“…Brother? I just heard something break.”

“Ah. The lid of the box was hard to open, High Priest.”

“There are lids even a Sword Master has trouble opening?”

“It was a precious imperial command from His Majesty. Naturally, it was sealed thoroughly.”

“Here it is.”

Lavi opened the box lid and handed it to the High Priest.

The High Priest frowned.

“You said it was stored thoroughly, Brother.”

The moon fragment, which should’ve been round, now sat in the box shaped like a crescent. With stone dust scattered messily around the magic stone, it seemed clear that Lavi had only half-listened to the imperial command.

“Why the face, High Priest? Isn’t His Majesty waiting?”

Lavi said nonchalantly as he pushed the High Priest along.

Swallowing a mountain of nagging, the High Priest shot Lavi a glare. Lavi scratched the side of his head.

“So… is the fragment too small to aid in His Majesty’s recovery?”

Maybe he took too much off. Lavi asked the High Priest anxiously.

“This amount… is sufficient…”

The High Priest opened his mouth wide, then closed it again.

Who would dare lay a hand on His Majesty’s offering? Was it boldness or sheer gall? Looking at Lavi—reckless as the rumors claimed—the High Priest clicked his tongue in disapproval.

“What is it, High Priest?”

The Emperor, immersed in the sacred water with his eyes closed, slowly opened them. His golden eyes, inherited from the late Empress, sparkled like jewels.

“It is nothing, Your Majesty.”

The High Priest took the half-moon fragment and approached the Emperor. He carefully placed it into the sacred water.

The moon fragment reacted with the water, emitting a radiant white light. The white light filled the room, forming a great beam that wrapped around the Emperor like a snake.

The Emperor’s body glowed brightly.

Soon, the light subsided. Through the dispersing mist-like glow, the Emperor was revealed.

Tears were falling from his eyes.

The High Priest quickly ordered everyone out of the chamber. All the priests, including Lavi, quietly exited the purification room.

“…Father. Mother…”

The Emperor kept calling for his parents. Were the memories too painful? He scratched at his chest near the heart with his fingernails. Each movement of his arm sent gentle splashing sounds through the water.

“I was left all alone… I was…still lonely. So that’s how it was…”

His words came out scattered and broken.

Facing the Emperor, the High Priest bowed his head.

“I know this is difficult, but I must ask you to report your condition to me, Your Majesty.”

“Ah… I’m fine. I am perfectly fine. No… I am not fine. My heart feels like it’s tearing apart.”

Each time the Emperor rubbed his chest, red marks appeared on his strong upper arm. As soon as the sacred water touched them, they vanished as if erased.

“Before I remembered… the loneliness was bearable. But now that I’ve remembered, this loneliness… became unbearable, High Priest.”

“Your Majesty, you are surrounded by loyal and devoted retainers.”

“Haha… Is that so? But I desire something else. Right now, I feel like proposing to any noble lady I come across.”

“What if… Your Majesty had a younger sister?”

“…What?”

Ha, what nonsense is this? The Emperor scooped the sacred water with both hands and splashed it over his face. The tears soaking his cheeks were washed away by the cold water.

“I thought the late Empress had passed away… but it seems she lived for a while afterward.”

“!”

Splash.

The surprised Emperor lost his balance while seated. He nearly plunged face-first into the shallow water.

“At the late Empress’s funeral,” the High Priest said, “the palace physician secretly came to me and confessed. That Her Majesty had been pregnant, and asked me to also console the soul of the unborn child.”

And that physician fled afterward. He must have known he would lose his head if he reported it to the previous Emperor.

“I do not know the circumstances, but it seems the late Empress passed away after conceiving a princess.”

“Where is she? Where is the princess?!”

‘I’ll find her myself.’ The Emperor rose to his feet with a splash, stepping out of the sacred water.

Gone was the crushing loneliness. His face now brimmed with a desperate will to live.

“Brother Lavirus brought her here, Your Majesty.”

“…What?”

“The golden-haired woman Brother Lavirus carried in today. She is the princess… Your Majesty?!”

Crash.

The Emperor’s legs gave out and he collapsed to the ground. The High Priest helped him up.

The Emperor rushed out of the purification room.

He ran toward the healing chamber where Sel was.

His unfamiliar behavior startled the courtiers, who followed him in confusion.

At the center of the healing room was a white bed. Sel lay there, unconscious, her long golden hair spread out beneath her.

The female priests were channeling divine power into her, healing her.

“It was her. That child…!”

Ah.

Now that the memories had returned, he could see. That face. That face resembles his mother.

“My only blood kin.”

‘Ah… Heaven has not abandoned me.’ Tears welled up quickly, blurring his vision.

The Emperor staggered toward Sel. The priests quietly stepped aside.

“Thank you.”

He grasped her limp hand tightly. Then pressed the back of her pale hand to his forehead.

He could feel her faint pulse—proof of life.

“Thank you for living. Thank you for existing.”

With every word he spoke, a piece of the bitter loneliness fell away.

“Thank you… for appearing before me. Truly.”

He tried his best to hold back the sobs, but each breath came with a choked rasp through a nose full of tears.

“I must think of everything I couldn’t do for you until now. I’ll do them all. I’ll make Latrancia a paradise for you. I will do everything in my power to make this a country where you can live with pride as a princess. This brother of yours will give it his all.”

‘So please, just open your eyes. Come find me in good health.’

