The Sand Bride - Side Story 2.17

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The number of things Esther did within the royal palace could be counted on one hand.

Since Esther’s personality was far from loving extravagance, luxury, or banquets, all she had to do regarding property management and such was listen to the reports from the capable Head Chamberlain of the Inner Palace once every six months, which was one of the few things on her schedule.

Other than that, her life consisted entirely of caring for the baby or visiting her father in the North Palace to talk. Or, she would lose herself in thought about her mother, who was soon to arrive in Gharyam. Regardless, the royal palace was not a particularly interesting place for her.

With an abundance of time and the occasional surge of melancholy, Esther spent much of her free time staring blankly outside from high vantage points. Her eyes were filled with a deep longing for somewhere far beyond that desert—for her homeland.

Despite now having her baby, her father, and soon her mother, Esther still wished to return home. She could not stop the yearning that welled up within her. The weather of Gharyam, the people’s accents, their appearances, the atmosphere—none of it offered Esther any comfort.

It was no exaggeration to say that this was why Karzhen lent an ear to the advice of Iphir, a royal who prided himself on being the best among the royalty at playing. Karzhen’s only dissatisfaction regarding Esther was that she only looked after her family and never seemed to settle into the Inner Palace.

He would have preferred it if she were walking in the garden alone, but even on days when Karzhen arrived early, she was often away at the North Palace to see her father. She even went so far as to take the baby with her.

“Well, isn’t the royal palace originally a very boring place?”

Iphir, who had gone so far as to leave the capital on a journey to find that ‘fun,’ spoke with a chuckle to Karzhen, whose expression was full of discontent. Only those without fear could be recognized as a child of the King, as royalty, and thus Iphir was quite bold compared to others.

However, given his personality of deeply cherishing and loving his own life, whenever he reminded himself that the Sayar, his older brother, was the man who had slit the throats of his own younger brother and biological father, he had no desire to provoke that temperament.

Who knew if this brother of his might slit his own throat as well if things went south? Though Iphir grumbled inwardly, he spoke steadily to Karzhen.

“Why don’t we go out to the capital’s streets together tomorrow? I hear many people from the Southeast arrived today, so there should be plenty of interesting things for her.”

“She must be homesick.”

Karzhen corrected him with a snort at Iphir’s suggestion, his eyes narrowing. As he said, Esther missed her homeland at every turn. Because of this, Karzhen felt a dual heart: he was curious about her home and wanted to know it, yet he also wanted to trample it into dust.

He felt affection for the Kingdom of Donova in the sense that it was the place where Esther had lived, but he felt hatred for it in the sense that it was the place she wanted to return to.

Therefore, while he provided goods, clothing, and other nostalgic items or performances from the Kingdom of Donova within the palace, he never once told her that he would let her go back home.

This was because Karzhen was a man who, if he found a plant he liked, would uproot it and keep it alive in a greenhouse, but had absolutely no intention of replanting it where it had originally grown.

Even now, he was a dissatisfied man. He wanted to keep her by his side at all times, but he only kept her in the greenhouse because he knew she would die if he did.

“But whether it’s something she longs for or simply something enjoyable, if she returns after having a good time, the two of you might grow closer.”

Iphir found conflict in Karzhen’s face and persuaded his brother. In truth, he had a hidden motive: while Karzhen and his wife went out to play outside the palace, he planned to visit the training grounds inside the palace with his own wife, who was pregnant with their second child.

In Gharyam, prenatal education was done by watching fights with wild beasts or duels, and his wife wanted to see the training of the royal guards for herself.

Of course, it wouldn’t have mattered if Karzhen was there, but it was much more comfortable if he wasn’t. Whenever Karzhen saw the Iphir couple being harmonious, it was an eyesore to him, and he would harass Iphir.

Iphir, who wanted to share affection with his wife and engage in prenatal education with a relaxed mind, desperately persuaded Karzhen and finally obtained a satisfactory result.

For the first time in a while, Karzhen ordered the servants to prepare for an outing. It was also his second outing together with Esther. However, this time, he also sent word to the North Palace to never let Esther’s father, Ben, come out.