Chapter 2 – What Remains the Same and What Doesn’t (11)

“It must have been a tiring day for you, Lady.”

He said as he drew back the canopy wrapped in layers of organza silk.

“…No, Sir.”

Bjorn, the young king of Scandar, who became her husband today. He placed one knee on the bed and slowly shifted his weight to sit closer to his bride.

With his back to the lamp, his shadow made him seem larger than she originally knew. Perhaps it was because the long hair he had always kept tied up in Gotiue was now cascading down towards her.

“Yes, Your Majesty too…”

He stared at Chloe, who sat with her legs folded to one side and frozen in place, for a long time before letting out a short laugh and smiling. He reached out and gently covered Chloe’s nearby hand with his.

“There’s no need to be so afraid. Though we are acquainted, it’s almost as if we are meeting for the first time…”

Chloe watched him closely, as if trying to engrave every tiny movement into her memory. To him, it might have seemed like the fear of a prey animal hoping for mercy.

“It’s not that I don’t understand what worries you. I just want to say,”

He spoke melodiously, raising Chloe’s hand to deeply press his lips into the back of it. She had received countless hand kisses, but none felt as deep and profound as this.

“I just wanted to say that I have waited a long time for this moment. For all those times in the palace courtyard, at some banquet, or at some salon, when I had no choice but to keep your smile in my heart.”

Chloe slowly lifted her head, her trembling eyes reflected in his calm gaze. His hazel eyes momentarily gleamed gold. She thought it was due to the lamp’s light, but in time, Chloe would realize it was a reflection of some inner warmth.

“I will wait until your heart comes to me.”

The first night passed without incident, with her husband promising future days, understanding her fears. His parting words that night continued to resonate softly in her heart throughout their years as a couple, even until now.

“We have plenty of time ahead of us.”

Why does this memory come to mind at such a time?

On the day she was proclaimed the second queen of Scandar, wearing traditional ceremonial garb for the first time, her husband’s gentle voice seemed to read her tense mind.

The prince she had known since Gotiue always spoke to her in that manner.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes…”

Realizing she had forgotten to speak, she quickly accepted the book he handed over.

“Have you come to see His Majesty?”

“Yes, I was suddenly summoned to the palace.”

His eyebrows drooped as if troubled, despite the gentle smile on his face. Among the expressions she had seen most during their three years as a couple, Chloe felt a strange sense of warmth.

It was an expression she often saw when she asked for a favor or expressed an opinion. A look that politely declined, a look that found it difficult to explain.

That face was five years younger, just like hers, but his expressions were exactly as she remembered.

Every time, Chloe never got what she wanted, but now she already knew the answer he wouldn’t tell her.

‘He must have been summoned to interrogate because the separatists were arrested.’

Originally, if the coup had succeeded, there would have been nothing to hide, and no one would have dared to ask. But with the coup having failed, the fact that the separatists were detained at the police headquarters was a secret known to only a select few.

Thus, Chloe chose to respond vaguely, unable to offer any pleasantries like wishing him a good time.

“I see. It must be tiring for you.”

After saying that, Chloe could only hope her response was appropriate.

The fondness she felt for Bjorn at that time wasn’t of any rational nature, but memories of their years as a married couple kept surfacing, making her heart tremble uncontrollably.

To soothe Chloe’s homesick loneliness, he showered her with gold, silver, and luxurious silk clothes, but what truly reached her and opened her heart were his tender words.

The confession that ‘the prince who always smiled kindly when we met’ had actually admired her since his time in Gotiue.

‘When I could finally make demands of the Empire, I couldn’t help but think of you.’

‘Though I gained you through negotiation… where else could I have found such an opportunity?’

‘It feels like a dream to see you wearing my country’s clothes, eating my country’s food, and staying in my residence.’

Thinking that behind his courteous smile, he was hiding his affection for her, Chloe felt her heart flutter with shyness.

Unaware of this, Bjorn merely looked curiously at the lady who was unusually quiet today. After a brief hesitation, he spoke while glancing at the book he had just picked up and returned to Chloe.

“By the way, ‘The Fantastic Journey of Cronanberg Blanc’… It seems you have fanciful tastes, my lady.”

‘Reading such romances, it seems you have fanciful tastes, Madame.’

Hearing words she’d once heard, Chloe found it difficult to hide her twitching lips in delight. Hearing the same words from the young man who had cherished her so openly back then, who she hadn’t even guessed at his feelings, brought a fresh wave of emotion.

