17.

‘I was worried, but you seem alright, Estelle.’

Watching Estelle engage in a heated discussion with Soradan about various medicinal herbs, Zephion felt relieved.

In truth, he already knew that Estelle had encountered Kaian that morning.

When Zephion returned to Aren after briefly leaving to find Soradan, he heard unexpected news from a guild member: someone presumed to be the same person had used Aren’s portal several times over the past two days.

The moment he heard it, a deep sense of dread washed over him.

Portals were the privilege of high nobles backed by immense power or wealth. There was no noble in Aren who could casually use one, and even nobles from other regions would rarely spend such extravagance to visit a small, quiet town like this.

‘Don’t tell me…’

He prayed it wasn’t the Emperor.

Yet following the trail of the portal user, Zephion ultimately found Kaian and Estelle.

Though they were some distance away and he could not hear their conversation, he could tell Kaian was interrogating her while Estelle pretended not to know him.

He wanted to immediately take her away from the Emperor. But he could not—his very presence would only make the Emperor certain that the woman before him was truly Estelle.

Fortunately, the Emperor had not stopped Estelle as she walked away—but there was no way it would end with this.

Then as now, Zephion felt pathetic for being unable to do anything.

How deeply he had regretted not stopping Estelle in the past when she proudly said, with a bright smile, that she had become friends with the prince of Florance Palace.

How painful it had been to watch, night after night, as that precious woman—one he felt guilty even harboring feelings for—suffered under another man’s cold gaze.

He could not allow those hellish days to repeat themselves.

‘I’ll prepare a way for her to secretly leave for the Ricaf Continent, beyond the Emperor’s sight—so she can go at once if she wishes.’

Zephion made his plans, recalling the young Estelle who once said she wanted to see the vast deserts of the Ricaf Continent.

By then, Soradan had finished speaking with Estelle and left the reception room. Only Estelle and Zephion remained.

“Guild Leader, is he truly the Soradan you were looking for?”

“Yes. Thank you so much, Zeon.”

“Then it’s time for my reward.”

“Ah—.”

“I’m fine with receiving it right now.”

Two days a week. From one to three thirty.

Though it was far from enough to soothe the feelings he had harbored for more than half his life, if he could keep her before him—even for a moment—he was happy.

***

After finishing the state council meeting, Kaian sat in his office waiting for Keron, the Imperial Palace physician.

As his official schedule had just ended, he was still dressed in the Emperor’s formal attire.

On fine white fabric with a refined sheen were harmoniously arranged golden ornaments of many kinds, along with vivid crimson eyes and radiant blond hair. Altogether, it was beautiful enough to be mistaken for a work of art.

The office was filled with splendid furniture and artworks, yet none possessed a presence more striking than Kaian himself.

And yet the owner, Kaian, merely stared at the documents scattered across the desk with a bored expression.

“Your Majesty, Sir Keron has arrived.”

“Let him enter.”

At last hearing the news he had awaited, Kaian closed the papers and replied.

“Eternal glory to the great sun of Lecanto. I greet His Majesty the Emperor.”

The one who entered the office was an elderly gentleman with white hair. Now past seventy, he was the most experienced physician in the Imperial Palace and the one Kaian trusted most.

Having already served four emperors including Kaian, he had spent over fifty years in the palace while remaining a rare figure untouched by political interests.

In other words, he was one of the few people in the palace not under the influence of the House of Astria.

“Is there somewhere you feel unwell, Your Majesty?”

“No. I summoned you for another matter today. There is something I wish to ask you in confidence.”

“Please speak.”

“Before Empress Estelle disappeared… is there a possibility she was carrying an imperial child?”

Despite the sudden question, Keron maintained his composure without visible surprise.

“We received no particular report from the maids who attended Her Majesty, so the possibility is low, Your Majesty.”

“Low? That does not sound the same as impossible.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. We cannot entirely rule out that the maids overlooked signs of pregnancy or mistook something else for her monthly cycle and therefore failed to inform the palace physician.”

“Mistook something else for menstruation?”

“There are texts stating that when a child settles in the womb, symptoms resembling menstruation may appear, albeit in small amounts, Your Majesty.”

“What did the regular examinations show?”

Women of the Imperial Palace who spent the night with the Emperor underwent monthly examinations by the palace physician in addition to ordinary observation of symptoms. Empress Estelle had been no exception.

“Your Majesty… I regret to say that Her Majesty did not receive her scheduled examination that month.”

“That would have been well before the Founding Festival, enough time to have done it, no?”

“I recall that Her Majesty postponed it, saying her schedule was too full with preparations for the Founding Festival and that she would take the examination afterward.”

“Had she often postponed examinations before?”

“If this old man’s memory serves me correctly, that was the only time Empress Estelle ever delayed one, Your Majesty.”

After hearing this much of Keron’s explanation, the possibility Kaian had dismissed began to carry increasing weight.

“Then if she had been with child at that time… would the due date have been around autumn?”

“That is correct, Your Majesty.”

He did not yet know Aer’s birthday, but his suspicion was already turning into firm conviction, and his thoughts grew tangled.

If what he believed was true, then Estelle had suffered a great accident—falling into that treacherous valley while carrying a child—yet still gave birth and raised the child alone outside the palace.

Whether her memories had remained intact or not, it could not have been easy to endure alone.

And of all times, that was when creatures had appeared in the Oblia Valley, where monsters had long since become rare.
He had failed to save her without even knowing she carried his child.
He had failed to reach out to her more decisively.

D*mn it.

Separate from his hostility toward Estelle, an indescribable emotion rose within him—something akin to guilt.

No… is it right to feel guilty toward the enemy who killed my mother? Even if Estelle bore my blood, that does not erase her crime.

The clash of starkly opposing emotions deepened.

“Sir Keron.”

“Do you have further questions, Your Majesty?”

Though the discussion had contained matters that should have caused surprise, Keron remained calm. He did not pry, nor did he react—maintaining silence as though he had heard nothing.

That was how he had survived for so long in the palace, a place as thin-iced as it was dangerous.

“No, that will be all. You may withdraw.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Then I shall take my leave.”

Once again Kaian was left alone in the office.

Some of his doubts had been answered, yet his expression had only grown darker.

Sitting here and thinking won’t change anything. I should finish the urgent documents quickly and head back down again.

For the first time in a long while, Kaian began handling his work at an astonishing speed.

***

“Don’t lie! My mom said only veeery, very important people ride white horses! So how could you ride one, Aeir?”

“No! I really did! A super cool prince let me ride!”

“That makes no sense! If he’s a prince he should live in a castle — why would he be in the forest?”

“It’s true! I even saw him in front of the kindergarten this morning!”

“Aeir’s a liar!”

“Yeah, a liar!”

“No! I’m not a liar!”

At the forest rest area near the entrance of Aren Forest, several children from the Star Class of Fore Kindergarten sat on a bench chattering noisily during a walk with their teacher.

The conversation had begun with Jamie talking about riding a pony with his dad yesterday, but before long the children had started accusing Aeir of lying.

“Be honest, Aeir! You don’t have a dad so you’re jealous ‘cause I bragged about mine, right?”

“No! I’m not lying and I’m not jealous of your dad! My mom is a thousand—no, ten thousand times cooler!”

“What? No she’s not! My dad is way—”

Just as the argument was about to turn into a fistfight—

“Jamie! Aeir! Stop right now!”

Teacher Anne intervened and pulled the children apart.