice is your specialty.”
“Yes, it’s my specialty.”
“…”
Karnov had no answer. Asha buried her head in the bouquet again to hide her smile, but Karnov seemed to have noticed the smile quickly. Then Karnov, who breathed a brief sigh of relief, picked up the snack on the tea table.
“…Don’t you realize that you have to reply to a letter?”
“Ah!”
Asha opened her eyes wide in surprise. Karnov frowned at the expression. Soon Asha laughed.
“That’s… I guess it’s because I replied in my heart.”
“…What?”
Karnov put down the snack he had just bitten into and stiffened, looking at Asha.
“No, well… I thought, ‘Yeah, it’s fine,’ in my mind while reading the letter. So I stopped…”
“That’s nonsense you know, why would you do that to me on purpose?”
“I really just forgot.”
“Hmm…”
Karnov breathed a deep sigh. Asha, seeing his expression, burst out laughing, almost falling off her chair so Karnov had to get up and grab her.
“Ahaha, th,thanks. I thought I was going to fall again.”
“Again?”
“I did it once yesterday.”
Karnov realized what caused her to laugh and gave her a look, shaking his head.
“So Karnov, what are you really here for?”
She was asking because Karnov seemed to have something else to say. Karnov spoke with a lighter expression, unlike when he came.
“I stopped by the Imperial Palace to see who will be chosen from the knights when you go to see Prince Yuri.”
“Oh~! That. It’s all been decided.”
Asha answered, clapping her hands.
“Already decided?”
Karnov raised one hand for a moment to block Asha’s words, took a slow deep breath, then crossed his arms and nodded.
“Yes, I am ready now. Tell me.”
“What… What are you ready for?”
“I’m ready not to sigh, click my tongue, or be surprised by whatever nonsense Your Highness says. Now tell me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’ll decide whether to apologize or not after hearing your words. So go ahead and tell me.”
“Karnov, apologize for just now. Think about the letter you wrote to me yesterday.”
Karnov frowned with his arms crossed, but Asha didn’t blink an eye. She calmly told him as he had asked.
“It seems that my grandfather is still not available, so for now, it’s Bethelnic, Anne, and Ivan. Those are the three.”
“…Who’s the last one?”
“Doesn’t Karnov know who Ivan is? Why… My… You know.”
“Don’t say it that way, Your Highness.”
Karnov’s expression turned serious. Asha furrowed her brow.
“You only call me Your Highness when you’re angry or threatening.”
“I won’t call you that if you don’t want me to.”
“You don’t have to be serious with me.”
“That’s my wish lately.”
“Oh, really? Do you want to use a wish coupon? The one I wrote last time. There’s a little over nine years left.”
“It’s not a little over nine years, it’s nearly ten years. And don’t try to covet the private property of an imperial citizen, Your Highness.”
Asha glared at him with a ferocious stare. Karnov finally relaxed his arms and tilted his head a little.
“Bethelnic Terevo is a man of great skill within the knights. Not to mention Anne Marka, but Ivan…Is there a reason why you must bring an apprentice?”
“Well, that’s the thing.”
Asha also spoke with a slightly serious face.
“I’ve thought a lot about whether to speak or not…”
“…”
“Karnov, do you happen to know what ‘Prasti’ is?”
Asha had contemplated on whether or not to talk to Karnov about this issue, but she felt that she had reached her limit on her own.
Especially since Karnov’s spirit was also a key player in solving this problem. So, after her recent conversation with Phoebe, Asha made up her mind to talk to Karnov about it.
Karnov, who had heard a long explanation of Prasti from Asha, gazed at Asha with an even more serious expression.
“…That’s why you kept feeding the Marquis Shapiroqin financier?”
“That’s right!”
“Then isn’t Ivan in a dangerous state as well?”
“That’s a bit different. It’s because my uncle’s personality is not good, and Ivan is because he is half-blood with Noctis Elf blood.”
“So you want to bring him along and feed him lots of your snacks?”
“Exactly!”
“…”
Karnov cradled his forehead.
“Karnov? What’s wrong?”
“When there’s someone who casually talks about serious matters next to you, it’s only natural that a normal person would have to endure that level of fatigue. I’m currently enduring it.”
“…”
“Do you know what you’re talking about?”
“Do you believe me?”
Karnov frowned and looked at Asha.
“I’ve never doubted your words.”
“Oh, my. That’s a lie. My dad is suspicious and that’s why you’re going down with me.”
Asha made a mocking expression, covering her mouth with her hand, which made Karnov briefly raise his head and look up at the ceiling. It seemed as though he had a painful regret about the past. Asha looked at Karnov like that and burst into laughter for a long time, before finally stopping.
“Ha, anyway. You understand what I’m saying.”
After Asha’s words, Karnov nodded his head in a way that made it impossible to know what he was thinking.
“Yes. From now on, don’t hesitate to talk about these things.”
“That’s… oh… umm. Y,yeah. Got it.”
“All right then.”
Asha tried to tease Karnov here, too, but she was too surprised and could only nod her head. Behind Karnov, who had started eating the snacks again after leaving half of them before, there was a deep purple fog swirling toward Asha like waves.
Endlessly, toward her.
