Chapter 1 – I Woke Up and It Was 5 Years Ago (1)

‘Again, that dream.’

In the hazy boundary between dream and reality, Chloe realized she had awakened from sleep and sighed to herself.

‘Just makes my heart restless for no reason.’

Even after coming to Scandar, the events of the last day she met Demetrian replayed in her dreams several times.

Demetrian’s office, where a heavier tangle of emotions than ever weighed down on the two of them, and every detail of the scenery. The last taste of the Senate’s tea leaves, and things like the famous city bakery biscuits that Chloe kept for her visits even though she didn’t eat them…

She wondered if she had ever seen such a pained expression on his face. In the end, he couldn’t even meet her eyes properly, and he spoke words that were almost meaningless, carefully enunciating each word.

‘I’ll write often. If there’s a chance to be dispatched to Scandar as an envoy, I’ll definitely volunteer.’

That was already three years ago.

A month later, the young king of Scandar signed the independence agreement at the imperial palace of Arthuzen, and Chloe crossed over to Scandar. Two months later, the royal wedding took place.

Time flew by like an arrow, and somehow the longing dulled.

It was probably thanks to the young king of Scandar, who always treated her with respect, and the prosperous life in the separate palace. The closed-off royal family of Scandar did not give an official position to an imperial-born consort, but with fewer obligations, each day passed without major upheaval.

It had been three years since she left the empire. Despite not receiving any proper correspondence from the beloved acquaintances in Arthuzen’s social circles, she wasn’t lonely because of her kind husband who promised not to take an official concubine. He publicly called Chloe his beloved consort and wished for her to enjoy only the finest things, so rare treasures from all over gathered at the separate palace of Shevik.

Above all, every summer, her mother, who had newly designated Scandar’s capital as a summer resort, visited her lonely daughter.

‘She said she’d pass through the border portal today, so she’ll arrive in Shevik tomorrow.’

On one summer day, when her mother was set to step on Scandar’s soil for the third time.

‘In the morning, the curtains for the guest room will arrive, so I’ll check them, and in the afternoon, I planned to finalize the arrangements with the head maid and maids. The chamberlain is also coming to discuss the welcome banquet. It’ll be a busy day for the first time in a while.’

Chloe, awakened by the sunlight piercing her closed eyes, counted her schedule for the day.

—That was unusual.

‘Woken up by the sunlight?’

The summer in the northern Scandar was cool, but the sunlight was sharper. So there were no windows on the east side to prevent sunlight in the morning.

‘Had the maids not woken me up until the sun was high in the sky, or was I so tired that I slept late in the first place?’

Thinking such things, Chloe lifted her eyelids, and a scene she dearly missed unfolded before her eyes.

The ceiling painting depicted the eight apostles of the god Erd depicted as baby angels. When the early morning sunlight streamed in, Chloe’s guardian apostle, the consciousness of beauty and war, Beram, would shine brightly.

In other words, this was the view of the room where she had spent over 20 years before coming to Scandar.

‘Having strange dreams just because Mother is visiting.’

Chloe, taking in the scenery with her eyes, drew a simple conclusion.

Since crossing over to Scandar, she hadn’t been able to visit her hometown even once, the Lacroix Palace in Gotiue, the capital of Arthuzen. The townhouse where she played with her siblings and hosted tea parties with close ladies.

The small parlor where a few young gentlemen, who almost took an interest in her, came and went, the study where she learned etiquette and culture, the backyard training ground where she exercised… All those spaces and the memories there flooded back at once.

And, the face that occupied the largest share of those memories…

Following the natural flow of thoughts, Chloe let out a self-deprecating chuckle.

‘He said he’d come as an envoy, yet not even a letter.’

Her first love from her homeland, who didn’t even inform her of his engagement, although his young fiancé must have debuted in the social scene by now—remained vivid despite the passing years.

The second queen of a nation, who knew that her youthful pre-marital crush should no longer mean anything, decided to escape from the nostalgic scenery.

If she found herself still dreaming when she opened her eyes, she thought she could just fall asleep again.

As she pulled the blanket over to cover the sunlight, the flower bracelet on her wrist caught her eye. Purple anemones as the main flower, with small roses and sweet peas delicately encircling her wrist.

‘That’s right, roses bloomed early in Gotiue.’

Unmarried ladies attending the ball held on the first day of the festival week wore such flower bracelets to wish for the blessings of the new spring. The nostalgic feeling surged once more. Come to think of it, she seemed to have worn a ribbon like this once…

It was when she was about to fall asleep again.

“Loi! Aren’t we going to the city?”

Chloe opened her eyes again at the lively voice that pierced her ears.

It was the voice of her milk sister Mirabelle, which she heard every day, yet something felt unfamiliar.

(T/N: A milk sister is a woman who has been breastfed by the same woman as another person, creating a familial relationship between the two. This relationship is also known as milk kinship, suckling sister, or nursing sister.)

‘The tone is a bit higher, and she doesn’t call me “Your Highness”…’

Yes, there was a lack of formality.

Mirabelle, who had come with her from Arthuzen and still served as a maid, had been so courteous that it was almost disappointing after being harshly defeated in a power struggle with the head maid, saying she couldn’t learn court etiquette.

Thud. The weight of another person added onto the blanket was surprising. Even when Chloe suggested they be at ease when alone, Mirabelle couldn’t do it.

“What’s going on? Aren’t there other maids?”

