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n

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n“Yes. Instead, you have to go with the maid.”

nBut today it will be fine that Kaizen goes outside.

nThere was also a different purpose now.

nAstelle wanted to separate Theor from Vellian, who was sitting in the room observing the two.

nAstelle played a new role while entrusting Theor to a maid.

n“Look around once and make sure to bring the child before it’s time to wash him.”

nThe medicine to change the color of the eyes had to be taken every morning and before dinner.

nIt was easy to put medicine in the early morning because she was sleeping with Theor in one bed, but the problem was in the evening.

nAt that time, the maids were always in the room.

nSo Astelle washed the child just before that every day.

nShe said that the child would change his clothes after washing, and took him into the bedroom by herself and put the medicine in his eyes.

n“Be sure to come back before that time.”

nAstelle received a pledge from the maid and sent the child out.

n* * *

nTheor took the hand of the maid and looked around.

nHe also went to the castle’s inner room and library.

nCompared to the imperial palace or other large separate palaces, this old-fashioned castle was small in size.

nBut in the eyes of young Theor, it looked enormously big.

nA wall made of gray bricks for each floor crawled endlessly.

nThe railing of the window was also fixed with beautifully crafted stone columns.

nThrough the arched window, the central garden of the wet castle was seen.

nIt was raining slowly.

nAs he reached near the corridor leading to the castle gate, he saw many people gathering at the end of the corridor.

nWhile watching the people, he found Kaizen going out with the knights.

nTheor ran to him before the maid caught him up.

nTheor quickly entered the corridor, and the knights who guarded the emperor glanced at him.

nHowever, Kaizen, who is ahead, did not pay attention to Theor and passed by taking a quick step.

nTheor greeted while chasing him.

n“Hello, Your Majesty.”

nThe emperor stopped there.

nThe gaze of the party turned to the young child at once.

nKaizen also slowly turned to Theor.

n‘Ah, that’s a kid with Astelle.’

nHe has never seen this child since dinner.

nHe had never been particularly interested.

nHe heard that Astelle really cares about this kid through Vellian.

n“Why is the child here?”

nThe maid replied, bowing her back.

n“Lady Astelle told me to show him the castle.”

nTheor had dinner together and felt intimacy with Kaizen in his own way.

nIn fact, Theor lived without meeting many other people, so he was amazed to see all the people who he saw for the first time.

nHe was also fascinated by the pretty blonde lady he had seen before.

nAh, he has never seen her again since dinner.

nAstelle said that His Majesty was a very, very high man, so he was particularly curious.

nTheor hesitated for a moment and asked.

n“Your Majesty, where are you going?”

n“I am going to the forest to hunt.”

nTheor was startled by the word ‘forest’.

nTheor remembered what Vellian said at the dinner table.

nThere is a real bear in the forest.

n“In the forest… can you see the bear?”

nKaizen, who was frowning, remembered this kid once shouted at the word ‘bear’ at the dinner table.

n“Do you want to see a bear?”

n“Do you have a real bear?”

n“Yes.”

nKaizen replied indifferently.

n“It’s in the hunting lodge.”

nThe forest area around here was so vast that it was hard to guess the end.

nAfter entering the forest for a long time, there was a separate hunting lodge where you can take a rest while hunting.

nSuccessive emperors enjoyed hunting in this forest all day long and then returned to sleep at their villas when the time was late.

nKaizen twinkled his eyes, and he stared at the little child looking up at himself.

nAccording to Vellian, the child lost his father before birth, and when he was a baby, he was even abandoned by his mother.

nKaizen remembered the appearance of Astelle holding this kid.

nAstelle took care of this child like her own child.

nIf it was someone else, he thought that maybe she really was this child’s real mother.

nHe lost his mother when he was a baby.

n‘So are you so pampered?’

nAstelle also lost her mother when she was young.

nHe wasn’t interested in Astelle, but he knew it for sure.

nKaizen suddenly remembered a very long time ago.

nThat day in his memory was the funeral day of his mother, the Empress.

n* * *

nThe Empress, Kaizen’s mother, was weak from the beginning.

nShe died after gave birth to her only son and after she had been sick for a long time.

nThroughout the funeral, young Kaizen showed no tears, stiff and tense.

