A few days later, the peace agreement with the Noctis Elves were concluded smoothly. The Elves left two territories in the Empire after a non-aggression pact. On the day of departure, Lilmari made eye contact with Asha for a moment before turning around.
And Asha continued to lie down, feeling unwell. If her body temperature had risen, one might have thought she had a fever, but instead, her temperature dropped, and she broke out in cold sweat.
<How could you be so ignorant and weak?>
Phoebe spoke piercingly, but never left her side during her illness. And Asha, who was almost better, laughed with a little rough lips.
‘It’s because of you. You told me to make milk tea with all my might.’
<But who knew you would be so weak?! Don’t you have to do your best!>
‘All right, all right. I’m sorry.’
<…>
After apologizing and saying sorry, Phoebe remained silent again. Asha had been bedridden for a few days with her weak body. Just as Lise was placing a warm stove inside, she noticed Asha had awakened and hurriedly approached her.
“Your Highness! Are you feeling better now? According to the doctor, your body temperature has returned to normal…”
Lise stroked her cheek with a worried face, then turned her head back and winked at the lady-in-waiting.
“Go tell His Majesty.”
“His Majesty?”
As Asha tilted her head slowly, Lise said, unable to take her eyes off Asha’s face.
“You don’t know how worried His Majesty was. He told me to let him know when you wake up.”
“I…”
“His Highness, the crown prince, also came and went several times. And…”
Here Lise hesitated a little, too. Asha tilted her head, Lise finally opened her mouth.
“Lord Karnov has been here.”
“Oh.”
“I was very surprised. He always brought you flowers…”
“There’s nothing to be surprised about. Everyone gets sick.”
Lise smiled slightly at Asha’s words, but did not express concern.
“I was surprised, too. Why did you get sick so often… It’s because I’m lacking*.”
[*TN: She’s not taking care of Asha enough.]
“W-Why are you acting like this all of a sudden? No, it’s nothing. We had many guests coming and going, that’s why.”
Lise lowered her eyes. Then, while busily fixing Asha’s bedding, she hurriedly got up when she heard that someone from the emperor’s palace had arrived. Asha looked at the blue particles dripping down behind Lise’s back.
“Oh, my.”
Apparently Lise was very worried while she laid sick.
‘It wasn’t a big deal. Try to soothe her well.’
<Do you think I have the ability to do that? And if I speak, will she understand?>
Phoebe’s grumbling made Asha laugh quietly. Then Lise came inside with servants.
“His Majesty, the emperor has sent a man.”
“His Majesty?”
Meanwhile, Lise, who had wiped her tears, looked a little surprised and happy. Asha tilted her head and looked at the man the emperor had sent. When the servant made eye contact with Asha, he bowed quickly.
“His Majesty couldn’t come because he was in a political meeting, and he sent me instead. …Come inside.”
Following the constant hand gesture, people came in one after another and arranged things one by one.
“This is a ballerina music box, which was made of glass by the master Mura Aylau. Only two were made, one for a boy and one for a girl. The boy ballerino is in Sedvoyer Manor, and the girl ballerina music box was kept in Lumehran. However, this time, the emperor has bestowed it upon Your Highness.”
“What is Lumehran?”
As Asha tilted her head at a word she didn’t know, the attendant drew a hearty smile.
“It’s a treasure trove of emperors in the history of the empire.”
In other words, the emperor chose a gift from a treasure trove and delivered it.
“It’s not just this music box. Remschite lace, Dharannez silk…”
The list of gifts was extremely long, with nothing in common. Rare fabrics came out in different types, and suddenly, there were mobiles and toys for children.
A person appeared behind the objects as Asha looked at them with a somewhat perplexed look.
“What’s all this?”
“All of them are given by His Majesty!”
With a proud face, the servant who was about to answer someone’s question hurriedly inhaled. At the same time, the atmosphere of excitement subsided coldly at once.
“Oh… Karnov?”
“Ka… Karnov…”
It was Karnov Neustadter with a rich bouquet in one hand. All the attendants took a few steps back from the entrance, holding their breath. In the air where everyone stopped breathing, the only person who was okay was Karnov. No, it seemed like nothing was wrong.
It was Asha who couldn’t stand the air.
“…Tell His Majesty that I’m grateful. Let him know that I am really happy. Everyone must be busy, so you can go now. And Lise, Karnov is here, so please get me the tea.”
When Asha let all the people around her out, Phoebe clicked her tongue.
<Again, again, you’re thinking stupidly.>
Phoebe looked like a fool in the world whenever Asha was worried about people around her.
