🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 78
???. Old Story (4)
Even in the imperial palace, where it once seemed the sun would never set, darkness eventually fell.
Calix walked along the corridor leading to his quarters.
The night air was cool. The palace gardens lay silent, undisturbed by any noise. Moths fluttered toward the lamps that lit the corridor.
And beneath that light stood someone who should not have been there. A woman perched on the railing waved when she spotted him.
“Hello.”
The casual greeting lingered in the air. The hem of her white dress fluttered in the cold breeze.
A contrived laugh slipped past her lips, tickling his ears.
“Lilis.”
Realizing who she was, Calix clenched his teeth. Displeasure clouded his once-calm face.
“Why are you here?”
He barely contained the anger boiling inside him.
Lilis was the woman who had tried to kill the one he loved. As if that weren’t enough, she had also sold out the empire.
For someone like her to brazenly show her face before him—he could not understand it. Every instinct screamed to draw his sword, but he held himself back.
“To run away.”
Lilis brushed the lower part of her hair with her fingers. The platinum strands slipped like threads between her pale, slender fingers.
In contrast to Calix’s seething fury, she was calm, almost leisurely.
She had been hiding inside the palace to escape the wrath of the mob. She should have been trembling at the thought of being cast out—but she showed no such fear.
“Why tell me that?”
Calix had opposed the idea of granting her imperial protection. Like Nox, he believed she should be executed.
And the two of them were far from close enough to be exchanging such words. In fact, it was to her disadvantage that Calix knew she intended to flee.
“Wondering why I’d tell you?”
Lilis hopped down from the railing and stood upright. Then she began walking toward him.
Her steps were light and sprightly, as if she were in high spirits.
She stopped right in front of him. Her fingers, which had playfully skimmed his shoulder as if pressing piano keys, suddenly gripped his collar and yanked him closer.
The force bent him toward her, and he let it happen. At this point, he wanted to see what she was after.
He met her gaze. Her frame was as small as ever, but her presence was still unforgettable, searing itself into memory.
“You won’t be able to stop me.”
Her whisper reverberated in his ear. Her overly serious expression only made it feel more like a lie.
“Why would I—”
He started to retort, but she silenced him. Her free hand cupped his cheek, and she rose on tiptoe, closing the distance in an instant.
Their lips met, dry and fleeting, without any trace of emotion, before parting again.
Unlike Lilis, who remained unaffected, Calix froze. His wide eyes brimmed with shock and confusion.
“Did you like it?”
She smirked playfully just inches from his face. Her red eyes curved beautifully, brimming with mirth.
It was the same mocking smile she used to wear when she tormented him, back before Olivia had entered his orbit. She seemed genuinely amused by his dazed expression.
“I’m leaving.”
Her cold fingers brushed his chin. Then she turned her back without a hint of regret.
Her footsteps, as she fled into the distance, were as light as ever. It was as though nothing had changed for her—only Calix.
Lilis fleeing the palace meant she was slipping beyond imperial surveillance.
What she would do next was anyone’s guess. Catching her now would be the wise course.
But he could not bring himself to stop her. The fury that had flared at her appearance evaporated, leaving him numb, as if struck on the back of the head with a hammer.
The feelings he once held for her were gone. The memories they had shared had long since been torn apart and discarded.
He had someone he loved sincerely now. The only emotion left for Lilis was hatred.
Yet nothing she said had been wrong.
Calix could not bring himself to pursue her. Even knowing what her escape would mean for the future, he could not stop her.
It had been only a brief kiss—so short he hadn’t even felt her breath.
But those few seconds had been intoxicating.
Even knowing it was nothing more than one of her lies, one of her performances, he struggled to steel his heart.
What was that fleeting feeling he once held during happier times, that even now lingered and tormented him?
He was a fool. A dull-witted fool who never learned.
“Ah.”
Then, from his pocket, a faint light seeped out. The glow jolted him back to his senses.
The source was a brooch inlaid with a light-green gem. It was a call from the one he loved beyond measure, the one he could never exchange for anything.
Realization brought clarity. His reason returned, his mind settling.
“Was anything more important than Olivia?”
A woman who had turned her back on him? A half-forgotten memory of the past? None of it was more precious than Olivia.
Lilis had committed too many sins. She had done things no human should ever do.
He had seen her deeds with his own eyes. Such vile, cowardly acts deserved execution.
The old memories dimmed further, replaced with immeasurable hatred.
He did not know what ending awaited this story, nor what state his heart would be in by then.
But right now, there was only one thing to do.
Calix drew his sword. He stepped in the direction Lilis had gone.
It was already too late to catch her, but if he tracked her route, he could anticipate her next move.
Just as he was about to leave the corridor, he stopped.
He pulled from his collar a small yellow trinket.
It was the same as always, unchanged. Yet now he felt nothing for it.
A sharp clang rang out as the brooch hit the ground. Calix crushed it beneath his foot.
Though designed to withstand shock, it shattered pitifully under his strength.
The little brooch, engraved with a yellow flower to pray for safety in his youth, was now unrecognizable.
He no longer even wished to go back to how things once were.
“It’s over.”
His crimson eyes gleamed hollowly.
At last, he laid to rest the memories he had clung to for so long.
“Now, remember that feeling.”
The sudden, chilling voice made him whirl around in alarm. But no one was there—only himself.
“Hate her. Be angry with her.”
The voice was familiar, yet he could not place it.
“So that destiny may reach its end….”
The voice echoed through the empty air, impossible to trace.
“Your Highness, it is time to wake.”
Calix pried open his heavy eyelids. He felt groggy, exhausted, as if he had been dreaming.
A head of ashen hair intruded into his blurry vision.
“How do you feel?”
Blinking, he sat up and looked around. He was in his own bedchamber.
“…Why are you here?”
Calix did not trust Flood. He was not the kind of man to keep such a person close.
“You were plagued by nightmares, so I came to treat you. Do you not recall?”
“Me?”
The question tilted his head in confusion. Strangely, he remembered nothing.
“Yes. In fact, the Second Prince who accompanied you returned to the palace after seeing you here.”
Flood chuckled softly.
“……”
Gradually, Calix’s vision cleared, and forgotten memories trickled back.
Yes… After the hunting festival, he had been unable to sleep for weeks because of nightmares. He had asked his younger brother to find him a remedy.
Flood’s explanation made sense.
Flood suddenly held out his hand. Resting in his palm was a yellow brooch.
Calix accepted it and calmly pinned it back in its usual place. He did not question why Flood had it.
He assumed he must have handed it over while lying down for treatment.
“Now then, shouldn’t you be going?”
“Going where?”
“To the meeting I arranged with the daughter of House Primrose—the one Your Highness expressed interest in.”
Flood answered his doubt with an amiable smile.
“I promised to help Your Highness in matters of love. This much is the least I can do.”
His pale gray eyes, faded like sun-bleached stone, gazed steadily into Calix’s.
He could not recall clearly, but yes… it seemed true. His heart thudded faster as he remembered the face he had glimpsed at the ball.
“Thank you.”
Calix smiled warmly.
He wondered why he had not kept someone so capable at his side sooner.
