Through the pouring sunlight, the first glimpse of the former empress revealed her to appear older than expected.

Her face was pale, marked by illness, with faint wrinkles around her eyes, and her shoulders were frail as paper.

Each feature of her face was plain and small, with not a single resemblance to Parnes.

“Your Majesty, please don’t approach too closely, just in case. We don’t know when she might show aggression.”

Vincent spoke warily. Kasallin nodded, acknowledging, and stopped at a suitable distance.

“Greetings, Dowager Empress. I am Kasallin Escalo, the empress who succeeded you in this kingdom.”

In the Renel Empire, the empress outranked the dowager, so Kasallin offered a courteous greeting. But she sat blankly, staring out the window, as if unaware of her visitor.

“I found your diary by chance at the Hisbury annex. I couldn’t help but read a little. Please forgive my rudeness.”

Kasallin placed the diary on her bed. Her eyes still fixed on a point in the air, but Kasallin continued speaking undeterred.

“I should have come to greet you sooner, but I’ve been delayed. Things have been hectic, and truthfully, I lacked the courage.”

“…….”

“Why did I want to meet you today? I thought seeing your face might tell me what I wanted to hear, but I still don’t know.”

“Your Majesty.”

Logia, who had been quietly listening to Kasallin’s near-monologue, spoke in a very cautious tone.

“She doesn’t seem to understand at all. Isn’t it pointless to keep talking?”

“No, she’s listening. She’s just resting, exhausted.”

Logia and the escort knights exchanged puzzled glances, clearly not understanding.

The dowager remained still in the same posture as before. Only her delicate eyelashes occasionally fluttered silently, her breathing barely noticeable.

Kasallin gave a faint smile toward the dowager, then bowed politely.

“We’ve just met, and too much talking might be overwhelming, right? I’ll come back tomorrow. Let’s talk more then.”

The breeze from the hilltop stirred the dowager’s golden hair. Still, there was no reply.

Parnes went to the palace every early dawn and returned to the villa only at midnight.

With Kasallin’s sleep increasing lately, there was hardly any time to talk properly with him.

Yet it didn’t seem like he was avoiding her deliberately, as there was always a faint warmth left in the empty spot beside her in the morning.

And sometimes, in a half-dream state, she felt his hand stroke her hair or heard whispers in her ear, so she knew he always checked on her, no matter how busy.

Parnes didn’t know Kasallin was visiting the dowager. For reasons she couldn’t explain, she wanted to keep it a secret for now.

“Your complexion looks brighter today. On my way, I saw autumn flowers blooming in the garden. I brought some to show you.”

Kasallin visited the dowager daily, talking almost nonstop during the three hours allowed.

Over four days, she gradually closed the distance, and after confirming no aggression, she began bringing small snacks to feed her.

Countess Grantia and others thought Kasallin’s actions admirable but incomprehensible.

Logia and Nigel, who initially helped, had grown indifferent.

Even skilled physicians, alchemists, and her son Parnes couldn’t get her to speak, so what was the point of such effort?

But Kasallin wasn’t visiting in hopes of a miracle or deeper meaning.

She found comfort in the time spent with the woman who bore Parnes and had once been empress.

“Looking back, His Majesty rarely speaks of himself. He doesn’t complain or ask for help when struggling. He’s always watching over me, worrying, protecting. He doesn’t share his thoughts unless asked.”

A gentle breeze swayed the curtains. The dowager, sitting in an odd posture like wet paper, remained locked in her own silent world.

“A few days ago, His Majesty said something for the first time: the only one in my heart is you. I’d never seen him so excited, so flustered. It was like seeing the teenage Parnes.”

“…….”

“I want to know more about Parnes. What he meant by those words, I want to hear from him directly. But…”

Before she finished, a knock came from outside. Countess Grantia announced the visiting time was over.

A hint of hesitation flickered in Kasallin’s eyes. She rose with a light smile.

“Time’s already up. Talking to you makes time fly.”

Kasallin hesitated, then placed the autumn flowers from the garden on the dowager’s blanket.

“I may not come for a while. I have a check-up with the physician and some state affairs to handle.”

“…….”

“If you don’t mind me visiting, please take these flowers. I hope you don’t find me bothersome.”

Kasallin gave a friendly farewell and slowly turned away.

Then, a rustling sound came from behind. Kasallin froze, turning back in disbelief.

The autumn flowers, teetering on the blanket, were slowly being grasped by the dowager’s fingers.

Her brown eyes, long fixed on the window, began to move slightly, then settled on Kasallin’s face.

Kasallin stared, surreal and disoriented, as the dowager gazed at her with a faint smile.

“Wait, I’ll get the doctor…”

Kasallin hurriedly stepped toward the door to call the physician and Countess Grantia.

As if to hold her back, a barely audible voice came from the dowager’s small lips.

“Parnes, I’ve burdened that child with too much.”

Kasallin watched, stunned, as she spoke.

“I was always running away. From life in the palace, from my husband—I had countless chances to talk and resolve misunderstandings, but I was too scared and avoided everything. In the end, I broke.”

Her voice was almost inaudible, understood only by reading her lips.

But her eyes were more alive than ever, as if she’d been conversing with Kasallin all along.

“Kasallin, please understand Parnes. He doesn’t know how to rely on anyone. To him, showing weakness is like death.”

“Why? What happened to His Majesty?”

The dowager’s face twisted in pain.

Just as Kasallin thought she’d asked something wrong, the door clicked open behind her. Then, a man’s voice, one she never expected to hear here, spoke softly.

“…Mother?”

Parnes, eyes wide, wore an expression of utter disbelief at what he’d just heard.

“It seems her speaking earlier was temporary, and she’s returned to her usual state. But today showed there’s still hope for her recovery.”

Countess Grantia, emerging from the bedroom, spoke to Kasallin and Parnes. She bowed deeply, especially to Kasallin.

“I sincerely apologize for my cynicism, thinking no effort would matter. As a former maid to the dowager, I’m ashamed.”

“No, I didn’t expect her to speak either.”

Countess Grantia excused herself to discuss more with the physician.

Parnes gazed at the dowager’s bedroom door with a complex expression, then asked Kasallin to walk with him outside.

Kasallin followed without objection, cautiously asking,

“How did you know I was here…?”

“I came to the villa to tell you something urgent, but you weren’t there. That’s how I learned you’ve been visiting Mother these past few days.”

Kasallin took a short breath to say she hadn’t meant to hide it.

But before she could speak, a light yet weary sigh came from above her.

Looking up, she saw Parnes gazing down at her with an unreadable expression.

“It seems Mother has taken quite a liking to you.”

“Why?”

“Perhaps because I resemble my late father too much, she’d always react with aggression when I visited. But today, she looked at peace for the first time in a long while.”

Parnes walked a few more steps across the wide lawn and stopped under an old willow tree.

Noticing marks on the trunk, Kasallin looked closely and saw measurements of a growing child’s height.

“It’s said in public that Father died of an unknown illness. But that’s not true.”

Parnes began, tracing the faded marks with his fingertips.

“In truth, Father was killed. By Mother.”