Chapter 247
“Mathilde thinks Nova’s stupid.”
It was the hour when early summer darkness began to fall
From the child’s room came the sound of puffed-up cheeks, full of frustration.
The maids brushing Nova’s hair exchanged troubled looks before the bravest among them responded kindly.
“Lady Nova, the head maid would never think you’re stupid. Not at all.”
“Yes! That’s right! Nova already knows, but no one answers!”
Recalling the conversation from earlier in the day, Nova pouted again, now all over again.
〈Uncle has green eyes. Mama’s eyes are like grass. Why is Nova the only one like this?〉
〈Mathilde. Who does Nova look like?〉
In truth, this wasn’t even the first time she’d asked those questions.
She was curious about who her ‘Papa’ was—whether she looked like him… That’s why she asked. But Mathilde always gave a troubled smile and avoided answering.
Nova glanced at the maids in the room. She wanted to ask them, but if Mathilde wouldn’t tell her, there was no way they would.
“Uuuu…”
In the end, Nova sulked and only looked down into the hand mirror one of the maids was holding.
In all the fairy tales Mathilde and the maids read to her, the princess always had a ‘Mama’ and a ‘Papa’, and she always resembled both a little.
“But I don’t look like Mama…”
No matter how wide she opened her eyes, she didn’t feel like she looked anything like her mother. Even with all her three-year-old brain power, she could only conclude that she must resemble her ‘Papa’ more.
Nova’s eyes, her hair—all of it must come from her father.
The maid brushing her hair hesitantly asked the sulking child,
“…Why are you so curious, Lady Nova? You didn’t ask about this before.”
“Because…”
Just as the maid said, until last year, Nova hadn’t been curious about her ‘Papa’ at all. Mama and Uncle had been more than enough.
But Mama had been asleep for such a long time now, and Uncle was always busy and left right away. Mathilde and the maids were kind, but whenever Nova asked the things she really wanted to know, they only said, “Ask when your Mama wakes up.”
Then why wouldn’t anyone talk about ‘Papa’?
She didn’t really understand what death meant yet, so she didn’t even consider the idea that her father might be dead.
Instead, she dragged her little legs along, recalling all kinds of scenes from the fairy tales she’d read.
“Hmm. Maybe Papa’s a scary person…”
Maybe he had horns on his head like a monster. Maybe he was a fearsome beast who ate people. Was that why no one wanted to talk about him?
“Hiiieeek…”
The maids looked confused, but Nova clutched her hand mirror and let out a frightened little gasp—then tilted her head.
“But Nova’s a human… Humans aren’t monsters.”
And if humans could turn into monsters, wouldn’t Uncle have stopped it? Uncle was really smart, after all.
If Uncle could fix it, then there was no way he’d keep Papa a secret.
“Then… is it because Papa doesn’t like Nova?”
In fairy tales, there were times when parents hated their children and cast them out. After thinking it over from every angle, that idea somehow seemed the most likely.
“Hing…”
Pouting like an angry rabbit one moment, then looking pitifully sad the next. Her mood swings left the maids speechless.
But it was impossible to keep up with every turn in a child’s thoughts. In the end, they laid Nova down in bed and quietly withdrew.
Even after the room darkened, Nova hugged her doll tightly and thought for a long time.
Was everyone avoiding talking about her ‘Papa’ because… he didn’t love her?
“Maybe…”
Otherwise, why wouldn’t they answer—especially when she puffed her cheeks and stomped her feet like this? No one had ever rejected her before.
But thinking someone might hate her made her so sad, tears welled up in her eyes.
“Mama…”
Nova buried her face in her doll and sniffled. The doll, which resembled her mother, was her most cherished treasure.
She saw Mama every day, but suddenly, she missed her so terribly. The Mama inside the glass coffin didn’t say anything, and it was so sad that she wouldn’t wake up like she had promised.
Nova sniffled for a while, and eventually, after running around so much during the day, she drifted off to sleep.
But how much time passed after that?
Suddenly, loud noises erupted outside. Too loud to be birds chirping in the morning—it hurt the ears.
As Nova stirred half-asleep, Mathilde called to her in a hushed, breathless voice.
“Lady Nova! Lady Nova…!”
“Mmm… Mathilde… Is the sun here?”
“Shh!”
She was still too sleepy, her head was foggy. But the fear in Mathilde’s voice made Nova’s heart start to feel strange too.
“There’s been a breach. Strangers have appeared.”
“Huh…?”
“Lady Nova, you absolutely mustn’t make a sound.”
At those words, the drowsiness that had been pressing on her eyelids vanished completely.
Mathilde scooped her up and dashed down a dark corridor. Outside the windows, the sky was still dim, but shouting echoed from all directions.
Only then did fear truly seize Nova.
“W-What about Mama? Mama!”
Mama’s glass coffin!
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