HSDOE 13

13. Twenty-Four Hours (1)

‘I feel like I’m going to suffocate.’

That was how Lasilia felt after spending half the day with the Emperor.

‘Why is he staring at me like that?’

She hadn’t known that staying by someone’s side meant this.

They ate meals together, drank tea together. She even watched him read and stamp piles of documents sent by the secretaries with the imperial seal.

However, all audiences had been refused—for the petty reason that he didn’t want to walk to the audience chamber.

‘…Actually, maybe it’s not so petty.’

That persistent gaze of his was anything but petty.

Just imagining that he might be staring at her the same way in the audience chamber sent a chill down her spine.

‘People must think the Emperor’s lost his mind… or something close to it.’

The Blue Moon was that intense, apparently.

The man who normally ignored the Empress now looked at her as though every minute and second with her was precious.

‘But it’s not like I’ll regain my memory before the Blue Moon passes.’

Tap.

The Emperor stamped the last document.

“It’s done now.”

“I see.”

She was quietly nervous.

‘I feel like he didn’t even read them and just stamped away…’

Well, it wasn’t her empire, after all.

“Now I can do whatever I want. Is there anything you’d like to do?”

Not really. Mostly, she just wanted him to stop staring.

“Nothing in particular.”

“Then let’s go for a walk.”

He suggested the walk as if he’d already predicted her refusal.

“A walk…?”

“You don’t like walks?”

“I’m not sure… No, I don’t dislike them.”

He probably didn’t know it, but the word walk sounded incredibly novel to Lasilia.

A prophet’s life was simple.

Most of it was spent sleeping in a windowless, dark room deep inside the Great Temple.

Because her prophetic abilities had manifested early, she’d lived without windows since childhood.

Of course, there were times she went outside the temple—mostly during royal events, when she stood before people as a symbolic figure. But that was very different from a walk.

The reason she could now manage being Empress was because she’d already met many royals as a prophet.

Lasilia knew a great deal about the continent’s history and current affairs to interpret dreams, but on the other hand, she knew almost nothing about things unrelated to being a prophet.

To her, the outside world she caught glimpses of when leaving the temple was still an unknown realm.

Every room in the imperial palace had large windows.

If the Emperor hadn’t been staring at her all day like that, Lasilia probably wouldn’t have thought it suffocating to stay inside her bedroom forever.

“Are you sure it’s okay?”

The Emperor stared at her quietly.

“…I’ve found one.”

“Found what?”

“Something you like.”

“…?”

“Your expression changed.”

Before she realized it, Lasilia reached up and touched her face. The Emperor stood from his temporary desk and approached her.

“Shall we go, then?”

He extended his arm to her with polite formality.

The walk was more liberating than she’d expected.

The guards and attendants who had surrounded them silently disappeared at the garden entrance.

The palace had four major gardens; the one they were in now was called the Garden of Water.

It sprawled wide alongside a deep aqueduct that supplied water to the palace. Fewer trees and shorter flowers had been intentionally planted to create a wide, open view. Fountains and statues blended beautifully with the colorful blooms.

‘Ah…’

Mesmerized by the view, Lasilia forgot the discomfort of having her arm tightly linked with the Emperor’s.

She also forgot how, despite walking beside her, he kept turning his head to stare.

“Do you like it?” the Emperor asked.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Walking with me?”

Lasilia sidestepped the question.

“It’s beautiful… the garden, I mean. Except for one part.”

She added that last bit belatedly, having just noticed something odd in the corner of the garden.

There was one spot where all the flowers had been cut away.

“What happened there?”

As if it truly was an issue, several gardeners were busy pruning the now-barren trees where the flowers had been removed.

“This way,”

Lescal casually shifted his body to block her view of the area and pointed in the opposite direction.

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

“I think it’d be better to head this way. How about a boat ride? If you’d like, I’ll have one prepared.”

That was suspicious. It felt like he was hiding something.

“A boat sounds nice. But I’d still like to know what happened over there.”

Lescal furrowed his brow.

“Why do you need to know?”

“Was it something I’m not allowed to know?”

“It’s not that. I just thought you’d enjoy a boat ride more.”

She had never been on a boat. She was curious what it would feel like to float on water.

“If it’s something hard to explain, I won’t press further.”

If the Emperor insisted on hiding it, she planned to ask the birds later.

Unexpectedly, the Emperor averted his eyes awkwardly and muttered,

“No, I’m not trying to hide anything…”

At that moment, Riyen interrupted.

“Just tell her, Your Majesty. It’s not even a real secret. If you get misunderstood, that’s worse.”

Lasilia was startled to see Riyen crawling out from under a flowering tree.

What shocked her more was how the Emperor immediately wrapped his arms tightly around her the moment he sensed something.

“…Why were you coming from there?”

“Apologies if I startled you, Your Majesty. Damn crow…”

“Crow?”