Like a man praying to a goddess, the Emperor clutched Sel’s hand and murmured those words.

To the lonely Emperor, Sel was a gift from the goddess, a bloodline more precious than any treasure.

***

When she opened her eyes, she was on an unfamiliar bed.

The bed, draped in layer upon layer of fabric as light as dragonfly wings, was unlike anything Sel had ever seen before.

Her body felt so heavy that she couldn’t even lift a finger.

As Sel slowly surveyed her surroundings, the door opened at just the right moment.

A person entirely in white entered, their silver hair hanging straight down, wearing immaculate ceremonial robes.

It was the High Priest.

“Are you conscious now?”

“High Priest?! Where… where am I?”

“This is the temple, Your Highness.”

The High Priest bowed deeply to Sel as he spoke.

Just as Sel moved her neck to raise her upper body, she froze like stone.

All the things that had happened before she collapsed began flooding back into her mind.

“You have endured much, walking the arduous path of fate.”

The High Priest smiled gently, gazing at the confused Sel.

His gaze felt as though it saw through everything.

“Did you already know?”

“No. The seal left by the late Empress was so perfect, I couldn’t sense Your Highness’s presence at all. I only…”

He paused for a moment, examining Sel’s facial features one by one.

“…held a faint possibility in mind.”

Saying that the Goddess always watches over the world, the High Priest gave a slight smile.

“Then why am I here?”

“After your awakening, you lost consciousness in the Black Forest. You awoke after a week.”

“!”

“Just the awakening itself was taxing, and since you also used your powers, your body must have been under great strain.”

The moment he finished speaking, someone began pounding loudly on the door.

The door shook as if it might break.

“We’ll talk more later. It seems an impatient person has arrived.”

After bowing to Sel, the High Priest left the room.

At the same time, Lavi entered in his navy uniform, walking briskly.

He approached Sel and carefully examined her condition.

From his dry lips came a low, cracked voice.

“Sel… no, Your Highness, how are you feeling?”

What had happened to him while she was unconscious? Looking at his especially gaunt face, Sel called out to him with concern.

“…Commander.”

“Please, call me Lavirus. Or just Lavi.”

“Don’t suddenly say things like that. It sounds strange.”

“You are now my princess, Your Highness.”

Lavi insisted she would have to get used to it, even if it felt awkward.

Sel bit her lower lip. It was the phrase “my princess” rather than “Your Highness” that made her feel more embarrassed.

“Your Highness was unconscious for seven whole days. Truly, each day felt like the sky was falling.”

Lavi had carried Sel back to the mercenary corps after she collapsed in the Black Forest.

But Edel, the corps’ resident physician, said her condition was beyond medical understanding. Without hesitation, Lavi had taken Sel straight to the temple.

Even though it would normally take days by magic carriage, he rode Limpha through the night to get there.

He was scolded by the High Priest for traveling so recklessly with a sick person on horseback, but Lavi had been that desperate.

“I’m all right now, Lavi. But… what happened to your arm?”

She noticed the bandage wrapped around one of his arms.

Since their first meeting, Lavi had never been physically injured.

“Please tell me. How did you get hurt?”

What could have possibly injured someone as strong as him?

Worried that it might have been her fault again, Sel tugged on the hem of his clothing.

Helpless under her faint touch, Lavi sat down at the bedside.

He shrugged his shoulders as if it were nothing.

“There was an ambush on the way back to the mercenary corps. A corpse possessed by an evil spirit appeared and launched a curse. I was momentarily off guard.”

The corpse had suddenly appeared and attacked Lavi as he carried Sel.

It had cast a curse at Sel, and Lavi, in his haste to block it, intercepted it with his bare arm.

At the thought of Sel being hurt, he hadn’t even had time to draw his sword.

“You nag me so much about not getting hurt… You should’ve been more careful yourself.”

“This is nothing. The one who truly suffered is you, Your Highness. You had to bear such a great burden.”

Why did those words affect her so much? Heat welled up in Sel’s eyes, which had been so dry.

She bit down on her lip and lowered her head.

“Did you know… the ghost that tormented you… was my father?”

“I know.”

“I’m so sorry. I’m truly sorry, Lavi.”

“Your Highness.”

“Even if I could turn back time, I would still accept the spirit of the late Emperor. Because of it, I met you.”

Lavi placed his hand gently over Sel’s trembling one.

He held her delicate hand tightly.

“I’m more worried about you than anything else, Your Highness. Why do you insist on bearing your pain alone?”

He gently raised her chin.

Sel’s face, which had been turned downward, now met his gaze.

Tears had drenched her face—she must have been crying silently.

“My mother…?”

“The body of the late Empress is currently undergoing purification at the temple. Due to remnants of barbarian curses, a funeral cannot be held right away.”

“I saw her. The mother I had waited for so long… I saw her, but…”

What had she even said in that precious moment they were reunited?

What kind of words had she wasted that rare chance on?

“Mother couldn’t even die in peace and was trapped there for nine years. I used to get so angry just thinking about her. But when I actually saw her… it broke my heart.”

“Sel.”

Lavi gently called her name, not her title, and wiped away her tears.

“Why was I so foolish, huhuh… Why did I just pour out blame during that precious time…!”

Huuuuuuh…

Sel’s upper body collapsed into Lavi’s arms.

Raising both arms, Lavi embraced her completely.

He held her so tightly, not even a breeze or a single ray of light could reach her.