Previously
Liliana encounters Betty, the arrogant daughter of Duke Gabriel and future Empress candidate, outside the Emerald Palace. Betty insults Liliana's status as a defeated princess and slaps her after Liliana inadvertently clicks her tongue in pity.
At those words, Helio’s advancing hand paused in midair.
Liliana let out a sigh of relief and slowly cracked open one eye. Watching her, Helio burst out laughing.
Helio reached out again, and in the blink of an eye, he pinched Liliana’s cheek.
Liliana’s shoulders twitched in surprise. Helio smiled, clearly still amused.
He grinned, obviously eager to tease her ridiculous reaction and toy with her as much as he pleased.
Instead, he gestured with his eyes, silently demanding an explanation for her swollen cheek.
Despite her embarrassment, Liliana hesitated. Frankly, she did not believe that confessing the truth would lead to anything good.
Holding her puffy cheek, she spoke as casually as possible.
‘How did he know that?’
Liliana’s eyes widened with surprise as she stared at him. Crossing his arms, Helio watched her closely and replied,
‘How did he know that too?’
Helio tapped Liliana’s forehead lightly with his finger. It wasn't hard, but Liliana, having only just regained her senses, was easily tipped backward.
She wobbled slightly, rubbed her forehead, and sat up straight.
Liliana covered her face with both hands. Realizing it was pointless, she let out a long sigh and rested her hands on her lap.
Helio thought she would finally speak and tell him everything.
Tattling on someone else's misdeeds to a person in power was not difficult, especially when one was the victim.
Even if starting was hard, it would only get easier once the door was opened.
Yet Liliana remained silent. She merely fidgeted with her knees, visibly uncomfortable in the quiet air, but did not say a word. In the end, Helio decided to give her an opening.
Still, Liliana merely nodded without speaking. Only then did Helio realize that she expected absolutely nothing from him.
Helio asked with an arched brow.
Liliana replied curtly.
Her response treated it as entirely natural. Listening to her, Helio could almost think she was preaching that one ought to defer to those of higher rank. But it stirred a strange irritation in him.
And Helio was never the sort to simply suppress his feelings.
He leaned forward, rested his arm on his knee, and looked up at Liliana from below.
At that moment, Liliana’s forehead practically screamed:
‘You’re a complete lunatic.’
Reading it clearly, Helio burst into laughter.
Liliana, however, could not fathom what was so funny.
Liliana pressed a hand to her chest, as if stating the obvious.
Helio broke into laughter once more. To her, his behavior was utterly baffling.
Still smiling, he said,
Liliana was thoroughly bewildered—partly because his laugh was so breathtakingly charming, and partly because she could not understand his offer.
Being someone who could never stifle her curiosity, and with the man before her being the Emperor himself, she could not resist asking.
Liliana tilted her head, her face a picture of confusion. Then, unable to hold back, she asked again,
Helio looked down at the woman who seemed completely incapable of understanding him.
He recalled how the Empress Dowager had tried to bring her up earlier today, under the assumption that he had no interest in her.
Helio had wondered what put that idea into his mother's head, but visiting the Emerald Palace had given him no answers.
All that remained was the hollow echo of laughter that had faded into nothing.
Deciding he could not afford to waste any more time, Helio rose to his feet.
Liliana scrambled up and followed behind him, asking,
It did not sound like ‘Are you leaving already?’ but rather ‘Are you finally leaving?’ Helio took it as an unmistakable plea for him to vanish immediately.
He barely managed to choke back another laugh.
As Helio stepped forward, Liliana hurried after him as though seeing him off. When he turned around to stop her from coming any further, she wore an awkward expression.
With her stressing ‘only once,’ Helio found himself unable to back out now. He would have to keep his word at least once.
Helio gave a curt nod and strode out of the room. Liliana trailed him to the entrance of the Emerald Palace, where she finally stopped.
Watching her stay behind, Helio felt a sudden, hollow dullness settle over him.
❈❈❈
Liliana practically yelled the words as she hurried back inside the Emerald Palace.
She felt a lingering tension, but the maids approached to announce that dinner was ready. The memory of the soft bread from that morning instantly soothed her nerves, bringing a sense of calm back to her chest.
Excited, Liliana headed toward the dining hall.
Sniff, sob…
Cutting across Sophia’s enthusiastic chatter came the faint sound of weeping. Taken aback, Liliana raised her head in wonder.
Sniff, sob…
Even as she asked, the sorrowful weeping echoed clearly. Sophia, however, looked at her blankly as if she heard nothing at all.
Sniff, sob…
Yet the crying went on, soft and unending.
A sudden shiver ran down Liliana’s arm.
Liliana barely tasted her dinner before retreating to her bedroom. The sobs she had heard on her way to the dining hall lingered in her mind, sending chills through her.
She tried everything to push it away—reading books, sewing, keeping busy—but the feeling refused to leave.
Even after she tucked herself into bed, the eerie noise kept her heart unsettled.
‘Is someone being mistreated in the Emerald Palace?’
Liliana shook her head at once. If the sound had been that clear, Sophia would have heard it too. It was by no means faint.
‘Could it really be… an evil spirit?’
A shiver ran down her spine, and she sat bolt upright. If she was going to be this frightened, she thought it was better to go and see for herself.
Draping a shawl over her shoulders, she stepped out of her bedroom, noticing the maid on night duty nodding off nearby.
Pulling the shawl tighter around her shoulders, Liliana eased the door open quietly. The maid on duty had dozed off at her post; unwilling to wake her, Liliana slipped past without making a sound.
The crying had come from the corridor between the palace entrance and the dining hall. Liliana paused before the dining hall doors, then crept slowly back toward the foyer.
For a long time, all was silent and nothing stirred. Footsteps echoed in the distance, likely from a maid making her rounds.
Thinking she must have imagined it, Liliana turned to head back. Right then—
Sniff… ah…
Liliana’s eyes shot wide open. It was the exact same crying she had heard before! She strained her ears toward the source.
To get to the dining hall from the entrance, she had turned left, but the weeping was drifting from the right corridor, growing louder with every step.
Liliana turned down the right hallway, the sobs sharpening as she moved forward.
At the end of the corridor stood a small door. It appeared to be an ordinary room, though far more neglected than the rest.
It seemed to have been used as a storage closet.
‘If I go in there, Sophia will scold me…’ Liliana thought.
Yet at this hour, there was no one around, not even Sophia. Liliana placed her hand on the doorknob and turned it slowly. The latch gave a soft click.
She slipped inside, where the air was thick with the musty odor peculiar to old storage rooms. Coughing softly against the swirling dust, she peered through the gloom.
Though the room was empty of any person, the weeping continued to drift through the air. Fear crept over Liliana, making her hands tremble, and she almost considered calling for help. But right then…
Her eyes caught something in the far corner of the room.
A faint glow was pulsing in the dark.
Liliana approached with hesitant steps.
The creature that caught her attention was about the size of an adult woman’s palm, with pale blue skin and small wings fluttering on its back. Liliana instantly recognized the strange little being.
At the sound of Liliana’s voice, the blue Spirit stopped crying and slowly lifted its head. Its tear-stained face was filled with bewildered shock.
{ C-Can you… can you see me? }