Chapter 3. To Meet You
“Duke Lardiah. In recognition of your achievements in this war, I hereby grant you the eastern land of Sahala.”
The voice was blunt. Kyle, standing before the Emperor after the victory parade, bowed his head politely. The Emperor sat on the throne, looking down at him with a displeased expression.
Only Kyle, the Emperor, and a few attendants were present in the large and empty audience chamber.
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Kyle said calmly.
“Yes, of course you’re grateful,” the Emperor replied sarcastically.
Though the tone was mocking, Kyle didn’t even flinch. This wasn’t the first time the Emperor treated him this way. The Emperor waved his hand dismissively.
“You look tired. Go rest.”
That was all. Just one minute of recognition for months of hardship and battle. But Kyle didn’t care. He didn’t want to stay in the same space as the Emperor any longer than necessary. He turned and left the audience room without hesitation.
Outside in the hallway, his aide Mejang rushed up to him, looking annoyed.
“Doesn’t this bother you, Duke? After all your suffering, that’s the only reward you get? Sahala? A wasteland with not a single blade of grass? And you’re supposed to be grateful?”
“This isn’t anything new,” Kyle said with a faint smile.
“It’s no laughing matter! Every time, they give you the most useless land. What are we, the Empire’s garbage dump?”
“That’s actually a good way to put it, Mejang,” Kyle chuckled.
Mejang sighed deeply. “I’ll handle the soldiers’ rewards myself.”
“Please do,” Kyle nodded, watching his aide grumble about having to dip into the family’s budget.
Then Kyle suddenly stopped walking and asked, “Did you find them?”
He was thinking about the person who had caught his eye during the victory parade. He still wanted to know who they were.
“We’re still searching… but honestly, I don’t know if we can,” Mejang answered while adjusting his glasses. He hoped his superior would understand how impossible it was to find someone in a crowd without even knowing their face.
“I see,” Kyle replied quietly, showing a hint of disappointment.
“Are you upset?” Mejang asked carefully.
“A little.”
More than a little, Mejang thought but didn’t say. This wasn’t just regret or longing—it was almost like a sickness. Ten years had passed, and Kyle still couldn’t let go. Mejang wished he could.
“Will you go to the temple next?”
It was customary to offer thanks to the gods after returning from war. But Kyle shook his head.
“No. I’m going to see the Prince.”
Without waiting, Kyle set off, ignoring Mejang, who called out behind him in protest.
***
“Do you know where the Prince is staying?”
Before the parade ended, Lobelia had asked a nearby lady about her son’s whereabouts. Though she didn’t know all the details of his life over the past ten years, she believed there would be rumors among the people.
The woman looked surprised but motioned for Lobelia to come closer and whispered in her ear like sharing a secret.
“The Prince is…”
Lobelia’s eyes widened, trembling as she processed what she heard.
“Don’t go telling others,” the woman warned. “Everyone kind of knows, but if you say it in front of soldiers, they’ll take you away.”
“Thank you…” Lobelia replied with a shaking voice. Her whole body trembled—hands, face, everything. She couldn’t believe it.
Imprisoned?
That’s what the woman had said. The child had been locked away in the westernmost building of the palace since infancy.
That’s the abandoned palace!
That old palace had been damaged during a rebellion years ago and was never repaired. It would be freezing inside. And the Emperor had sent a baby there?
He wanted him to die.
Lobelia bit her lip, heart sinking. He probably hoped the child would just wither away and die without anyone lifting a hand.
I have to see him.
Ten years were lost, but that didn’t matter. She could make up for them starting now. She stood up and hurried westward.
“But… how do I get there?”
She had never visited that part of the palace before. She vaguely remembered passing by it in a carriage during ceremonial processions.
She wandered, asking people for directions. Most avoided her, likely due to her dirty, ragged appearance. She realized just how kind the first woman had been.
Finally, someone responded and pointed her in the right direction.
“Thank you.”
