So, how did it start?

As Lutis said, when I woke up after sleeping for four or five hours, the child seemed to have calmed down.

Lutis then told the child that there was something he needed to teach them and kicked Aeli out of the room.

Some time later, when I asked the two of them what he had taught after they finished their business, the answer came back that he had taught them how to greet without any particular expression.

I thought it was strange that he had deliberately prevented me from seeing it, but I let it go.

And so, after changing clothes and entering the palace, we are now in the audience chamber.

– ……

Aeli, who was frozen with a disgruntled expression, was at a loss for words.

Somehow, there wasn’t much talk until we came up from the territory to the capital and entered the palace, and that was all because they were holding their breath for now.

‘What he said he would teach……’

Aeli made a disgruntled face as she looked at the child’s posture, which was exactly the same as Lutis’s, as if seen in a mirror, precisely symmetrical.

It seemed that he had simply taught them etiquette since we were visiting the imperial palace, but the child looked quite proud for it to be a mistake.

So it seemed right to see that he had deliberately taught them the opposite posture from the beginning.

‘But that…… that posture is the etiquette used for dead imperial family members.’

In other words, there could be no greater insult than using it on a living person.

It was clear that it was prepared with the intention of striking the emperor, so Aeli blinked slowly and opened her mouth.

– I…… I think I heard when I was attending the academy before that a planet shines the brightest just before it dies.

“Ahem……”

Lutis, startled by Aeli’s words, coughed a few times in vain. Then he glanced at where Aeli was standing, as if to say, what if we laugh here?

Why are you making a fuss when you did it first? Aeli shrugged her shoulders.

‘I said let’s follow it because I can’t ignore the imperial decree, and I came to the capital because I think I need to find out what the temple and Alvarez are up to, not because I like the imperial family.’

Originally, words are always like this, with a slight difference.

Lutis cleared his throat for a moment and opened his mouth.

“…… While I was out on the war that Your Majesty ordered, the mansion was empty. Due to the current situation, I couldn’t bring in outsiders, so I came back and taught him myself, but I apologize that the young master is not yet well-versed in etiquette as the date of entering the palace was earlier than expected.”

It was a roundabout way of insulting from beginning to end.

Aeli was impressed by the words that were no different from ‘I didn’t even have time to educate my child because I was rolling on the battlefield because of you, so you won’t pick on the child’s mistake with a narrow mind.’

Compared to the way of speaking used by noble ladies and young ladies in social circles, that level was straightforward.

Even though Lutis wasn’t friendly, it didn’t seem like he was like that to that extent in Aeli’s memory.

‘Before that, it was half a joke, but…… it really seems like the war has ruined him.’

It was like a situation where you brought a fierce alley cat and got your hands burned, but when you came back after a while, it became even more fierce than before.

It was then, while Aeli was having such thoughts.

An answer came from the emperor, who had been silent for a while.

“The duke and the young master may raise your heads.”

“……”

“Yes, a child can make mistakes. Don’t worry too much.”

The emperor nodded and smiled.

As someone who once received the attention of noble young ladies of his age along with Lutis, his impression was still good.

Even to Aeli, whose eyes had reached the top of her head thanks to Lutis, who had been with her since childhood, the emperor’s appearance was really nice.

‘Of all things, one has silver hair and the other has platinum blonde hair…… When Lutis was taller than his peers, there were quite a few classmates who mistook him from behind in the early days of attending the academy.’

Even when Lutis had just started attending the academy, the emperor, who was the crown prince at the time, was in the year before graduation.

They weren’t exactly the same as there was an age difference, but those who were mistaken probably thought that the crown prince was unexpectedly small.

Aeli looked at Lutis’s fine hair that hung down long below his shoulders.

It was originally short like the emperor’s, but when Aeli met the first vacation after entering the academy, she used magic to lengthen it as a joke.

Actually, it was half a joke and half hoping that he wouldn’t get tired of being mistaken all the time.

[Lutis, Lutis! Oh my god, are you awake?!] […… What is this again in the morning-] [Don’t get up. You’ve been asleep for a year! I came to see you for a moment before I go back to the academy today as the vacation ends!] [……?]

As he raised his body, Lutis saw his long hair fluttering with the movement and trembled his eyes. Aeli still vividly remembered that expression.

It was a rare moment when Lutis, who rarely got surprised or fooled even when pranked, was greatly startled.

[Please…… please don’t play jokes…….] [But you were fooled! But your long hair really suits you too. Stay still, I’ll go to my room and get some hair accessories!] [No, I just want to cut it-] [I’ll tie it just once, really just once!] [……]

The answer is set, so you just have to answer.

