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Chapter : 23
His Majesty Is a Little Strange
The ground beneath his feet was slick and muddy.
On his shoulder hung a dark crimson coat, bearing clearly the emblem of the imperial family.
With no one following him, no one walking beside him,
he walked alone.
A knight guarding the Hall of Eternal Rest suddenly lifted his head.
“Your Majesty. You are out early this morning.”
“I will be alone, so do not follow.”
“Without an escort… Understood.”
Dew clung to his hair. Though it was early morning, the air was unusually cold.
When he exhaled, white breath burst forth.
Benjamin stepped forward and stopped before the Hall of Eternal Rest.
The deposed crown prince had ascended the throne drenched in the blood of the imperial family, so what followed mattered greatly.
‘Has my grandfather’s grave been moved?’
‘Yes. It has been relocated.’
He stood before the dug-up grave.
It had now been restored to its former state.
‘Grandfather, are you at peace?’
Benjamin stood before someone’s gravestone.
The deposed empress who had been pushed away as if discarded and lost her place.
Even in death, her body had not been properly recovered; burned, she had lost even her honor.
They erected only a single gravestone in an empty grave.
On it were written her birth date and the day she died.
To comfort the dead, a memorial tower stood tall at the center of the Hall of Eternal Rest.
This was the final “grace” he could grant.
Benjamin turned and left the Hall of Eternal Rest.
“Your Majesty, shall we call for an escort?”
Even as two sentry knights spoke,
Benjamin once again chose to walk alone.
“Things in the capital have changed a lot.”
As Sharlof looked out from the carriage, Aster replied from across from her.
“It’s been a long time since you’ve been here.”
“So much that it feels unfamiliar.”
“Since His Majesty ascended the throne, at least the people of the Empire can breathe easier. Even the commoners who used to live tightening their belts can finally sigh aloud.”
The capital now had a completely different atmosphere from when she left. Despite a heavy air, there was liveliness.
“Has the situation really improved that much?”
“The nobles think the palace gates are the gates of the underworld, but for the commoners things have gotten better—so it’s good, if you call it that. Bad, if you call it that.”
Five years had passed. Sharlof pushed open the carriage window. The scenery was familiar, yet strangely new.
In the midst of this, she heard someone mutter, “His Majesty has become a little strange,” but Aster seemed not to notice.
“He used to go out beyond the palace walls often. It must feel stifling now.”
Aster seemed to hesitate for a moment, but said nothing.
“I suppose so.”
His tone sounded almost detached.
“He may not be the same prince you remember.”
“It’s been so long. I don’t expect him to be the same.”
The carriage arrived before the estate. As she opened the door and stepped down, a familiar hand appeared.
Though wrinkled, that warmth would still be the same. Leandro gestured again with his arm.
“Aren’t you going to take it?”
Sharlof slowly took his hand.
“It’s been a long time.”
“You’re late.”
“We left early, but…”
As Sharlof trailed off, Aster stepped down after her and replied,
“Let’s feed the child first before we talk. She’s traveled far by carriage—shouldn’t we feed her first?”
“Do you want to go to the Requiem Festival with us?”
Aster asked Sharlof, who had just finished her meal.
“Will you be bored going around with us old folks?”
Sharlof wiped her lips with a napkin and smiled softly. They were just the same. If there were people who didn’t change with time, it was the Windsor family.
“If you’re not too busy.”
“Then let’s go together this evening.”
“What about Grandfather?”
Leandro merely lifted his head and nodded in agreement.
There was no special adjustment period needed in the capital.
The room Sharlof used was the same, and the servants still carried themselves with pride and dignity.
When she opened the door, the neatly tidied room greeted her.
As Sharlof stood quietly at the threshold, looking inside, Aster came up behind her and asked,
“I told them to move all your things back. Is anything missing?”
“No. I was just looking, since it’s been so long.”
“You silly girl. Come down in time this evening.”
Sharlof rubbed her chin in thought.
She had deliberately waited for her family to bring up Benjamin, but there had been nothing.
From their talk in the carriage, his reputation didn’t seem bad.
But it didn’t seem particularly good either. Was this something she had to see for herself?
The carriage crossed the square. Outside the window, the sun was just setting.
The Requiem Festival began in the evening. Twilight settled thickly between the alleys.
A purplish, reddish sunset spread beyond the hills.
Her uncle and grandfather got out first, and Sharlof followed.
“Shouldn’t you have brought a thicker shawl?”
“I’m not used to wearing heavy clothes.”
“Your territory must have been colder than the capital…”
Aster narrowed his eyes and asked,
“You went around like that?”
When she answered with silence, Aster pressed his forehead as if he’d expected it.