In her delight, she threw off the blanket, disregarding the dignity of “Your Highness,” and the ceiling painting from her childhood filled her view once more. And then, Mirabelle’s face popped out.

It was Mirabelle, yet something was different from the Mirabelle she saw last night. Her cheeks were chubbier, and her eyes brighter. Unlike the maids in the Scandar court, whose hair was tucked under their hats, Mirabelle’s purple hair was braided into one dangling at the crown of her head.

‘Am I still not awake from that dream?’

It was exactly how Mirabelle looked when they were together at the townhouse in Gotiue.

Trying to fall asleep again, she blurred her focus, but instead, her mind became increasingly clear.

‘Can you feel your sleep slipping away in a dream…’

Finding it strange, she tried to sit up, but for some reason, her head started to ache. This dream was truly synesthetic.

Groaning, she pressed her forehead with her hand, and the flower bracelet remained in her line of sight.

“What do you mean? My lady, you were drinking so much yesterday, hasn’t the alcohol worn off yet?”

“Alcohol?”

“You said the festival wine was delicious and drank so much, then sneaked some from the Earl’s collection again after returning home.”

“…Festival wine?”

Hearing Mirabelle recount the story of the alcohol, she felt a lingering sensation in her nose and throat.

The imperial brewery’s rosé sparkling wine, served only at imperial banquets, with its subtle, earthy aroma and gentle carbonation. The way the carbonation shimmered in rainbow colors in the glass after being blessed was so pretty that she couldn’t help but keep drinking it.

That was at the festival week ball she attended for the first time after coming of age.

And she was sure she vowed never to be fooled by pretty drinks again, which was definitely five years ago… Gulp, she could vividly feel the sensation of that swallow going down her throat.

“Still, you had the decency not to touch the new wine.”

“Could it be the 893 vintage Muang…?”

When she looked with a doubtful expression, Mirabelle laughed, creating wrinkles on her nose.

“Your memory is amazing, even in this situation.”

So, the memory of pulling out something, saying it was the same vintage as her, surfaced haphazardly…

Ah, this morning, with a hangover pounding her head, was definitely five years ago, in the spring of Imperial Year 913, the day after the festival week ball.

The headache made it difficult to organize her thoughts properly. It was clearly a dream from when she was twenty, but it was too vivid and realistic. Specifically, it was a day from the past.

The purple anemone decorating the center of the flower bracelet was picked from the greenhouse of Duke Crevelle, and without her realizing it, a few petals had been plucked…

When she slowly examined the hand that pressed her forehead, indeed, two or three anemone petals were plucked, just as Chloe remembered.

Mirabelle, watching Chloe’s actions, narrowed her eyes.

“Stop being so stingy. The Crevelle greenhouse is full of flowers… Ah, is that why he came? Because you whined so much yesterday.”

“Came?”

“No, why did Young Master Demi come? We were supposed to go to the city together.”

“Demi?”

Her voice, sharp with surprise, echoed.

The confusion about this vivid dream and the new information pouring in made her aching head seem to calm down at the mention of a name that didn’t fit the early morning at her hometown.

Demi, Demetrian. When loneliness struck unexpectedly in the court of Scandar, he was someone she missed as much as, or perhaps more than, her family. The one who, when she last saw him three years ago, had casually bid farewell, which ended up being their farewell, the face she habitually thought of from the start of this dream…

Chloe gently wrapped the flower bracelet around her wrist.

‘Demi is here…?’

Leaving the confused Chloe behind, Mirabelle pulled the bell rope to call the maids to help her dress. Then she took out a light gold indoor dress from the wardrobe. It was newly tailored in the autumn of her nineteenth year.

“Didn’t you ask him to come yesterday? Everyone was so surprised when he arrived at dawn.”

So, the person she dearly missed was here to see her now.

Chloe gently pressed her pounding heart. Perhaps, perhaps the feelings she had suppressed for so long were bursting out in this dream set against the backdrop of her hometown without guilt.

“Get it together, Miss. Or would you rather wear this?”

Thinking Chloe’s dazed look was due to a hangover, Mirabelle wrinkled her nose and shook another dress. That pearl-colored indoor dress would be ruined by the maids’ mistake in the Lazure region during her summer vacation at twenty. That is, three months from now.

As she washed, changed clothes, and had her hair done by the maids, Chloe thought intensely about the current situation.

‘So, it’s April five years ago, and I fell asleep in Shevik’s separate palace and woke up to this situation, so it must be a dream…’

But everything was so vivid.

When she discreetly pinched the back of her hand, it hurt, as expected.

‘Is this really reality or what?’

This morning, when Mirabelle treated her without formality, and the situation where she could see Demetrian after three years, what on earth was happening?

‘If this is a dream, will I wake up if I fall asleep again? I failed earlier, though… Should I meet Demi first and then think about it? But…’

But no matter how much she thought about it, she had no memory of Demetrian visiting her on this day five years ago. The excitement of seeing him again aside, it was puzzling. Chloe, who surpassed even the prodigious memory and memorization skills of the academy’s top student Demetrian and her administrative prodigy brother Etienne, wouldn’t be confused about this.

‘Is it really a dream?’

Is that why she could meet him, who hadn’t sent any news for almost three years since leaving Arthuzen?

Even if it were so, she couldn’t contain her excitement because it was so vivid. Chloe waited anxiously for the maids to finish their arrangements. She wanted to see him quickly.