Feeling a tickling sensation in her heart, Chloe impulsively spoke.

“I heard the Almoe Garden… is quite beautiful.”

“The Almoe Garden, you say?”

His face, which had been perfectly composed with a gentle smile, froze in a peculiar way.

“Yes, I heard the view from the pavilion by the lake in winter is wonderful…”

The first winter she spent in Scandar, the tea time at the Almoe Garden pavilion with him.

When winter settled in the Shevik royal palace less than two months after Chloe arrived in Scandar, her husband took time off from work to spend time with her, as the short days added a touch of melancholy to her homesickness.

Almoe Garden, created around a vast lake in the royal palace’s rear garden. With all the trees covered in snow and the lake frozen over, everything was pure white. As the snowy landscape reminded her of winter vacations at Court Palatine, Chloe’s eyes unknowingly grew moist, and he came over to kiss her eyes. The damp warmth of his hands, which gathered Chloe’s hands holding a magic stone hand warmer and held them tightly.

And the tender words he murmured softly.

‘Now I am your family, Madame.’

That day, with a deep kiss that followed, she opened the deepest parts of her heart to him. The long nights in Scandar were no longer lonely.

Mentioning the garden filled with unforgettable romance was due to a slight sense of anticipation.

Because she saw a glimpse of her future husband in the twenty-seven-year-old Bjorn she was looking at.

Wondering if her cherished husband might also be experiencing the same thing as her. Whether it was a mystery that occurred only in the Shevik royal palace or only to the Scandar royalty.

Wondering if he too was living five years in reverse…

“I didn’t expect you to know about my homeland’s royal palace, my lady.”

But his face, which seemed somehow reluctant, only managed to produce a semblance of a smile with the corners of his lips.

“What did you ask about?”

Is that famous? 

Mirabelle, who had been silently observing the awkward atmosphere between them, whispered. It was after Bjorn had once again crafted a gentle smile, saying, “Well then, until next time,” and passed by.

“Just had something to confirm.”

Chloe sighed softly.

‘It seems my husband doesn’t know anything.’

Though she was displeased with his evasiveness, Mirabelle stopped probing further when she saw the troubled expression on Chloe’s face. Her almost-sister, who had no secrets from her, must have had her reasons.

‘She’ll tell me when the time is right……?’

Instead, Mirabelle sighed out a comment that Gotiue’s noble ladies often made reflexively upon seeing Bjorn.

“That prince is always so pretty, isn’t he?”

Pretty prince. That was how Bjorn was referred to in Gotiue’s social circles.

Bjorn Scandar was a rare type of handsome man in Gotiue. While the 1st Prince Frederick and Demetrian were, if categorized, more ruggedly handsome, Bjorn, with his fair skin, light hair, and bright eyes, was more aptly described as beautiful rather than handsome. Regardless of his type, as a handsome foreign prince, he was popular.

When he occasionally crafted a faint smile from his otherwise inscrutable expression, and when it sometimes turned into that lovely smile, the noble ladies of Gotiue would imagine eloping with him to Scandar at least once. In their imagined world, Gotiue’s noblemen with daughters shed tears of blood at least once.

Although Scandar was still part of the Imperial Federation, the closed Scandar royal family would never accept an empress from the Empire, making such a fantasy unlikely. But fantasies are more thrilling when they are less likely to come true, aren’t they?

Recalling her future where all those prejudices were shattered, Chloe muttered in response.

“Yes, he is, indeed, pretty.”

Her wedding, where the groom was said to be prettier than the bride. Mirabelle had once fumed, saying that the women of Scandar’s social circles were spreading such talk at the reception.

But none of those who uttered such words knew the sensation of those strands flowing like gold thread into her hands when she untied his low-tied hair, how soft it felt.

“That prince’s escort, I bet even Amgi would use him. Shall we bet?”

Lost in such thoughts, Chloe felt her face grow warm, not even knowing what Mirabelle was saying.

‘I’m being foolish, it’s still a long way off.’

Chloe shook her head once and tried to hasten her steps again.

Or at least she tried to.

“Oh, we meet again today.”

Mirabelle’s voice rang out with surprise.

Standing at the entrance to the outer palace courtyard was Demetrian, as if he had been there all along.

When they met during the day, he seemed slightly elated, as if some task had been handled well, but now he stood with his expression hardened.

His blue eyes flashed as if burning. But his expression seemed rather sad.