Side Story 2
Nova was dressed in a beautiful and extravagant dress, the kind Freesia never could have dreamed of wearing as a child. She was smiling brightly, more clearly and purely than anyone else.
Unlike Freesia’s own childhood, spent enduring her mother’s slaps and the silent cries of a severed tongue.
“Um…!”
But just before Nova could leap into Freesia’s arms, she came to an abrupt stop as if she’d stepped over an invisible line. Instead, she solemnly lifted the sides of her dress like a blanket and gave a formal greeting, just as she’d recently learned at the imperial palace.
“Nova has returned, Mother.”
The phrasing was still awkward, and because her legs were short and chubby, the curtsy was more adorable and spirited than graceful.
Freesia laughed, rubbing her cheek against her daughter’s soft one.
“Welcome home, Nova.”
“Hehe…”
“Did you get along well with His Majesty today? You didn’t trouble him too much, did you?”
“Mm-hm! I mean— No, ma’am!”
Nova quickly corrected herself, snapping to attention. Whether at the canyon palace or here, Nova was deeply loved, but there were certainly more rules she had to follow now.
“We played catch, and read books, and picked flowers too!”
“You had a lovely time. I’m glad.”
Freesia kissed the child on her brow and smiled.
How fortunate it was that Nova could now chatter away so brightly like this.
〈Mama, Papa… I had a scary dream again.〉
Even after they had left the canyon and moved to a safe place, Nova had suffered from frequent nightmares. She often cried, saying her mother and uncle wouldn’t wake up because of a devil with silver hair and red eyes.
〈Nova doesn’t want to go anywhere unless Mama and Papa hold me!〉
She would burrow into Freesia’s arms like a kitten or, later on, insist on being carried only by Izar, who had begun to rise from his bed.
But in the end, just as wounds fade into smooth scars, time passed, and that day remained only as a vivid trace in Nova’s memory.
As Freesia was still reveling in the warmth and softness of her daughter’s cheek, a court attendant—discreetly assigned by the Emperor to watch over Nova—approached cautiously.
“Your Highness, pardon me… His Majesty is quite eager to know when you plan to return to the detached palace.”
“……”
“His Majesty misses Your Highness terribly. He waits so anxiously for your presence that it seems his health may begin to suffer.”
“I hear he just played catch with my daughter not long ago.”
Freesia asked gently, with a soft smile.
“If anything, wouldn’t that mean His Majesty is in excellent health? Don’t you think so?”
“Y-Your Highness…”
The attendant opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally conceding defeat.
‘She’s starting to sound more and more like His Highness the Imperial Prince…’
That warm smile of hers looked like she couldn’t harm a fly, but when it came to matters where she stood firm, there was no budging her.
‘His Majesty was absolutely overjoyed when he heard Her Highness was still alive…’
The attendant recalled the chaos that had engulfed the capital at the time and pressed his lips together bitterly.
When the Emperor had heard the Prince was near death, he had fainted on the spot. But when he learned that his granddaughter was in fact alive—and had even given birth to a child—he leapt up from his sickbed.
〈What?! She’s alive? And she had a child?!〉
So what if they’d deceived him? If the granddaughter he believed to be dead was alive—and had borne him a great-grandchild to boot—he had no time to waste on petty outrage.
Freesia sighed as she remembered just how easily the Emperor had moved past it all.
‘It’s fortunate he didn’t explode in some unpredictable way, but still… it’s best to stay as far from the palace as possible.’
It wasn’t just out of consideration for the future Empress, whom Riegel would eventually marry, that she refrained from playing the role of lady of the house.
‘And it’s because I simply can’t forgive him.’
Not only had she been used as a tool to humiliate Izar… but when she heard from him what had happened just before her death in her past life…
Once she’d pieced together the general truth, forgiving the Emperor became utterly impossible.
‘Izar tried to gloss over it…’
Freesia gazed with shadowed eyes toward the palace beyond Maia Street.
Even so, she didn’t stop Nova from meeting her great-grandfather. It was because she respected that the Emperor truly cherished this child.
‘Haa… For now, I’ll just let go of any guilt regarding his health.’
If he could still play catch with this energetic child, then his joints must be doing just fine.
And fortunately, the appearance of another family member gave her an excuse to stop thinking about the Emperor altogether.
“Ah! Papa!”
Nova peeked her face out from Freesia’s arms and called out happily.
Izar, who had come to find his wife and daughter after finishing his schedule at the temple, saw the heartwarming scene and let out a faint smile.
“Looks like I arrived just in time.”
Freesia couldn’t meet his gaze directly and instead mumbled behind her hand, pretending to kiss the top of Nova’s head.
“Um… Welcome back.”
But having watched her mother’s reaction, Nova covered her mouth with her hand and whispered.
“Mama’s face is all red. Whyyy?”
“Shh, Nova.”
Flustered, Freesia quickly handed Nova over into Izar’s arms to hide her embarrassment.
‘Why am I like this now?’
Just because they hadn’t spent a single winter together, why was her heart suddenly fluttering with this ridiculous, shameful thrill?
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