Chapter 246
Before she was put to sleep again that autumn, Mama had hugged Nova tightly and promised, “Let’s meet again in the spring.”
〈Be good to Uncle, and don’t get mad at Mathilde…〉
〈Mmh, Mama.〉
〈…You’re such a good girl, my dear Nova.〉
Mama had held Nova for a long time without saying anything else. Even when Uncle came and gently urged her—“It’s time now”—she wouldn’t let go.
Strangely, Nova hadn’t been able to whine or fuss then either.
Mama had always felt like someone for whom everything could be the last. Like someone who might melt into sunlight and vanish if Nova blinked at the wrong moment.
〈I’ll wake up when the flowers bloom again. I promise.〉
Thinking of that moment, Nova’s small lips twisted into a pout.
Mama’s a liar.
Nova had done well with Uncle. She’d only cried once—just once!—when he left, and that didn’t count as a fight. She hadn’t even gotten that mad at Mathilde when she lied.
Nova kept all her promises.
So why wouldn’t Mama wake up? But if she complained that Mama broke her promise, what if that very thing made Mama never wake up again?
Nova rubbed her eyes with a clenched little fist and smiled bravely.
“Mama, guess what? Nova learned how to write numbers! You have to wake up to see, okay?”
She had already learned to count on her fingers. Reading and writing the symbols had taken her a little longer, but she had mastered them perfectly just to show Mama.
Nova picked up a thin fallen twig and began scribbling numbers into the dirt like doodles.
“One! Two! Three!”
She proudly wrote each numeral. But as the numbers got bigger, she started sneaking glances at the necklace around Mama’s neck.
The silver-buttoned pendant had flipped over when Mama was laid down, so the number etched on the back was clearly visible to Nova.
Looking and copying wasn’t bad—it was only bad if you copied without looking properly!
“…And that one is ten!”
Thanks to that, Nova was able to write all the numbers. Now, all that was left was for Mama to wake up so she could show her.
“Hehe…”
But when Nova saw her reflection in the glass coffin, her smile faded.
If she looked like Mama, she’d be as pretty as a fairy. But there wasn’t a single thing about herself she thought resembled Mama.
Still, from Mathilde’s point of view—watching quietly from behind—Nova couldn’t have been more beautiful.
Her clear, adorable face, the delicate features perfectly arranged, her small mouth that puckered cutely when she spoke. Her plump cheeks, her chubby hands.
And the way her eyes sparkled beneath those long, black lashes.
All of it proved that the child was alive.
〈Your Highness, the baby… there’s simply no way…!〉
It was also proof that what Mathilde had said during the birth—words she had once thought unforgivable—had been wrong.
What a blessing…
If it were discovered that she had secretly helped deliver the imperial child without the Emperor’s knowledge, it would be disastrous. But with the baby’s life hanging by a thread, there hadn’t been time to worry about that.
And it hadn’t only been the baby who was in danger back then.
Remembering how the Imperial Princess, who had seemed fine when leaving the duchy, nearly died from premature labor… it still made Mathilde shudder.
How much blood had spilled from that small, fragile body…
〈Brother… Mathilde… please, I beg you…〉
So when Her Highness had made that plea—more like a final will than a request—Mathilde had sworn to keep it, no matter what.
People grant the wishes of the living, so how could she ignore the dying wish of someone moments from death?
No matter how strange that wish might have been.
Thankfully, it hadn’t ended as a final will, but even now, Mathilde was honoring that vow with devotion.
Just then, Nova, who had been staring at her reflection in the glass coffin, turned around.
“Mathilde, Mathilde.”
“Yes, Lady Nova?”
“Why are Nova’s eyes yellow?”
“Lady Nova, they’re called gold. Golden eyes.”
“Yellow and gold! They’re the same thing!”
At Nova’s outburst, Mathilde broke into a cold sweat internally.
To call the golden eyes of House Arcturus yellow…!
But what truly frightened Mathilde was the question she knew would come next.
She reminded herself again. Being clever wasn’t always a blessing in a child.
“Uncle’s eyes are green. Mama’s eyes are like grass too. Why is Nova the only one like this?”
What if she started wondering who her real father was?
“Mathilde. Who does Nova look like?”
And what if—of all people—it was someone tied to the promise the Imperial Princess had made like a dying wish?
〈Please… no matter what happens to me, don’t let His Majesty the Emperor or Duke Izar find out.〉
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