episode_0157

The cool winter breeze completely painted the sky. Brilliant starlight descended upon the surrounding scenery. A garden where spring had yet to arrive. Nevertheless, a fresh vitality shimmered nearby.

Charlotte and I were strolling side by side through such blades of grass. Each of our steps left a gentle crunching sound in their wake. Crunch, crunch…

The seasons flowed calmly. A soft west wind blew. Golden hair and platinum blonde hair lightly fluttered, as if disheveled.

I gazed sideways, brushing back my bangs.

“……”

Charlotte was immersed in silence. Without even a single word. She merely traversed the landscape, which was full of winter.

She had been in this state ever since witnessing me vomit blood just moments ago. I could read gloom in her eyes.

‘Did I worry her too much?’

Her delicate features held a blank expression. Her appearance was not much different from usual. However, having spent time together, I could now read the emotions reflected beyond her pupils. Her calm, settled blue eyes surely held sadness.

Noticing this, I spoke first.

“I’m fine.”

“……”

“I overexerted myself more than expected, but it’s too minor to call a problem.”

“But you vomited blood. And you were breathing as if in pain.”

“I wasn’t particularly in pain or anything, but…”

“Another lie.”

“Oh dear.”

A slightly sulky voice. It seemed she was quite angry.

I said with a wry smile.

“It seems I’ve caused Your Highness worry.”

“……”

“I will be more careful next time.”

“That’s not what I wanted to hear.”

“Huh?”

Her blue eyes gazed directly at me. Beyond their clear surface, only the blonde boy was fully reflected.

“Yuda never tells me when he’s having a hard time.”

“That’s because I’m not having a hard time. I can’t just complain without a reason.”

“That part.”

Poke.

A slender finger poked my cheek. Her brows furrowed slightly. Yet, perhaps because her impression was so gentle, she simply looked adorable.

Her characteristic unwavering blue eyes expressed displeasure. Perhaps it was an emotion she had suppressed for quite some time.

“There were many things that must have been difficult.”

“I can’t particularly recall any.”

“You were in pain and hurting every time, yet you just keep trying to hide it like now.”

“Everyone lives with a secret or two.”

“Yuda has too many of them.”

“Wouldn’t I be considered average?”

A conversation running on parallel lines. As I evaded each accompanying remark, there was one phrase that briefly struck my heart.

It was a short question.

“Are you perhaps afraid?”

“……”

Just a question. A sentence that didn’t even specify what was feared. Nevertheless, I couldn’t answer immediately.

Perhaps it was because of the countless branches of yesterday and tomorrow. Rusty memories slowly surfaced in my mind.

I.

-Oppa!

I shook off unnecessary thoughts. Afterward, I smoothly deflected the girl’s question.

“Is there anyone in this world without fear?”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“You can’t always expect the correct answer every time.”

“Yuda, you’re unfair. You always change the subject like this.”

“Heh heh… Isn’t being unfair precisely my charm?”

“Perhaps.”

Charlotte nodded plainly. Still, I stroked her head as a sign of gratitude. The touch of her exquisite hair met my fingertips.

“Thank you for your concern.”

“Mm…”

The girl silently accepted my touch.

‘She’s docile.’

It wasn’t a bad feeling. Becoming someone’s worry also meant that I was a precious existence to them. In fact, Charlotte often showed a variety of emotions when she was with me. Unlike her usual rigid and emotionless demeanor.

-Yu, Yuda… You mustn’t die.

Last time, when I was injured, she even shed tears. It must mean that even if she seems blunt, she’s still a tender child inside. She was so idiosyncratic that there were incomprehensible parts to her, but even that wasn’t out of ill intent.

Swipe.

I cautiously withdrew my hand. Charlotte silently remained quiet. Whether the person herself was aware or not. Their relationship was deepening as much as the flowing seasons.

“……”

Silence descended. However, the gloom in the girl’s eyes had not lessened. It seemed there was something she kept thinking about.

This time, it was my turn to ask.

“Your Highness.”

I asked softly.

“What are you thinking so deeply about?”

“Hm…?”

“Do you have something on your mind?”

“Well, I don’t know either.”

Charlotte answered softly. As she did, her blue eyes looked up at the distant night sky. As if chasing the fading starlight along the retreating night.

“My heart is stirring.”

“Stirring, you say.”

“It feels empty… as if a hole has been torn in my heart.”

Was it because it was just before dawn? The dawn was exceptionally dark. The word ‘emptiness’ uttered in the pitch black held a strange magic. As if treading into a void from which one might not escape. The girl’s gaze simply wandered, unable to find the stars.

“Elize’s curse has finally been broken.”

“Don’t you feel it much?”

“No. I’m incredibly happy. I’ve lived my entire life thinking only of that.”

“Your Highness was always desperate. You personally recruited renowned doctors, devoured various books, and at times even pursued cultists.”

“Yuda, you know everything.”

“I’m told I have rather sharp ears.”

“Right. Then it seems we can get to the point quickly.”

Charlotte. A child who had always lived with the sole conviction of saving the Rose. Her devotion to her younger sister was on par with the Emperor’s, never inferior. Could it be that she was experiencing confusion precisely because of this? The girl’s eyes were clearly wavering.

A soft voice echoed.

“I don’t know what to do now.”

And so it was.

“I only ever thought about saving Elize. I never imagined what would come after.”

The purpose of life. Charlotte had lived prioritizing that over herself. Because for her, her ailing younger sister always came first.

‘But.’

Not anymore. A miracle had found them, and her wish had been granted. She no longer had to cling to anything. However, from now on, the girl had to think about the future. Her tomorrow and future, which she had never envisioned while clinging to her purpose. The girl’s confusion stemmed from that sense of disconnect.

