Translator: Nox

Chapter 8

Since that day, Talia wandered the rear garden every chance she got. However, by the time a large elm tree had been planted where she found the dying bird and the once-shabby garden was filled with brilliantly colored flowers, she still had not encountered him again.

Talia felt a sense of loss, as if she had misplaced a treasure she’d found by chance. If only she had ignored her nanny’s call back then…

Her father, who was supposed to come see her, did not show up that evening, and her mother did not seek her out either.

Surrounded by cold, distant maids, Talia ate a tasteless dinner and spent the entire time in regret.

She should have followed that boy. She felt that if she had insisted, he might have given in and taken her with him. Whenever she lay tucked under the cold blankets, she yearned even more for the large, warm hand that had shielded her.

Perhaps he was nothing more than a phantom created by her own loneliness. Just as Talia was beginning to succumb to such doubts, the boy appeared before her eyes once more.

No. It would be more accurate to say that Talia discovered him.

The seasons had changed, her age shifting from eight to nine, and instead of raindrops, scorching heat poured down from the sky.

Passing through the long corridor leading to the Emperor’s private chambers, Talia was drawn by a thunderous shout and turned her head toward a large arched window. In a wide clearing bleached white by the summer light, apprentice knights in black surcoats were swinging wooden swords.

Despite there being nearly thirty trainees, Talia’s gaze flew naturally toward him, like a moth discovering a flame.

His faded flaxen-blonde hair shimmered faintly silver under the intense summer sun. It was the first time she had seen him without his hood, but she recognized him instantly. It was the boy who had appeared in the early spring rain.

She leaned her upper body over the windowsill to get a better look at him.

The blue-eyed boy displayed movements so clean and precise that he stood out distinctly from the other trainees.

Every time his long, supple limbs moved with elegance and power, she felt as though she could hear the sound of him cutting through the air.

“That person… do you know who he is?”

The elderly attendant who had been tasked with escorting her to the Emperor cast a disinterested glance toward the window.

“They are trainee knights practicing to join the Imperial Guard. They are all sons of prestigious noble families.”

He seemed to have not the slightest interest in which specific person she was curious about.

The attendant gave her a dissatisfied look as she lingered.

“His Majesty is waiting. Let us go.”

Reluctantly pulling herself away from the window, Talia walked down the corridor that was as silent as a tomb. It was her first time meeting her biological father in several months since entering the Imperial Palace, but she felt no particular excitement.

Even in the past, when she had seen the Emperor from a distance during his visits to the Taren family, she had never thought of him as her father.

The blunt-faced man had shown little interest in her, and Talia, in turn, simply disliked the man who took her mother’s affection away.

That sentiment remained unchanged even after she was formally entered into the imperial genealogy.

Entering the vast, opulent room, Talia glared with wary eyes at the man of massive build standing with his back to the light.

After a long silence, the man sitting quietly behind a desk as imposing as a fortress wall spoke, his gaze fixed on a parchment document.

“From now on, you must learn the etiquette of the Imperial Family.”

He then pressed his seal onto the document.

Talia waited for him to lift his head and look at her. But even after a long time passed, his gaze never reached her.

She couldn’t understand it at all. Why would a man who supposedly loved Senevia so passionately refuse to even look at his own daughter, who looked exactly like her?

Scribbling something on the table with the quill in his hand, the man continued indifferently.

“I have secured several excellent tutors for you. From now on, come to the Main Palace before noon to attend your lessons. You will have to do your best to catch up on the studies you’ve missed.”

It seemed he didn’t require an answer. The man waved a hand as if telling her to leave, and thus, the reunion between father and daughter after a year came to an end.

Talia trudged back the way she came, searching for the boy outside the window. However, perhaps the training had ended in the meantime, for only the pure white summer sunlight floated in the empty clearing.

From that day on, every time she went to her lessons, she stole glances at him training in the clearing.

She liked watching the faint beads of sweat form on the boy’s porcelain-like face and the slight flush that rose to his pale cheeks from the vigorous exercise.

Sometimes, she would speak to him in her mind.

‘Hey… what happened to that bird? Did it end up dying? Did you bury it somewhere? Or did you let the healthy bird fly far, far away?’

She wanted to look into his eyes from up close and talk to him, just as they had on the day they stood together in the rain. She also wanted to check if those silver crowns were still inside his eyes.

It was when that impulse grew uncontrollably strong.

As she was looking out at the training grounds, neglecting her history lesson, a deep shadow fell over her back.

Talia turned around with a start. Her mother, who hadn’t shown her face for a fortnight, stood on the boundary between light and shadow.

There was a time when she saw this face every day. And yet, Talia felt as if her heart stopped for a moment.

Senevia, adorned with great care to suit the dignity of an Empress, looked as if every beauty imaginable by humans had been gathered into one person. Even the elven mages who frequently visited the Taren family could not dare to rival her beauty.

“What were you looking at so intently?”

Senevia asked, looking down at her daughter.

Talia, who had been looking up at her with blank eyes, snapped back to her senses and quickly stepped away from the window. For some reason, she felt reluctant to mention the boy.

However, Senevia seemed to immediately notice what had been at the end of her gaze.

The Empress turned her head toward the window and smiled meaningfully as she looked down at the tall, blonde boy.

“That is the son of Duke Siyeokan.”

Talia looked up at her with a surprised expression. She had guessed he might be a noble son of high birth, but she hadn’t expected him to come from such a formidable family.

The Empress’s deep blue eyes sparkled suggestively, as if she were seeing right through her daughter’s inner thoughts.

“Do you want that boy?”

Talia couldn’t give any response, her face flushing bright red.

Just by seeing her daughter’s expression, Senevia seemed to have found her answer. She let out a laugh as if amused and leaned down to kiss her daughter’s cheek.

“I can give him to you as a gift if you want.”

That whisper sounded eerie, like the sound of wind blowing through a dark forest in the middle of the night. Straightening herself, Senevia wore a picture-perfect smile on her crimson lips.

“But not for free. If you want a reward, you must first satisfy your parent’s heart.”

Sensing a faint trace of reprimand in her voice, Talia hurriedly clutched the history book she had tossed carelessly onto the windowsill. Then she turned and began to run. She felt Senevia’s gaze clinging to the back of her head like a spiderweb.

This was the mother she had missed every night. So why was she running away from her?

She had intended to throw a tantrum the moment she saw her mother, saying she hated studying. She had planned to pour out all the resentment and bitterness she’d bottled up, asking why her mother wouldn’t stay with her.

But Senevia, who had become the Empress of the Empire, no longer felt like her mother. It felt as if she had transformed into something strange and frightening, so Talia didn’t dare to act spoiled.

That night, Talia tossed and turned until late, unable to fall asleep.

She hadn’t been particularly happy at the Taren household either, but at least back then, she had an ally in Senevia. She had been more like a best friend and a comrade-in-arms than a mother. Even if everyone in the world pointed fingers at them, they could endure it as long as they were together.

But now Senevia stood tall as the Empress of the Empire, and she was left alone in an unfamiliar place among strangers.

Talia felt the loneliness seeping into her very bones. She desperately yearned for someone to be by her side. She felt as though she could give up anything if only someone would hold her in warm arms and look at her with gentle eyes.

That was why. She decided that she would go and meet the boy she had only watched from afar.