Enoch was attending to state affairs in his study, as he always did. The imperial family’s crest carved into the large mahogany desk was striking.

“Your Majesty.”

Din, the emperor’s close attendant knight, came forward and bowed.

“I am told that Lady Taira has arrived at the imperial palace.”

But Enoch continued looking down at his documents, as though he had heard nothing at all.

“I understand she will be staying in the detached palace until the imperial marriage.”

Only then did Enoch set down his pen and lift his gaze to Din.

“Did the Empress Dowager tell you to inform me of this?”

“…Yes.”

Hff. Enoch let out a short breath.

“When I passed through earlier, the inner palace seemed quite noisy.”

“They are moving the Taira ducal house’s trousseau into the new empress’s quarters…”

“That must be quite the procession.”

There was a sardonic edge to Enoch’s words.

Enoch had already felt a deep resistance to the Empress Dowager’s order to renovate perfectly good empress’s quarters. And now, hearing that an enormous trousseau was being paraded in on top of that, he was all the more disgusted.

“The very thought of going through with this imperial marriage makes my skin crawl.”

Enoch’s black eyes gleamed coldly.

“But, Your Majesty…”

“I never said I would not marry. I simply judged that the influence of the maternal relative faction must be kept in check.”

His eyes and black hair suited each other well. But perhaps because of the cold expression he wore now, he gave off a somehow chilling impression.

The young emperor, with his strong and striking face, was quietly seething.

“And yet Duke Taira brazenly goes so far as to take in an adopted daughter and push her into the empress’s seat.”

Already more than half the council followed Duke Taira. And now, even the empress’s seat had to be filled by a young lady bearing the Taira ducal house’s name.

“It is that relentlessness of theirs that I despise.”

Of course, his own mother, the Empress Dowager, was involved in all of this. But that changed nothing. Enoch’s hatred for the maternal relative faction remained as it was.

“The Empress Dowager will no doubt urge me to meet the young lady, but I have absolutely no intention of doing so. Don’t even bother telling me when she does.”

“Understood.”

Din bowed his head. Enoch turned his gaze back to his documents. It was precisely the reaction Alexa had anticipated.

* * *

Two weeks remained until the imperial marriage.

Alexa spent her days learning palace etiquette from Stella, the Empress Dowager’s head maid who came to call every day, and passing the time with small diversions.

“Look, it’s snowing.”

Fat white snowflakes drifted down one by one through the dark night sky.

“Matilda, I’m going to step outside for a short walk.”

“At this hour? You cannot.”

“Once I become empress, there won’t be chances like this.”

Those words softened Matilda’s resolve.

“I want to go quietly, on my own. I’ll only go as far as the red plum blossoms and come straight back. All right?”

Matilda looked into Alexa’s eyes, so full of longing, and could not bring herself to refuse any further.

“Then please dress warmly, and you are only to look at the plum blossoms and come back.”

“I will!”

Matilda draped a long white fur-trimmed cloak around Alexa’s shoulders. It was the first time since entering the imperial palace that Alexa had looked genuinely excited. There was no stopping her now.

“I’ll be back soon, so don’t worry.”

With those words, Alexa pulled the cloak up over her head and slipped quietly outside, her feet meeting the snow with a crunch, crunch as she stepped into the untouched white.

“Perhaps this is my last taste of freedom.”

Heavy snow was falling from the sky. Alexa moved forward one step at a time, savoring the soft crunch beneath her feet.

Her feet were growing a little cold, but when she looked up, the endless fall of snowflakes was breathtakingly beautiful.

“Even if I spend my whole life shut away, at least I can still see the sky.”

Even that sky could only be seen within the walls of the imperial palace, but she wanted to feel, even in that small way, as though she were part of the world outside.

“Plum blossoms.”

There they were, red plum blossoms in bloom amid the heavy snowfall.

Alexa walked on, drawn forward as though in a trance, following the trail of blossoms. She had long since forgotten her promise to Matilda.

Following the red plum blossoms, she walked and walked until she had crossed the boundary of the detached palace without even realizing it.

“I’m sorry to the plum tree, but perhaps I’ll break off just a small branch to take back.”

Alexa ventured deeper in, searching for a thick plum branch. When she found one that suited her, she snapped it off and cradled it in her arms.

The heavy snow was still falling.

“They say if you make a wish on the first snowfall, it will come true.”

Tonight’s snow was the year’s first.

But there was no one who could grant Alexa’s wish. Still, she felt a vague reluctance to let the moment pass without trying.

“Please… let me live in peace, without being too hated.”

Alexa pressed her hands together in prayer, the plum blossoms still held in her arms. And just as she was about to leave, she sensed a presence.

“Who’s there?”

A voice rang out, low enough to send a chill down her spine.

“I asked who’s there.”

Nothing good could come of it being known that Alexa was out here alone at this hour.

Alexa quickly hid herself behind a large tree. She couldn’t believe how far she had wandered without thinking.

“Who dares to sneak into my Secret Garden?”

At those words, Alexa’s heart plummeted.

The word “my” used in that manner was reserved for the emperor alone when referring to himself. It meant the one person she absolutely could not afford to encounter had appeared.

“Show yourself. Otherwise I will send the royal guards to find you.”

There was nothing else to be done.

Alexa stepped out toward the direction of the voice, the plum blossoms cradled in her arms.

“I am deeply sorry. I did not realize this was Your Majesty’s Secret Garden.”

Alexa curtsied. Enoch looked at her.

The platinum hair spilling from beneath her cloak, her blue eyes, and the sight of her standing in a white field of snow with an armful of red plum blossoms left an impression that seemed to burn itself into his eyes.

“Who are you?”

Enoch was far larger and more powerfully built than she had imagined. Standing before him, she felt almost overwhelmed.

“I am…”

What on earth was she supposed to call herself? Alexa hesitated without meaning to.

“I asked who you are.”

But Enoch’s patience was not long.

“I am… Alexa Taira, who entered the palace to become empress.”

At that, Enoch’s brow furrowed. The expected reaction. But seeing him actually frown right in front of her, she felt her heart drop with a thud.

“This is my Secret Garden.”

“I am deeply sorry. I was following the plum blossoms and before I knew it… I had crossed the boundary.”

The lips that spoke those words were remarkably pure and delicate. Indeed, Alexa standing in the snowy night with an armful of red plum blossoms was more beautiful than anyone he had ever seen.

In that instant, Enoch felt a flash of anger at himself for thinking so.

“Do not cross the boundary again.”

Enoch said those words and turned away sharply.

Alexa bowed to his retreating figure and hurried back to the detached palace, nearly at a run.

“My lady, why are you so out of breath?”

Matilda asked with concern, removing the cloak from her shoulders. Alexa was too flustered to answer for a moment.

“Oh my, the plum blossoms are so lovely. Let me get a vase.”

The image of Enoch was still vivid in her mind. But she could not tell whether her heart was pounding because of him or because she had been running.

“Do not cross the boundary again.”

Perhaps he had not only meant the boundary of the Secret Garden. It also sounded like a warning never to come near him again.

“My lady, I’ve brought the vase. Oh, but why is your face so red? If you catch a cold from the chill, it will be terrible.”

There was no way she could say she had accidentally wandered into the Secret Garden and met the emperor.

“Mm… I’m fine.”

“I’ve put the plum blossoms in the vase. I’ll leave them in your bedchamber.”

Alexa gave a small nod.

It was fortunate that things had passed with no greater consequence than this. But his low voice and powerful figure kept drifting back before her eyes.