Berenice Manfredi, wearing a shirt decorated with thin, colorful frills unique to the south, was struggling not to be intimidated by the splendor of the imperial palace.
Whereas the palace in Kirelete was low and open, here it was tall from pillar to post, and every window seemed to require someone’s permission to open and close.
The breeze seemed to be constantly blowing from somewhere, but it was difficult to know where it was blowing in this spacious palace. It was best for Berenice not to look around.
‘I didn’t know I’d even be invited to the Imperial Palace.’
Berenice became a potential traitor when the Kirelete royal family suddenly asked her to produce a separate translation in hardcover. In other words, the two percent of treachery that every decent citizen harbored in their hearts had grown to four percent.
Of course, when the prince suddenly talked about an opera contract in the empire after attending the crown prince’s birthday banquet, she became convinced that the next king of the kingdom should be Prince Nothea.
‘The imperial family wouldn’t have called me all the way here to make fun of me.’
According to Berenice’s knowledge, the princess who proposed this publishing deal didn’t seem like the type. She had already staged her own opera performances, and according to rumors, she had been nurturing and grooming a prominent singer who now, even if you offered money, wouldn’t easily agree to meet face-to-face.
Sitting in the parlor, Berenice feverishly rubbed her chilled fingertips, and jumped to her feet when she saw the girl who opened the door.
“I see Your Royal Highness. I’m Berenice Manfredi, President of Meleus Publishing.”
“Berenice? Nice to see you! You’ve come a long way here.”
The princess, who turned seventeen this year, appeared in a simple dress accompanied by only one maid, but the pink hair was as bright as a petal, so it seemed that no other jewelry was needed.
“Ah, no, I had a very comfortable train ride, it’s all thanks to the grace of Your Imperial Highness.”
“This is a baked financier I baked a little while ago, and it’s still warm, so I brought it for you to eat.”
“My goodness, I will eat it with gratitude.”
Berenice didn’t believe that the gold-bar-shaped confection had actually been baked by the princess in front of her, but she took the treat in her hands with delight.
“Well, I have heard from Prince Nothea that the princess was thinking of making it an opera…”
“Yes. I found the story interesting. The setting was unusual. It felt like the north. Come to think of it, there are similar stories in the north. Have you ever heard of them, Berenice?”
Berenice thought it was a relief that she didn’t eat snacks right away. If there was something in her mouth, she might have had indigestion. Seeing Berenice’s confusion, the princess laughed and clapped her hands, implying that naturally, the value of the publishing rights of the written novel would be negotiated.
“Oh, actually, I thought I’d just have to exchange papers… I didn’t expect a person to come in person.”
“Oh, my gosh, it couldn’t be helped. The princess has taken an interest. The author is too old, so I, as a proxy, came. I can’t even begin to tell you how fierce the competition was for this business trip.”
Berenice barely managed to shake her head.
“Actually, what I’m worried about is that it’s a bit of a tragedy, so the ending is very sad, isn’t it? The Queen of the Night and the man can’t even see each other until the end. Will this sell well in the empire?”
“I heard it was a huge bestseller in the kingdom? As is the play.”
“I’m worried that the sentiment will be different from that of the empire. When a heavy narrative is sold, the environment is as important as the quality of the work…”
The princess looked at Berenice with an amused expression.
“If you’re worried about that, I’ll buy the rights without revenue sharing. Put a little extra on the price.”
Berenice pursed her lips. That wasn’t really what she wanted to say.
“Aha. You’re worried that the opera will flop and affect the sales of your novel later on?”
“Oh, how could that be? There’s no way Your Highness would come up with a failing business. It’s just that, as the president of a publishing company who loves books deeply, I can’t help but worry about the fate of the books…”
Berenice rambled on eloquently, but the gist of what the princess had said was true: she was afraid that the news of the opera’s failure in the empire would hurt the kingdom’s book sales.
So she wanted to hear how sincerely the princess intended to invest in the opera. The moment she tried to say it…
“Ah! Ivan is here. Berenice, wait. Ivan, have you brought it?”
“Yes.”
A tall young man appeared with a thin blanket in his arms. Wearing a sword at his waist, he seemed to be the knight of the princess. And the moment she made eye contact with the knight, Berenice forgot what to say and took a breath.
“Oh my!”
His mysterious blue skin, gray hair, and clear wheat-like eyes. He had the same face as the illegitimate son in the novel that she was now selling the copyright to.
“Berenice, it’s a little cold in the north, isn’t it? Prince Nothea was a little cold when he came, so the blanket… Berenice?”
“Oh… Oh, thank you… Thank you. Thank you so much.”
Berenice suddenly came to her senses and greeted her in a hurry. But her eyes never left Ivan.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
Asha, wearing her comfortable pajamas to get ready for bed, crossed her arms and studied Ivan’s face. Standing across from her, Ivan’s eyes were downcast with a very troubled expression.
