Taran dismounted and headed for the shade of the tree, and he found a flat spot to sit. Leaning his back against the tree, Taran patted the ground, telling Ian to sit beside him.

A cool breeze blew and cooled his heated head.

“Lucia’s spring is worth seeing. Plenty of different flowers too.”

Taran, in a good mood, said with a smile.

“To think the day would come when you smile at flowers. Has spring come to Your Highness’s heart?”

“I’m on my way to meet my future wife. That is quite a heart-fluttering thing.”

Taran’s eyes swept over the flowers growing by the roadside. Nameless flowers bloomed prettily in many colors.

“I did something wrong long ago.”

“Ah. I think I might remember.”

“Yes. You were there too.”

“…Was it that a table was overturned?”

“To be exact, she was the one overturned onto the table.”

Taran chuckled.

“The attention of the entire populace is on Your Highness’s marriage.”

“Just the populace? The whole world is focused on it.”

“The one most deeply interested of them all is….”

Ian trailed off. Then Taran sprang to his feet and strode toward a flower he was eyeing.

It was a tiny flower with an eye-catching yellow glow.

“It caught plenty of sun. The color is vivid.”

Ian continued calmly, seemingly unbothered by being ignored.

“It’s important, isn’t it?”

“Important, huh….”

“Lady Ariel will not stay quiet.”

“True.”

Taran answered carelessly as he picked the flower.

“How will you handle it?”

“I haven’t thought about it.”

“Do you think the princess of Lucia can overcome Lady Ariel?”

“Hmm….”

Taran’s hand, busily picking flowers, paused. He suddenly recalled the black-haired girl who bumped into him and fell long ago. She sprawled unsightly onto a table full of juice and champagne….

‘Covered in sweet liquid from head to toe, and she couldn’t get angry even once.’

Soon Taran shook his head and answered.

“That would be a bit hard.”

“Then….”

“Then what? Can a woman who can’t look after herself hold out in the crown princess seat?”

Having completed his bouquet before he knew it, Taran mounted his horse again.

“The one who takes the seat isn’t wrong. The one who loses it is simply weak.”

On the face of Taran, who mounted with a smooth motion, a cold, arrogant expression had already settled.

He raised the tip of his smooth chin toward the cloudless sky. In his other hand, the one not gripping the reins, he held a simple but beautiful bouquet.

The world was this warm and clear, yet in the eyes of Taran gazing at the sky there was neither any particular emotion nor warmth.

There was only an empty void that did not suit the vibrant bouquet.

Ian silently watched his lord.

Taran straightened his posture and tugged the reins short, and the black horse swayed its tail and moved forward. Ian soon followed.

Carriages loaded with dazzling treasures, silver-armored knights lined up in rows, sunlight pouring down on them, a moderate wind, and a blue sky.

It was a perfect procession, yet somehow the faces of the two men at the very front were full of shadow.

* * *

“In three days, Felix’s delegation enters the castle. Are the preparations going well?”

King Gryphon asked, raising a round cup filled with red wine. At his question, the faces of Queen Natalian and Lia, seated around the table, stiffened.

Seven-year-old Prince Lemian, still young, carefully set down the fork he was holding when the adults’ mood turned strange. He was a child with considerable tact.

“Blair. Your father is asking.”

The king pressed Lia, who kept her mouth shut, as he wet his lips with wine.

“What is there for me to prepare? I only have to do as I’m told.”

At her by no means pleasant answer, his white eyebrows, like a dragon’s tail, twitched.

“You know well yourself that this is a situation where not a single mistake can be tolerated.”

“How could I not?”

A strange air flowed between the king and the princess. The king’s expression froze cold like midwinter frost, and the frightened Prince Lemian furrowed his brows like he might burst into tears.

Sensing something amiss, Queen Natalian stepped in to smooth things over.

“The food will get cold. Please eat, Your Majesty. Every woman about to marry becomes sensitive.”

The queen had said not a word throughout the meal besides simple interjections. Now such a woman raised her voice to shield Lia. It seemed unexpected to the king as well, for his brows returned to their place.

“Make sure it proceeds without a hitch. Everything is for the sake of this country, Lucia.”

The king took up his knife as he finished speaking. Under his hand, brown chunks of meat were sliced apart, went into his large mouth, and were crushed without restraint.

Lia was driven mad by his every move. Her appetite vanished completely, and she endured the dreadful dinner moistening her tongue with water alone.

The queen seemed the same, for after the meal, the first dishes that were served sat cold on the two plates, unchanged in shape.

Even a trial that seems endless eventually ends.

Finally alone, Lia headed to the small garden in front of the court library. The arched dome beneath the pitch-black night sky glittered in the starlight. She stood there alone.

“Father. Are you watching? I’m here.”

Lia’s lovely voice blended into the quiet night air.

She sank onto the chilly library steps like collapsing. Her hand swept across the cold stone floor.

“Do you know? I really live in the castle now.”

She looked up at the golden handle of the firmly shut door. Her black eyes, drowned in tears, wavered.

She recalled a man with thick white hair and warm brown eyes.

“You always said so. That I might live in the castle, who knows….”

Her low voice was dampened by salty moisture. She began muttering alone in a place where no answer came.

“It’s so very wide and clean here. Ah, I got a tremendously big room. It’s filled with clean furniture where not a single thing is broken. Also, I can talk anytime with kind people, and every day clean, ironed clothes are put on me. Every hour a table full of delicious food is prepared, and I eat it deliciously. But do you know…? Even while enjoying such luxury, I miss the small, worn house where we two lived….”

Hot tears ran down Lia’s cheeks. The tears falling thickly, drop by drop, flowed down her slender chin and finally soaked the area around her collarbone.

“Father… you’re no longer a fugitive. You’re not a librarian who neglected his duty and ran off irresponsibly. You’ve become the most responsible and wise librarian in history. At the last place we lived, a wishing tower bearing your name will be built, and people will go before it and pray for the well-being of their precious ones. For health and safety….”

Her small shoulders heaved roughly, and black dots began to appear on the gray ground. She could not control the surging emotion. It felt like a bank filled to the brim finally burst. Only now did Lia truly feel her father’s death.

“Rest in peace. You turned gray raising a thoughtless daughter, so please, at least there… meet my beloved mom and be happy. Please….”

Before she knew it, countless black dots covered the ground beyond counting. In the blink of an eye, they spread across the whole ground and soaked her clothes through.

Spring rain. It was spring rain.

* * *

At last, the day that everyone except one woman eagerly awaited was right at hand. The deafening blast of trumpets echoed off every part of Lucia’s high walls, and the king’s expectant voice stirred the whole nation.

“We sincerely welcome your arrival!”

At noon, with the sun beating straight down, the huge pillars rising on either side of the castle entrance stood majestic, raising their spirits high. Through the grand triumphal arch, a young, beautiful man appeared atop a black horse. Dozens of silver knights and several jewel-laden carriages followed behind him, glittering brilliantly in a display of Felix’s might, and their momentum was truly formidable.