Chapter 62
62
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"……What is it?"
Instead of answering, I placed my palm on the back of my father's hand.
Closing my eyes and concentrating, a subtle warmth gathered in my palm.
"Lilin, my baby."
Opening my eyes at my father's moved voice, a soft light was leaking between my palm and the back of my father's hand.
I looked up at my father and smiled.
"I think I'm ready now, Dad."
Three months before the Divination, my Divinity properly manifested.
And Rosa's hasn't yet.
* * *
The next day, Rosa's maid, Dakota, entered the palace carrying a souvenir flag she had bought at the Thanksgiving Festival.
"Good morning, Your Highness!"
A small flag fluttered from Dakota's fingertips as she said that, and Rosa, unable to contain her anger, snatched the flag and threw it away.
"Your, Your Highness……?"
In front of the bewildered maid, Rosa tried to calm herself.
"Who drew this? I'm prettier than that."
"Ah……."
Dakota glanced around for a moment before quickly saying,
"No mere painter can imitate Your Highness's loveliness, cuteness, and beauty. Please be generous."
"Still, I don't like that flag."
When Rosa stubbornly said that, Dakota apologized.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness. I was off duty on the first day of the Thanksgiving Festival, so I watched the parade from quite close. Seeing Your Highness on the Celestial Steed in person was so moving that I got carried away."
Rosa replied coldly.
"I don't want to hear about the Celestial Steed either. Do you know how fickle it is?"
"I know, Your Highness……. I've seen it a few times."
In fact, the Celestial Steed was far from fickle; it was steadfast.
'Even if a knife is held to its throat, it would say it will only carry Lilin, like an inferior beast.'
Rosa gnashed her teeth at the Celestial Steed.
If she were to ascend the throne and succeed Ruelle, if she were to inherit the Celestial Steed from her father.
'Magical creature? Don't make me laugh, I'll cut off its head and hang it on the ramparts.'
She made such resolutions every day.
Since Lilin first rode the Celestial Steed at the age of four, autumn had become the worst season for Rosa.
'The season of abundance and gratitude, is it?'
No, for Rosa, autumn was the season of tests.
Tested by the Celestial Steed, tested by her parents, tested by her teacher.
'Lilin doesn't even try.'
Even though she just smiled with a stupid face, she was somehow lucky.
She was also smart, so she followed the lessons easily.
Even though that child clearly learned much easier and faster, the order of the lessons changed fairly once a year.
'It's unfair.'
But wasn't even that unfairness because God had chosen Lilin?
Rosa was very anxious.
'The seven-year Divination is only three months away.'
Originally, it was the Divination she was supposed to enter.
But the Sei Palace construction two years ago had changed the date.
'Did they deliberately change the date to let Lilin in?'
The red bird, which might be a Magical creature, and the Celestial Steed, which is a Magical creature, followed only Lilin so much…….
'Wouldn't anyone have expectations for her?'
Rosa nervously fiddled with her fingertips and said to Dakota,
"Today, let me meet Joy after class."
She had been warned by the King not to call Joey Terajev too often, but Dakota could not go against the Princess.
'She doesn't seem to be in a good mood…….'
The King and Queen seemed wary of the Princess's commoner friend for some reason, but when that child visited, the Princess's mood would improve for a few days.
"Yes, Your Highness. I will send a carriage."
Dakota ended up answering so docilely.
* * *
Around the time the Princess's class ended, Joey Terajev arrived at the Royal Palace.
Princess Rosa herself came out to the garden to wait for the carriage, and frowned slightly when she saw Joy getting out.
"You summoned me, Your Highness."
Joy knelt on one knee and bowed deeply, but the Princess's narrowed brow did not relax.
Instead of answering, Rosa asked,
"The clothes I sent you? Don't you like them?"
"Of course not, Your Highness. I really like them. But they are too precious to wear on just any day……."
Rosa's fierce gaze turned to the boy, who was slightly taller than her.
