Chapter 33 – Azure’s Resolution

Ethea’s firm words made Gin lower his eyes, looking hurt.  

“M…om.”  

Worried her voice was too cold, Ethea spoke kindly again.  

“I’m not saying I’m against alchemy. I mean it could be dangerous.”  

“Dangerous?”  

Of course. It’s an experiment that could even create life.  

She kept those words in her heart, gently rubbing Gin’s shoulders.  

“Study alchemy a bit more, and then it won’t be too late to try.”  

“I’ve studied enough. I thought I just needed to do the experiment now.”  

Ethea knew Gin’s gaze was resentful, but pretended not to notice. She absolutely could not let a six-year-old do an alchemy experiment. She put Gin’s hand together with Lily’s.  

“Come on, just go play with Lily on the hill today. I’ll pack drawing cards and a lunch for you.”  

With gentle coaxing, Gin’s mood improved quickly. Maybe he was just pretending for his mother’s sake.  

Suddenly Lily asked Ethea,  

“You have illusion drawing cards, right?”  

“Yeah. Lots.”  

“Can I see them too?”  

“Of course. They’re in the top drawer of the black cabinet. Go look with Gin.”  

Gin, now focused on the picnic, kindly showed Lily the drawing cards.  

Ethea started preparing for the children’s picnic. Her body moved, but her mind was uneasy.  

Gin’s interest in alchemy, his behavior not like a six-year-old, everything felt ominous.  

When the picnic preparations were almost done, she heard someone entering the house. She thought it was Solei, but it turned out to be someone else—a man with a pure look wearing magician’s robes. But Ethea wasn’t happy to see him.  

“Lord Lint.”  

The children ran out at the sound.  

“Wow! It’s Brother Seisil!”  

“Wow! It’s a god!”  

The children were more excited than anyone at Seisil’s visit. Their enthusiastic cheers made Seisil beam and respond,  

“Well, who do we have here? A cute little princess and a clever prince…”  

Ethea unconsciously glared at Seisil for calling Gin a prince. Even as a joke, that was not something to say. Seisil, ever sly, ignored her glare and went on,  

“Wait, Gin. How did you get so big in just a few days? Your height, your build… who would believe you’re only six?”  

Ethea wasn’t the only one noticing Gin’s abnormal growth. Even the magician saw it as strange.  

To erase her rising anxiety, Ethea greeted Seisil belatedly.  

“Hello, Lord Lint.”  

“Hello, Lady Ethea. But isn’t it about time you called me Seisil?”  

His insistence on titles matched Ethea’s stubbornness. Couldn’t he just accept being called by his surname? They weren’t close.  

Ethea changed the subject.  

“So, what brings you here? If His Majesty sent you, I refuse…”  

“Oh, it’s not that.”  

“I see.”  

‘Ugh. This is awkward. Embarrassing.’  

Seisil responded to her premature assumption with a bright, innocent smile. Ethea felt oddly rebuffed in a new way.  

“I came to visit Solei’s woodworking studio. With less work at the Mage Tower lately, I finally have some free time. Haha.”  

‘I didn’t ask, and I don’t care. If you have business with Solei, go there. Why come here?’  

Still, Ethea kindly told him,  

“Solei should be home. Go ahead.”  

She tried to return to what she was doing, but Seisil didn’t go to Solei and kept watching Ethea. Smiling and tilting his head, he seemed suspicious and somehow irritating and burdensome.  

Ethea ignored him and drank water.  

‘Ah. Is he quietly protesting that I haven’t served him tea, since he’s a guest? If so, what a personality…’  

“Lady Ethea.”  

Ethea almost told him to call her Lady Parazia, but stopped herself—she was no longer Javir’s daughter, so she had no surname.  

“What is it?”  

“Oh dear, oh dear. I almost forgot to give you something.”  

“What is it?”  

Seisil handed her a palm-sized book.  

‘Wait. This isn’t a book, it’s a bankbook!’  

It was issued by the Hillus Empire Bank.  

“His Majesty asked me to give it to you.”  

Lyle?  

“It’s an account in your name. There’s no limit. Unlimited, in fact. Ah, sorry for peeking inside. I was curious.”  

Lyle hadn’t forgotten what Ethea had said. She’d asked for an account, and he really made one for her. Was he telling her not to come to the palace anymore?  

Well, it was what she wanted, and he did as she asked, so she had no complaints. But the unlimited limit still bothered her.  