As Aeli stared at Lutis with that face, his head slowly nodded. Aeli quickly went to her room, brought a light green hair tie, gathered Lutis’s hair, and tied it.

‘I didn’t tie it well…… but I tied it anyway.’

I fiddled with the clumsily tied hair for a long time and thought he would untie the string and cut it now.

[Oh, you’re not cutting it?] […… It’s still winter. I’ll cut it when it gets warm because my neck is cold.]

Even though he said that, he didn’t cut it and continued to maintain the length at that time until now.

“The story from now on won’t be very interesting for the young master to hear, and I can’t keep him standing here like this……”

“……”

“How about taking a look around the imperial palace garden and coming back?”

Aeli, who had been lost in reminiscence, came to her senses at the sound of the emperor’s voice.

She moved her gaze fixed on Lutis’s shoulders and looked at the child.

The child moved his eyes here and there, greatly startled, as if he had not expected the question to be asked to him.

“Ye…… Yes?”

“Your Majesty, I apologize, but the child has not been allowed to go out for long, so he cannot find his way well.”

“I will attach a court lady and an escort, so don’t worry about that. How could I let a precious duke’s child wander around alone?”

“……”

Without giving time to answer further, the emperor immediately called the servants and escorts outside, and Lutis turned his eyes to look at Aeli.

It meant that since there was no way out, she should take care of the child on his behalf while he had a private audience with the emperor here.

“Young master, I will guide you to the garden.”

Aeli nodded her head and stood next to the child who was taking faltering steps. Only then did the child show a somewhat relieved look.

Even so, he kept turning his head back to where Lutis remained.

[This is the timeline separator]

“This is the largest garden in the imperial palace. If you go a little further inside, there is also a fountain made of gold, so I thought it would be the best place for you to take a walk and guided you here.”

“Go, gold?”

“Yes. Some of the flower species near the fountain are personally managed by Her Majesty the Empress.”

Wow. The child let out a small exclamation.

As the court lady who guided them said, the scale of the garden was considerable.

The child looked at Aeli, turning his head halfway, pretending to look around the garden. His violet eyes, resembling violets, sparkled unusually, perhaps because they were exposed to sunlight.

When the child looked up at the court lady, saying that he wanted to see the golden fountain, the court lady bowed once and guided the child a little further inside.

After walking for a few minutes along the path, the child arrived in front of the fountain and opened his mouth with his eyes wide open in surprise.

“Is this real gold?”

“Yes, it’s 98% pure gold, so if you bite it, it will leave teeth marks.”

“Ooh…… Can I bite it?”

“……”

– ……Adi, I don’t think that’s quite right.

When the child pointed to the fountain with one hand and asked the court lady, Aeli dissuaded the child with a broad smile.

No matter what, he couldn’t let rumors spread about a young master who left teeth marks on a fountain in the imperial palace.

‘…… No, that might be okay because it’s cute?’

When she said no, the child stirred the fountain water a couple of times in vain and moved to the flowerbed.

Aeli was shaken for a very brief moment at the face with a clear look of disappointment.

When the child, who was intently looking at the flowerbed, pointed at something and asked the court lady, Aeli’s attention was also drawn to it.

“What is this?”

“It’s the flower species that Her Majesty the Empress personally cultivates, as I mentioned earlier.”

“Oh.”

“She recently succeeded in improving roses and wild luminescent flowers, so it doesn’t have a name yet, but it’s a variety that emits a soft light from the flowers and leaves, making it particularly beautiful at night.”

Surprised by the words that the flowers emit light, the child brought his hand over the flowers to block the light.

He put his eyes between his fingers to check, and when he was amazed that it was real, Aeli quietly watched from behind.

Come to think of it, it seemed that the empress was a beauty with long, thick, wavy red hair and golden eyes.

Originally, there was no particular ill feeling, but it was inevitable to be reluctant because of what happened to the child.

I was just leaving an impression that she likes flowers that look just like herself, covered in red and thorns, when…

Thud.

“Then, this is more beauti…… at night.”

Aeli, who turned her head at the sound of footsteps coming from the path the child had walked in, widened her eyes.

Long, thin silver hair, the symbol of the imperial family, and sky-blue eyes.

“I see the second brightest moon in the empire.”

As soon as the footsteps stopped, the court lady bowed in greeting, and Aeli finally realized.

The emperor did not simply tell the child to go and see the garden out of goodwill.