"Is the day you come to the Royal Palace to see me just any day?"
Joy paused for a moment, but then smiled shyly.
"I guess not. I was wrong, Your Highness. Next time, I will definitely wear the clothes you sent me."
Hmph, Rosa snorted and walked ahead.
The two headed to Hatin Palace, south of the main palace, along a straight path at the edge of the garden.
"Are you going to the chapel again today?"
Dakota asked, following behind with a guard.
"Yes."
Rosa nodded.
After visiting Hatin Palace to show Joy the chapel one day, the small prayer room in the chapel had become their hideout.
"How admirable, Your Highness, no wonder you monopolize God's love."
Dakota praised in a joyful voice.
Since the massive earthquake last year, refugees from Ikan had migrated to Ruelle en masse.
The Princess had befriended a child from among the immigrants who was a Temple Page.
'It's wonderful enough that she accepted a commoner child with nowhere to go as a friend…….'
After associating with that child, the Princess seemed to have deepened her faith and frequented the prayer room like a playground.
'How could I not be proud as a maid.'
Unlike the excited Dakota, the small Princess and her friend kept their words to a minimum.
Finally, they reached the chapel.
"I will wait here so as not to disturb you, Your Highness."
Dakota said, stopping in front of the arched Gate.
The guard also stopped in front of the chapel at attention.
"Okay."
After entering the chapel, which was dim even in the middle of the day, the two opened a small Gate in the corner again.
After the Gate was completely closed, Joy finally spoke.
"You can cry now, Your Highness."
"Heehee……."
Rosa slumped down on a chair as if collapsing.
Joy sat silently next to the Princess and waited for her to stop crying.
That was the reason the Princess called Joy.
'To cry secretly when no one is watching.'
After a long time, the sobbing subsided.
Joy asked kindly.
"What made you so upset today?"
"You wouldn't understand even if I told you."
Rosa said grumpily, but there was no one else she could confide in like this except Joy.
Because she had no right to say that she wanted to enter the Divination instead of Lilin.
'Lilin rode the Celestial Steed again this year…….'
What is it about that winged horse?
But she couldn't help but feel that her younger sister, who couldn't even ride that horse, looked better than her.
Joy said out of the blue.
"What kind of Divinity do the Princesses of Ruelle mainly receive?"
It was an inappropriate topic to ask Rosa, who was already sensitive.
Rosa burst into anger.
"I don't know! You were born in the Temple, don't you even know that?"
"I know a few things. The power of healing, the power of blessing, the power of protection, and…… the power of foresight, right?"
Only then did Rosa nod.
Tears were dripping down her cheeks.
"……I don't think I'll receive anything. The Divination is three months away. I'm so scared that I can't sleep every night."
Joy blurted out.
"The Divination is prepared for Your Highness. No one can interfere."
Rosa only shed tears.
'The truth is, there are two Princesses, so I can't say that my twin sister will take the Divination instead of me.'
Joy, who had been sitting next to her, suddenly went down to the floor, knelt under the chair, and took Rosa's hand.
Then, looking straight into her red eyes, he said,
"You will receive the most wonderful ability. No one will be able to look down on Your Highness. Only Your Highness is the true owner of Ruelle. The soil, the nourishment, and the future."
That's why, because of this side of Joy.
'At first, I only noticed him because his name was the same as the cat Joy…….'
Rosa had been breaking down and crying and showing her inner feelings only in front of Joy these days.
He was clearly just a nobody, but when he said it, it somehow felt like it would come true.
"……Thank you for saying that."
Joy gently kissed the back of Rosa's sobbing hand.
"Don't thank me, Your Highness. Just believe. God is preparing for Your Highness. You will surely see it."
Joy's golden eyes were filled with conviction as he said that, and Rosa nodded as if possessed.
Then, she held Joy's hand tightly.
"Only Your Highness is the true owner of Ruelle."
"The soil, the nourishment, and the future."
"God is preparing for Your Highness."
She only hoped that all those sweet lies would become true.