Chapter 76
Ael began speaking again, slowly.
“…Figs.”
“F-Figs?”
Kiara blinked in disbelief.
Figs? Out of nowhere?
She was already startled over the whole affair with Raelin possibly being executed over figs, and now this?
Unfazed by Kiara’s reaction, Ael continued speaking. He couldn’t see Kiara’s expression anyway, pressed as close to him as she was.
“The thing you tried the other day. The one made of figs and nuts pressed together.”
“Oh… the one you said was some kind of military ration…”
“It was first invented by a witch. The one who gave birth to me.”
Kiara blinked, visibly taken aback by a revelation she had not anticipated. It connected suddenly to something he had said earlier — something she had not understood at the time.
‘So, it seems like witches have similar tastes.’
He had made the comment when she had been eating the rations Raelin had brought her. Now, understanding the context, she gave a small nod.
Meanwhile, Ael continued, his tone steady.
“In the imperial capital to the south of here, fig trees grow particularly well. Especially in the inner courtyard of the detached palace where the witch resided. The tree there bore figs in abundance.”
At some point, his hand had found its way to Kiara’s thick black hair, gently stroking it as he spoke.
Though called a ‘detached palace,’ it was in truth the most secluded and coldest area of the Grandilgale estate — a place reserved for concubines fallen from imperial favor. Situated in the remotest corner of the imperial compound, it had long since been abandoned by the Emperor himself. And although it housed his own mother, Ael had been formally forbidden from entering the area.
As a result, the detached palace had become all but erased from institutional memory, neglected even by the palace gardeners.
“…Which is why, every year when fig season came, I would find some way to sneak in. If I was caught, I’d go without food for an entire day.”
Rather, perhaps it was because there were no people coming and going. With no one to pick them, the fig tree in the secluded palace would become so heavy with fruit each year that its branches nearly broke under the weight.
“It was only rough the first few times. After that, I knew I’d be punished anyway, so I just stuffed myself with figs until I thought I’d burst.”
There was a hint of amusement in Ael’s voice as he recalled the past.
But Kiara, listening quietly, furrowed her brow ever so slightly. Something about what he said tugged at her. She couldn’t quite place what.
If only she could see his face, maybe she’d know, but Ael had her completely enveloped, like a mother bird shielding its chick, making it impossible for her to move.
Eventually, she blurted out the first thought that came to mind.
“Was it… really a place you weren’t allowed to go? Even for a prince…?”
“Kyah!”
Before she could finish her sentence, Ael tightened his arms around her. Not just a gentle squeeze — there was clear mischief in the way he used his chin to press down firmly on the crown of her head.
“Even a prince is still a child. And I was a particularly mischievous one, too.”
It was hard to picture. Ael, so brutal and fierce, having once been just a pure, playful child? Kiara narrowed her eyes in disbelief, then asked again.
“Mischievous? Really? Oh, stop it!”
Ael started rubbing her head roughly with his chin, and Kiara let out another yelp. Her hair, now thoroughly tousled, fell into her face, covering her eyes.
With an exasperated sigh, she gave up resisting.
“…You really must’ve been quite the troublemaker.”
“Right? But they told me never to go near the detached palace…”
There was a faint trace of amusement at the end of Ael’s sentence.
Kiara, beginning to grasp what he meant, let out a helpless little laugh and murmured:
“So the more they told you not to go, the more you did go… Ah.”
As she brushed the hair from her eyes with a slight grimace, her mouth suddenly fell open. She had just realized what had been bothering her about what Ael said earlier.
“…What kind of place is the detached palace?”
Kiara hadn’t even seen much of the Altnebra palace yet, so the idea that there could be an area forbidden even to a prince was hard to grasp.
And getting in trouble if caught? Even for a prince? Wasn’t a prince supposed to be… well, kind of a big deal?
“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
Ael’s tone, which had been playful until now, suddenly turned calm. Kiara, wondering if she’d accidentally hit a nerve, asked again more cautiously.
“…Prince or not, isn’t it a bit extreme to starve a child for a whole day? It sounds like a pretty serious punishment.”
To be honest, calling it “punishment” felt like a stretch. It sounded a lot more like abuse. Then again, Altnebra was full of things that didn’t quite align with Kiara’s sense of normalcy, so she let it slide.
Still, what kind of place was this detached palace that even a prince would be punished just for entering it?
“Who’s to say…”
Ael trailed off. The reason he was forbidden from entering the detached palace was simple: he wasn’t supposed to meet the witch.
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