Chapter 57 (2/2)

He tried to say something, but stopped and resumed walking.

While trying to calm my trembling heart, I walked after him, pondering over my conversation with him.

‘Dream, and that nightmare? Why did he ask me that thing?’

I felt something strange about him for some time. Tilting my head, I looked at him walking ahead of me. Did he hear some strange rumors about me from someone? Something like the rumor that I was dreaming a nightmare? But that was impossible. My father and Allendis were the only ones who knew of my nightmare.

After walking, lost in thought, I suddenly looked around and felt that the road I was walking along was very familiar to me. Blackened trees stood around the narrowing trail. There were also burnt fallen leaves here and there through the melted snow.

‘This is the garden of Ver Palace! How does he know this place? It’s a small palace in the corner of the inner palace, so there are few who come here.’

I naturally cast my glance at the middle of the garden, where there was an unknown tree that I barely saved from the recent fire.

‘What happened to the silver budding flowers? I hear they bloom in winter, so they should have bloomed by now?’

However, When I got closer to it, the condition of the tree was still disastrous. The damages of the fire were less severe than before, but my heart was broken when I saw the naked tree standing in the middle of the garden without proper landscaping due to the season. I went a little closer and touched the tree trunk. He also looked up at the tree silently.

How much time passed? With his eyes fixed on the unopened buds, he murmured to himself,

“… … Strange. Flowers should bloom around this time. ”

“Do you know that flower, Your Majesty?”

Surprised by his unexpected comment, I asked, forgetting I had been tense all along while walking with him.

He answered without taking his eyes off the silvery buds, “I have seen the flowers once as a child.”

“Ah…”

“That tree blooms irregularly. Mostly, buds start to shoot out in winter, and bloom just before spring. They are not gorgeous but elegant, beautiful silver flowers. ”

“I see. I wonder what kind of flower it is. ”

‘Elegant and beautiful flowers? What do they look like?’ I was surprised while thinking about the various appearance of the flowers in my mind. I turned my big eyes towards him.

‘Did he just explain to me? I didn’t even ask what kind of flower it was! ‘

I felt creepy somehow. Why is he doing this to me out of a clear blue sky? Even if I asked him questions, he was never kind enough to answer them, but he is generous and kind to me now.

However, as if he seemed not to have noticed my gaze full of doubt, he opened his mouth, in a pensive mood, “Hmm, do you know the flower called Dela?”

“… ”

I was speechless when he asked me kindly again, which was somewhat different from what he was until now. However, as if interpreting it in a different way, he explained in more detail.

“I’m talking about the white flower that allegedly bloomed in the place where Mother Earth cried, looking at the sky while yearning for a lost lover. They say that if you share the flowers from a branch, love blossoms.”

“…Oh, yes, Your Majesty. You mean the white flowers blooming in the summer?”

“Right. The flower of this tree looks a bit like that. ”

“I see.”

Although I answered reluctantly, I suddenly recalled Dela. Dela is praised for its beauty because its six white petals shyly spreading like snow looked like a woman who had just begun to love.

‘Is that flower similar to Dela?’

Suddenly, I smiled because I was very excited about the full blooming of the silver flowers.

“Is your curiosity satisfied now?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I guess they will look really beautiful when they bloom. ”

When I replied, looking at the silver buds closely, he said after a little silence, “Now you look like a human.”

“Pardon?”