Chapter 256
The child’s wariness was like a sugar cookie left under warm sunlight. No matter how much it melts, there are always crumbs left behind—it never completely disappears.
But just like the center softens and caves in as it melts, so too did Nova’s attitude toward Izar.
After giving him a proper scolding herself, she seemed a little pleased that he no longer disturbed her mother’s sleep. And no matter how young she was, she was sharp enough to notice how flustered he got when she looked at him.
So, for the past few days, after ‘watching over Mama’ time ended, Nova would drag him out to the garden and make him read books.
“This one. Read this.”
“Didn’t we read this one yesterday too?”
Izar responded as he accepted the picture book she held out. It wasn’t that he was tired of it, he just found it amazing that his daughter never grew tired of the same story, no matter how many times she heard it.
But as if to say Don’t talk back, Nova struck Izar’s shoulder once he sat down.
“Nova likes this one. Read it. Now!”
“Alright.”
Izar gave a faint smile and opened the book. He had been terribly awkward the first time, but he was desperate to narrow the distance between them—even if it meant fumbling through something like this.
However, as she listened to his voice for a while, Nova began thumping his hand.
“Ugh, I don’t like it. Read a different one!”
Nova shouted as she took out her frustration on this big man to her heart’s content.
‘Mama said I should listen to Uncle and Mathilde…’
But he didn’t fall under that category. So she justified to herself that it was okay to act like a bad kid around this person.
Izar, for his part, let her behave however she pleased. The more freely she treated him, the more at ease he felt. Especially as the situation surrounding Freesia grew ever more grim.
He watched in silence as Nova became distracted by a butterfly and forgot all about the book.
If only I could’ve seen her like this with Freesia back at the Ducal estate. From the moment she was in the cradle…
But unlike the idyllic scene, a somber voice echoed in Izar’s ears.
〈The sanctuary’s magical energy is nearly depleted.〉
After surveying the land several times, that annoyingly polished blond bastard had finally delivered his conclusion.
〈If this much mana has gathered, Her Highness the Imperial Princess should wake soon… But will we be able to replenish such immense mana again in the future?〉
At his concerned words, the Imperial Prince firmly pressed his lips together. Even without speaking, his silence said it all.
There was no other sanctuary with magic as vast as this one. Others still remained, but none were as powerful. Moreover…
The distance is far too great.
Even if they rushed as soon as Freesia awoke, the closest remaining sanctuary was still more than two weeks away.
Would this place become her final resting place after all?
Even though he missed her so much it was unbearable, if she never woke up, at the very least, he could still cling to hope.
“…Nova?”
But the sight of his daughter, seen through the gaps of his hand as he wiped his face, triggered an alarm in Izar. The child who had just been chasing butterflies and laughing had suddenly come to a standstill.
‘What’s wrong?’
Had she been bitten by an insect while he was briefly lost in thought?
That possibility erased any intention to approach her carefully. Izar rushed forward in a flash and swept the child into his arms.
“Nova?”
“Eek! Let gooo!”
Nova thrashed as if everything about getting used to Izar over the past few days had been a lie.
“Let go! Nova wanna get down!”
“Nova. Where are you hurt? I’ll call the physician—”
“Mamaaa…!”
Nova clawed at his arm and bit him, then suddenly widened her eyes. She had felt it again—the faint, warm breeze she had felt before when her mother woke up.
“Mama’s waking up!”
It was far later than the promised time, but without a doubt, the breeze carried the scent of spring.
***
Sleeping inside the glass coffin was much like a small death. Freesia thought so—how it was the moments just before sleep that were the most frightening, but once you slipped under, it wasn’t so bad.
‘But this time… this sleep is lasting much longer than before.’
Not just long, it was like being trapped in heavy fog, unable to move at all. And unlike before, when she had slipped in without a sound, this time, the voice of God was uncommonly clear.
[Is it not time for you to return, child?]
Adamant stroked the forehead of the sleeping Freesia and whispered softly. She had fulfilled the task bestowed by the divine. Now it was time for her to enjoy a rest free of the pain of the mortal world.
[The peace you once longed for is waiting.]
To that sorrowful whisper, Freesia said nothing. It was true. At some point, she had grown deeply, deeply tired.
Even before Canopus had mocked her with a marriage contract. Though she had hidden it with love and forced hatred, the truth was, she had long been worn out.
‘So much that… I didn’t want to stay by Izar’s side anymore.’
Because staying by his side consumed her emotionally, she felt she wouldn’t survive the dying days in any sort of peace.
[Then why do you not return, child? Your little one is here.]
At those words, tears welled faintly in Freesia’s eyes.
A baby she once loved so much she could have called her entire world. The child who had passed away because his foolish mother didn’t realize the medicine she took was poison.
‘…But Nova is still there.’
Just as she had loved the baby buried under the white briar bush long ago, she loved her daughter now—so, so much.
She had only pretended to hate Nova, trying to hurt Izar. In truth, she had loved her dearly.
Even before the child was born, she had rejoiced imagining her growing up in the ducal manor, loved in all the ways Freesia never had been.
Even if the child was precocious, childhood memories fade quickly. She wanted to be remembered—clearly, just a little longer, by Nova.
Not as someone who raised her hand, not as a mother who sobbed with her tongue bitten back, but always smiling. A gentle mother.
[…I see. Then I, too, will watch a little longer. Perhaps, your husband truly—]
Freesia didn’t hear the rest of the sentence.
At that moment, as if surfacing from the depths of a long dive, a gasp surged up from deep in her throat.
“Ah…!”
The familiar glass coffin was before her eyes, and the sharp, sweet scent of flowers filled the air.
Her remaining lifespan was now ten days.
Freesia opened her eyes.
For the last time.
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