Ch.BONUSSide Story – Forgotten Names

As time passes, there are names that fade into obscurity.

Names like wisps of fog that must remain only as memories, either because their very existence is denied or because they’re unfit to be recorded in history books.

This is a story of two people who remained only as memories of an era.

A fragment of the process that hints at the transformation of a relationship that began with the worst first meeting.

◇

It’s a great happiness to have someone who celebrates your special days. Especially when that special day marks the blessing of your birth, the happiness becomes even more profound.

I was told I was born in a small attic room in a count’s manor. In that shadowy place that chilled even my mother’s warmth, I first saw the light.

As for people who celebrated… well.

Rumors said they had all died or been banished, their records erased. You could say I was born devouring people. Perhaps it’s only natural that I wasn’t blessed.

…

……

The time I can call my mother “mother” is extremely limited. Only during that brief moment when midnight turns to dawn is that word released from my constricted throat.

After exchanging a few words of conversation, the hour hand tilts considerably.

Then I had to separate from my mother.

The proper form of address: Your Majesty the Empress. The farewell: as respectful as one addressing the most exalted woman.

The corridor, bright as day even at night, offers a sense of dissonance. Only when I walk down that long, chilly, and lonely path do I finally reflect.

Ah, today is my birthday. That’s right.

After fantasizing about being surrounded by family for a meal, I mock the reality that shows me only empty corridors.

Click. Click.

After walking for a long time, I reach the room assigned to me. It was quite large and splendid. As a lady-in-waiting directly serving the Empress, I was given a magnificent room.

Yes, a lady-in-waiting. Not the Empress’s daughter, but her lady-in-waiting.

My tightly clenched fist trembled.

Ah, how strange.

I usually don’t feel this sorrowful, but it’s all because I was born today. It must be because I was born on such a terrible day. If only I had been born tomorrow, today would have been fine. Or the day after tomorrow, or the day after that, or even next year… Ah, what am I thinking?

I didn’t want to enter the room that welcomed the Empress’s lady-in-waiting. I should sleep early to spend tomorrow healthily. But my feet, possessed by impulse, led me outside where the night breeze was chilly.

As I walked through the dim bushes with rustling steps, beautiful scenery boasted its diverse colors. I took a deep breath in the garden where the pale moonlight swayed elegantly like the lace of a dress.

I felt like screaming at the top of my lungs. But since that would be inconsiderate, I decided to simply exhale normally.

“Sigh…”

It was at that moment when I released that modest breath.

“Whoa, Lady Charle!?”

“Eek!?”

I was startled by the sudden exclamation.

I thought there was no one around, but when I turned around, someone had abruptly risen from an elongated bench.

Ruby-like eyes that gleamed even in the darkness.

Black hair that melted into the night sky.

Reminding me of an honorary marquess from some grand mansion, it was Zikharun.

“I’m the one who should be startled.”

“Do we really need to argue about that?”

“Do you know what it feels like to sense a wild beast while sleeping soundly?”

“I have no idea. I’m not a wild beast.”

“I’m sure you’re not.”

Snap!

Zikharun’s indifferent attitude was enough kindling to ignite my anger. Though I had no such intention initially, now I felt I needed to vent.

“Fine, I’ll be a wild beast. So stay still before I devour you whole.”

With a grab, I twisted Zikharun’s hood. Why does this hood always showcase such a good grip when he wears it? It’s puzzling.

“Gack, gack! I had no idea you became so ferocious at night!”

“Be quiet. It’s a nuisance, so just gack gack silently.”

“Are you aware that you’re treating me more and more carelessly?”

“Nothing would change. Whether I am or not.”

“That was a rhetorical question. Keh…”

Thud.

I sat down next to him while still holding his hood. At that moment, I questioned the sensation of the chill subsiding. It wasn’t just my imagination; there seemed to be warmth lingering nearby.

I turned my eyes to Zikharun just in case, but seeing his resentful gaze, I dismissed my suspicion.

No way. As if this person would…

This guy who always maintains distance and deliberately makes himself disliked showing such consideration? That’s an impossible assumption.

How long did silence hover between us? Probably as long as it took for the moon over there to be covered by clouds and then reveal its round form again.

I stole a glance at Zikharun, who was unusually patient.

“Aren’t you going to ask?”

“Ask what?”

“Just…”

“You mean why a greenhouse flower like Lady Charle is out here tormenting me at this hour? Or perhaps about that sentimentality that makes you so melancholic under the night sky?”

This person is truly annoying.

Grab!

“Gack!”

