Chapter 31 – Because I Like You, Because You’re Beautiful

Ethea finally understood what Lyle was complaining about. He was sulking because he wasn’t invited to Gin’s birthday party.  

‘He’s not a kid, really, how embarrassing.’  

Ethea looked at him with annoyance and replied bluntly,  

“Um, just?”  

“Just?”  

“Well, it’s just awkward.”  

“What’s awkward about it!”  

“Well… it just is?”  

You’re the Emperor. You’re not someone I can easily invite. I didn’t even want to invite you.  

Ethea looked at him with that meaning. Lyle clutched his chest in frustration.  

“Ugh!”  

Ethea kept pretending not to notice, turning her gaze up the hill.  

He sighed a few times, ran his fingers through his hair, and tried to keep his voice calm.  

“Don’t do this, Ethea.”  

“What?”  

“I know I messed up. But this isn’t right. I wanted to celebrate Gin’s birthday, too. I wanted to give him a present. But you rushed and had the party days early, without telling me, isn’t that a bit unfair?”  

Her hands felt cold, so Ethea rubbed them together. She felt she should say something, but nothing came to mind.  

‘Unfair? We’ve celebrated birthdays just fine without you until now.’  

She pouted and stayed silent. Lyle came up and crossed his arms, looking cocky. Ethea stepped back a little.  

“People from the Mage Tower went to the party, too.”  

“Yeah, so?”  

“Azure was there, right?”  

“…”  

What was she supposed to say? ‘Yeah, your fiancée showed up out of nowhere.’ Should she say that? But Ethea stayed silent, pretending not to notice.  

Lyle smiled as if he understood, nodding slowly.  

“Ah, I see. I know why you’re acting this way, Etty.”  

“What?”

“It’s because you’re bothered by my fiancée, isn’t it?”  

She let out a hollow laugh and shook her head.  

“No, it’s not.”  

“Don’t be ridiculous.”  

“The ridiculous one is you. Why would I care about your fiancée?”  

“Because you like me!”  

Ethea felt her breath catch. When you’re dumbfounded, you’re left speechless, even breathless, she thought.  

“You care about her because you like me, right?”  

“What…?”  

She was so flustered her face felt hot. He looked a little crazy.  

“Are you crazy?”  

It wasn’t something you should say to the Emperor, but the words just spilled out.  

“Are you really crazy? Why would I like you?”  

“Because you like me, you…!”  

Lyle stopped mid-sentence. When she lifted her chin as if daring him to continue, he went on.  

“You liked me enough to make a vow of friendship, didn’t you?”  

“Yeah. Back then, I did. I liked you, so I made a vow of friendship. If I’d known you were so selfish, I wouldn’t have.”  

Ethea realized she might be going too far, but even if Lyle was selfish, she knew he’d done it for her.  

‘But, but I…’  

Her gaze dropped without her realizing. Lyle grabbed both her arms.  

“Etty, look at me.”  

“…!”  

“Look at me and answer. Don’t you like me?”  

Ethea was suddenly irritated by his actions.  

What answer did he want? What right did he have to ask her such a question and demand an answer?  

After thinking, she answered without hesitation.  

“Yeah. I don’t like you.”  

The strength slowly left Lyle’s hands, which had been holding her arms. Ethea walked right past him. The wind felt like it was hitting the back of her head mercilessly.  

He didn’t stop her.  

***

Dinner was lively. Solei returned from the marketplace with delicious food and chatted with the children.  

Ethea watched Gin with satisfaction. He seemed to have enjoyed the marketplace and was quite talkative. Seeing him as happy as when he’d been invited to the Imperial City made her feel good too.  

While they were having fun, Lily yawned repeatedly and eventually fell asleep first.  

“Our Lily must be tired from picking out so many clothes today. She fell asleep right after eating.”  

“Yeah. Just let her sleep here.”  

“No, lately she’s been sleeping at your house too often. She needs to go home sometimes. I have to sort the things we bought today.”  

“Alright, then.”  

Solei carried the sleeping Lily home.  

Ethea finished tidying up with Gin and got ready for bed.  

She remembered that around Gin’s birthday, she’d changed his lenses. It was something she shouldn’t put off. Since she remembered, she decided to do it tonight, secretly checking the drawer where the lenses were kept. The lenses she’d bought earlier were still there. She hid them in her pajama pocket, then lay beside Gin and read him a storybook.  

