Bang!
The window rattled loudly.
As if someone had thrown a stone.
The maid, who had been standing by the window secretly wiping her tears, flinched in surprise.
“W-what is this?”
She turned her head.
A foolish little bird had collided with the window, crumpled and fallen, and then flown back to perch on the window frame, pecking at it.
As if asking for her attention.
‘Wait, isn’t that a messenger pigeon?’
Messenger pigeons weren’t allowed into the main palace. They were trained to fly straight to the western tower, no exceptions.
So what was this bird? There wasn’t even a note tied to its leg.
‘I knew it. Birds really are stupid.’
The maid hissed, trying to scare the bird away.
But no matter how she waved her arms, the pigeon didn’t budge.
It even scratched the glass with its beak, producing an irritating noise, then squawked loudly and flapped its wings against the window.
“This crazy bird…!”
“What’s all this commotion?”
At the same time, a series of coughs erupted.
It was Sabina, the mistress of Valentine Castle.
“I-I’m sorry!”
“Apologies are unnecessary. What’s the matter with the bird?”
Her breath was so shallow it seemed it could stop at any moment, and her voice was hoarse.
Through a slightly torn gap in the drapes, Sabina’s figure was glimpsed. Her frail, almost pitifully thin fingers reminded one of withered twigs.
“Th-that messenger pigeon has collided with the window and is causing a commotion.”
A ridiculous report that the bird was misbehaving. Even Sabina, who rarely laughed, couldn’t help but chuckle.
“I’d like to see that brave little bird. Please help me.”
“Ugh, impossible! The physician insisted you maintain complete rest…”
“Humans, when they die, take eternal rest, you know.”
“Again with that remark…”
The maid twisted her face as if on the verge of tears, but gritted her teeth and endured.
She couldn’t disgrace herself in front of the mistress.
“You were lucky yesterday, but today may very well be the last. So just let her do as she wishes.”
Sabina herself knew best that time was short.
She had already resigned herself, accepted it, and was waiting for her end.
“Milady…”
If the head maid had been nearby, she would have firmly said no.
But she had just stepped away.
The maid exhaled deeply and helped Sabina sit on a chair by the window.
By then, the bird had flown off and disappeared.
‘If I find it, I’ll secretly catch it and roast it like a pigeon.’
While the maid gritted her teeth in secret, Sabina reached out along the window and asked:
“…Could this possibly be cherry blossoms?”
Amazingly, fully bloomed cherry blossoms were neatly arranged on the outer window frame.
“This is impossible. Surely, all the cherry blossoms have fallen…”
The maid muttered but stopped, gazing out the window. Hypnotized, she opened it.
Sabina’s eyes widened to their limits.
The enormous cherry trees lining the palace grounds were swaying pink in the spring breeze.
An impossible occurrence. People would call it a miracle.
Lloyd headed toward the place where he had first seen Aria.
Several jaguars had quietly started trailing him from behind.
“Find her.”
The jaguars responded with low growls.
After giving the command, Lloyd frowned slightly. Something fell from above.
He brushed it away and saw a flower petal.
“What on earth is this…”
He looked up.
A shower of blossoms rained down.
Among the bare trees, only the cherry trees bore signs of life.
“Could this be Karin’s mischief?”
But the castle’s sorcerer wouldn’t waste time on blooming flowers; he’d burn them for being a nuisance.
Since when had he become sentimental? He never even learned the art of making flowers bloom.
‘Then it must be someone else.’
Lloyd recalled the small child who had been standing endlessly in the rain with a lace-trimmed umbrella.
The blossoms fluttered in the wind like her hair.
‘Annoying, as expected.’
Lloyd silently looked up at the cherry trees, flicking his sword in and out of its scabbard.
While only the clacking echoed in the garden, one jaguar brought something in its mouth.
A small, worn leather bag soaked from the rain.
‘It’s hers.’
She must have clutched it as if it were a lifeline, but it had dropped when the sword was held to her neck.
‘What could she be hiding…?’
Poison? Memorization notes?
Without hesitation, Lloyd opened the bag. Inside were cards, an ink bottle, and a broken quill that could no longer be used.
Perhaps she usually wrote on the cards to communicate.
‘How foolish.’
Leaving records like this was risky; it could easily leak to outsiders. He should have burned it on the spot.
He read the cards, ready to confront and punish at the slightest suspicion.
[The flowers are pretty.]
A sudden obsession with flowers.
[I can see the flowers well here. I like it.]
She liked looking at them too.
Was that why she had been standing alone in the garden palace in the rain? To see the flowers?
