“Hey.” 

 “……Go to sleep.” 

 He whispered tenderly. Jeanne squeezed her eyes shut as he lowered his posture as if about to kiss her. His breath touched her nose. Her toes curled at the ticklish sensation. Heat seemed to gather between their lips that hadn’t met. While she kept her eyes tightly shut as if enduring him, a soft kiss landed on her nose. 

 “Sleep quickly.” 

 He rose. He turned back once more after stepping onto the windowsill. Jeanne clutched the blanket tightly as she watched him lightly leap into the air. She touched the lingering warmth on her nose with her finger. Her heart went thump-thump. 

 The imperial palace was an overwhelmingly splendid place in unexpected ways. When eight-year-old Jeanne entered the palace holding her father’s hand tightly for the national marriage, she wasn’t feeling particularly good. Even though they had provided a carriage from the palace. 

 Though she hadn’t been crowned Empress, it was treatment befitting one. The silver carriage, as magnificent as the Emperor’s golden carriage, boasted intricate beauty with pure silver and seven kinds of jewels. Antonia couldn’t hide her inner envy as she glanced at Jeanne. 

 Jeanne didn’t care either way. No matter how many attendants or how high their positions…… Parting from Mom was the saddest. Jeanne had specially slept with her mother for a week before this day. Because she wanted to be together even a little longer…… She was always with Mom except during study time. 

 ‘Mom will definitely come visit.’ 

 Slender fingers stroked her round head. Jeanne nodded. She wouldn’t cry. She would stay strong without crying until Mom came. But the more she thought that way, the more tears came. She bit her lip hard, not wanting to hide her gloomy feelings. 

 “Jeanne.” 

 Her father’s gentle voice was heard. Jeanne didn’t raise her head. Father stopped her as she walked tap-tap-tap following him. Jeanne who had been walking straight ahead while biting her plump lips looked down at her father kneeling before her. 

 “Father is always on Jeanne’s side. Do you know what that means?” 

 Large hands cupped Jeanne’s cheeks. Below her eyes grew warm. Father paid no mind to the gazes of attendants and knights. Rather, he looked at Jeanne for a long time as if showing how precious his daughter was. 

 “Whenever you call, Father will come here.” 

 After wiping away his daughter’s tears, Father kissed her cheek. Jeanne stretched out both arms and hugged her father’s neck. The young and handsome father lifted her up. Khalil kissed his daughter’s curling hair then raised his head to look at the Emperor waiting for his fiancée. 

 Cesare welcomed him with a picture-perfect smile. Khalil gave him a respectful bow. 

 Khalil looked quite splendid wearing the octagonal brooch symbolizing Riscarlo’s eight great houses and the brooch engraved with the falcon, his family crest, side by side on his chest. An air of nobility emanated from his straight, upright form clad in white ceremonial dress.

Jeanne clung to her father’s embrace. She looked like a small white flower. Her wavy hair flowed beneath the small bonnet, dancing in the wind. 

 “Your Majesty.” 

 “Give her to me.” 

 Cesare stretched out his arms. Khalil’s face hardened. Jeanne still had her face buried in her father’s chest. He didn’t like that. Jeanne was just a child…… still a baby. He thought about his own eight years of age. 

 Strangely, he had no parental bonds. He was one of the few Adams with perfect memory ability. His first memory was of floating in his mother’s amniotic fluid. When he could barely wiggle his hands and feet…… 

 Was it because his mother wasn’t an Eve? They said incomplete Adams had significant attachment to their mothers, who were the only Eves they could contact until finding their mate. But his mother wasn’t an Eve. Perhaps that was why. 

 Moreover…… 

 ‘She has no intention of relinquishing her power.’ 

 After his father emperor’s death and his ascension, she became the Empress Dowager regent on behalf of his young self, and now shared power with him in the imperial palace. That was also why he wanted to proceed with the royal marriage. 

 It was ultimately to check his mother’s power. Though he loved Jeanne, he was the Emperor. No matter how personal, all his decisions were connected to political acts. While Count Spetunia, Jeanne’s father, might not realize it, he knew that his in-laws would be a good tool to keep his maternal family in check. 

 Though he tried to distance himself from central politics, once his daughter entered the palace, he would have to be mindful of the imperial court. In the end, the royal marriage was a political move to place the chess piece called Spetunia on the central board. 

 His mother’s family would feel considerable pressure from that alone. 

 “Give her here quickly.” 

 Cesare urged Khalil. Reluctantly, Khalil handed over his daughter. He smiled faintly as he took his fiancée. Jeanne was like a young animal. He carried his curled-up fiancée down the corridor. 