“My hands are awkward, so please take it quickly.”  

Ethea took the bankbook from Seisil, thinking she’d have to talk to Lyle about the limit if she met him later.  

“Well then, I’ll go see SoleiSoleiSolei!”  

After a while, the children left for their picnic and Ethea was alone at home.  

She started cleaning. She hid the bankbook from Lyle deep in the house, and put all the alchemy books out of sight in the storeroom. She didn’t want Gin thinking about alchemy. She even cleared the alchemy books from Gin’s desk.  

Then she noticed a piece of paper sticking out from the first drawer. She opened it to tidy up and was surprised.  

“What is this?”  

Inside were sheets of luxurious stationery, densely filled with writing. It wasn’t Gin’s handwriting.  

“L…yle.”  

They were all letters from Lyle.  

When, how had they been exchanged? It seemed they’d been sent every three or four days.  

Ethea started reading the letters. She knew it was wrong to read someone else’s mail without permission, even if it was her child’s, but… she couldn’t stop herself.  

[…Gin, if you want, the Imperial City is always open. Come anytime.]  

[…I heard the flower crown we made in the golden forest later faded and Lily was sad. Seeing your kindness, Gin, I think your heart is beautiful. If you keep that kindness for your friends, it’ll be more valuable than any golden flower crown.]  

[…What? You want to turn fallen leaves into metal? That’s a dangerous experiment. Won’t your mom worry?]  

Ethea stopped reading and set the letters down.  

“What, Gin—he tried the experiment even after reading advice in a letter that it was dangerous? He needs a scolding.”  

She was about to scold him, but kept reading.  

[…Being Emperor isn’t always great. Sometimes I just want to throw everything away and leave.]  

She laughed at that line.  

He said he wanted to run away to both her and the child, just like always. Maybe he was just trying to seem childish for Gin’s sake.  

She read further.  

[…Always help your mom. She’s small, so raising you is twice as hard as for other mothers.]  

[…Be grateful for your mom’s efforts. And your mom is a pretty kind and good person.]  

Ethea put the letters back and closed the drawer.  

Suddenly, she remembered what Gin had said the other night.  

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

‘What did he say?’  

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

Gin must have read lines like those and said it.  

She felt strange. It was ticklish and endlessly frustrating, but she couldn’t define the feeling.  

***

Azure had some free time as work at the Mage Tower had decreased. Usually, people use such time to meet friends or lovers, enjoy hobbies, or spend time with family. But Azure couldn’t do that.  

Having only pursued magic, all her friends were Mage Tower magicians, and she didn’t want to hang out with them on her days off. Her hobby was magic, so she wanted to avoid it on her days off. Meeting family was uncomfortable, since her relationship with her parents was terrible because of the engagement issue.  

In the end, when Azure had free time, she preferred wandering the palace over the Mage Tower.  

Among the places she liked most was the palace where Lyle’s mother, now the Empress Dowager, lived. She was close to the Empress Dowager, but also loved the plants there. The flower beds weren’t flashy but had beautiful color combinations, and the little girl scarecrows with small decorations showed how much care had gone into them. Azure enjoyed lying on the benches there, reading or napping.  

Today, she meant to do just that, but someone was already sitting on the bench—Lyle’s mother, the Empress Dowager.  

The two were quite close. Since Lyle and Azure got engaged when he was six, Azure had often visited his mother. Despite their age difference, Azure and the Empress Dowager got along well and enjoyed chatting about small things.  

Today’s topic would likely be the Empress Dowager’s illness. She joked smoothly,  

“My cough’s gotten so much worse lately. Azure, can’t you use your powerful magic to save my dying body?”  

“I’ve been hearing about your worsening cough for almost twenty years, Your Majesty.”

“Before it gets any worse, you should think about some good magical treatment for me.”  

“Combining magic and medicine is hard even for me. Maybe, since you’re still young and beautiful, you could try romance as a cure?”  

“It’s not good to tease adults. It’s true I’m young and beautiful. But you, don’t you care about becoming beautiful? If you keep acting like a tomboy, Seisil will start calling you ‘brother’.”

“He already does. Sigh. I like myself just the way I am.”  

Soon, the maids brought tea for the Empress Dowager. She told them to serve Azure as well. Thanks to that, Azure enjoyed fragrant, warm tea in the beautiful garden.