LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 9
Chapter 9 Caesar and I often met at the flower bed. Caesar avoided the maid’s eyes, and I avoided Floria’s eyes.After the scene in the emperor’s bedroom, I was acutely aware of Caesar’s plight. As I listened more closely, I realized that there were words being exchanged among the maids.Caesar was called Crown Prince by name only.His mother and former Empress were neither high-ranking aristocrats, and she had nothing to back her up, so after her death, there was no one to support Caesar.On the other hand, the current Empress did have a strong background.Like the previous empress, she was not a high noble by birth, but she created her own backing. When the emperor’s illness weakened the imperial power, she boldly joined hands with the aristocratic faction.‘She would pretend for her own husband.’There were even stories that she had great ambitions and that she was blinded by power.But the problem was that the empress also died in the novel.‘She was also taken advantage of by the aristocratic faction after all.’Initially, the aristocrats had no intention of joining hands with the Empress. Just use her and then throw her away. They tried to destroy all imperial families and establish a new dynasty.So the princess runs away, and I die while helping her escape…“Hah…”I sighed repeatedly.‘Will the problem be solved just by awakening Caesar?’I had to expose the schemes of the aristocratic faction, convince the Empress, and then safely make Caesar Emperor.‘After all, Floria and I will be safe only when the nobles are resolved.’Whatever this is, if I’m wrong, I’m going to get involved in the imperial battle where blood and wind blows.Of course, there was also the option of running away alone without helping Floria, but that was…‘I feel sorry for Floria, and if I lived like that, it wouldn’t be any different from my last life.’In the end, you will have to live with the sole goal of survival without family or money.That’s not the life I want. I want to keep this peaceful life I have now, and that’s what I want.“Hah…”I let out another long sigh.“Why are you sighing?”Caesar squinted at me. I stared back into those innocent eyes.“Because I’m not making any progress.”Caesar’s fifteenth birthday, only three months and a little more until he died. Time was running out, and I couldn’t think of a way.‘I really need to go to the black market somewhere.’“Did you find a guide or something?”“… No.”There was no way to find a guide in this world right now. It was at the time when the awakening or the existence of the guide had not yet been revealed.Caesar was the first Awakened, and the male protagonist in the novel, whose name I can’t remember, was the second.So it’s not like there’s some sort of governmental control over the guides or a body that can identify them.At this point, he and I were the only people who knew about the Awakening.“Didn’t you say you would save me?”“… I did.”“So you can live.”“… Yes.”Somehow, I lost my strength. There is a long way to go, but I still haven’t figured out how to find a guide.“Well, take your time.”“What?”“It hurts a little, but it’s not unbearable. We can keep meeting… in the flowerbeds while you find the guide, or whatever it is.”Caesar picked at the dirt around him.He didn’t realize he was going to die before his fifteenth birthday.‘I shouldn’t have been so relaxed.’I swallowed the words I couldn’t bear.“I don’t mind playing in the garden this way… it’s not bad, I can wait until you find it.”“Yes.”Yeah, worrying about it didn’t change anything. You should think about it slowly. There’s still three months, plenty of time.“What were you doing earlier, anyway?”“The flowers all withered because of me last time. I was wondering if I could revive the flowers.”He was already collecting the withered flowers.“Uh…”It was impossible to revive the fallen petals.“You said this wasn’t a curse. Rather, it is closer to a blessing.”“It was.”“But why do the flowers around me wither? It happens every time.”“Every time?”“Yes. Every time it happened, everything around me died. The flowers, the butterflies. Everything alive.”Come to think of it, I remembered that he pushed me away when he went on a rampage. Was it for that reason?“Do you know why?”“Uh….”I thought of the original. Was it the same with the male lead? At the time of the rampage, the earth rumbled and a gust of wind was blowing, just like the story.‘But the male lead was described as reviving the withered things around him. Is it because their abilities are different?’In the story, no one awakened except for the male lead, so I couldn’t figure it out.Well, I didn’t know if it was different for each person. It could be different depending on their abilities.“You don’t know why either.”Caesar raised his eyebrows.From that day on, he became very fond of me. He’d learned to look almost childlike like that.“Maybe I’m not that good.”“What? No, that’s not true!”I hurriedly denied it, but his gloomy expression did not intend to return.“I always did. I’m always the problem. My mom died because of me, and my dad…”It was too pessimistic for a fourteen-year-old to say.“Why are you thinking such bad thoughts!”“Because they said it was all because of me. I can’t be Emperor, I shouldn’t be the Emperor.”‘Who the hell said that…’I furrowed my brow. It was not something you should say to a fourteen-year-old.“You’re right.”Caesar was ready to dig in. I hurriedly dug the soil in the flowerbed.