“Yes. It stole something from me, and while I was chasing it, somehow…”

Riyen brushed off the dirt from her clothes while muttering curses under her breath.

“In any case, it’s best you explain it yourself, Your Majesty. Surely Her Majesty the Empress would notice something happened to the garden. It was the only place she seemed to like in the palace.”

“…?”

Lasilia turned her head to look up at the Emperor, who still had her wrapped in his arms. She had to look up from just below his chin.

“…I didn’t ruin it on purpose.”

His tense jawline was the first thing she noticed. He still couldn’t meet her gaze.

“I just… told them to bring as many as they could since it was your favorite.”

“…Ah.”

Finally, she connected the ruined garden with the Emperor’s mysterious act.

The flowers he had sent her in abundance yesterday must’ve been those gardenias.

“So you didn’t ruin it on purpose.”

“I didn’t think it’d end up like that.”

“Then the rose garden must be in a similar state.”

“That one’s fine. I only asked for one bouquet.”

Though calling that a “bouquet” seemed a bit shameless, considering the size.

“I understand, so please let go now.”

“……”

The Emperor slightly pouted his lips—a familiar expression to Lasilia by now.

‘He always makes that face when I tell him to let go.’

The reluctant, dragging way he withdrew his arms was also becoming familiar.

And it seemed she, too, was slowly getting used to this. Like how he had held her tightly when he didn’t recognize Riyen.

‘Kind of like when he insisted on eating the unknown fruit first…’

It felt like he instinctively shielded her from unknown threats.

‘Even if the Empress has no feelings, does he still have instincts as a mate? …Well, I guess that’s why they call them fated mates.’

It was unfortunate—the mark of the Empress was fading.

‘Maybe that means the real mate is elsewhere. The mark might be disappearing from me and appearing on someone else.’

If fated pairs were always born together, then if she wasn’t the real one, the true mate had to exist somewhere.

‘Hopefully, they’ll appear on their own.’

There were only two possibilities:

Either the real one appears, or the Empress vanishes and the Emperor goes to find her himself.

‘It’d be nice if I could have a dream about it. About the real mate…’

Just as she thought that, Riyen—still brushing off dirt while watching Lescal—spoke up.

“By the way, are you two getting on the boat now?”

Only then did the Emperor meet her eyes again.

“What do you think?”

“I’d like that.”

She hadn’t realized it herself, but Lasilia was a little excited.

Walking slowly through the Garden of Water, away from the Empress’s palace, was already a refreshing change—so was feeling the sunlight and fresh air on her skin.

Riding a boat would be even more novel.

“Aha, so you like boats. Then please make your way to the dock at your leisure. I’ll go ahead and prepare it.”

With that, Riyen dashed off toward the canal.

“Mmm… you really do enjoy this, huh?”

It had been about ten minutes since they boarded.

Riyen had insisted on rowing herself and tagged along for the ride.

With her strength as a sword master, the small boat shot across the water like a warship, cutting through the canal at a thrilling pace.

It was Lasilia’s first time boating, so she didn’t realize anything was amiss.

She simply thought boating was far more exciting than horseback riding.

“Seems like it. It’s fun because it’s fast.”

“Excuse me? Fun… because it’s fast?”

“But—”

“……”

Riyen blinked at her.

From her expression, Lescal realized something was wrong.

“Is the sun too strong?”

He tried to make conversation, partly out of concern and partly as an excuse to stay close to her.

“Ah! That damn bird!”

Caw!

Suddenly, Riyen stood up in the boat and tossed the oars to Lescal.

“Your Majesty! Apologies, but please row for a moment! You cursed bird! Give it back!”

She drew her sword and shouted into the air.

“Ah, that bird…”

It was definitely one of those birds that had spoken to her.

Caw!
—Later, later. The moon will rise, the moon will rise.

From afar, the black bird called to her. It seemed to have come just to say that.

“Um…”

Lasilia covered her mouth with her hand.

By moon, it probably meant the Blue Moon.

Riyen burst out in protest.

“Look at that, Your Majesty! Isn’t that bird suspicious? It always picks on me whenever it shows up!”

Lasilia feigned ignorance and defended the bird.

“Maybe it was just passing by? I don’t think birds bother people without reason.”

Riyen ground her teeth.

“You only say that because you don’t know, Your Majesty. That vile bird just now— Wait, this is my chance!”

Though the bird still looked far away to Lasilia, Riyen apparently thought otherwise. She crouched low, sword in hand, ready to leap into the air.

“Don’t!! Stop!”

Lasilia reached out to stop her.

“It’s dangerous! Stay down!”

But Lescal reached her first and pulled her back.

‘No, don’t!’

Lasilia struggled in his arms, silently pleading.

Meanwhile, Riyen narrowed her eyes, measured the distance, and launched herself skyward—sword in hand.

The bird was in the sky. Humans couldn’t fly.

And yet Riyen looked as though she might actually catch that black bird.

“No!!”

As Lasilia shouted with all her might—

Something happened.