“Do you know what day is five days from now?”
Pristin, who was about to scoop up the soup in front of her, raised her head at the sudden question. The two were having dinner together for the second time since their first dinner last time.
‘Five days from now?’
What day is that? Pristin agonized for a moment, and soon realized that she was overthinking something insignificant and let out a small chuckle.
“…Your Majesty too.”
“What day is it?”
“Is there any gift you want to receive?”
Pristin asked, avoiding an exact answer until the end. Jerald smiled slightly, feeling pleased that Pristin knew about it.
“I thought you had forgotten.”
In fact, she was a little embarrassed because she had remembered it not long ago, but Pristin responded without revealing such detailed information.
“How can I forget that?”
“I thought you might have forgotten since we hadn’t been able to meet for two years.”
“You underestimate my memory too much. Why don’t you tell me what gift you’d like to receive?”
“I don’t particularly have one.”
Jerald muttered, indicating he didn’t really know.
“The biggest gift of the year is right in front of me.”
“…”
“I think it’s greedy to want more.”
Jerald then stared at Pristin. Somehow, feeling embarrassed, Pristin unconsciously averted her gaze.
Seeing her like that, Jerald expressed a bit of disappointment.
“Why aren’t you making eye contact with me? Didn’t you change too much in two years?”
“Your Majesty, I think you’ve forgotten, but I used to avoid looking at you when you stared at me like that two years ago.”
“…Was that so?”
“Gazing at me with such captivating beauty isn’t good for my heart health.”
…She blurted it out in the end. Pristin smiled awkwardly and this time, she really avoided Jerald’s eyes. She could feel the way he looked at her, twitching the corners of his mouth.
“Now it feels like we’re back to how we used to be.”
“What do you mean?”
“Our old relationship.”
Jerald said with a satisfied smile.
“It’s still a pity that you’re not as comfortable talking to me as you used to be.”
“…The situation has changed, so I can’t just go back to how it was.”
Pristin shook her head firmly, as if she could not turn it back to the way it was.
“Is there really nothing you want?”
“What?”
“A gift you’d like to receive from me.”
“Well…”
Jerald hesitated for a moment before murmuring,
“A hundred kisses?”
“…Aside from that.”
“But there’s no gift I’d like to receive as much as that one.”
There indeed would be many that would give it, but Jerald would probably refuse. Pristin smiled as if indicating she didn’t mind.
“A hundred times is too many.”
“A hundred? If it’s three times a day, it’ll be over in a month.”
“You want to receive it three times a day? That’s only possible for married couples…”
“Oh, that.”
Then Jerald, who cut off Pristin, asked with a meaningful expression,
“Do you mean you want me to propose now?”
“…No. I didn’t mean that.”
Pristin coughed lightly with a slightly red face. Despite inadvertently creating such a nuance, it was not her intention at all.
“Instead of something like that, I want to give you something materialistic.”
“As I mentioned earlier, I already have an abundance of those.”
“Then I’ll give it to you on my own terms.”
Jerald’s eyes briefly showed a spark of interest at Pristin’s words.
“Do you have something in mind?”
“Yes. In fact, I’ve already prepared it.”
“Then why did you ask?”
At the puzzled response, Pristin chuckled softly.
“Just in case you wanted something more, I was prepared to make additional arrangements.”
“No, it’s okay. It seems sufficient.”
After saying so, Jerald muttered with a slightly thoughtful expression,
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“It’s nothing extraordinary. I put my heart into preparing it, though.”
“Like a cake?”
“I’m sorry, but I have no talent in baking, Your Majesty.”
“Oh, right. I forgot about that.”
Jerald awkwardly lifted the corners of his mouth when he remembered the salt cookie that Pristin gave him as a gift when they were dating.
“Now that you mention it, I’m really curious.”
“Please wait until your birthday, Your Majesty.”
“All right, I will. Thanks to you, I’ll have a very enjoyable time until my birthday.”
“In that case, I would be truly happy.”
Pristin smiled sincerely, her eyes reflecting her earnestness.
“I wish Your Majesty an early happy birthday.”
“I’d like to hear that on the eve of my birthday.”
Jerald looked at Pristin intently and added,
“At the dinner banquet.”
It was a suggestion to have dinner together on the eve of his birthday. Pristin hesitated for a moment before speaking up.
“You should spend time with Her Highness the Princess.”
“Of course I care about Claret, but I want to see you alone on that day.”
“…”
“I think Claret will understand.”