 * * *

 The royal wedding was four days later. Jeanne was overwhelmed. Feverish and rattling in the maids’ hands. She sat when told to sit, stood when told to stand, and turned when told to turn. Hours spent just on grooming. 

 Dense procedures and waiting. And more waiting…… Who knew how many dresses she had changed into. 

 The ceremonial wedding dress was pure white, with sleeve puffs emphasized from shoulder to elbow, lavishly decorated with ruffles and ribbons. Though made of slightly sheer silk, it was barely distinguishable against Jeanne’s pearly translucent skin. 

 The décolletage was adorned with pearls and other gems symbolizing the imperial family. The draping, as elaborate as an adult woman’s, was layered abundantly, embroidered with wheat ears, lily of the valley, orioles and deer among rose vines — symbols of imperial ladies. The dress had a 30-meter cathedral veil. 

 Even for a young girl, all this display had to be properly executed when marrying into the imperial family. 

 But what Jeanne found hardest to bear was the necklace made of oval-cut pink topaz and diamonds. 

 Even with her dulled senses, the weight of the jewelry was terribly overwhelming. She could barely breathe, lost among the crowd, unsure of what she was doing. 

 The necklace was too large and long for an eight-year-old to wear. The tiara was equally formidable. 

 However, the parure consisting of the original necklace, earrings, and tiara were all precious heirlooms from her father’s house, Count Spetunia. They said it was quite valuable for its age. 

 It was said to be a birthday gift that Emperor Philippos, who had taken a Spetunia daughter as his consort, had prepared for his lover, and when the childless Empress passed away, she had bequeathed these precious items to her maiden family. So it couldn’t help but be special. Not only was the jewelry’s inherent beauty brilliant, but it garnered significant attention as it symbolized the third union between the imperial family and the Spetunia house. Above all, its brilliant color matched Jeanne’s eye color perfectly. 

 Of course, eight-year-old Jeanne couldn’t have known that. Anyway, thus adorned with dangling jewels, Jeanne was handed over to the Emperor, holding her father’s hand. 

 Many found it peculiar, seeing this aspect of the wedding ceremony that seemed to hover ambiguously between union and possession, though all wedding procedures might be similar. 

 But it wasn’t a wrong observation. That wedding ceremony perfectly expressed their relationship. A girl being transferred from her father’s possession to the Emperor. Being an illegitimate daughter and a slave, she was legally her father’s complete property. 

 ……What else remained? Jeanne floated through that distant space as if swimming. 

 Unlike her mature husband, she struggled to endure the long hours. She was just an eight-year-old child after all. It was natural. Jeanne tried not to cry. 

 Even so, it was hard to endure unbearable things. Especially the ones piercing her earlobes…… 

 “Ah, ouch! Hu, waaah!” 

 It was while changing dresses. Jeanne, who had been frozen white and looking around nervously, burst into tears when her earlobes were pierced. Cesare picked up his little crying fiancée who complained her earlobes hurt and were heavy, soothing her as if comforting a young sister. 

 “Shh…… Jeanne, don’t cry.” 

 The gentle bass voice scattered near her ear and the warmth on her lips was lovely. The Emperor casually kissed her forehead. Jeanne felt his red lips touch her skin with her eyes open. 

 He seemed to treat kissing Jeanne’s forehead as casually as touching and holding her. After removing her veil and checking on her sniffling self, he picked her up as if it were natural, comforted her several times, and sat her on the Empress’s throne to meet her eyes. 

 Not knowing where she sat, Jeanne looked down at Cesare who whispered, ‘Don’t cry, Jeanne. They say a bride who cries at her wedding will become unhappy.’ 

 The Emperor, quite mature-looking for fourteen, was more beautiful and noble than ever. In his imperial regalia, like at his coronation which he had conducted without confidence, he wore a rich sable fur over his shoulders and a jet-black uniform. 

 The medals representing the knightly order protecting the holy temple and his reign as master of the sacred implements were extremely splendid. They truly represented the authority and nobility of an emperor devoted to serving God and the Empire. Jeanne stared at the brooches decorating his chest before looking at him. 

 His purple eyes were as beautiful as her father’s. Like pieces of stained glass embedded…… His gentle smile after the light kiss was lovely. 

 “Feeling better now?” 

 Cesare asked Jeanne, who smiled brightly after the light forehead kiss like a peck from a bird’s beak. Instead of nodding, Jeanne softly kissed his cheek. Cesare pulled at the corner of his lips. It was a gentle smile that would shine even amid overwhelming adversity like a tidal wave.