“The flowers are falling.”

Spring was already slipping away. And it wasn’t just the season that was distancing itself.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Though she couldn’t claim to have lived long even combining her past life and current one, she knew that much for certain.

The unfamiliar tension, the mixed feelings of dislike for various reasons, yet the rising curiosity, the breath helplessly stained with fascination, the hot body temperature and the sensation of his lips…….

All those past events felt incredibly distant and hazy.

“All those things…… feel like a dream.”

She couldn’t reach out to grab him, nor could she see his purple eyes. Gradually, even the traces he had left behind were fading.

Sometimes when she dozed off and woke up, everything felt like it had been a dream, leaving an ache in the corner of her heart.

“I thought I hated it when he appeared suddenly without warning, yet now I feel empty……”

Who was truly acting on a whim? Elia deliberately ignored the cold question.

The more she tried, the more curious she became about where Rockfort was now and what he was doing. Above all, she wanted to know if he still wondered about her well-being.

“Spring always arrives suddenly and passes in the blink of an eye.”

The lilac petals fluttering outside the window seemed futile. The day Rockfort had suddenly visited, drinking tea under those lilac flowers now seemed like a mirage.

She resented how easily the flowers fell after enchanting people’s hearts with their captivating scent.

“My lady, shall I bring tea?”

The diligent Cyril came to check on Elia who was alone. She was about to shake her head but instead called Cyril closer and said,

“Would you and Mona go to the garden and gather some fallen lilac petals for me?”

“Yes. What will you use them for?”

“It’s a shame to waste such pretty petals, so I plan to dry them for bookmarks or sachets.”

“I understand. I’ll select intact petals.”

“Don’t pick flowers that haven’t fallen yet.”

Even small, insignificant petals still had the right to live.

“Yes, my lady.”

After Cyril paid proper respects and withdrew, Elia again gazed at the lilac petals swaying in what little remained of the spring breeze.

“I wonder if flowers bloom there too……”

She was unaware that she had been talking to herself more frequently lately.

* * *

Rockfort returned to the battlefield immediately after resolving Leticia’s matter. Of course, unable to fully suppress his anger, he had left only after stomping on the groveling Grand Duke’s head with his military boot.

“Jayden, are you diligently collecting evidence?”

“Yes. We can sufficiently prove the Grand Duchy’s neglect of the alliance.”

His expression still soured at the thought of the Grand Duke.

“I regret not completely crushing his head.”

“Killing the Grand Duke would be simple, but if you did that…… you couldn’t return quickly to the imperial palace as you wish, Your Majesty.”

Jayden’s earnest answer was true. They could mobilize the entire imperial army to crush the Grand Duchy, but considering future governance and international politics, it wasn’t a decision to make lightly.

Still, having stomped on that bastard’s head several times, driving it into the floor, had relieved his fury a little.

“How is the situation in battle?”

Even the temporary chair in the tent looked like a throne when Rockfort sat on it. This must be what they call the innate dignity of an emperor.

“Your Majesty’s strategy is extremely effective. By sending knights divided into platoons along with the reconnaissance teams, we’re making remarkable progress in eliminating remnants hiding deep in the ravines.”

“As it should be.”

Rockfort’s voice sounded indifferent. This area, closer to the Grand Duchy than the empire, had a different climate, and though spring was ending and summer was approaching, nights were still cool enough to require fires.

Moreover, with nothing to do each day but eliminate remnants, it was impossible to find any interest.

“I almost wish the enemy were stronger.”

“……I agree. The knights also say there’s no satisfaction in these battles.”

Rarely did the two men share the same opinion.

“At this rate, it won’t even serve as training for new knights.”

“Yes. Our imperial knights don’t exist to catch mere rats.”

“Any news from the imperial palace?”

Rockfort asked the same question every day.

“All news is reported to Your Majesty daily.”

This wasn’t the answer Rockfort wanted. He had sent a letter to Elia so long ago, even telling her she could use carrier pigeons, yet why was there no reply? His insides burned black with frustration.

“……I thought she always kept her promises.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m talking to myself.”

Rockfort, too, had been talking to himself more often. He shared the same symptom as Elia, but neither could know this about the other.

“Is there perhaps some news you’re waiting for? The princess has safely departed……”

This was the extent of Jayden’s perception.

“Since I have time, I should examine the news from the imperial palace in detail. Call the information officer and have him organize all letters from the imperial palace by date and bring them here.”

“Yes.”