“Once upon a time, there was a village covered in snow. One day, fire was born there…”  

“Yawn.”  

“What, you’re sleepy as soon as I start?”  

“It’s not interesting.”  

“Fire was born, and you’re not interested?”  

“It’ll probably end with fire adapting happily to the snow village. Storybooks always end like that.”  

“Are you really six?”  

Gin had always disliked storybooks, finding them childish. He preferred reading alchemy or history books, but Ethea didn’t want to read such heavy stuff to a six-year-old.  

Gin yawned throughout the story. Then suddenly said,  

“Hey, Mom. I wish His Majesty the Emperor could be my dad.”  

Ethea was caught off guard by the sudden remark. She’d been glad he hadn’t talked about fathers for a while, but now he brought up ‘dad’ and connected it to Lyle, leaving her flustered.  

“Uh, well… why?”  

“He’s the richest in the Empire.”  

So that was it. Gin was just as money-minded as she was. Ethea chuckled.  

Gin added,  

“Of course, being rich isn’t the only reason. He’s tall and strong. If I had to pick a man I want to be like, I’d pick His Majesty.”  

“Pfft.”  

“And he likes me. Aunt Solei and Lily like me too, but it feels different with him.”  

Of course. He’s the one who made you.  

Ethea regretted not being able to tell Gin the truth.  

“And you know what? His Majesty thinks about you as much as he thinks about me. He said so in his letter.”  

Gin kept saying surprising things before bed, making Ethea’s ears perk up.  

What did he mean, ‘He said so in his letter’? She didn’t want to be curious about this, but still asked Gin,  

“He thinks about me? What did he say?”  

“It’s a secret. Anyway, His Majesty likes me, so I guess he likes my mom too.”  

Ethea didn’t want to talk about Lyle anymore, so she tucked Gin in.  

“Well, just go to sleep.”  

“Okay. You’re going to change my lenses tonight, right?”  

She shivered at his sudden question.  

‘He shouldn’t know. How does he know I change his lenses every year to hide his Orodium-colored eyes with teal lenses?’  

If Gin learned his real eye color, it would cause problems. He knew that golden eyes were proof of imperial blood. If he realized his own eyes were golden, he’d ask endless questions and attract attention. Gin was already a curiosity among villagers just for having visited the Imperial City.  

“Mom, isn’t there an alchemy way to fix my eyes?”  

Thankfully, Gin misunderstood the reason for the lenses. He thought they were for vision correction, not for hiding his eye color.  

“Alchemy to fix your eyes? Hmm. I don’t think so. You’d probably need medicine or magic. Instead, let’s think about what you can do right now. Maybe you should read less. You read too many dense books. Kids your age should read picture books with big letters.”  

Gin grumbled softly,  

“Pfft, but I like alchemy more than magic. Because alchemy is…”  

Before Gin could go on, Ethea pulled the blanket over him.  

“Just sleep. It’s late.”  

“Hmm. Okay.”  

She lay beside him, waiting for him to fall asleep. He had to be deeply asleep for her to change his lenses easily.  

Midnight approached. The wind rattled the window, and she felt something strange. Was it her imagination? It felt like someone was watching from outside.  

Surely it wasn’t Lyle. There was no one outside, but Ethea felt so uneasy she closed the curtains.  

***

She changed Gin’s lenses.  

Looking at Gin’s real eyes after so long, she noticed a change. Not a big change, but the gold was brighter and the shine stronger. The blessing of the Orodium spirit, the golden color only those with Hillus blood could have. It shone even in the dark; in sunlight, it would be dazzling.  

That wasn’t all.  

“When did he get so big?”  

His stretched-out body was noticeably bigger overall. No one would mistake him for a kid Lily’s age; he looked like a brother three or four years older. Considering Lyle’s build as a boy, it wasn’t hard to understand Gin growing so quickly.  

But Ethea felt afraid. Maybe because Gin was born from alchemy, he was growing faster than other kids, or maybe he’d even age faster. He’d have to go to school soon… ah, such thoughts were dreadful.  

Ethea tried to ignore her anxiety and closed Gin’s eyes.  

Even when she tried not to think about it, seeing Gin’s eyes reminded her of Lyle’s. In those eyes, she saw memories of playing with him as a child. Lyle had always looked grown-up, tall and broad-boned, but his innocent gaze was like Gin’s now.  

She didn’t want to remember, but her mind kept drifting back to those days.