Chapter 32

When it was time for the Imperial Palace’s regular report meeting, Ethea stayed home alone.  

The report meeting was held to check if the budgets of the Emperor’s direct institutions were being used properly. At this meeting, the Academy, the Arts Institute, the Alchemy Association, and the Mage Tower all nervously presented their research and schedules, and the High Management Committee bombarded them with questions about whether their work was economically and reasonably valuable.  

If they answered even slightly wrong, their plans could fall apart, so people were careful and the meetings took a long time. On report days, Javir would come home late or be away for days. For Javir, it was a nerve-wracking event.  

But for Ethea, it was different. Time without his surveillance or interference! That rare free time was precious. Of course, there were household chores to do, but just not having to prepare Javir’s dinner was a huge relief.  

But someone came to see her, knowing Javir would be away for days. Lyle.  

Knock knock.  

At the sound of knocking, Ethea went out. Lyle spread his black cloak like bat wings and made a mischievous noise.  

“Waaah!”  

He seemed to want to surprise her, but Ethea didn’t even flinch. Embarrassed, he twisted his silver hair and said,  

“Let’s play, Etty.”  

“Sigh. Do you even have a sense of time… at this hour?”  

“So what? It’s the perfect time for fun.”  

“You’re really something. You’re a prince. Does the palace just let you do whatever?”  

“No one cares about me. My mother’s sick and always bedridden, my father probably doesn’t even know my name. I have one magician friend, but he’s so hyper that I get exhausted after just a bit of play. That’s why I like it here.”  

Ethea looked around and teased him,  

“As long as the villagers don’t catch you.”  

He smiled quietly and patted her head. She didn’t like that kind of touch from someone her age and glared, but he didn’t take his hand away.  

“Your straight hair is fun to touch. Like silk.”  

“I’m not a toy, you know? Want me to mess up your hair?”  

“Go ahead. Mine’s a bit curly, so it’ll be fun.”  

“Come here. I’ll mess it up as much as you want!”  

Ethea climbed onto Lyle’s back. He seemed surprised for a moment, but then turned his head to watch what she would do.  

Without hesitation, Ethea tousled his hair as if ruffling a cute animal’s fur. Curly hair really was fun to mess up. She’d never had a pet or siblings to play with, so she found herself enjoying it more and more.  

Suddenly, Lyle reached back and gently lifted her up. Surprised by the sudden change, she exclaimed, “Whoa!” He asked calmly and kindly,  

“Isn’t this more comfortable?”  

“Uh…”  

Ethea felt awkward for some reason. She thought she was just playing lightly, but now it felt serious and unfamiliar.  

“Lyle, let me down.”  

“Why?”  

“I’m heavy.”  

“What? You’re light.”  

Ethea just blushed and couldn’t say anything. Lyle turned his head and whispered,  

“I really like your touch. No one does this for me at the palace.”  

Both of them were thinking similar things as they played. Ethea felt a sense of kinship with him for a moment, but whenever his hands tried to support her bottom, it felt strange and she couldn’t stay in that position any longer. She needed an excuse.  

“Oh, right… I shouldn’t be doing this. I have to clean the tool chest. I need to finish before bed…”  

“I’ll help.”  

Lyle carried Ethea straight to the laboratory.  

“Then we’ll finish faster.”  

Not the storeroom or her room, but the laboratory—the place Javir cared about most. If they got caught, it would be bad, but Ethea didn’t stop him. Actually, Lyle was a fast worker and a good helper, so maybe she secretly wanted his help.  

“How would you have cleaned all this without me?”  

“If I just do it, I finish quickly.”

“No way. This needs two people.”  

With his help, cleaning the tool chest took half as long as usual.  

With the extra time, he helped her with homework. She thought he wasn’t interested in studying, but that wasn’t true. Lyle solved even difficult problems easily.  

“You’d have fun at school.”  

“Hmm. Maybe. If I went to school, I’d be too popular to handle. I’m kind of awesome, you know.”  

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that…”  

“What, are you ignoring me? Etty? Etty?”  

After everything was finished, Ethea thanked him by making herb-filled bread rolls. Lyle ate the ordinary bread rolls like they were the best food in the world, sitting at the workbench reading an alchemy book. Ethea served him tea. Lyle thanked her and drank the tea, continuing his reading.  

She sat next to him and read a book called <Culture of the Continent>. Javir usually treated any book not related to alchemy as useless, so she rarely got to read freely. The book described how beautiful Seolin’s melody was, how fun southern traditional dances were, and Ethea enjoyed it vicariously through the pages.  

