Chapter 1
1. Signs of Spring
For His Majesty Aleksanteri’s birthday, a grand celebration is held throughout the nation.
This year’s festival would be more splendid than ever before, since not only was His Majesty engaged, but I, his fiancée, would also be taking part.
It was decided that His Majesty Aleksanteri would greet the nobles during the festival and wave to the citizens from the terrace of the Imperial Palace’s main hall.
To prepare for that day, I had been visiting the workroom to create both His Majesty’s and my own attire.
Winter was drawing to a close, and only two months remained until His Majesty’s birthday celebration.
Since we already knew both His Majesty’s and my measurements, there was no need to rush — but time was certainly limited.
Making attire was always most demanding up until the point of deciding on the design, drafting the pattern, cutting the fabric, and doing the first mock sewing.
After that, once the main fabric was cut, it was mostly just sewing — which took less effort.
But for me, the biggest difficulty lay in deciding the design.
Madame Laval had instructed me to make the outfits complementary — a matched pair — yet I didn’t quite know how to achieve that balance.
His Majesty’s color was already set: in public, he always wore white.
We had decided, more or less, that the accent color would be purple — the color of my eyes.
But the problem was my attire.
The Emperor’s white symbolized purity and incorruptibility, but it also carried the meaning of prestige — for in our country, producing a perfectly white fabric required the most refined craftsmanship.
Yet even if His Majesty wore white, that did not mean I could do the same.
Then I thought, perhaps a soft lavender with accents of His Majesty’s eye color — red — would work.
However, I realized that I had already worn pale purple at nearly every public event, and it felt repetitive.
As I was still wavering, one of the seamstresses offered a suggestion.
“How about using unbleached silk instead of pure white?”
Silk, in its natural state, is not white but a warm ivory-beige.
If I used that, it wouldn’t overlap with the Emperor’s white — and it might be rather elegant.
“His Majesty’s attire could be white with purple accents, while mine could be ivory with red accents. That might work nicely.”
Once the colors were decided, the rest followed more easily.
His Majesty would wear a frock coat, and I would choose a simple, straight gown that flowed down to the floor without a full skirt.
Next came the embroidery.
His Majesty liked blue vine patterns, but adding blue on top of these colors would make the palette too busy.
So, I decided instead to embroider silver vine motifs to match His Majesty’s silvery hair — and do the same on my gown as well.
It took some time to settle the design, but once that was done, the rest was straightforward — pattern drafting, mock sewing, cutting the main fabric, and then final sewing.
During the fitting, His Majesty kindly assisted me.
“Does anything feel tight or too loose, Your Majesty?”
“Hmm… I’m not sure. What do you think, Reisie? Does it look strange anywhere?”
“I don’t think so, but please, could you try moving your arms slowly?”
“Like this?”
He rolled his shoulders and turned around so I could check the fit. Everything looked perfect.
“It feels like a wonderful outfit. I think I’ll remember this all my life.”
“I’ll keep making Your Majesty’s clothes again and again, so please don’t call it a once-in-a-lifetime memory.”
Seeing His Majesty’s joyful smile made me smile too.
Even while continuing my sewing, my lessons in imperial etiquette went on as usual, leaving me quite busy.
Yet I never forgot to prepare the courtyard for spring.
“Potatoes… and what else shall I plant? Carrots, tomatoes, and eggplants are essential,”
I murmured while thinking, when the gardener approached me.
“Shall I procure the seedlings and seeds for this year as well, Your Highness?”
“Please do.”
Since coming to the palace last year, I had been granted permission to maintain a small kitchen garden in the courtyard, and the gardener always obtained the seeds and seedlings for me.
After requesting his help, I worked on turning the soil myself.
By the time I finished, I was sweating and returned to my room to wipe off and change.
The old dresses I had brought from the House of Dian were quite useful for this kind of work, since I didn’t have to worry about staining them.
Still, Madame Laval had told me that once I became Empress, such work clothes would no longer be suitable for me.
When my garden work was done and tea time arrived, His Majesty returned to the palace — as he always did.
Having tea with him had become part of my daily routine.
“Reisie, I’m back.”
“Welcome home, Your Majesty.”
By now, I had grown used to being embraced by him when he returned.
My heart still fluttered, but it was now a sweet, pleasant feeling.
Our love was deepening, day by day.
“What were you doing today?”
“I had my lessons in the morning, and in the afternoon I was preparing the courtyard for planting until tea time.”
“I wonder what delicious vegetables you’ll feed me this year?”
“I’m planning to plant potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, and eggplants — but I’m not sure what else yet.”
“You’re not planting any beans? Don’t you like them?”
“Beans? Do you prefer green beans or edamame, Your Majesty?”
“Edamame, I think.”
At that, I decided I would definitely grow edamame this year.
Winter passed, and according to the calendar, spring had begun.
Less than a month remained until His Majesty’s birthday celebration.
And our wedding was five months away.
“Your Majesty, do you remember promising to teach me to swim in the summer?”
“So you remembered, Reisie? In that case, I’ll have to order a swimming pool built right away.”
“A pool? Truly?”
“I can’t very well let you swim in a river or lake, can I? But it would also be a problem if you couldn’t swim at all. If you ever fell into the water while traveling by ship — even though the guards would surely rescue you — it would be far better if you could swim on your own.”
The word assassination crossed my mind.
I was to be the Empress.
If I accompanied His Majesty on visits abroad or to vassal states, I would surely have to travel by ship.
And if assassins were to attack then — if I were pushed into the water — I would not survive by merely flailing.
“I’ll do my best to learn to swim, Your Majesty.”
“Then I’ll see to it that the pool is completed before summer.”
A private pool just for me seemed almost too luxurious, but perhaps that was what being Empress entailed.
His Majesty disliked other men — married or single — approaching me.
Therefore, every servant in the Imperial Palace was a woman, and only the guards were men.
Even then, those guards were forbidden to speak to me or approach me unless there was an emergency.
Apart from Lord Julius, Lord Theo, Lord Cyril, Chancellor Kajetan, and the chancellor’s sons — Lords Emeric and Augusta — I had hardly spoken to any other men.
Those brief exchanges during the engagement ceremony, birthday teas, or New Year parties were limited to polite greetings; I barely even remembered their faces.
Perhaps His Majesty was a little too overprotective of me.
But when I looked up at him, he was smiling gently, and I couldn’t help but smile back.
