n

n

n

nThere was whispering here and there in the theater. I sighed. I wanted to go back and see my father for a minute, but I couldn’t because the emperor seemed not to leave the place. After telling the royal guards not to approach him, he said with a bright smile, “Oh, I heard that you stopped by the palace in a cute dress. Rumors about your visit were already spread to the 2nd Knights Division. ”

n“Your Majesty…”

n“I heard you also met the crown prince. So, what do you make of him? Were you really cute? ”

nHow did my visit reach his ear? While I bent my head in embarrassment, I looked back at my side, startled. I met his dark blue eyes instantly. While looking at me indifferently, he said, “Yes, she did come to see me, Your Majesty.”

n“Oh, I see.”

nWhat did he mean by that? The emperor laughed happily, while the prince who was looking almost like a young man came into my view. His neatly combed blue hair, pure white robes, and deeply sunken eyes as well as his smile on the corner of his mouth.

nFor the first time, I saw another man instead of his past self that overlapped my image of him as a boy. An image of him as the crown prince of the past who showed no particular emotion to me vanished as he smiled at me.

nSuddenly, I felt heartbroken. When did he get screwed up? Though he was occasionally hostile to me, he was basically just cold to me, but at some point he began to act brutally. Why was he so cruel to me? Did something about me make him so annoyed?

n“And finally the sun of the future has been born to succeed his noble blood,” one of the actors said loudly on the stage.

nTrying to empty my head while blinking my blurred eyes, I raised my head, hearing the actor’s narration about the birth of the crown prince.

n

n

n‘When did Act 3 start?’ Was I so deeply lost in thought that I didn’t even know that Act 2 gave way to Act 3? I hurriedly checked his countenance. I felt relieved to find he didn’t look bad and turned my eyes at the stage.

n“Thanks to God’s warm consideration of the son of tomorrow. He gave him a noble fiancee. May God bless the child of God’s prophecy!”

nWhile I was listening to the actor’s praise of the prince that he would surely bring a new glory to the empire, I flinched at his next words. What the heck is he talking about me here?

n‘Did the emperor have me sit next to him because of this?”

nLooking back at him with a suspicious expression, I suddenly noticed the boy’s face, who was sitting next. Watching the stage blankly, he interlocked his fingers and smiled very happily, which made me feel goosebumps because he made that expression like that when he didn’t like something. Did he hate the actor’s narration mentioning my name?

nI smiled bitterly as if I was thrown by cold water. Why was I mistaken?

n‘Look at that, Aristia. Isn’t it obvious that he doesn’t like you?’

n“The Sun’s partner, the noble moon…”

nWith a sigh, I looked at the stage. At that moment, the chandelier suddenly fell down with a loud noise. Screams were heard here and there. The surroundings on the stage became dark and caused confusion instantly.

n“Your Majesty, are you okay?”

n“I’m fine. Are the prince and his fiancee fine?”

nAs if he was not surprised, the emperor’s voice was very calm. But I couldn’t help but answer the emperor’s inquiring about my safety because I felt creeped out at the moment.

nWhen I noticed the shattered chandelier and the dark stage, my cold hands trembled. And I was breathing roughly.

nObviously, it was the moment when the two on the stage joined hands. Just as the two actors who played his and my role respectively looked at each other, swearing eternal love, the heavy chandelier fell from heaven as if the two should not be united together, implying an ominous future for them.

nAt that moment, I felt goosebumps. Perhaps this meant that the same bleak future I went through once would be waiting for me. Or it might mean God’s ridicule that I could not escape my fate no matter how much I struggled.

n“Your Majesty, Crown Prince, and noblemen and noblewomen!”

nI came to my senses when I heard a loud announcement in my ears.

nI took a deep breath, blinking my blurred eyes. A person with a smile on his face came into my view. The only man looking calm despite the messy stage.

n“As the noble Sun and precious Moon attend here today, even the bright chandelier is trembling, shy of its light. May glory be bestowed upon His Excellency, as well as the Sun and Moon of the future! ”

nThe theater resounded with a storm of applause. The man who dominated the stage bent over and announced the resumption of the play. Was it because of his remarkable showmanship? Nobody seemed to care what happened a little moment ago. In fact, even if they thought it was ominous, they couldn’t dare to speak out. They knew they would be in big trouble if they talked about the imperial affairs recklessly.

nI turned my head and noticed the emperor and the prince. The former was looking down at the stage with a satisfied smile, while the blue-haired boy fixed his eyes with a blank expression.

nWhat were the two thinking about? About the future that the actor mentioned? Or about the ominous feelings I felt?

n‘What does it matter to me?’

nI shook off such idle thoughts by shaking my head. Although the boy in front of me could not remember what happened in the past, he would repeat the same actions as long as he hated me.

nSo, there was only one future left for me. In order not to repeat my past, I had to avoid being entangled with him. I turned to the stage again, vowing to think a little deeper.

nOn the third day after my twelfth birthday, a couple of unexpected visitors came to me.

nThey were none other than Duke Lars and his son, Sir Lars. As if they were very busy, they came into my house even before the butler asked them about their purpose of visiting.

nDuke Lars said to my father, “Do you remember what your daughter said the other day? I mean about the upcoming famine in the empire. ”

n“Of course. Why are you suddenly bringing it up?”

n“It looks like we’re going to see a massive famine this year, as she predicted.”

n“…I see. What is the problem? I think they were fully prepared for it, right? ”

n

n

n“Of course they did. But there is one problem. Despite the government’s earnest request, it looks like there occurred looting in some of the provinces. So, I hear there are signs of riots in those areas.”

nThe duke, who sighed deeply as if he was frustrated, unfastened the top button of his jacket. Looking at him blankly, my father said, “What you mean is we have to dispatch knights to stop the riot?”

n“Yes. In addition to that, they’re thinking of appointing one of the knights as the supervisor who ensures the safe distribution of foods to them.”

n“Supervisor?”

n“As the famine was so severe, they are worried about dispatching an official alone. As the border areas are under the direct control of the imperial family or defended by seven marquises, they pose no problem, but they are worried about small estates.”

nThat was true. My family was a special case, but the rest of the marquis families could not move to the central political stage because they were busy defending the borders from generation to generation. It was all because of the first emperor’s decision to have them keep their estates near the borders. Because of that, they had scarce power in the central government, but their military power was great.

nOf course, there were regular troops defending the borders to keep them at bay.

nThere was no need for the central government to worry about the border area.

nThe only problem was the estates of the lower aristocrats, who lacked their own defenses and had little assets, which made them more likely to rip off the peasants in their own estates.

nLike the duke said, they couldn’t afford to dispatch a civil officer alone in a situation where many hungry people could turn into mobs.

n