Chapter 9

Only after the carriage carrying the children had disappeared did Kina turn and head back toward the poorhouse. She looked around the poorhouse alone, desolate now that all the belongings had been removed.

Kina’s first childhood memory was of this place. It began with the sight of Viscountess Sennet smiling as she held all the flowers that the children surrounding her handed over in droves. It had been her playground, the place where she remembered her mother, and the place that had become her life.

“Let’s see each other again later.”

Kina did not want to think of this as the end. They had decided to close it only temporarily, and she believed there would surely come a day when it would be opened again.

As she left, the poorhouse, always full of noise, prepared to face the night alone for the first time since it had been built.

Now there was only one decision left for Kina.

* * *

“What do you think?”

An Imperial dressmaker was fitting a dress to match Bersha’s curves. Bersha turned only her head slightly and asked Kina. Her rose-brown hair flowed down over the pure white dress. The spotless white and the color of her hair formed a strangely harmonious combination. It was captivating.

“It’s pretty.”

Certainly, Bersha looked beautiful no matter what she wore. And as if she knew that fact herself, she nodded as though it were obvious. Watching such a confident Bersha, Kina gave a weak smile.

Thankfully, after Kina met the Crown Prince, Bersha had contacted her first. Perhaps because of the grace period given to Kina, it seemed there was no separate order stopping contact.

As she watched for the right timing while agonizing over how to tell Bersha about that matter, things had ended up in a situation where she was helping choose a wedding dress.

At that moment, there came a knock, and Sheila, the head maid of the Crown Princess Palace, entered.

“My Lady, Duke Graize has come to see you.”

At those words, both Kina’s and Bersha’s gazes quickly turned toward the door.

“T-tell him to come in.”

Bersha’s voice trembled faintly with happiness. She had not known that meeting Raon would make her this nervous. Wearing the fitted dress, she moved restlessly. Soon the door opened, and Raon came in.

“……It has been a while.”

Raon, briefly startled by the sight of Bersha in the dress, only belatedly offered his greeting. For a long while he could not take his eyes off Bersha, and Bersha too stood still, as if waiting for his evaluation.

“H-how is it?”

Bersha’s voice trembled as she asked Raon. Bersha felt like a young girl preparing for her wedding with him. She wanted to wear a dress that would make her look beautiful to him.

“It suits you well.”

At those words, a smile appeared on Bersha’s face. It was completely different from how she looked when Kina praised her. As though avoiding that happy expression, Raon turned his head slightly and then noticed Kina.

“Ah…… I greet you, Your Grace.”

Kina hurriedly stood and offered her greeting. She was not the only one flustered. Raon felt unsettled too, as though the feelings he had been trying to hide had been seen through by Kina.

“Your Highness. We must take the pins out now.”

“Yes.”

As Bersha headed toward the room with the dressmaker, she turned back anxiously.

“I’ll be back soon, so have some tea at least. Sheila.”

In a small voice, Bersha instructed her to prepare tea that would steep for a long time.

“At least talk with Kina. All right?”

Afraid Raon might leave early, she used Kina as an excuse. If she could, she wanted to sit facing him without even changing her clothes. Since she could not do that, Bersha tried to keep him there by every means she could.

“Please do, Your Grace.”

Seeing how anxious Bersha was, Kina added her voice from the side. Only when Raon nodded reluctantly at the suggestion of both women did Bersha finally say she would be quick and disappear with fast steps.

Silence flowed between Kina and Raon, left in the drawing room.

There had been a command from Chris behind Raon’s coming all the way to the Crown Princess Palace.

Chris had ordered the Imperial Knights to assist with the preparations for the wedding. And he had entrusted Raon with overall command.

‘I refuse.’

He had rejected it the moment he heard.

‘Why?’

‘The Knights cannot be used for such a place.’

Raon was firm. Of course, beneath that lay the fact that he knew why Chris was sending him there.

‘It’s something you often did even while Stella was alive.’

Even when Chris had first proposed that Raon continue his relationship with Bersha, Raon had refused. And he had continued refusing persistently ever since. But Chris knew. He knew that Raon still could not forget Bersha and was suffering because of it. His face grew more gaunt by the day, and he lost more and more vitality.

‘That is a separate matter.’

As he said that, Raon did not look much different from Chris. Even so, because of his rigid nature, he was missing the chance of a lifetime.

‘Then I’ll call it an order. I’ll use my special authority.’

‘Your Highness.’

The Crown Prince’s special authority could not be refused except in cases where the command went against the Emperor or caused a moral problem. He meant that he would use that important authority here.

‘Why would you use something important for a private matter.’

A private matter. Chris let out an empty laugh.

‘Do you know what I regret most? Not seeing her even one more day. Not telling her I loved her even one more time. Those are the things I regret most.’

A feeling of remorse passed through Chris’s eyes. At the talk of Stella, Raon grew quiet. He was no different from the man before him. Every day he regretted that he should have proposed to Bersha a little sooner, that he should have kept her by his side a little sooner.

‘At the very least, you can still tell her you love her. Don’t regret it like I do.’

Chris gripped Raon’s shoulder tightly. He meant that he should not hesitate. For a moment, longing glimmered in Raon’s eyes, and his gaze wavered.

‘……I…… cannot do that…….’

It was an answer that barely came after struggling to overcome his desire to accept Chris’s proposal exactly as it was. Chris let out a small sigh.

‘Then at least help prepare the wedding. That is an order.’

Even though he frowned, even though he was clearly troubled, in the end Raon had left with only a bow and no answer until the last. But since Chris had attached the name of an order to it, it was certain he would head there tomorrow.

‘……I can’t even see her even though I want to. Such a rigid knight.’

He raised a hand to cover his eyes and muttered it out. Chris hoped that at least they would be happy. This was the best he could do.

And so, acting as though he had no choice but to obey Chris’s order, Raon had come here. Out of the selfish desire to see Bersha, even for a moment. Raon let his gaze rest briefly on the door through which Bersha had disappeared, then turned his head.

At his side, Kina, unable to deal with the awkward atmosphere, only fidgeted with the innocent jewel Bersha had pressed into her hands to look at. At just that moment, Raon’s gaze shifted toward her hand.

“Ah, it’s pretty, right? This…….”

Kina, who had been about to say it was the jewelry Bersha would wear at the wedding, closed her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut. To bring up that topic of all things. She carefully studied Raon’s face, but there was no particular change in him.

“It is very beautiful.”

Kina carefully set the jewel down and moistened her dry lips with tea for no reason. Then his hand carefully picked up the jewel she had been holding just moments ago. It was an exceedingly careful touch, like someone handling something precious. So much so that it made Kina’s heart ache even more as she watched.

“It will suit her well.”

A gentle yet somehow lonely smile settled at the corner of his lips.

Kina looked at him, then at the jewel in his hand. A red-glowing diamond. It was also the jewel Raon had been preparing in order to propose to Bersha. Realizing the fact she had forgotten amid the chaos of events, she could see clearly the pain he had been hiding.