“You’re exactly like Cosette.”
The streets were bustling with preparations for the Requiem Festival. Stalls selling lanterns filled the road.
For those unjustly killed during the late emperor’s reign, and those who died of hunger.
This Requiem Festival was to comfort the people.
To tell them that the long chaos had ended.
“Even though it’s still early evening, there are already so many people.”
Crowds gathered around a tower.
“Is that the central tower?”
It seemed to be the center of the square, so people were flocking there.
Sharlof looked up at the tower set in one part of the plaza. Beside the central tower stood another one she didn’t recognize.
She stopped there, and Aster spoke beside her.
“That’s a memorial tower. There’s one in the Hall of Eternal Rest in the palace, and one here in the central square of the imperial city.”
“I see… I don’t remember ever seeing something like that.”
“You’ve been away from the capital all this time, so you wouldn’t have had the chance. His Majesty had it built after his ascension, so it hasn’t been long.”
Aster answered, looking up at it.
The memorial tower was meant to comfort loyal subjects and imperial citizens unjustly killed under the late emperor.
Back then, they died without even being able to say they were wronged.
Only now had a tower been raised in the central square to soothe their resentment.
‘I don’t remember hearing about anything like this in my past life…’
As Sharlof gazed up blankly, Aster looked around.
“Sharlof.”
“Yes.”
“Come this way. If you’re pushed into the crowd, you’ll get lost.”
On the memorial tower were written in ancient script the words, “Rest be upon them.”
The Requiem Festival began. Priests recited prayers.
Sharlof gently closed her eyes.
Mother, have you found peace now? Here, there are people who mourn the dead.
When I died, there was no one like that.
If only I’d been granted even a little of this peace, perhaps I wouldn’t have had to feel such misery.
‘Rest be upon them.’
May all the dead be granted peace.
“They’re raising the lanterns.”
Aster tilted his head back.
“Yes.”
These lanterns were signposts telling the dead not to lose their way.
They were lanterns that should have been raised long ago, but only now were being lifted.
She felt a gaze on her back and suddenly turned her head.
The square was packed with people.
And beyond them, their eyes met.
‘As if he would find me wherever I was.’
His eyes were fixed only on Sharlof.
A razor-sharp aura flowed from him. It was chilling.
A cold shiver brushed down her back, making her skin prickle.
His black eyes stood out even in the darkness.
People unconsciously avoided him.
As if instinctively knowing nothing good would come from touching this man.
“That’s His Majesty.”
Leandro, too, felt the gaze and turned to Benjamin.
“He may seem more fierce than before. I worry it might feel unfamiliar…”
“Don’t worry.”
“Yes. If it’s you, Sharlof, I suppose there’s nothing for me to worry about.”
Sharlof used to liken him to a black snake.
Even now, he was much the same.
Except there was something more overt about him than before.
“He’s gone.”
“Yes. There are too many people.”
The crowd surged again.
His figure disappeared, buried among the people.
“Sharlof.”
Leandro called her.
“If you space out like that, you’ll get lost.”
“I’m not a child. Why would I lose my way?”
“Even if the central square is simple in layout, once it’s crowded, it’s hard to tell directions. Even finding someone near the central tower right now—does that look easy to you?”
Perhaps because there were simply too many people,
Sharlof was pushed along.
“Sharlof…!”
She lost his hand. Aster urgently reached out, but their fingertips missed.
Sharlof struggled free from the press of bodies.
She brushed back her long hair and tried to retrace her steps, but the crowd obscured the way.
So many people stood before the memorial tower that she could barely see even its top.
“If you get pushed like that…”
A voice rang out beside her head.
“Are you trying to become a lost child here?”
Someone gently pulled her toward them.
“Come here.”
When Sharlof lifted her head, a broad chest filled her view.
Tilting her head back further, she saw his Adam’s apple.
Jet-black eyes followed her. Even in the darkness, his features asserted their presence.
He was a bit more solid now. A little harder, too.
His grip closed around her wrist.
Rough, firm calluses overlapped her soft skin.
The back of his hand was covered with scars from scratches and injuries.
His shoulders were broader, his build larger. So this was what you looked like at this age.
Benjamin reached out and cupped her cheek.
Her cheek was completely covered by his palm. With that alone, she keenly felt the difference in their sizes.
Sharlof took a step back.
Benjamin looked down at that single step and murmured,
“Sharl.”
Sharlof tilted her head back to look up at him.
“What are you doing wandering around spaced out? Keep your wits about you.”
Benjamin’s black eyes were especially dark today.
“You can’t walk around alone here, Sharl.”
It wasn’t just his build that had changed—something else about him had changed too.
