Chapter 10

That night, after Gin fell asleep while writing his letter, Ethea examined the bracelet on his wrist.  

She already knew it had his name engraved on the edge, but upon closer inspection, she noticed something else.  

On the back of the gemstone, there was a small inscription.  

It read, “To my beloved son.”  

The text was tiny and written in cursive, making it difficult for Gin to decipher. No matter how smart he was, it would be hard for him to read such an elaborate script.  

“Lyle, you’re unbelievable.”  

How much more shameless could he get? “Beloved son”? The child was raised entirely by her. She was the only one who had the right to call Gin her son.  

“That d*mn b*stard. What if he slowly starts acting like a father and then decides to take Gin to the palace?”  

That was unacceptable. Maybe she should take the 100 million goldium and leave immediately. Moving to a safe and peaceful place and living quietly wouldn’t be so bad. That’s how she had lived until now, after all. It would be sad not to see Solei and Lily anymore, but… how could she live peacefully with Lyle lurking around like this?  

That night, Ethea drank alcohol before bed, something she rarely did.  

“Mom, you smell like alcohol.”  

“Sorry. But let’s still sleep together.”  

“Ugh.”  

Ethea held Gin close and drifted off to sleep. She dreamed of a time when she didn’t hate Lyle.  

***

The phrase “first kiss” usually refers to a romantic kiss on the lips. However, when Ethea was sixteen, her first kiss had a slightly different meaning.  

It happened under the crabapple tree on a hill, where her friend Lyle kissed the back of her hand. His soft lips grazed her skin for just a brief moment.  

To Ethea, it was as thrilling and heart-fluttering as the first kiss most people imagine. Because of that kiss on her hand, she couldn’t sleep for several nights, and she found herself eagerly waiting for Lyle’s next visit.  

However, they couldn’t meet every day. Lyle didn’t seem to have anything in particular keeping him busy, but the problem was Ethea. She had to attend school, complete the tasks Javir assigned her at home, and study as well. Even if she managed to finish everything, it wasn’t easy to leave the house if Javir was there. Only when Javir was away on business trips or occupied with special projects that kept him out of the house for days could she meet Lyle.  

That day, Javir was away from home. While cleaning the yard, Ethea noticed three crabapples on top of the fence.  

It was a kind of signal. It meant that Lyle was waiting for her in the crabapple grove.  

The last time they met, Ethea had mentioned that spending time on the hill attracted too much attention and could be dangerous. In response, Lyle had suggested they meet in the quiet crabapple grove below the hill. It was a secluded area, with dense trees and grass that made it easy to avoid prying eyes.  

Ethea immediately stopped cleaning and prepared to leave. Preparing, in this case, simply meant throwing on a straw hat and a shawl to cover herself. Then, she quickly ran toward the crabapple grove.  

Lyle, who had arrived first, was sitting under a tree, waiting for her. Since it was such a secluded area, he didn’t bother to cover his face, which made him look a little careless.  

And yet, Ethea felt her heart flutter. His long bangs partially covered his eyes, his slender figure was relaxed, and his face lit up with a smile as he saw her. Ethea liked everything about him.  

“Etty!”  

When he saw her, he stood up. Ever playful, he mimicked her heavy breathing from running by pretending to jog in place and pant exaggeratedly.  

“What are you doing?”  

When Ethea gave him a slight glare, the mischievous expression on his face gradually faded. The smile disappeared, and his expression turned strange. His gaze toward her became heavy and dark.  

What’s wrong? Why is he looking at me like that?

She was about to ask when he suddenly covered his eyes with both hands and pretended to collapse to the ground. His exaggerated movements were almost clownish.  

“Ah! So bright!”  

“Huh?”  

“Etty, you’re too dazzling! You’re sparkling!”  

His actions were full of mischief, but they made Ethea’s heart race wildly. She completely forgot the dark look he had given her just moments ago.  

Ethea found Lyle infuriating. She didn’t know how to respond to such comments.  

“How can you be so dazzling?”  

“Don’t tease me, Lyle.”  

“I’m not teasing.”  

