Chapter 89. I Was Alone in My Room Too

“Yes, that’s right. A Snow Person only has a head and body. The eyes, nose, and mouth are up to whoever makes it.”

“Great. Then this is my first time making a Snow Person with you, Letitia?”

“Have you never seen a Snow Person?”

“No. The island where I lived didn’t get snow. It was a very warm place.”

Yuelina smiled brightly.

Letitia found it fascinating that Yuelina could create a Snow Person without ever having seen snow.

“Next time… shall we make a real Snow Person with snow?”

Letitia asked Yuelina with an uncertain tone.

Yuelina patted Letitia’s round head.

Letitia didn’t know how to react to her gentle, warm touch.

More than a year had passed since Letitia entered the Bios Imperial Academy.

Even in the empire, Letitia had lived lonely with just her nanny.

Though her sisters visited occasionally, they were all married early.

They weren’t people Letitia could open her heart to or be close with.

She hadn’t made any close friends at the academy either.

Both inside and out, Letitia always had to maintain her composure.

“Letitia, when it snows, let me know. How to make a real Snow Person.”

Letitia nodded vigorously.

“Yes! I’ll teach you!”

Yuelina chuckled at hearing Letitia’s voice ring out strongly for the first time.

“I already have something to learn from you, okay?”

Yuelina handed Letitia the hastily made pillow doll.

Letitia’s cheeks flushed brightly. It seemed she would be able to sleep very comfortably tonight.

* * *

Asarim, wearing a black hood, stood before the clock tower in the imperial plaza.

This was Asarim’s second visit to the Bios Empire.

The clock tower, being a sculpture at the plaza’s center, saw heavy foot traffic.

With the large crowds came strict security, but ironically, this meant passersby paid little attention to others.

The imperial capital was full of diverse people.

Asarim found it hard to look away from the unfamiliar scene every time.

People seemed to pour out from nowhere, rushing forward as if being chased.

Moreover, their faces were all expressionless.

“You’ve come.”

Just then, a man wearing a white hood appeared before him.

Asarim checked the scar on the man’s hand. It was a deep scar.

“I didn’t expect to see you so soon, but I was glad to receive your letter.”

Asarim fixed his sharp eyes on the man at his strange words.

“I went to the principality as you said. But…”

The man extended his arm, cutting off Asarim’s words.

“This isn’t a good place to talk. Shall we move somewhere else?”

He gracefully walked past Asarim into a narrow alley.

Asarim hurriedly followed him. The back alleys of the capital plaza were famous for their black market.

The man descended the basement stairs of a dilapidated building in the black market.

At the bottom of the stairs, a wall blocked any further progress.

However, when the man placed his hand on the wall and muttered incomprehensible words, the wall began to slide back.

Asarim followed the man into the hidden basement. This wasn’t Asarim’s first time here either.

The flat table sitting alone among geometric red wallpaper patterns felt strange every time.

Neither in the empire, principality, nor village had they seen such an object emanating bizarre energy.

“Please sit.”

Asarim sat at the man’s words. For a moment, the man’s eyes were visible through his hood.

It was a chillingly bright gaze.

“Did you confirm the Snow Person’s power?”

Asarim shook his head.

“The ‘River of Memories’ wasn’t there. There was no holy water.”

“So you went to the temple.”

The man’s mouth twisted strangely for a moment.

“Did the Snow Person pray at the temple?”

“She did enter something called a prayer room.”

“The Snow Person? And she didn’t say anything?”

“…Like what?”

“Like hearing voices, or seeing someone.”

The man persistently questioned Asarim.

But Yuelina had never told Asarim such things.

After leaving the prayer room, Yuelina had only been angry.

“No. Nothing like that.”

“Hmm, I see. Perhaps it’s because of causality… Well, it wasn’t without gain. Just a moment, let me check.”

Suddenly the man’s bright eyes lost their light. His body stiffened and didn’t move.

He looked like someone whose soul had left their body. But soon his eyes began to glow intensely again.

Asarim swallowed dryly before speaking.

“You said it yourself. If we find Yuelina’s power, we can return together. So help Yuelina find her power.”

“I have no reason to help you.”

“What?”

“So you’ll have to make a deal with me. To gain the Snow Person’s power, you need power too.”

Asarim frowned. The man continued speaking.

“The one crouching in darkness has agreed to raise their head once for your sake.”

Asarim clenched both fists at the man’s seemingly magnanimous words.

“You want me to gain the power of darkness? Do you think I don’t know what kind of power that is?”

“You’re not desperate enough to find the Snow Person.”

“!”

“What does it matter what kind of power it is? What matters is that you can take the Snow Person.”

The man stared at Asarim and knocked on the table three times, creating vibrations large enough to shake the interior.

The center of the table split, revealing a hidden space within.

More precisely, it was the table’s pillar.

The pillar was filled with blue water.

“This is!”

Asarim could tell what the water in the pillar was.

But certainty quickly turned to confusion.

Like black ink dropped in blue water, black streams appeared here and there.

Soon the bright blue water turned completely gray. Asarim hesitated.

The man gestured to Asarim unconcernedly.

“Drink if you want power. God has given you an opportunity.”

“……”

“This is your first and last chance to obtain Yuelina. Will you throw away this chance?”

The man burst into malicious laughter.

* * *

Theo thought the weather was disgustingly bright today.

He went out to the study terrace and looked down at the garden.

As usual, he saw Yuelina wandering the garden with Maelyn.

The only difference was that the tiny princess was with them.

The princess of Esolin, a small marginal kingdom.

Letitia.

Theo engraved each letter of Letitia’s name clearly in his heart.

Last night, Yuelina hadn’t come to Theo’s room.

She had fallen asleep in the child’s room while talking with Letitia.

Moreover, Yuelina had neatly finished her bath and even brought Yas leaves stored in the attic.

He heard she had used her original bathroom, not the one Theo used.

Yuelina was truly wise.

In contrast, Theo had been stupid.

With so many bathrooms in the Black Mansion, why would she wait for him to finish bathing?

It was an extremely simple-minded and selfish mistake.

As a result, Theo couldn’t tell Yuelina he would sleep on the study sofa.

No, he couldn’t tell her.

Since Yuelina didn’t come, there was no need for Theo to sleep on the sofa anyway.

When Yuelina came to the study in the morning, she worried that Letitia seemed a bit scared of the unfamiliar principality and Black Mansion.

She also chattered about how much that small, delicate child must have struggled alone in a foreign country.

She went on and on about how difficult and harsh the Bios Imperial Academy classes were.

All morning, Theo was uncomfortable with Yuelina’s enthusiasm about Letitia.

I was alone in my room too.

I was waiting for you.

But he kept quiet and just listened without showing his feelings.

“How much must the small, young princess have suffered?”

Theo recalled Yuelina’s voice filled with affection and concern.

Hah.

How hard could it have been for a princess?

Theo pursed his lips.

Although young Theo might not have been as adorable as Letitia, he had experienced a more challenging and painful upbringing than the present Letitia.

If Yuelina had seen him then, she probably couldn’t have passed by because he would have seemed too pitiful.

Theo didn’t mind using even his childhood misfortunes as an excuse to keep Yuelina if needed.