I quietly replied.

“I think I understand.”

“Really…?”

“Why do you think I wouldn’t?”

I’ve experienced similar things myself. A younger sibling diagnosed with a terminal illness. Looking back at my past life, we had no time to envision tomorrow. Because even just getting through today was a struggle.

“Being able to envision tomorrow is a blessing. It means you have enough leeway not to worry about today. I also once had a time when I couldn’t envision tomorrow. Though that was a very long time ago.”

“……”

“Your Highness must be feeling confused, aren’t you?”

Things children commonly worry about. What to do in the future, what kind of person to become, or whom to love. The girl had no answers to any of those questions. More precisely, it was the first time.

“Mm… I think so.”

“Unfamiliar paths are always frightening.”

Duty and devotion. The chains that had long bound your limbs.

But.

“Nevertheless, you must move forward.”

Nothing bound you anymore. Because my light had shattered the restraints. A sense of liberation she had known for the first time. You were finally living your own life, albeit belatedly. A life where you could pursue your own tomorrow, not one where you chased someone else’s shadow.

What I saved was not just the Rose or the Emperor.

“Because you now have a tomorrow to step into.”

Your tomorrow was touched by my salvation. Colors were added to a world that had been gray. Before long, Charlotte’s eyes were looking up at me. Soon, a small question was heard.

“……Then. What should I do now?”

“You just need to find a new goal.”

An unhesitating reply. I added a faint smile to my lips.

“Your Highness can choose.”

What to do in the future, what kind of person to become, or whom to love. Because you will have your own life and path. Because nothing binds you anymore. You have finally gained a complete stride.

“Freedom.”

“……”

“That is the name of the gift I gave you.”

Stroke.

I lightly caressed the girl’s cheek. Warm body heat colored my palm. As I felt the soft skin, my gaze met her clear blue eyes. The platinum-haired princess was lost in thought, against the backdrop of the swirling winter.

It was a beautiful scene.

“Just what, you are…”

A voice unable to continue. Dew gathered in her blue pupils, forming small pools. That transparency soon shimmered with a certain dawn.

I deliberately whispered playfully.

“It will be morning soon.”

There are people who don’t suit the night. Charlotte was one of them. Regardless of her personal preferences, she was a person who belonged in the morning. Because she was too pure to remain in such a desolate place. The role of despairing in the gutter was enough for adults. Night was for them. And for me.

-Answer me, Elize. -Could I, who couldn’t even save you, truly lead the Empire? -I’m afraid I won’t be able to save anyone this time either. -I’m just infinitely small.

The girl from the original story, who used to mutter such things, was not here. This time, she hadn’t lost her younger sister, hadn’t lost her father, and hadn’t been deprived of her will to live. I made it so.

-Is this what it means to be an adult?

I wanted her to always remain young. I wanted her to remain a quirky, pure, and sometimes innocent child, just as she was now. Moreover, I wanted the ending you all faced to be one of complete happiness. It was with such a wish that I stepped into this story. Breaking through countless bad endings.

“……Thank you.”

Had her emotions finally welled up? Water-colored lines streamed down. The streaks of color drawn on her pure white cheek, straight without the slightest brushstroke, completely contained her overflowing emotions. Joy, sorrow, tenderness… at the end of various mixed emotions, a new pronunciation emerged. Perhaps it was an emotion Charlotte had never experienced before. However, for now, she was busy shedding tears.

“For saving Elize, for saving Father…”

Carefully extending her arms. The girl then nestled into my embrace. As if melting into my small warmth.

“And for saving me.”

Thank you.

Though a short sentence, her sincerity was clear. My heart softened at her desperate embrace. Charlotte, who had buried her face in my chest, soon lifted her head and met my gaze. The blue in her eyes, like a pond, was no longer wavering. Only gentle ripples stirred.

“You saved my everything.”

Her voice gradually became choked up. However, the girl continued to speak as clearly as possible.

“If I find a new goal, it will be you. Yuda.”

Only you. Are someone I can trust. Someone I can lean on. Someone I can give my heart to.

I.

“I… will live for you from now on.”

Charlotte’s smile returned with those words. It wasn’t a faint, pale smile like usual. She was giving such a vivid smile that her lips curved like an upper crescent moon, and her eye-smile almost formed a lower crescent moon. It was a perfect smile that couldn’t be seen even after playing the original thousands of times.

I replied with a soft whisper.

“I will look forward to it.”

“Mm…!”

Our voices echoed like a reverberation. I also wore a gentle smile.

Whoosh.

My bangs fluttered in the gentle winter breeze. As I briefly adjusted my obscured vision, a faint warmth then colored the back of my hand. It was sunlight.

“……”

Beyond the horizon, the scene of morning breaking could be seen. For a moment, every instant passed slowly. The sun’s rays soaring over the clear night sky. A platinum-colored ecstasy that brilliantly shattered along the gentle undulations. Fragments of radiance advancing, cutting straight through the darkness of dawn. That hot resonance illuminated the girl, making her dark platinum hair dazzling again. Charlotte’s steps no longer lingered in the night. Now, she was a person standing on the morning.

“Tomorrow has dawned.”

I murmured. Light had dawned for everyone.

***

And so.

All schedules at the Imperial Palace concluded. Peace that came after a fierce war. I planned to leisurely spend my time until returning to the Academy.

But then…

“So, Master Snakers.”

“Did you call, Your Majesty?”

“There’s something I want to ask you.”

“If it is a question, I will gladly answer.”

“Between Charlotte and Elize, who do you intend to marry?”

“……Pardon?”

Marriage? What is this sudden remark?