<He’s probably a whole head taller than you.>
‘It’s not like I dislike it or anything.’
Karnov watched the people around him retreat in confusion, and looked at Asha with a strange expression.
“Do you think I’ll kill them all?”
“Are you going to do that?”
“No.”
“Then why would you say that?”
Asha said in a tone to show she didn’t like it. Karnov came up to her bedside and took the seat where Lise was sitting.
“Why is Your Highness upset?”
“I’m not. Why did you come here?”
Despite Asha’s retort, Karnov still looked clueless. Then he threw away the flowers in the vase on the table and filled them with the new flowers he had brought.
“I came to visit you. If I don’t go, His Highness the crown prince will scold me, so I have no choice.”
Asha pouted her lips. Karnov can readily throw away the flowers of the vase in her room because the flowers in the vase were also his gifts.
“By the way, His Majesty must be heartbroken.”
“Heartbroken? Why?”
Karnov laughed low at Asha’s retort.
“He gave you a gift with all this effort, and you just casually turned it away.”
“I didn’t casually turn it away! Those people were looking at you…!”
“Looking at me?”
Karnov seemed eager to hear an answer to this issue. Asha replied, pounding the blanket.
“Because they made weird faces while looking at Karnov.”
“What kind of weird expression did they have?”
Asha, who had opened her lips to answer, hesitated for a long time and finally opened her mouth; with redness at the ears.
“You scare them…”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“I don’t like it.”
“Is that so?”
“Doesn’t it bother you, Karnov?”
Would Karnov really be okay with that gaze that was scared because of him as if they were looking at a death god?
At Asha’s question, Karnov turned to the flowers.
“It’s not enjoyable.”
“…Have you ever wished that Karnov’s spirit was another spirit?”
“No.”
Karnov answered with astonishing speed and simplicity. Asha opened her eyes wide and blinked, Karnov coughed.
“…No. If it weren’t for the Spirit of Death, we wouldn’t have been able to fight. If it weren’t for that power, would the Imperial Army listen to me?”
“You wouldn’t have gone to war!”
“Then the war would have been prolonged.”
Asha shut her mouth with a look of displeasure.
Karnov, who was staring at the face, reached out for a moment, then paused and took his hand back.
“…I didn’t come here to talk about this. Your well-being…”
“I wanted to talk about this.”
Asha bit her lips tightly. Karnov, seeing Asha’s expression, gathered his eyebrows slightly.
“What… are you talking about? That people are scared of me?”
“No, about the spirit of Karnov.”
It will take a little longer for Lise to bring the tea. The attendants will never come near as long as Karnov was there. Asha rose from her bed. Karnov hastily supported her.
“Just lie down.”
“Karnov, I’ve been thinking a lot about whether to say this or not. I wasn’t going to do it until a while later. But…”
The flowers that Karnov kept bringing, the Karnov who came again as soon as she woke up, and all those who feared him. The sight of Karnov with the flowers and the attendants, who were trying to get as far away from him as possible, made her fingertips sting.
Asha grabbed Karnov’s hand. Hoping that her true feelings will be fully conveyed to Karnov.
May her words not just be an escape from the burden of secrecy that she held alone, but may her words not be a hammer that destroys anything that has made Karnov’s life fierce but at the same time sustained it, but may this be a different light for him now…
“Asha, what are you talking about?”
Asha looked up at his violet eyes, clutching Karnov’s hand.
“Karnov, Karnov’s spirit is not the Spirit of Death.”
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
Karnov fiddled with the small grains in his hand and recalled the image of the girl. Even in the hazy shadow of the moon, the figure came to mind clearly. The light green eyes that were shaking as if anxious were worried only about him.
‘Me?’
Now that he knew it was a concern, Karnov was surprised every time he noticed the look. Even when the little girl stood before him against the Noctis Elves, and bit back against all the servants who feared him.
And what she said holding his hand tightly.
– Karnov’s spirit is not the Spirit of Death.
From the hand he held, the girl’s emotions seemed to be flooding in.
The intense, heavy, and damp emotion was all the same. The heart that enveloped him in front of the Elves, the heart that bit back against all the servants, and the worry.
– It’s not the Spirit of Death, it’s the Spirit of Time.
Among the flowers he had brought, the girl placed a Lisianthus flower in his hand and asked him to try a little. Karnov hesitated. He didn’t want to use his power in front of the girl. But he didn’t even want to refuse the girl’s words.
Eventually, as he used his power, the petals and stems quickly withered from his hands and scattered ashes. And there was something left in it. A small, black grain that he now held in his hand.
It was the seed of that flower.
