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nKaizen opened his eyes in the room where the sunlight was shining.

nTheor was sleeping soundly on his arm.

nWith messy black hair on his forehead and plump cheeks, sleeping Theor was as cute as an angel.

n‘Your sleeping face looks like Astelle.’

nHis calm and lovely appearance was just like Astelle.

nAlthough Kaizen had only seen Astelle sleeping once.

nSeeing Theor sleeping soundly, the memories of last night came to mind.

n***

nAfter a brief dinner and bath, Theor changed into his pajamas with Hannah’s help and returned to Kaizen’s room.

nTheor got into bed with the old teddy bear in his arms and lay down next to Kaizen.

nBlynn, who followed Theor, quickly lay down on its stomach on the cushion next to the bed.

n“Have a peaceful night, Your Majesty, Prince.”

nHannah bowed her head politely and backed away.

nTheor waved his hand out of the blanket.

n“Good night, Hannah.”

nThe door closed and the two were left alone. The emperor’s bedroom is spacious and warm.

nThe light from the fireplace added warm energy to the room.

nTheor covered himself with a thick blanket and ruffled the teddy bear with his little hands.

nThis was the first time Kaizen had a child sleeping next to him.

nHe never thought he would like a child.

nLooking at Theor who was buried in the soft blanket, Kaizen asked, “Is there anything else you need?”

nAt those words, Theor pulled the hem of his shirt as if waiting.

n“Tell me about the old story!”

n“Old story?”

n“It’s a story from a fairy tale book.”

n‘A fairy tale.’

nWhen he was as young as Theor, he liked it too. But that was more than twenty years ago.

nHe can’t remember any fairy tales now.

nKaizen began to be educated as a future emperor by the time he was six or seven years old.

nAs he read boring thick books, all the cute old stories were erased from his head.

n“I do not know any fairy tales……”

n“Why?”

nTheor looked at him in disbelief. As if asking how one could not know fairy tales.

n“Because as I grow up, I forget about it.”

nTheor tilted his head, not understanding.

n“My mom remembers everything. Grandpa, too.”

n“……”

n“Even my bad grandfather told me old stories.”

n“Who did what?”

nTheor always called the Duke of Reston that way.

n“My bad grandfather told me an old story. The story of the old emperor.”

n“It must be about my father.”

nKaizen didn’t really like the Duke of Reston, who continued to approach Theor.

nBefore marriage, Astelle asked him to leave the Duke to her, as she would take care of him herself.

nIt was a promise he made when he married her, so he had no choice but to keep it.

nEven though he still wanted to get rid of the Duke and cover it up as an incident.

n“Okay, I’ll tell you a fairy tale.”

nHe racked his memory to recall the contents of the fairy tale books he had read as a child.

nAll kinds of stories such as bears, rabbits, princes, princesses, dragons, etc. were all mixed up in his head.

nThis story was like that story, and that story was like this story.

n‘I can’t help it.’

nI guess I have to combine these and other things to make a story or something.

nTheor was only five years old, so if he made up a story and told it to him, he would listen intently and sleep.

nThe moment he decided to improvise a fairy tale, Theor, who had been waiting quietly, pulled the blanket up to his chin.

nHe said, “Then tell me about Your Majesty and my mom.”

n“Astelle and I? What kind of story do you want to know about us?”

n“Umm……”

nTheor tilted his head.

nThen his eyes shone brightly.

n“Since when did you and my mom start to like each other?”

nTheor seems curious about when and how the two met.

nIt was an innocent child’s question.

n“Hmm.”

nKaizen recalled his first meeting with Astelle.

n“I met Astelle on……”

nTheir first official meeting was on the Duke’s ball day.

nBut Kaizen had met Astell before that.

nThe Duke of Reston brought Astelle to the imperial palace to give her greetings to the empress dowager.

nPerhaps the empress dowager wanted to see if she was qualified to be the Crown Prince’s fiancée.

nKaizen, who was riding a horse in the garden of the empress dowager, found a little girl by the pond in the garden.

nThere was Astelle in a light purple dress.

nPlatinum blonde hair reaching up to her waist, and light green eyes like flower buds.

nLittle Astelle was like a lovely fairy.

n‘She was really cute.’

nHe only met briefly, but Kaizen remembered Astelle well.

nHowever, the moment he found out that Astelle was the daughter of the Duke of Reston, his interest disappeared without a trace.

nYoung Kaizen hated the duke so much, so he hated Astelle as well.

nAfter some time, Kaizen was forcibly taken to the Duke’s ball.