But beneath his annoying words, he pierces through to the essence. As frustrating as it is, I have to admit that he knows how to read the atmosphere.

“Yes. That’s right, that’s right. Honestly, isn’t it curious? Don’t you think?”

“Not particularly…”

“You’re curious, aren’t you?”

Grab!

“Gack, stop it! I’m very curious! Huff… huff…”

No, he definitely can’t read the atmosphere. This makes it seem like I’m begging for attention. Even passing servants respond warmly, but he always treats me like this…!

“Sigh!”

“Huff… haa… So? Why is Lady Charle in a place like this in the middle of the night?”

If only you’d been like this from the start.

“Because I’m annoyed.”

“Well, that’s always the case.”

Grab!

“Gack, I, I mean, please elaborate.”

“…”

He really has a personality that invites punishment.

What’s more frustrating is that I can’t easily open my mouth to his request for details.

My lips keep moving without words coming out.

When I was hesitating whether to bring it up or not, Zikharun asked.

“Are you afraid?”

“What?”

“The unofficial bloodline of the imperial family. The fact that Lady Charle is Lost Blood.”

“Ugh…”

“How many years has it been since you stopped appearing in social circles? Do you have friends? How different is it from the daily life you dreamed of?”

“…”

It’s been eight years since Zikharun settled in the imperial palace.

During that time, I’ve already become a twenty-five-year-old lady, forgotten by many.

Lost Blood, originally deserving execution. I barely escaped that crisis solely because I was the Empress’s child. It’s already a great mercy to have preserved my life, so how could I ask for more?

“It can’t be helped… Lord Zikharun wouldn’t understand. The feeling of being constrained by the blood you were born with…”

“Haha.”

“I don’t think it’s something to laugh about.”

“Indeed, you’re right.”

Zikharun’s gaze turned to the distant mountains. His view seemed to encompass beyond the garden, to the path leading to the islands outside the imperial palace grounds.

Coincidentally, the end of that gaze also pointed toward the direction of the mansion where a chaotic couple lived.

“But you know, if we’re talking about blood we’re born with, mine is quite formidable too.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“My life’s direction has also been predetermined. Whether in my past life or current one. Oops, forget that last part.”

Past life? He’s saying puzzling things.

“Why, what’s the origin of your bloodline? Come to think of it, did you even have parents? Are you perhaps the son of that infamous Founding Noble?”

“You’re making dad jokes in this atmosphere?”

“Dad… jokes? I don’t know what that is, but anyway. I still know nothing about you.”

His Majesty the Emperor must surely know. It goes without saying how difficult it would be to allow someone of unknown identity to reside in the imperial palace.

Moreover, those two from the mansion who fought against him must also know Zikharun’s identity.

No matter how subtly I asked Commander Bartlant several times, he always changed the subject, making my curiosity grow even larger.

“Haa.”

With my head becoming complicated, I gave in to the impulse to throw everything away. And that impulse manifested as throwing myself onto the bench and using Zikharun’s lap as a pillow.

In my view of the night sky, Zikharun’s chin and the starlight coexisted. His ruby-like eyes were barely visible on the surface.

“I really… hate it.”

“If, if you hate it, get up quickly! A grown lady acting so immodestly!”

“No, no, I don’t hate Lord Zikharun’s lap. It’s my circumstances. Just…”

“Even so, this is a bit…!”

“Lord Zikharun.”

“Wh-what?”

“What’s wrong with not being modest?”

“Wh-what’s wrong? It’s natural for a person to maintain proper conduct…”

“Natural? It’s all about being mindful of others’ perceptions. With marriage and romance out of reach in my life, what’s the point of preserving modesty?”

Ah, if only there was someone I could love while throwing away these circumstances. At least then I wouldn’t be wasting my time alone.

“And I’ve done this for you many times… so it’s okay just once, right?”

“I never asked for it!”

“You’re warm. I’ve felt it before, but your body temperature is quite high, isn’t it?”

“It’s a species trait.”

“Again with the incomprehensible words…”

My eyes are closing.

Zikharun is a strange person.

In the past, those red eyes were terribly frightening, but now, the only color I can face with a sense of security is his red.

Annoying, yet familiar, sometimes welcoming… comfortable enough to want to see often…

In the embrace of that warm color, my breathing dissolves.

“Haa…”

He exhaled a sigh.

“Well, I’ll tell you just this once.”

As my consciousness fades, Zikharun’s words blur.

“My name, which might help you understand me a little…”

A shadow covers the night sky.

Instead of the moon and stars adorning the sky, what colors my heart is someone’s black and red warmth.

From the receding reality, he whispered.