“…”  

Ethea instinctively pulled her straw hat down lower over her face. At that moment, he suddenly handed her a small pouch.  

“Anyway, you must’ve had a hard time getting here. This is a gift.”  

“A gift? All of a sudden?”  

“It’s something valuable. Open it.”  

Ethea untied the pouch and took out what was inside. It was a collection of blue-tinged ores—Palladium, a material used in alchemy. She couldn’t believe her eyes and examined the contents over and over.  

“This is so expensive… and there’s so much of it. Lyle, you must’ve spent a fortune.”  

“Haha, it’s nothing.”  

“Thank you. How did you even get this?”  

“There’s nothing I can’t get. You always said you were running low on Palladium, didn’t you?”  

As Lyle said, Palladium was always in short supply. Not just for Ethea, but for all alchemists. The metal was not only expensive but also rarely available on the market. Its primary source was the Garental Palladium Mines, which had a fixed export quota, most of which was purchased by the Alchemy Association.  

When Javir conducted experiments at home rather than at his workplace, he often used black salt, a cheaper alternative to Palladium, due to its cost. However, he still expected the final products to have the same durability as those made with Palladium. Naturally, the results were less durable, leading to failures, which Javir, as a renowned alchemist, found unacceptable.  

In such instances, Javir would place the blame elsewhere, even lamenting that Ethea’s lack of attention during the experiments had caused the failures. At those times, Ethea felt like she wasn’t Javir’s daughter but rather a useless parasite who couldn’t contribute. She would feel so wronged that she wanted to throw everything away and leave to find her mother.  

She had shared these feelings with Lyle once. And now, he had remembered and brought her this gift of Palladium.  

“Really, thank you so much. What can I do for you? I mean, I love this, but I’m not sure I deserve it. Lyle…”  

“Just be happy. That’s enough.”  

“…”  

“When you told me about it before, it upset me so much. The failed experiments weren’t your fault. Oh, and don’t use this all at once in front of your father. He’ll get suspicious about where it came from. Use it little by little, in secret.”  

Ethea nodded at Lyle’s advice.  

Looking back, she felt like a good daughter. She could’ve sold the Palladium secretly to earn some pocket money, but the thought never even crossed her mind.  

It wasn’t so much for Javir’s sake as it was out of consideration for Lyle, who had given her the gift.  

“Your hat looks silly.”  

Suddenly, Lyle took Ethea’s straw hat and put it on his own head. Spinning it around playfully, he muttered, as if suspicious,  

“Doesn’t wearing something like this make you stand out even more? You’re already so pretty.”  

“P-pretty?”  

Ethea smiled faintly but then blushed. As she looked down toward the slope, the memory of Lyle kissing the back of her hand suddenly resurfaced.  

What could that kiss have meant? Could it be that, just as she liked him, he liked her too?  

Caught up in her daydreams, she felt a mix of childishness and excitement. Without thinking, she asked an impulsive question.  

“Hey, Lyle.”  

“Yeah?”  

“They say royals usually get engaged early.”  

“Well, that’s generally true.”  

“Do you have one? A fiancée?”  

She was curious. Information about royals other than the Crown Prince wasn’t widely known, so she had no idea whether Lyle had a fiancée, or if he did, who she might be.  

Lyle, surprised by her sudden question, took off the straw hat and turned it over in his hands as he answered.  

“No, I don’t.”  

Normally, he would look her in the eyes when answering, but this time he didn’t.  

“Really?”  

“Yes.”  

“Truly?”  

“Why are you asking all of a sudden? I don’t. I don’t care about that kind of thing.”  

His answer felt uncharacteristically guarded, as though there was a wall between them. Feeling a bit awkward, Ethea lowered her gaze. Noticing this, Lyle spoke again.  

“Fiancées are so old-fashioned. Even if I had one, I wouldn’t let it lead to marriage.”  

As he spoke, his hand seemed to grip the hat tightly.  

“If I have to marry, it’ll be my choice. No matter what it takes, I’ll marry the person I love.”  

It was an unusually determined statement from someone like him.  