One advantage of Jayden’s particularly dull intuition was that he didn’t ask unnecessary questions.

“Your Majesty, I’ve brought the letters.”

Shortly after, Jayden returned with letters in a sack.

“Where is the person in charge?”

“I heard he fell from his horse by mistake during a recent battle and is being treated.”

“……How pathetic.”

Rockfort clicked his tongue at the fact that even an information officer, once an active soldier, had fallen from his horse against such weak enemies.

“His subordinate organized the letters instead, but he was originally a common soldier, so as you can see…… they were in a sack.”

“You decide an appropriate punishment.”

“Yes.”

Jayden turned the sack upside down, dumping the letters onto the table. It was too trivial a task for the knight commander, but being the emperor’s correspondence, he couldn’t entrust it to others.

Rockfort rested in a hammock while Jayden arranged the letters by date. The two men seemed accustomed to this silence.

“Your Majesty, there’s an unopened letter.”

Jayden approached Rockfort with a sealed letter and handed it to him.

“This was…… stuck in the corner of the sack, and I’m not sure if it’s quite old……”

Ignoring Jayden’s chatter, Rockfort hastily opened the letter. It was the elegant, neat handwriting he had been waiting for.

“Damn it.”

His eyes quickly scanned the date on the signature line. The letter was already ten days old. It was an immediate reply to his letter.

It had arrived while he was in the Grand Duchy, and strangely, only this one letter had been missed.

“Jayden, those who failed to discover this letter should be kil……”

“You shouldn’t kill them.”

Hoo, Rockfort exhaled hotly. His fury had been increasing lately.

“Punish them severely, but not fatally.”

“Yes.”

“Immediately!”

“Yes……”

Jayden bowed and left the tent. Only then did Rockfort properly unfold Elia’s letter.

〈I humbly send this letter to Your Majesty the Emperor. I am doing well.〉

It was a characteristically formal greeting from Elia, but he couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from rising.

〈Though you are on the battlefield…… I hope Your Majesty is well.〉

Though the sentence wasn’t long, her delicate handwriting made it seem as if he could hear her voice. That voice, fragile yet calm and gentle, was so vivid it made this place feel like the imperial palace.

〈I will await news of your well-being again.〉

These were words she would never say face to face, but they were clearly written on paper.

For a moment, Rockfort forgot all the fatigue and fury of the battlefield and smiled.

〈From Elia.〉

At the end were her name, signature, and date. It was brief, perhaps even indifferent, but for someone who knew Elia well, it was more than sufficient—it was overflowing.

“She says she’ll await news…… I have no choice but to reply.”

Though his words sounded reluctant, his hands were busy and quick in finding pen and paper.

〈To Elia.〉

Just writing her name softened his heart, as if he had already written everything he wanted to say.

〈I am glad you are doing well. I, too, am doing well.〉

What happened in the Grand Duchy could never be called good, but he didn’t want to worry her in his letter.

〈Soon, my sister Leticia will return to the imperial palace, and I hope you will welcome her kindly.〉

In truth, there was no need to write this. Though Elia was colder to Rockfort than anyone, just seeing how she treated her ladies-in-waiting showed she was a woman with a naturally warm and gentle disposition.

“The problem is that she only hates me.”

Rockfort recited those words as if they pleased him. Sometimes he felt frustrated and bitter thinking of her enjoying freedom in the imperial palace without him, but now those concerns had completely vanished.

〈Above all, I hope you are healthy and well.〉

After writing the last line and hesitating for a long time, Rockfort picked up his pen again.

〈From Rockfort, who always wonders about your well-being.〉

Now the letter contained all he wanted to say.

All that remained was to catch the fastest carrier pigeon, attach this letter to its ankle, and urge it to fly.

“Jayden!”

It was an especially busy day for Jayden.

* * *

The overnight rain had knocked down all the flower petals. The palace staff were busily clearing the garden of the flowers’ withered remains.

Elia’s daily life seemed to flow as usual.

“My lady, today’s letters are here.”

Victor’s face was strangely bright.

Could it be…… Elia looked at the silver tray containing the letters. Among several, a dirty letter that seemed wet from rain caught her eye first.

“I’ll bring tea.”

As soon as the perceptive head chamberlain vacated the space, Elia opened the dirty letter. The imperial palace would never use such dirty paper; it seemed the carrier pigeon had struggled through the night’s rain to deliver it.

Her hands got dirty opening the seal, but she didn’t notice.