nAnd there he proposed to Astelle—according to the script—while putting the blue jewel, the treasure of the imperial family, around her neck.

n“Did you ask my mom to marry you?”

n“I did. I proposed to her.”

nUpon hearing the answer, Theor asked again with curious eyes.

n“What would have happened if my mom said no?”‘

n“She wouldn’t……”

nTheir engagement had already been set.

nKaizen remembers Astelle pretending to be happy with a nervous face.

nJust as Kaizen proposed to her on the emperor’s orders, Astelle only showed a happy appearance as ordered by the elders.

n‘Our relationship went wrong from the beginning.’

nKaizen felt a bitter sentiment again.

nOn the other hand, Theor, who listened carefully to his story, found it interesting to hear about his proposal.

n“Please tell me more when you proposed to my mom.”

n“Do you like this story?”

n“I can’t imagine when Your Majesty and my mom were young, but I love this story. It’s like a fairy tale.”

nKaizen repeated the story when he proposed to Astelle at the Duke’s ball once again.

nOf course, everything that Theor didn’t need to know was taken out.

nTheor listened intently to Kaizen’s story, but his eyes gradually closed.

nKaizen covered Theor with a blanket and patted him on the back.

n“You have to sleep now.”

n“Your Majesty.”

nTheor muttered, resting his face on the pillow and closing his eyes.

n“My mom wouldn’t have said no. My mom liked Your Majesty a lot.”

n“Who said that?”

n“Grandpa.”

nThe ‘grandpa’ he was referring to was Astelle’s maternal grandfather.

n“Hm…… I’ll sleep now.”

nAfter saying those words, Theor closed his eyes and fell asleep.

n‘Did Astelle like me?’

nKaizen thought it was ridiculous.

n‘It was probably just something the old Marquis said to little Theor.’

nIf Astelle liked him, she wouldn’t have accepted the divorce so easily.

nEven after seeing each other again, Astelle was still cold to him.

nKaizen thought Astelle couldn’t possibly have any romantic feelings for him, as she must have had a hard time living as the prince’s fiancée.

n‘Astelle did her best, but I unilaterally left her.’

nSo it wasn’t surprising that Astelle didn’t put her trust in him.

nThe moonlight shone through the bedroom through the blue curtains of the windows.

nSuddenly, he remembered the blue gem necklace, which he put around Astelle’s neck when he was ten.

nOn the day of the divorce, Astelle left the necklace in the Crown Prince’s bedroom, where the two had spent their first night.

nKaizen had ordered that the gem that lost its owner should be put back into the treasury.

n‘……’

nKaizen has not been able to return it to Astelle.

nHe even proposed to her half-forcefully and held a grand wedding under the pretext of a contract, but he wasn’t brazen enough to give the gem to her again.

nNevertheless, he could not give up on Astelle.

nBut Kaizen also realized that the way he had done so far was wrong.

nIt wasn’t right for him to force his heart on Astelle.

n***

nAstelle woke up early in the morning.

nShe was restless all night because Theor wasn’t with her.

nAlthough Hannah was with him, it still bothered her.

nAs usual, after waking up, she took a bath and dressed up, and started working in the empress’ palace.

n“Your Majesty, the Prince has returned.”

nFortunately, Theor returned early.

n“Mom!”

n“Theor! Did you sleep well?”

nAstelle hugged Theor and smiled brightly, but it disappeared in an instant.

nThis was because Kaizen came in.

n“Did you sleep well, Your Majesty?”

nKaizen nodded without saying a word. Hannah came in too.

nShe, like Astelle, had a gloomy expression as she had been on edge all night.

nTheor said happily, “I slept with His Majesty.”

n“I see. You must have had fun.”

nAstelle hid her uncomfortable feelings and smiled kindly.

n“Theor, go to your grandfather now. He has been waiting for you.”

n“Yes!”

nAfter Theor left, Astelle said to Hannah, “You must be tired, Hannah. Take a rest today.”

nHannah bowed and walked out.

nThe other maids who were waiting followed her along.

n“Your Majesty.”

nAstelle and Kaizen were the only two left in the room.

nAstelle looked straight at Kaizen and said, “Your Majesty is the lord of the empire, and you have the right to do whatever you please.”

nShe wanted to speak as calmly as she could, but her anger made her voice tremble.

n“But it is my responsibility to take care of the prince. In the future, please let me know in advance before taking the prince anywhere else.”

nTaking Theor to his palace to show that he is angry.

nShe couldn’t forgive him for using Theor in their emotional fight.

nEven though he is the emperor of the empire, she will not let this go.

n“I am sorry.”

nKaizen apologized in a calm voice.

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