8 - Can I Cry Now?
Episode 8
Ibi slowly reached out her hand towards the tombstone.
Of course, it was a name she was hearing for the first time, and a person she didn't know. There was no way someone she knew would have a tomb inside this Imperial Palace.
Nevertheless, Ibi felt a pang in her heart as she looked at the tombstone.
Her small, slender fingers brushed away the dry leaves on the tombstone.
For some reason, she felt like cleaning it up neatly.
Usually, tombstones were engraved with information about who the person was and what kind of life they had lived.
But this tombstone had no such words.
Only the name was engraved.
So Ibi felt sorry for them.
Who is this person? Why is there a tomb here?
Then Ibi's gaze turned to the small tombstone next to it.
There was a name engraved there as well.
[Evevien]
The moment Ibi saw the name, she rubbed her arms.
She felt strangely sad and upset.
Ibi stared at the small tombstone for a long time before shaking her head.
"...I need to go back."
She had heard that the bell signaling curfew would ring after dinner.
So it was right to hurry back before that. But...
'Wouldn't it be okay until the bell rings?'
She had left early to avoid the commotion in the dining hall.
So there should still be some time before the bell rang.
But what more could she do here just because she was here?
Then Ibi's eyes fell on the white flowers blooming all around.
'Everyone brought flowers to the tomb.'
When passing by tombs, she often saw bouquets placed in front of the tombstones.
Even though it was the tomb of a stranger, she felt somehow sad to go back like this.
Ibi put down her bag and approached the nearby bushes. Fortunately, the white flowers were in full bloom.
Ibi bent down and began to pick the flowers one by one.
The gentle breeze still brushed past Ibi's hair and back.
Softly and kindly, as if stroking her.
\ \ *
Clois was walking slowly through the forest.
The forest between the Inner Palace and the Academy for the Gifted was once part of the Imperial Palace Garden and was accessible to everyone.
But now, only Clois entered this place.
Because he had built the tombs of his wife and daughter here.
Traditionally, the tombs of the Imperial Family were placed in the Imperial Tomb, a little away from the capital.
Clois also intended to bury Lilian and Evevien there.
But the elderly officials opposed, saying that the two had not officially registered their names in the Imperial Family Tree and therefore could not enter the Imperial Tomb.
Clois was dumbfounded. To think that they could not be recognized as Imperial Family because they had not received the Blessing inside the Imperial Palace.
Usually, when marrying into the Imperial Family, not only the Imperial Family member but also their spouse received the Blessing together, but Clois and Lilian had not received it.
It was because it was a marriage he had made, refusing the marriage his father had arranged with another woman.
But Lilian, far from being upset by the fact that she could not receive the Blessing, looked as if she was glad.
As if she didn't want to receive it.
Since Lilian had not received it, it was natural that Evevien, who was born during the war, could not receive it either.
But she was his wife and his daughter.
And yet, they could not be brought into the Imperial Tomb.
"Alright. It seems you are right."
At Clois's attitude of seeming to step back, the old officials boasted, thinking that the new Emperor was listening to their opinions.
But their short-lived arrogance was shattered by the next words.
"They are my wife and my daughter. So it is right for them to be by my side."
Then Clois built their tombs in the Imperial Palace forest.
And he drove out all those who opposed it.
Only then did the officials remember that he was the one who had killed his brothers and ascended to the throne.
After that, this forest became a place where only Clois could enter.
As spring had come, Clois pushed through the overgrown bushes and entered.
He hadn't been here for several days, so there would be fallen leaves piled up.
Today, he was planning to clean up the surroundings and stay here until late at night.
After walking for a while, the moment he saw the tombstone, Clois immediately noticed something different.
The top of the tombstone was too clean. As if someone had cleaned it beforehand.
When he turned his gaze, he saw a small bag lying around the tombstone.
At that moment, Clois's eyes sharpened.
'Who dares!'
Except for when the tomb was first built, no one had approached this place for the past few years.
To be precise, they couldn't approach it even if they wanted to.
