Epilogue (Part 2)

Anthus closed his eyes to sleep. But he kept feeling restless. Why was his heart so unsettled? The emotion he felt for the first time came with a strange sense of embarrassment.

‘Maybe I should have introduced myself when Father offered.’

Feeling a regret he wasn’t used to, Anthus shook his head.

Ever since seeing Yuliana, Anthus couldn’t sleep. No, he couldn’t bring himself to sleep.

With a deep sigh, he went outside and looked at the moon and stars in the night sky. Seeing the yellow stars and the yellow moon, Yuliana’s golden hair naturally came to mind.

‘Strange. Why do I keep thinking of a yellow chick?’

Anthus felt increasingly frustrated by the unresolved question filling his mind. In all his fifteen years, he had never been this sleepless or unsettled. Something was definitely happening to him.

It was a very serious matter.

Having had a restless night, Anthus woke up in the morning and swung his sword. Unable to focus on his sword training due to lack of sleep, he ended up injuring himself while handling the sword.

“Go show your wound to Lady Loengrin and get it treated.”

Hearing Philip’s instruction to go to Yuliana, Anthus felt his heart drop with a ‘thud.’

“It’s nothing.”

“Go get it treated.”

“I’ll go since you insist, Father.”

Grumbling that he had no choice, Anthus headed towards Yuliana’s tent, his lips curling up slightly. The closer he got to the tent, the more his heart pounded with a strange excitement. Reaching the door of the tent, he let out a sigh from the nervousness. He felt breathless and oddly trembled. It was a feeling he had never experienced before.

He couldn’t understand why he was like this. Why his heart was racing… whether he was nervous or…

He felt embarrassed by the uncontrollable emotions he was experiencing for the first time in his life.

“Phew…”

Opening the door and entering, he found Yuliana smiling as she treated the injured knights.

Anthus quietly waited his turn from the back. Although the knights offered to let him go first, he declined their offers with a wave of his hand.

Anthus observed Yuliana as she treated people. It felt like his heart was running around inside his body. It was bewildering.

As it got closer to his turn to be treated, his heart began to pound like a freshly caught fish flopping around. It felt like his heart might stop.

“Next, please.”

The knight in front of him bowed to Yuliana and showed her his injured leg.

“Undine, heal this person’s leg.”

Droplets of water formed in the air and fell onto the knight’s leg. The injured, bleeding leg healed in an instant. Watching the spirit’s power cleanly erase the wound, Anthus was impressed.

“Next, please.”

It was Anthus’s turn. Seeing Yuliana up close for the first time, she seemed like a forsythia flower in full bloom in spring. When their gazes met, her golden eyes tinged with pink, it felt like his heart dropped with a ‘thud.’

The pounding, as if someone was hammering on his sunken heart, wouldn’t calm down.

“Hello, where are you hurt? Your face is red; could it be a cold? I’m a specialist in external injuries, so if it’s a cold, you should see a doctor.”

At Yuliana’s words, Anthus lowered his head and showed her his injured hand.

“You’re injured. I’ll heal you. Your face is red, so it might be a cold; please make sure to see a doctor. Undine.”

The droplets of water, possessing a will of their own, wrapped around Anthus’s hand, restoring it to its uninjured state.

As the treatment ended quickly, Anthus felt reluctant to leave, feeling a sense of loss.

“Goodbye.”

Yuliana’s words, telling him to leave after the treatment, made Anthus feel disappointed. He didn’t feel good. He couldn’t rationally understand why he was upset, but he was angry.

“Do you not know who I am, young lady?”

“Pardon?”

Meeting Yuliana’s curious gaze, Anthus felt heat rush to his face as he stood up.

“Th-that, uh…”

He stuttered for a moment. He deeply regretted speaking in a childish manner, challenging her to guess who he was.

“I’m sorry. I treat many people, so I can’t remember everyone.”

Hearing Yuliana’s words, Anthus wanted to introduce himself but couldn’t get the words out.

His lips felt dry, and he swallowed hard. The desire to flee clashed with the longing to keep looking at her, making his head spin.

His heart continued to beat powerfully and rapidly.

‘Why am I like this?’

Anthus couldn’t sleep that night either. He sighed, looking up at the stars and moon in the late-night sky.