But the idea of a royal marrying for love sounded like something out of a fairy tale. Ethea smiled at him and said,  

“Then you’ll need to be really strong.”  

“Yeah. Just watch me!”  

He tossed the hat into the air and caught it again before continuing.  

“And Etty, remember what you said to me last time?”  

“What did I say?”  

“You told me that when I suggested we leave this place, there were still plenty of things we could do here. You said that as we try different things, we’d grow.”  

“Oh, I did say that.”  

“I’ve decided what I can do. Marriage is part of it, too. It’ll be on my terms, no matter how long it takes.”  

It was an unexpected confession. This was the same Lyle who once told her that he enjoyed listening to her chatter on the hill, even though he admitted he didn’t actually pay attention to the content. Yet, he had remembered everything she had said.  

Ethea felt a pang in her chest.  

“But… marriage requires a partner, doesn’t it?”  

“Of course.”  

“Do you have someone you like?”  

“I do.”  

“Who is it?”  

“You don’t need to know, kiddo.”  

“Who are you calling a kid!”  

Lyle chuckled softly and hung the straw hat on a tree branch, gesturing for her to grab it. That’s easy enough, she thought. Ethea climbed the tree and retrieved the hat.  

“Stop being so childish, Lyle!”  

He seemed surprised that she actually climbed the tree and then laughed. As she climbed down, he gently ruffled her hair and said softly,  

“You’re right. I’m childish. So… when I become less childish, when I grow into a more serious person, I’ll tell you. Who I want to marry. Who I love.”  

The sound of the wind rustling through the leaves was loud enough that she barely heard him, but Ethea felt her heart race for some reason.  

***

The Emperor, despite his busy schedule, made time to leave the palace. His destination was the house where Ethea and Gin lived. The journey from the Imperial Palace to their village took two hours by carriage, but with the Dimension Gate, it was a matter of seconds. Moreover, with the invisibility cloak Seisil had created, he could avoid attracting attention entirely.  

He wanted to see how Ethea and Gin were doing after their reunion. It was a visit he had debated over countless times. Watching them secretly made him feel uneasy and guilty. He couldn’t even trust himself not to enter the house if he got too caught up in watching them.  

Lyle wanted to blend into their lives as a normal father and a good person. It seemed like it would take a long time, but that was his goal.  

Ethea and Gin were sitting across from each other at the table. Their expressions were different. Ethea sipped her tea with a somber face, while Gin was writing on a piece of paper with his small hands. Occasionally, they exchanged a few words, and each time they did, Ethea’s dark expression would brighten as if it had never been there.  

He wished he could hear what they were saying.  

‘Next time, I should ask Seisil to add a sound-amplifying function to the invisibility cloak.’  

Lyle was startled by his own thoughts.  

A sound-amplifying device? There’s no need to eavesdrop. The right thing to do is to take the time to gradually integrate into their lives and have conversations with them directly.  

But for now, he was simply curious about their conversation. What was Gin, with his features so similar to Lyle’s, saying to make Ethea smile like that? The more he watched, the more his heart ached.  

Even the most advanced mages who could perform miracles couldn’t accomplish one thing: fixing Lyle’s eyesight.  

Lyle wanted to see his son’s true appearance. His tiny mouth moving as he spoke, his tousled curls, his lovely eyes. He could see the shape, but he couldn’t perceive the true colors.  

According to Seisil, Gin had hair as dark as Ethea’s but slightly lighter, and his eyes were naturally a deep golden hue, though he wore lenses that made them appear teal. His skin was pale like his father’s, and his lips always seemed to have a naturally rich color, as if something had been applied to them.  

“He must look like Ethea.”  

If Lyle could see properly, he was sure Gin would be exceptionally beautiful and adorable.  

But more than his son, what Lyle truly longed to see was Ethea. He missed every vivid color that had once defined her. Her raven-black hair, her red lips, her lively cheeks—he wanted to see them all as they truly were.  

But the only color Lyle could see now was red.  

Ever since the moment Gin was born, Lyle’s vision had remained this way. He saw the world in only two colors: white and red.  

It was a kind of curse. A curse placed upon those who performed alchemy without being prepared.