[Give me cocoa that tastes like melon.]
Tastes like melon?
He turned the page:
[White, fluffy, and soft.]
…Probably marshmallows.
[Delicious, melon.]
She seemed pleased. Not literally melon, though.
[My name isn’t stupid.]
As the cards progressed, the signs of time were evident. Yellowed, corners neatly worn.
[I was wrong.]
[It’s all my fault.]
[Don’t hit me.]
[I’ll try to speak.]
[Sorry for being a mute idiot.]
The cards were well-used, smeared with ink and tears.
[Please love me.]
Soon, he had reached the last card.
Lloyd froze in place. The jaguar nudged his leg, pointing toward the palace.
Aria was there.
“…”
For a moment, the boy’s gaze fell on the broken quill, then shifted away.
Aria’s fever rose and fell, making her lose and regain consciousness.
She could hear faint conversations and feel unknown hands touching her.
Nobles who had come to see the Siren, perhaps.
“Sing for me, my angel.”
“Is that it? Are you joking?”
“I spent all my wealth to meet you. Don’t pretend to be sick—get up!”
“Sing, or else, right now!”
Voices that could have been real or imagined.
Aria pressed her temples against the headache and slowly lifted her eyelids.
“Gasp, milady! Are you awake?”
Blinking dazedly, she saw Head Maid Dana on her left, and Maid Head Betty on her right, looking at her with concern.
Dana brushed hair stuck to Aria’s forehead, sighing deeply.
“I’m so glad you’re safe.”
This is the Grand Duchy.
Aria realized belatedly.
‘They’ve been nursing me all along?’
On a day when her whole body burned with fever and it was hard to even open her eyes, someone had been there, wiping her with a damp cloth.
It felt as if she didn’t have to suffer alone anymore. Aria’s mood was strangely stirred.
‘Even my eyes feel feverish.’
She felt on the verge of tears.
Dana stroked her hair again.
This time, Aria didn’t flinch.
Because the touch was so warm.
As if saying, don’t be in pain.
As if saying, get well soon.
Her body melted; something boiling inside her melted too.
Without a trace.
“Oh my, oh my.”
Aria tilted her head to match the touch, and Dana muttered in admiration:
“How can she be so lovely?”
Dana was caressing Aria’s hair without realizing she was treating a patient.
She made a startled expression and stopped.
“You need some fever medicine, so I’ll give you thin soup.”
Dana propped Aria up against the headboard, scooped some soup, and blew on it before offering it to her lips.
Aria’s cheeks burned red from fever as she obediently ate.
‘Ah.’
Chewing slowly, consciousness gradually returned.
Aria frantically looked for her bag.
But it wasn’t there, so she grabbed Dana’s hand and wrote a message on it.
[Is the Grand Duchess okay?]
“She’s fortunately pulled through the critical stage.”
‘Phew.’
Aria breathed a sigh of relief.
It wasn’t her time to leave the world yet.
“By the way, while you were asleep, the Grand Duke visited.”
Lloyd?
Aria lifted her head sharply, and her rabbit ears perked up from the motion.
Dana, seeing her, smiled warmly and continued:
“And he picked this up on his way.”
It was Aria’s bag.
‘When did I drop it?’
She must have been delirious from the fever.
Aria rummaged through the bag to write.
But instead of her usual quill, a luxurious fountain pen appeared.
‘…Huh?’
The nib was gold, adorned with diamonds, and engraved with the signature of Kataruna, the world-renowned jeweler.
An object worthy of museum display, even now.
Aria couldn’t help but stare at Dana.
Dana shrugged and replied:
“He must have found it in his office.”
I see. With Valentine’s wealth, it’s understandable to casually pick up such a masterpiece.
‘Even the Empress would have boasted about Kataruna’s work all day during a banquet.’
As Aria rummaged through the bag, she found a note.
[Leave once you’ve recovered.]
From the tone, it was a farewell gift telling her to disappear after getting better.
Even after recovering, if Aria didn’t leave, she would be killed.
Aria sought Dana’s advice.
[Does Lloyd hate me a lot?]
Judging from his attempt to kill her, she must have made a strong enemy.
Aria touched her neck wrapped in bandages.
‘I was planning to live as if concealing my Siren abilities, unnoticed. But still… being killed or driven out by someone I might marry is unacceptable.’
“Well… I can’t judge his heart for you,” Dana said, before adding:
“He did order that you be allowed to taste all the desserts, every kind, before leaving.”
Dana muttered, “That wouldn’t be possible,” showing a hint of embarrassment.
