Chapter 57 (1/2)

It was the crown prince’s office that I arrived. The bookshelf that occupied one side of the wall was packed with all kinds of books and file folders, along with the piles of documents.

I bowed to the young blue-haired young man writing something hard in front of a large desk.

“I, Aristia La Monique, am honored to see you, the little sun of the empire.”

“Oh, you are here,” he said, taking his eyes from the document and putting down the quill.

“I hear the emperor called you on your way here.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“So, what did he say?”

“He asked whether I was willing to reconsider the position of the 1st Knights captain’s aide.”

“His aide?” He asked as if he had doubt then suddenly hardened his expression. There was silence for a moment. When I was messing around with the hem of my skirt as I felt awkward, he said with a cold voice, “Shall we take a walk for a while?”

“…Pardon?”

I was embarrassed. I knew he hated winter. Then, he offered to take a walk.

I stopped to wonder if I heard wrong, but he already stood up.

“You are not going out?”

“Ah yes. Sorry, Your Majesty.” I hurriedly got up. I thought he would rebuke me right away, but he turned around without saying anything.

Because of the recent snow, the road was covered with snow here and there, but it was quiet. The snow that fell on the naked branches looked like white flowers, and the surroundings with no wind was serene like a picture.

I watched the young man walking ahead a few steps ahead of me, hearing the sound of his shoes trampling on the frozen pebbles. His blue eyes that stood out in the snow-covered world were unusually cold. For that reason, when I looked at the snow-covered garden, I felt warm rather than cold.

Even after he walked long past the wisteria-arched door, he said nothing. My heart was beating anxiously as he was silent all the time. Why is he silent so long when he has something to say?

“…me?”

How much had passed? Stunned to hear his voice that broke the long silence, I stopped walking. He stopped walking and turned to look back at me. His blue eyes stared at me.

“What’s wrong?”

“…it’s nothing. Sorry, Your Majesty. ”

I barely spoke through the frozen lips. My heart, squeezed by the breathless tension, was pounding hard like crazy.

Silently watching me hiding his cold fingertips inside the hem of my skirt, he said, “I asked you if your condition is okay.”

“Ah…yes, Your Majesty. I’m fine,” I said hesitantly.

Why is he asking me that question? No matter what I did, he didn’t care. Obviously, he didn’t ask that question because he was worried about me. Then, what motivated him to ask?

With a puzzled look, I was reflecting on his motivation. Suddenly, I recalled my last meeting with him. Only then did I seem to know why he asked. It’s the first time I met him since I parted with him at the estate. Back then I realized that I was again checking his countenance like I used to in the past despite my vow that I would never repeat my past life.

If that’s the case, did he want to see me for that? Namely, he wanted to see me because he wanted to ask why I was so afraid of him and why I refused him so much? If so, what should I reply? I couldn’t easily avoid replying because I passed out in front of him.

Extremely tense. I looked up at him, but he nodded unexpectedly without saying anything. Then he turned and walked again. I breathed a sigh of relief and hurried to catch up with him.

Suddenly, the cold breeze passed through the snowflakes that bloomed on a lean branch.

White snow fell off in droves. He raised his head and watched the falling snow and asked, “…Are you still dreaming?”

“Pardon, Your Majesty?”

“I mean that nightmare.”

“I don’t understand what you mean…” I asked hesitantly.

When he mentioned a dream, a nightmare, I recalled something, but there was no chance that he would ask about it.

“Never mind. Let’s continue to walk.”