“But what about the exchange diary?”
“I… I’m writing. I’ll give it to you tomorrow.”
“It was Your Highness the Princess who suggested writing the diary exchange first.”
“Lord Karnov, shall we try turning back time just once? Using the power of the spirit. Just as practice, once…”
“…”
“Karnov? Where are you going? Karnov!”
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
The place where Yuriev and Irina left to and settled was a faraway place that took fifteen days to return. As such, they had to start before sunrise, so the servants of the Taimir Palace were busy moving with their torches lit in the dark.
<Why don’t you go down and see her off? I don’t know why you’re just watching here.>
The cool wind swirled lightly and then fell down. Thanks to this, the candle attached to the window of the spire roared.
The emperor, who had climbed the spire overlooking the movement of the Taimir Palace and was looking quietly down, said, still with his eyes fixed on the bottom.
“What kind of farewell can I give by going down?”
<Hmm, is that your concern?>
Shamal didn’t seem to understand. Without adding any explanation, the emperor silently watched his granddaughter standing alongside the next Duke of Sedvoyer, chatting.
‘What can I say to see her off? I can’t tell her to have a good trip, and I can’t tell her to have a safe trip.’
If he were to forcibly make his granddaughter return by saying, “Have a good journey,” even if she had no intention of coming back, or if he were to tell her to leave and she didn’t return, both options were undesirable as an emperor.
The wind, sensing the emperor’s inner thoughts, burst out laughing violently, a cold mocking laughter without any disguise.
<Goodness! How old are you to be having such thoughts? If your granddaughter loves you, you must love her sincerely, don’t you think?>
“You’re noisy.”
The laughter was so violent that the light from all the candlesticks in the tower wavered, and a sudden gust of wind blew outside. Sensing something in that wind, the girl raised her head and looked up.
The emperor naturally hid behind the curtains. The little girl looked up curiously, then turned her head again to listen to Karnov’s words. And not long after, the girl and Karnov boarded the carriage and the door closed.
At early dawn, Alexei, who was seeing them off, tilted his head affectionately to the window of the carriage and withdrew, and at the same time, the carriage departed and left the imperial palace. The emperor only looked outside the palace from the high point of the spire until dawn.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
The carriage was filled with the scent of sweet snacks.
“Oh, look! That tree has turned red and yellow. The colors are so beautiful!”
“Keu, keum!”
“Ah, Ivan. Is it stuck in your throat? Let’s drink water.”
The girl, who was pointing at the scenery through the carriage window, reached out her hand in embarrassment. Her maid, Lise, quickly took out a glass and handed it to her.
Karnov, sitting next to the girl, opened the lid of the bottle with a sigh and poured water into the cup. Ivan, who continued to eat the snacks that the girl gave, drank the water, not knowing what to do. Karnov glanced at the girl sitting next to him.
“Stop tormenting him.”
“I’m not tormenting him…”
The girl looked at him with a pouting expression. The carriage stopped on a forest road for a brief rest.
Taking Karnov’s hand and getting off the carriage, the girl immediately went to the knights and looked at Ivan with a worried expression. Karnov, who recognized the gaze, clicked his tongue.
“Are you trying to fatten Ivan up as foie gras?”
“Karnov! Don’t say scary things like that.”
Despite the girl’s reprimand, Karnov didn’t retract his words.
“Think about your attitude.”
“Well, I… Ivan has been in the north and just came down. That’s why I wanted to show him different sceneries and let him eat different kinds of sweets… He still doesn’t know what he likes.”
Karnov sighed briefly. The fact that she wanted to let Ivan eat different kinds of sweets meant that the girl had made several types of sweets last night. It wouldn’t ordinarily be a tiring task, but the girl had been taking care of Ivan even inside the carriage without falling asleep.
“Ivan, no matter what you do for him…”
As Karnov was about to say something, the girl, who had been staring at Ivan, turned to look at him.
“Karnov?”
The girl’s head tilted, and her pink hair flowed down. It could be seen how many things she embraced with her smooth appearance and sweet voice. The countless things she controlled with a smiling face.
In the midst of it all, Karnov found himself losing his composure for the first time in his life. Standing amidst the whirlwind of that light, he was just trying not to get swept away.
Amidst all this, the only thought that Karnov, who stood there, was able to have was that he wanted to give this girl the best things he had experienced in his life. Even if the person who taught him those things was this girl.
“…If you want to feed someone that much, you should eat first.”
“I ate a lot while making them. I was tasting them…”
The girl said with her eyes wide open. Without saying anything further, Karnov gently draped the hooded coat handed to him by the maid over the girl’s shoulders.
“Aren’t you cold, Karnov? Are you okay? Did you bring your coat?”
“I’m fine.”
“It’s not cold now, but it’ll get cold once the night falls. It’s serious if you catch a cold. You should wear the coat quickly, Karnov.”
Karnov thought, listening still to the girl’s voice. What on earth was this girl made of?
Perhaps this girl was made by bringing together white sugar, savory cream, fresh peach blossom, shredded pearl pieces and a stream soaked in emeralds, sunlight reflected and glistening on snowfields, blue moss under pebbles in clear streams, and little acorns left behind by squirrels.