“What are you doing?”“Look at this, Crown Prince!”A new leaf was growing inside the soil. It was a very small leaf.“A flower that is already dead can’t be revived. But, after it dies, it starts over. The leaves have sprouted.”“Starting over?”“Yes! That’s why your power is never a bad thing. Look at the new leaf, how green it is!”I smiled brightly. I was trying to appease him.“And whatever it is, it is never your fault. I believe in His Majesty!”Caesar looked back and forth between me and the leaves, dazed.“Crown Prince?”He covered his face with one hand and turned his head away, his earlobes slightly reddened.‘Did I do something wrong?’Among the many romance fantasies I had read in my previous life, the possessors who touched the male lead heart and saw the harshness he endures, came to mind one after the other.‘Hey, it’ll be fine. Because Caesar is not the male lead.’I lifted the corner of my mouth and brushed the dirt off my hands. Caesar turned away from me and fiddled with a flower in the flowerbed for a while.‘What are you doing?’As I stared, a bunch of flowers suddenly appeared before my eyes.“What do you think?”Caesar was holding a handful of a bouquet of flowers and holding it to me.“What’s with the bouquet?”“I have someone to give them to.”“Who is that, me?”I smiled mischievously, and the nape of Caesar’s neck flushed.“Why would I give you flowers!”“I see… don’t be mad. And that bouquet is too blue, so you might want to add some yellow.”I stopped while trying to find yellow flowers in the flowerbed and pluck them.‘Is it okay to do this after telling Floria not to cut flowers?’“You know that if you pick a flower, it withers quickly, right?”I said sternly, feeling like I wasn’t keeping my word.“However…My Mom liked flowers.”Mom? His mom had been dead for over a decade already, and he couldn’t possibly be referring to the current empress.“It’s my mother’s birthday soon.”“Ah….”His mom died less than a year after giving birth to him. So it was only fitting that there would be a memorial service before his birthday in February.“When?”“First day of the new year.”The heavens were indifferent.Caesar would have to start the first day of every year on a grim note. Unlike those who make wishes and hope for a fresh start, he’ll feel guilty and sick to his stomach.I plucked yellow flowers. I feel sorry for the flowers, but it was unavoidable.“Here you go. Putting this in between will make it look a lot fuller.”Caesar took the flower.“If you cut it, it will wither quickly.”“Things that are alive will wither someday, right?”“You keep saying this and that. You’re just making stuff up, aren’t you?”“Did I get caught up?”As I smiled, Caesar also raised the corners of his lips slightly.“You look much better when you smile.”It was a compliment, but his cheeks hardened.“Smile a little brighter, a little more often.”“I don’t deserve it.”“No, and I’m sure your mother would like that.”“Is that so?”“Yes. Ask her this time when you bring her flowers. Smile a lot, Caesar. I think she’ll do it.”“Nonsense.”Despite the rude use of the crown prince’s name, Caesar simply burst out laughing. It was nice to see him laugh.‘Children should laugh. If you just smile brightly without any worries or anxieties, you’re doing everything a child would do.’We looked at each other and smiled. Hoping that one day, New Year’s Day would give him the hope of a new beginning. **** It had only been a few hours since I prayed that prayer.I was tidying up my room before I left for the day. In addition to Floria’s bedroom, there were several other rooms in the Princess palace, including a drawing room and a dressing room.Most of the cleaning and chores were done by the maids, and I only had to manage and supervise them.After distributing the tasks, I leaned against the window to rest. I looked out the brightly lit window and saw someone with a bouquet of flowers.‘What? That bouquet…’It was a bouquet that Caesar had made a few hours ago. I remembered his smiling face saying that he would give it to his mother.The sloppy texture and the yellow flowers I gave them were stuck between them, so there was no way I could not recognize them.But it was not Caesar who carried the bouquet. It was his maid, Marriott. I narrowed my eyes.‘Why is she holding a bouquet?’Normally, a handmaiden might have considered the crown prince’s errand more than one, but not Marriott.‘Suspicious.’Because she had a history of being disrespectful to Caesar over and over again. Moreover, I was guessing she was an aide to the Empress.I opened the window a little and looked at her. She was standing in a flowerbed, looking around, and then she moved to a corner out of the light.It was a place that was difficult to notice unless you were looking down from above like me.After making sure no one was there, she dropped the bouquet. She then started trampling on it.The merciless kick made the bouquet of flowers into rags in an instant. The blue and yellow, vivid petals were torn apart. Dirty dirt was also smeared on them.‘What is she doing?’I was so angry, my body stiffened.Until then, I had thought that whatever the Marriott was doing was none of my business. I thought it was just a normal part of the imperial family’s physiology for the empress to keep the crown prince in check and hate him.But this is wrong.No human could have done this. How could… a bouquet of flowers made by a son for his dead mother, how could she do that?I clenched my teeth. I couldn’t take it anymore.