Then Anthus learned that Yuliana had a fiancé, forced upon her by Rezeph. Although he knew strategic marriages among nobility were common, his heart ached, feeling a stabbing pain.

‘Why do I feel so frustrated and like I’m going crazy?’

Just looking at Yuliana brought on a rush of pain, and he pressed his left chest with his hand, trying to calm it. He even tried taking medicine from a doctor for the unexplained pain, but it was no use.

‘Why am I so annoyed and in pain?’

Sitting atop a tree, Anthus glared at the tent where Yuliana was. Ever since hearing about her engagement, he hadn’t felt good. Honestly, he felt like he was going to go crazy from the rising annoyance.

When the tent door opened and Yuliana came out, his heart started pounding again, and the annoyance quickly subsided.

As a breeze blew, Yuliana’s golden hair rippled like waves. Through the disheveled strands of gold, her eyes shone like the sun, and he found them beautiful, unable to look away.

He asked himself why he was like this. But what came to mind was that he couldn’t take his eyes off Yuliana.

The unfamiliar emotions he felt for the first time were so strange that he wanted to ignore them, yet he kept following Yuliana with his eyes. The more he watched Yuliana smiling brightly while talking to the spirits, the more he wanted to keep watching. And he had this thought.

‘What would it feel like if she smiled at me?’

Seeing Yuliana wave to passing knights and receive their greetings, his heart, which had been still, began to pound so hard it hurt.

It became clear. The reason his heart hurt and why he felt like crying when looking at the night sky was all because of Yuliana.

* * *

Rezeph’s tyranny worsened day by day. Due to the unreasonably high taxes he imposed, people grew poorer, and crime rates soared. Diplomacy was a mess, leading to constant disputes with neighboring countries.

But the real problem lay elsewhere.

Cloud, born between Rezeph and the Empress, naturally ascended as the Crown Prince. Meanwhile, the princes and princesses born to the concubines only wished for Cloud’s disappearance. Only then would they have a chance at the throne.

Eventually, they acted on their wish for Cloud’s disappearance.

“I’m tired. I’m hungry. Prepare a meal, Yan.”

Anthus gave Cloud some cookies to eat lightly. Cloud, seeing something edible in front of him, began eating ravenously.

“Thanks, Yan.”

“Where is Lady Monica? Did you come alone?”

Anthus poured water into a glass and handed it to him.

Anthus knew that Cloud didn’t eat properly in the palace. Not knowing when he might be poisoned, he avoided food as much as possible. He only ate the meals Monica brought.

“Monica had something to do, so she’ll come a bit later. I feel a bit better after eating some cookies.”

“I’ll prepare a meal soon.”

“I owe you. Thanks.”

Cloud gulped down the water, smiling happily.

“Who was it this time, Your Highness?”

At Anthus’s question, Cloud wore a bitter expression.

“It was the nanny.”

“That must have been a shock.”

“Yes, but this incident made me realize something. If I keep just defending, I won’t be able to protect what I want.”

Anthus’s eyes sharpened at Cloud’s words.

“Have you made up your mind?”

“By now, the rumors I’ve spread must be causing quite a stir in the palace. I came here to recruit the Rockbellion family while the palace is in chaos.”

Cloud spoke with a smile like a well-fed lion.

“But Yan, you don’t look well. Did something happen?”

“It’s nothing.”

Having been too hungry to notice Anthus’s complexion earlier, Cloud, after eating the cookies, looked at the unfamiliar, haggard face of Anthus and asked with concern.

“You look like something’s wrong.”

Anthus couldn’t tell Cloud that he kept thinking of Yuliana.

“Nothing, really.”

Thinking it must be nothing, Anthus clenched his hands.

“Was the war very tough? You don’t look well. If you have something on your mind, talk about it. Maybe I can help.”

Cloud found it strange to see Anthus stealing glances and being cautious.

“Seems like you have something on your mind.”

“I don’t.”

“You do. Speak freely.”

Anthus let out a small sigh, then ran his hands over his face in a dry wash.

“Your Highness, have you ever experienced… these kinds of feelings?”

“What kind of feelings specifically, Yan?”

“What is it called when you want to keep looking at someone?”

Cloud narrowed his eyes, looking at Anthus. It was a question that didn’t suit him at all.