The entrance to the only path leading here was guarded, and there was no way to enter the surrounding forest, which had been cut off from people's footsteps.
The only things that were occasionally seen were small animals such as birds and squirrels.
Clois, who was about to shout out in anger at who dared to enter this place, saw something on Lilian's tombstone.
Worried that someone might have harmed it, he hurriedly approached the tombstone and bent down to see what was placed there.
"...Flowers?"
There was a round wreath made of white flowers.
It was made with clumsy skill, but he could tell that effort had been put into it to prevent the flowers from being damaged as much as possible.
The moment he saw the wreath, Clois's throat tightened.
The flowers planted around the tomb were wildflowers that Lilian liked.
When he lived in Lilian's territory, Lilian often picked these flowers, made wreaths, and put them on his head, laughing.
To be honest, Clois and wreaths didn't really match. But he enjoyed seeing Lilian's smiling face, so he always wore the wreaths she gave him without complaint.
As Clois recalled those memories, he came to his senses.
There was no way Lilian could be here. He had to quickly find the unidentified intruder.
The moment he raised his head.
"...!"
A large bouquet of white flowers was in front of Clois.
And a small girl with a surprised expression.
Ibi was flustered.
When she first started picking flowers, she only intended to make a small bouquet.
But as she was arranging them, Ibi's hands were somehow making a round wreath.
'I've never made one before.'
When she was in the Poorhouse, she had tried to make one with wildflowers.
But wreaths were more difficult to make than she thought. So she had failed every time.
But strangely, today she was able to easily do the parts that were always difficult to tie.
As if someone was teaching her from the side.
When she came to her senses, Ibi had a large wreath in her hands.
Ibi placed it in front of the tombstone with Lilian's name on it and then went back to picking flowers.
She wanted to put flowers in front of Evevien's tomb as well.
Even though there were many flowers, she felt sorry for picking the newly blooming ones, so she carefully chose the ones that were in full bloom and about to wither.
As a result, she had to go deeper and deeper into the forest.
Before she knew it, Ibi's hands were full of flowers.
'Should I make this into a wreath too?'
Ibi returned to the tomb with her arms full of flowers.
And the moment she saw the tomb, she realized that someone was kneeling next to the tomb, examining the wreath.
'Who is it?'
Although it was getting dark, she could see short golden hair sparkling like sunlight.
An adult man.
The moment she realized that, Ibi's body froze.
Ibi was afraid of adult men.
It was because the husband of the innkeeper couple who had abused her until she was five years old always raised his hand to Ibi.
He always spoke harshly to Ibi and raised his hand according to his mood.
Besides, he drove her out even in the hot summer and cold winter, telling her to earn her keep.
As a result, Ibi couldn't even drink water properly in the summer and cleaned the stables, and in the winter, she had to break the frozen stream and do laundry with cold water.
If her hands were even a little slow, the innkeeper's scolding would fall. It was natural that she wouldn't receive a meal.
So sometimes, after everyone was asleep, she would pick up bread crumbs that had fallen on the floor of the inn and eat them to survive.
As she recalled the past she had forgotten for a while, cold sweat ran down Ibi's back.
'Should I go back secretly?'
But her bag was still near the man.
The bag contained the new school uniform ribbon and small items she had received today.
She couldn't just leave it there. How could she say that she had lost the items she had just received?
'But I'm still scared...'
Just as she was thinking of going back now and coming back again tomorrow, a warm breeze brushed past her back.
As if pushing Ibi's back, saying it was okay.
As the fear disappeared with the wind, Ibi became curious about who the person who had come here was.
So she mustered her courage and approached the man.
As Ibi stood in front of him, the man slowly raised his head. Sparkling golden hair fluttered, and blue eyes looked at Ibi.
"......"
"......"
For a moment, the two looked at each other without saying a word.
She had learned that staring at people like this was rude, but Ibi couldn't take her eyes off him.
She felt happy, as if she had met someone she had been waiting for for a long time.