Lobelia followed the instructions with mixed feelings—joy at possibly meeting her son and sorrow imagining his lonely life in confinement.
“If only we can live happily from now on…”
“Hey, you!”
Just as the palace came into view, some uniformed soldiers blocked her path.
“Who are you?” she asked, nervous.
“So you’re the crazy woman snooping around, asking about the Prince?”
Crazy woman? All she did was ask for directions! Looking past them, she saw the person she’d spoken to earlier pointing at her from a distance.
She was so close. The palace was right there. Lobelia bit her lip anxiously.
“Take her away! Isolate her!”
Isolate me?
They treated her like she was some kind of disease. No one had ever treated her like this before.
“Wait,” one of the soldiers said, whispering to another. “She has dark blond hair.”
They approached her more carefully now.
“Let’s just take her to Chateau Rose.”
“Where are you taking me?” Lobelia asked, stepping back.
“To Chateau Rose, of course. Grab her!”
“!”
Without hesitation, Lobelia sprinted into a nearby alley.
Chateau Rose?!
That was a mansion the Emperor used as a retreat. Were these soldiers working for him? Why were they reacting to her hair color?
They want to kill me.
Fear gripped her. She couldn’t let them take her. She ran as fast as she could—toward her son. That was the only place left to go.
After some time, she reached the small palace where the Prince was said to be confined in. It was a cheerful lemon-yellow building called Grandnor Palace. It had been fully repaired.
Did Ostro fix it up?
If so, she could hate him a little less.
Lobelia gripped the black iron fence and peered inside, hoping to catch a glimpse of her child.
“Lupin!”
That was the name she had given him while waiting for the Emperor to return. Had they kept the name? Or had he been given a new one?
“Lupin!”
She called again, overwhelmed by longing.
She wondered how he had grown. Did he remember her? What did he like or dislike? Did he smile like her? Did he cry a lot?
I want to see him…
She began to cry, thinking of her little baby and how much she missed him.
How can I meet him? Should I climb the fence? Ask to work here?
Suddenly, someone grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back.
“Ahhh!”
“Of course you’d come here. Stupid woman,” one soldier muttered, lifting her like she weighed nothing.
“Let me go! Do you know who I am?!”
They laughed at her. Even as she yelled with authority, they mocked her appearance.
“If you keep yelling, you’ll disturb the Prince,” said another soldier coldly.
He has sensitive hearing?
Lobelia looked up sharply.
Then maybe—just maybe—he could hear her!
She cried out desperately.
“Your Highness! Prince! I want to see you! Please!”
“Shut her up!”
The soldiers quickly covered her mouth. Still, she tried to scream through their hands.
“Mm! Mmm!”
“Take her away! Now!” a guard shouted.
No!
She didn’t want to go to Chateau Rose. In desperation, she bit the soldier’s hand hard.
“Ahhh!”
“Your Highness! I don’t want to go! Please!”
She struggled wildly, like someone fighting for her life. She shouted, kicked, and tried everything to escape.
One of the larger soldiers raised his hand to slap her.
“You—!”
“Stop.”
Just before he struck her, a calm voice interrupted. There were hoofbeats, and a man approached.
The soldier dropped her, and Lobelia collapsed weakly to the ground.
“Forgive us, Duke! I’ll handle this right away!”
Duke?
Her eyes moved slowly, trying to see the man. But her vision was too blurred. Only his cold voice reached her ears.
“Move.”
“Y-yes, of course—”
“Not her. You. Get out of my sight.”
The soldier hurried away, and the man in the crimson uniform on the white horse looked down at her.
There was something familiar about him. Too familiar.
…!
It couldn’t be… No way…
Kyle stared at her, shocked. Could it really be her?
No, that’s impossible… She looks exactly the same as she did ten years ago. I buried her with my own hands…
“Mejang. Tell the soldiers to stop searching.”
“Huh?”
“I found her.”
Kyle’s voice trembled.
