The garden was filled with nobles.
Their whispers were too quiet to be heard clearly, yet too loud to be ignored.
From time to time, the ladies glanced around with narrowed eyes hidden behind their fans.
Meanwhile, the gentlemen gathered in small circles, discussing the matter among themselves.
It wasn't difficult to guess what was on their minds.
'The Empress's seat... it's empty now.'
No one here truly cared about the incident itself.
Only a handful were curious about the circumstances of her death.
What truly occupied their minds was how they should move from this point onward.
Silence fell as the herald at the entrance of the garden announced in a low yet distinct voice,
"Her Highness, Crown Princess Charlotte."
The garden remained silent for a while as a certain young lady stepped inside.
From the way she walked to the look in her eyes, everything about her radiated detachment.
She looked neither left nor right.
Only forward...
Very few dared to stare at her for long without feeling unsettled.
The familiar murmurs slipped from a few lips.
"She's beautiful..."
"His Highness, Prince Edward."
A few steps behind her came a younger child.
Edward walked behind Charlotte, completely unaffected by the open admiration directed at her.
He wasn't afforded such a luxury.
At a time like this, there was nothing he wanted more than to be left alone.
But that was impossible.
According to protocol, he had to come and bid farewell to his beloved mother.
Just when everyone thought silence had settled once again, the clear voice echoed through the garden.
"His Majesty Emperor Darius, accompanied by the young Prince William."
The atmosphere turned even colder.
"William?... Did he just say William?"
"Has the indifferent Emperor actually chosen to appear with the youngest now?"
Edward clenched his hands into fists.
He could barely restrain himself as he heard those words.
His eyes reddened, and it became increasingly difficult to suppress his emotions.
At a time this sensitive, the nobles' only concern was finding an opening to pit them against one another.
"Father."
A soft, quiet, yet equally cold voice pulled him from his thoughts.
When he turned, Charlotte was staring at the entrance with her usual indifferent expression.
She had always been like that.
Impossible to understand.
Edward followed her gaze.
Everyone else did the same.
Movement ceased at the garden's entrance.
No further announcement was needed.
The moment his footsteps crossed the threshold, the memories engraved in everyone's minds resurfaced.
The man who had united the continent of Aetheria with his own hands.
The man who had pushed the nobility aside...
Everyone present knew those titles by heart.
Little by little...
The air grew heavier.
Some lowered their heads immediately.
Others hesitated for half a second before the overwhelming pressure forced them to bow.
He made no effort whatsoever to suppress the aura that weighed upon the entire place.
Absolute silence.
In his presence, no one spoke without permission.
With an aura calmer than Charlotte's...
Yet infinitely sharper.
Darius Astarion entered...
Carrying a small child in his arms.
A tiny child...
One who could be crushed with ease.
He resembled no one in the Imperial Family.
He bore none of their distinctive features.
Not a single mark.
And yet...
He was different from everyone else in the garden.
He showed no reaction to the voices around him.
Even the nobles' stares, enough to make grown adults lose their composure, meant nothing to him.
His eyes moved with unnatural calm...
Something akin to disdain.
He looked...
Without truly seeing anyone.
It was an unsettling feeling.
One that quietly suffocated everyone around him.
Something ominous was brewing in the air.
Golden hair.
Golden eyes.
A round face.
Rosy cheeks.
His gaze swept across the crowd before finally coming to rest on the distant coffin.
"Who is that?"
Ordinary people might not have realized it.
But most of the nobles present had seen him before.
The youngest prince, William.
This child...
Was not him.
No royal traits.
No distinguishing mark.
The first fear was merely superficial.
But those standing at the top of the hierarchy noticed something deeper.
The child was utterly hollow.
He looked like nothing more than a walking corpse.
---
Far removed from the nobles' thoughts...
William stared at the man carrying him.
He had intended to enter alone, or with anyone else.
Instead, he had been confronted with reality when this man requested it...
No.
Ordered it.
'What is he planning?'
Displaying someone like me in public like this...
A mocking smile rose to my lips before I noticed and quickly erased it.
'I always forget.'
This man had never been someone I could understand.
Nor had I ever wanted to.
I carefully tugged at his sleeve.
Only then did he lower his gaze to me.
I struggled to endure those eyes.
They were the same as always.
Empty.
Something tightened painfully around my chest.
I ignored it and said what I wanted.
"Put me down."
"..."
He said nothing.
He simply set me down.
I continued walking on my own.
I could feel countless gazes tearing into me.
One in particular lingered on my back.
'Empty when looking at everyone else... but filled with hatred when looking at me.'
I approached the coffin.
There was nothing remarkable about it.
She was dead.
I wasn't shocked.
I wasn't sad.
I didn't feel guilty.
Empress Ludvika...
What was she like with me?
I don't remember.
It was a long time ago.
I felt no sympathy toward her.
And if there was ever a time I hated her...
It was when she died.
Was it because I loved her?
Maybe...
Or perhaps because everything began to fall apart from that moment.
In this life, just as in the previous one...
Ludvika died.
And if her death gave birth to anything...
It was hatred.
I hate her.
The great Empress...
Died by suicide.
What an ending...
"William..."
I turned to find the boy I knew standing beside me.
He looked as though he was fighting to keep his weakness from showing.
"Mom is dead..."
I was curious where he was going with this.
So I didn't drive him away.
"They said... she killed herself."
"...."
The boy raised a hand and wiped away a tear that had only just begun to form.
"I don't believe it."
"She was the one who told me to go chase the squirrel... and not come back until I'd caught it."
I regretted my decision almost immediately.
I should have left long ago.
A faint light flickered in his eyes.
"If we bring back the squirrel... will she come back? Or... should I have caught it sooner?"
I took a single step backward, ready to ignore him completely.
Or at least...
That had been the plan.
*Ring... Ring...*
The soft sound of a bell echoed through the garden.
"May everyone lend me their attention. His Majesty the Emperor has an important announcement."
Only after the servant had everyone's attention did he unfold a royal decree and begin reading.
"In recognition of the unwavering devotion and diligent service of Her Late Majesty, Empress Ludvika Astarion... His Majesty has decided to honor her noble spirit by completing the work she left behind."
"H... ha..."
I could almost hear the idiot's heartbeat beside me.
I already knew what was coming.
Even so...
Hearing it again was still astonishing.
My eyes searched for one particular person.
I didn't want to miss her reaction.
Last time, I hadn't been given the chance.
But things were different now.
And there she was.
Expressionless.
Yet anyone paying close attention could see it.
Her lips trembled slightly.
Her face grew even paler.
Even she...
The Crown Princess...
Couldn't hide her shock.
The corner of my lips curled upward before I turned my gaze back to the front.
One noblewoman's fingers trembled before her fan slipped from her grasp.
No one noticed.
Because everyone was focused on the words that echoed over and over in their minds like a broken record.
"His Majesty Emperor Darius Astarion hereby announces his official marriage to the knight, Lian Al Morin."
A bitter taste spread through my mouth.
'Is summer coming? I don't like that.'
That day...
More than one thing happened.
The Empress died...
The Emperor remarried...
And everyone else merely tried to decide which was worse.
And also...
It marked the end of spring...
And the beginning of summer.