Time passed and it was after midnight.  

Ethea turned the last page of her book with regret and looked at Lyle. He was sleeping, his head turned toward her.  

This wasn’t good. Even if Javir was coming home late or not at all, it was uneasy to have someone who wasn’t family sleeping in the laboratory.  

“Lyle…”  

But she didn’t want to wake him. Waking someone sleeping so peacefully felt devilish.  

Ah. She hadn’t heard that His Majesty the Emperor was so handsome. Maybe it was thanks to Lyle’s mother? She’d never seen her, but Lyle’s mother was surely beautiful.

How could this guy look so mature and handsome? Sometimes he seemed older than his age. If not for his occasional childish pranks, really.  

Ethea absentmindedly reached to touch his eyelashes, then startled herself and quickly pulled her hand back.  

Just then, Lyle opened his eyes. His vivid golden eyes shone like jewels as he looked at her. He murmured in a languid voice,  

“I thought it was a dream.”  

“What was?”  

“You’re so beautiful, too beautiful.”  

“What, what’s so…?”  

He blinked once, then looked at Ethea for a long time. His gaze lingered for several seconds, and she started to feel a bit awkward.  

At that moment—  

“Right now, the way you’re looking at me, this expression… it’s so beautiful.”  

As he spoke, Lyle reached out to touch her face. Ethea, startled, shifted in her chair. Lyle paused, lowering his hand.  

“Ah.”  

He looked as if he had fully woken up from sleep and sat up.  

“So it was a dream. Hm.”  

Ethea found his feigned indifference annoying for no reason.  

They weren’t lovers, so why was he saying things like this? Even the school’s star couples didn’t say such embarrassing things.  

“Of course. It’s just because it was a dream.”  

She disliked how her ears felt hot. Even her muttering sounded strange.  

“What, so I’m not pretty in real life?”  

“No, you’re pretty.”  

“Uh… well, okay.”  

“Yeah.”  

“Yeah.”  

“Yeah.”  

The awkwardness felt thicker than the night’s darkness. Ethea tapped his back.  

“You’ve been here too long. Go home now.”  

“Alright.”  

Lyle pulled his robe over his head, ready to leave. Ethea checked the laboratory for any traces he might have left behind. Thankfully, Lyle didn’t smell strongly of lavender tonight.  

She saw him out from inside the door. Before stepping out, he suddenly turned back to her.  

“Etty.”  

“Yeah?”  

“No, nothing.”  

How dull.  

Lyle looked like he had something to say, lips moving, but then he suddenly dashed toward the palace without even saying goodbye. The way he spread his black cloak like bat wings as he went looked almost like he was waving goodbye to her.  

‘Cute… guy.’  

***

From morning, Lily came to Gin’s house with snacks.  

“Gin, let’s take these and go play house on the hill.”  

Ethea couldn’t help but smile at the cute suggestion. But Gin didn’t seem thrilled.  

“Sorry, Lily. I have an experiment I absolutely need to do today.”  

“Ex…periment?”  

“But I’ll definitely play with you next time. Of course, playing house isn’t really my thing, so it’ll be tough.”  

Ethea was surprised by Gin’s answer.  

His words, tone, and expression were nothing like a six-year-old. Was this what it felt like for an adult to be trapped in the body of an eight- or nine-year-old?  

Lily looked disappointed by Gin’s answer, and Ethea smiled and said to Gin,  

“Oh my, what’s this experiment you absolutely need to do today? If you’re turning down playing with Lily, it must be a really important experiment?”  

“Yeah, Mom. It’s very important.”  

“How important? Can you explain it to me and Lily?”  

“…”  

“We want to hear.”  

“…”  

“Come on, we’re all waiting for your answer.”  

Gin seemed to find his mother’s questioning persistent, sighing softly before shrugging his shoulders and answering,  

“I’m going to turn leaves into metal.”  

“What?”  

“I’m going to try it with fallen leaves.”  

“You’re not trying to copy what Lord Lint did in the Imperial City, are you?”  

Gin explained, sounding a bit offended,  

“Mom, what Lord Lint did was magic. Illusion magic, at that. When the magic fades, the leaves return to their original color. So it’s just a trick. But what I’m trying is alchemy. I want to do an experiment to turn fallen leaves into real, shiny metal…”  

Ethea couldn’t listen anymore and interrupted him.  

“No alchemy.”