Pristin thought so, too. Because Claret was the person who wished more than anyone else for Pristin and Jerald to get along well. Unable to resist, Pristin let out a wry smile. Jerald took it as a positive response and asked,
“Are you going to accept?”
“All right. I’ll consider it a birthday present.”
“Good.”
Jerald, smiling, said to Pristin,
“Hurry up and eat. The soup is going to get cold.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The two started eating again in a sweeter atmosphere than before. After finishing her dessert, Pristin returned to Camer Palace and found her sister as soon as she arrived. Pristin knocked on the door in front of Christine’s room.
After a while, Christine opened the door.
“Are you here, Countess?”
“Hi, Christine. What have you been doing?”
“I was just reading some books. Come on in.”
Pristin entered the room she was now familiar with. When she found a book on the table, she let out a small exclamation.
“Are you reading that book?”
“Oh, yes. Have you read it, too, Countess?”
“Yes. I read it because you told me to.”
“Me?”
“Yes, that’s interesting.”
Pristin opened the book on the table with a look of reminiscence.
“This book, you loved it even before you lost your memory. When you first read it, you kept encouraging me to read it. It didn’t really suit my taste.”
“Wow, I see. That’s interesting. I just picked it out from the palace library because I thought it would be interesting.”
“Yeah. It seems like even after losing your memory, your taste remains the same.”
“Did you enjoy your meal with His Majesty the Emperor?”
“Yes. Did you have dinner?”
“Yes, I did. What time is it?”
After responding brightly, Christine asked in a voice of curiosity,
“By the way, did you discuss the birthday present with His Majesty? He seems like he would be delighted.”
“No. It’s still a secret. I’ll tell him on his birthday.”
“I see.”
Christine nodded her head thoughtfully and said,
“He’ll be pleased to receive the gift. That fatigue relief potion looked so appealing even to me.”
“If you want, should I make one for you too?”
“Oh, no, thank you. It should go to someone who needs it. I don’t have that much fatigue…”
At that moment, Christine felt a headache and stopped talking without realizing it. Suddenly, her head was throbbing with dizziness.
‘If I study herbalism more thoroughly at university, I’ll make a fatigue relief potion for you, Chris.’
‘Oh, come on, sister. Why would I be that tired? I’m not even going to study like you.’
‘Well, you can still get tired even without studying, right?’
‘Don’t do that and make it for your boyfriend later.’
‘What?’
‘I mean Sir Jerald.’
Things she had never seen before were played in Christine’s head as if she had already been through it. Meanwhile, when Christine suddenly stopped talking and frowned, Pristin was startled. She called Christine in a hurry.
“What’s wrong, Christine? Are you sick?”
“Uh… No, I have a headache for a moment…”
“Shall we call the palace doctor?”
“No, no need.”
Christine shook her head and reassured Pristin,
“I’m feeling better now. You don’t have to worry too much.”
“I was just surprised when you suddenly stopped speaking like that.”
“I just had a momentary headache. It’ll pass.”
Christine quickly softened her expression as if asking why Pristin was so worried.
“Can you tell me about my past?”
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
Time passed quickly, and finally, five days had elapsed since then.
“Lady, you’re up early today.”
For some reason, Tanya had risen early that day. Despite the fact that the banquet was scheduled to start late in the afternoon, there was no need for her to wake up so early.
Brelin asked Tanya with a look of pride,
“Did you wake up to prepare for the birthday party?”
“Brelin.”
Brelin was momentarily taken aback upon hearing her name. Tanya’s tone usually when addressing her was always sharp and loud, this time it was low and serious. Brelin quickly realized that it wasn’t just because it was morning.
“Say it, lady.”
“I think today is my last chance.”
“What?”
“It’s my last chance with His Majesty.”
Tanya went on to say only things that Brelin didn’t understand.
“And I will do my best not to let His Majesty abandon that opportunity.”
“What do you mean?”
“…”
Looking silently at Brelin, who looked puzzled, Tanya got up from her seat, pulling the blanket off.
“What do I mean?”
Tanya murmured dryly,
“I mean I’ll decide my future actions today.”
The time promised with her father was drawing near. In fact, Tanya wasn’t very happy to accept her father’s offer. No matter how much she desired the position of empress, the prospect of marrying her father’s choice was daunting.
‘But as expected, I should be an empress.’
The idea of not becoming the empress after dreaming of it seemed unimaginable. Tanya spoke firmly to Brelin.
“So style me today as best you can, Brelin, so that no one can help but fall in love with me.”