“Was the owner of the publisher surprised that Ivan is so handsome?”
“…Your Highness, don’t make fun of me…”
“I’m not making fun of you. Anyway, the contract went well. Even if she didn’t eat any snacks.”
Berenice, who was somehow surprised to see Ivan’s face, stamped the contract as if relieved and returned to the kingdom. Ivan breathed a small sigh of relief.
“I’m so glad things went well.”
“Did you worry?”
Asha asked, a mischievous look in her eyes. Ivan gave a small nod.
“Yes. I thought something might go wrong because of me…”
“You had a useless worry. I don’t need it if it’s not going to work because of Ivan.”
Asha replied coyly, and continued, looking into the canvas she had been working on during the day.
“And she just saw you for the first time today, so how could anything go wrong because of Ivan, it can’t.”
With that, Asha shoved a piece of financier into Ivan’s mouth. Ivan leaned down and ate it, barely able to keep the worried look off his face.
“Alyosha just needs a few more touches, and then I can finish the sketch.”
<What about me? When am I going to be drawn?>
Phoebe, who was sitting by the window, flew over the canvas. Asha looked at Phoebe with a gravely troubled face.
“I can’t get a canvas of this size.”
Phoebe rushed fiercely at what Asha said, who made a square with both thumbs and index fingers, and Asha had to brush her hair again before she went to bed.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
Phoebe balked at Asha’s insistence that she see Ivan off at the end of the day, but when Asha stuck her hand in her own tangled, puffy hair, she was forced to sit on Ivan’s shoulder and ride off into the night.
<Ugh. How did I get myself into this mess?>
“…Are you hungry?”
<How could I be hungry? I ate everything she didn’t eat.>
“Or are you thirsty?”
<Ugh. Oh, this guy is strong enough to knock out a bull, but she’s a worrywart, that silly peach.>
Phoebe lamented when she saw Ivan responding quietly as if he understood what she was saying at all.
Phoebe’s frustration boiled over as she watched Ivan pretending to stop by the fountain and drink water, and she squealed before plunging her head into the water a few times and flying up. Otherwise, she thought Ivan wouldn’t return to his room.
Ivan gently brushed away the water droplets near Phoebe’s beak with his fingertips. Phoebe fluffed her feathers, tickled, but let him do as he pleased.
The garden was silent, with no one strolling about, the moonlight filtering through the faint trickle of water from the now-distant fountain and the sound of grasshoppers. The sound of his own heartbeat followed, and Ivan glanced at the yellow chick on his shoulder.
<Uh-oh. This little guy has gotten so big, but when will my silly peach grow up? She won’t be that small for the rest of her life, will she?>
When Phoebe talked to herself, Ivan smiled weakly. Phoebe saw the expression and almost fell off Ivan’s shoulder.
<Why, why are you looking at me like that? Do you understand…>
“I’m glad you’re so talkative.”
<Did you just say that this great spirit is talking too much?! Do you have any idea how much I’ve contributed to raising you up to this point!>
“Perhaps that’s why she must not have been lonely, because of you.”
<No, now what…>
Phoebe started to pout, but stopped when she realized that her beak was twitching. She realized that no matter how much she raised her voice, Ivan wouldn’t hear it, and it would only serve as proof of ‘It’s a good thing you talk a lot.’
Phoebe sighed briefly, leaving Ivan’s fingertips alone. Almost out of the palace, Ivan stood in front of his doorway and looked back. Moonlight formed a shadow over the roof of the ornate palace.
“At first, I thought it was good but now…”
Eyes the color of picked wheat looked away from the moon and down to the floor. Phoebe saw the currents of emotion flowing from Ivan, now a young man.
It was a miracle that she could feel it at all. Little bits of excitement, joy, relief, amusement, worry, concern, and guilt floated around Phoebe as they flowed from Ivan.
“I hope I didn’t think of that, and Lord Karnov is coming late…”
Phoebe noticed what Ivan was thinking. On a recent night, his owner’s shadowy profile that she unknowingly displayed revealed what was on her mind.
<Does this master and servant think in pairs?>
“I wish Lord Karnov would come sooner.”
<You’re stupid.>
“Do you think so too?”
<No, of course not, I don’t care about anything else as long as I have my child!>
But Ivan took Phoebe’s pouting as agreement and just gazed down at her with a soft look. Phoebe sighed in frustration and took off as soon as he arrived at the room.
Ivan watched her disappear into the distance, then went inside. It was a moonlit night.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
Asha had finished six small canvases of different sizes, depicting people and places in the palace, and sent them to the shores of Lake Bishti, when Karnov’s letter arrived with a slight chill in the air.
He’d finally succeeded in capturing the demonic beast.