nAs the prince, he vowed not to cry like the other child in front of the nobles.

nHowever, after the funeral ended and he returned to the royal palace with a tired body, unbearable sadness came as he faced an empty garden.

nHe was sorrowful that his memories of his mother remained in every corner.

nKaizen cried alone sitting on a bench in the corner of the garden.

nAbove his head was a lilac tree growing high in the sky, hanging purple flowers like a roof.

nIt was at that moment when he heard a rustling sound in a corner of the garden.

n“What?”

nHe shouted in surprise, and a little girl came out of the grass.

nIt was Astelle with a pale white blonde.

n“…Sorry. Majesty.”

nWhen he think about it, it was a while since he was engaged.

nToday, Astelle wore mourning clothes, but they were luxurious and had many embroidery decorations.

nOnly the color was different, but it was the same as the colorful and heavy dresses that she usually wear and look stuffy.

nKaizen quickly wiped away his tears.

nMost likely, he was pissed off that he was caught by this kid.

n“Don’t talk to other people.”

nAstelle bites her lips and lifts her head.

n“I won’t tell anyone. I never say it.”

nAstelle hesitated for a moment and then approached the bench on which Kaizen was sitting.

nAnd she carefully sat down next to him.

nBefore Kaizen could say anything, Astelle placed her hand on Kaizen’s hand carefully.

n“It’s okay, Majesty, I’ll never tell anyone.”

nHe was annoyed why she suddenly put her hand, but he couldn’t throw his fiancee’s hand, so he let it go.

nHe turned around inadvertently, and he looked straight into Astelle’s light green eyes.

nThe light green eyes like sprouts were wet with tears.

nKaizen of those days did not understand why Astelle was crying.

nBut Astelle’s little hand was warm.

nHis grief subsided at the feeble warmth of her little hand.

nHe slowly stopped weeping.

nYoung Kaizen, holding Astelle’s little fragile hand.

nHe doesn’t hate Astelle at this moment.

n* * *

nKaizen, who recalled the memories of that time, looked down on the child and asked unintentionally.

n“Shall I show you the bear?”

n“Really?”

nTheor was very happy to think that he could see a real bear. Then he paused.

n“Uh… I have to tell Aunt Astel…”

nHe liked her so much that he almost inadvertently said she was his mother, but Theor said that she was ‘Aunt Astel’.

nRight. It was still playing.

nThe maid, standing behind the child, bowed her head in embarrassment.

n“Lady Astelle told me to bring the master before dinner time.”

nKaizen turned his gaze.

nThe gray sky has not yet gotten dark.

n“You can come before that.”

nHe turned to the attendants and ordered.

n“Prepare a carriage for the child.”

nThe maid could not help it, because it was ordered by the emperor.

nShe took the hand of Theor and followed the emperor.

n* * *

n“Why aren’t you coming?”

nAstelle wandered around the room anxiously.

nShe drove out Vellian and fixed the doll, but Theor didn’t come back.

nThe sun was already falling outside the window.

nAstelle was nervously rethinking the time when the medicine would not work.

n‘I still have some time, but…’

nStill, she had to take plenty of time to put the medicine.

nAstelle thinks of the medicine she always carries in her arms, and she goes outside.

nAstelle ran down the hallway, forcing to calm her chest, trembling with the anxiety.

nAs she went downstairs, the maid left in the room was sent to the upstairs.

n“Go to the other side and find the child.”

nShe went downstairs and searched here and there, but there were neither child nor maids.

nAs the emperor went hunting, the castle was quiet because many knights were also vacated.

nAs she went out into the castle’s corridor, Astelle met a middle-aged servant who had previously brought her a dress.

n“Lady Astelle, where are you going in a hurry?”

n“Haven’t you seen Theor?”

nAt Astelle’s question, the servant nodded, insisting not to worry.

n“Ah… it was ordered by His Majesty. I was just about to tell Lady.”

n“Pardon?”

nShe was surprised when an unexpected person appeared in this situation.

nWhy did the emperor give such an order…?

nWhat had to do with Theor? The middle-aged servant said with a smile, not noticing Astelle’s feelings.

n“His Majesty took Young Master to the hunting lodge.”

nShe felt like she stopped breathing for an instant.

n