TOPWL 13

As he turned the corner of the hallway, the guard standing in front of the library recognized Yudit and greeted him. Yudit returned the greeting and stepped inside.

The books Yudit chose today were about Herut’s language and dietary habits. He could manage simple Herut conversation, but it wasn’t fluent. Since Bashur had never formally learned Herutian, Yudit couldn’t rely on him for guidance.

Muttering banquet-related sentences under his breath, Yudit suddenly shut his mouth at the sound of a commotion from somewhere. The noise, which he thought would end quickly, lasted much longer than expected. It sounded like something was being destroyed, making it impossible to concentrate on his book.

Curious about what was happening, he approached the door, and voices from outside reached his ears.

“What’s going on?”

“They’re tearing down an entire hall. It’s by Prince Reginald’s order.”

“Why all of a sudden?”

“There’s a banquet coming up soon. Apparently, it’s for renovations and construction related to that.”

“Still, do they really have to demolish everything like that? The place was fine.”

The guard clicked his tongue at the increasingly loud noise. Each prince was given a hall for banquets, and it seemed Reginald had chosen to tear his down and rebuild it instead of decorating it.

Understanding the situation, Yudit opted to stay seated rather than step outside. Reginald had already decided on his approach. Yudit needed to decide his own.

Growing anxious, Yudit flipped through the pages quickly and ended up cutting his finger.

“…!”

A drop of blood immediately welled up on his fingertip. Yudit sighed as he wrapped his finger with a handkerchief. He had been too impatient.

Even if construction was happening on the other side, that didn’t mean he could do the same. His banquet funds weren’t nearly enough for large-scale renovations. However, he also didn’t believe the other three princes would rely solely on the allocated banquet funds. That would be far too naive. They would first spend recklessly and then find a way to cover it later. But Yudit had no money.

At best, he could afford minimal decorations and food preparation.

Thinking that way actually made him feel a little better. A grand-scale renovation wasn’t something he could manage. He simply had to focus on what he could do.

With that resolve, Yudit reopened his book and began carefully noting down useful information.

By the time his wrist ached too much to continue writing, Yudit finally stopped. It was well past lunchtime. Realizing he had skipped a meal, he started feeling hungry.

After borrowing two books, Yudit headed to his room.

“So then, I told him…!”

When he opened the door, he saw his nanny and servants sitting around the table, drinking tea.

The tea they were drinking came from the leaves gifted to Yudit on his birthday. Though it was disrespectful of them to help themselves, rather than feeling annoyed, Yudit found it remarkable that they were drinking something that might be poisoned without hesitation.

“Your Highness, you skipped your meal again. Where have you been?”

“Just the library for a bit.”

“Ah, I knew it. I made some sandwiches for you.”

“Alright, thanks.”

His nanny pointed to the sandwiches on the bedside table. Looking at them, Yudit asked,

“I was planning to eat outside. Do you have any paper or something?”

“Hmm, maybe in that cabinet over there?”

Yudit obediently walked to the cabinet, but he couldn’t find any paper suitable for wrapping a sandwich.

“So then, I told him to wake up from his delusions!”

Laughter erupted from the table again. Rather than interrupt their conversation, Yudit wrapped the sandwich in a spare handkerchief and left the room. Fortunately, he had washed and dried an extra handkerchief the day before. He decided that from now on, he should carry two handkerchiefs with him.

As he closed the door behind him, another burst of laughter echoed from inside. Holding the sandwich, Yudit briskly walked down the hallway.

His destination was the garden.

Having spent much of his childhood lost in the maze garden, he could now navigate it effortlessly, even with his eyes closed. He liked it here—his own private space, where no one would disturb him.

The sandwich wasn’t particularly delicious, but it was enough to quell his hunger. After finishing his meal, Yudit took a slow stroll through the maze garden.

“Ah.”

Turning a corner, he found himself in an abandoned section of the garden.

The maze garden was vast and intricate, making it impossible to maintain every part of it. A lion-shaped fountain had long since stopped functioning, and the ground was overgrown with wildflowers and weeds.

Gazing at the flowers for a while, Yudit eventually started picking them. There were so many that just gathering a few from one corner quickly formed a bouquet. Using three sturdy blades of grass, he tied the bouquet together and roughly tidied up the weeds before standing up.

Walking through the maze garden, Yudit’s steps were sure and unhesitating.

He quickly found his way out and, instead of heading back to the palace, walked toward the rear of the castle.

He walked for some time until a cluster of gravestones came into view.

Approaching without hesitation, he suddenly stopped upon realizing someone was already there.

He turned to leave quietly, but the person called out to him first.

“I already saw you. Just come.”

With a troubled expression, Yudit turned back.

Seated before the gravestone he had come to visit was a striking yet gaunt woman. Once abundant and curly, her red hair had faded, and the beauty that had once captivated an era was no longer visible. Though she was still in her forties, she looked like an old woman who had endured too many hardships.

Her name was Isiah Adanauer. The emperor’s second concubine and the mother of Lilia Friedrich Adanauer, who had died last year in a riding accident.

Carefully watching Isiah, Yudit sat beside her and laid the flowers in front of the gravestone.

Seeing them, Isiah’s expression softened.

“These were Lilia’s favorite flowers.”

“Yes, I came across them in the garden and picked some.”

Yudit was not particularly close with Isiah. Ironically, that was because Lilia had cared for him, at least a little.

Lilia, with her strong sense of justice, couldn’t stand by when Reginald and Hiore mistreated Yudit. She had even fought Hiore over it once. Being a dominant Alpha, Lilia had easily defeated him, but the incident had deepened their conflict.

Hiore had been entangled in Lilia’s riding accident. There was enough suspicion, but no concrete evidence, so the matter was simply left unresolved.

“If it weren’t for you, my Lilia would still be alive! You should have died with your wretched mother! You survived just to take my daughter away—are you satisfied now? You should die! You should have died instead!”

At Lilia’s funeral, Isiah had lunged at Yudit like a madwoman, screaming venomous words.

Everyone dismissed her as having lost her mind, but Yudit had endured the moment in silence.

His nanny had urged him to demand compensation for the wound left on his face, but he had refused.

Since then, he had deliberately avoided Isiah, believing that seeing him would only bring her more pain.

After the funeral, Isiah had withdrawn from public life, so this was their first encounter since then.

“So it was Your Highness who has been leaving flowers at Lilia’s grave all this time.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Normally, he visited at dawn or late at night to avoid running into Isiah. But today, seeing the beautiful flowers, he had come without much thought—leading to this unexpected meeting.

He should have been more careful.

As he scolded himself, he cautiously observed Isiah and then hesitantly held out a single flower.

It was a particularly fragrant one he had picked separately, thinking it might look nice in a vase.

“Are you giving this to me?”

“…Yes.”

Isiah slowly reached out and accepted the flower.

She brought it to her nose, taking in its scent, and a faint smile curved her lips.

“It smells lovely.”

After a long pause, she pointed to the flower.

“This was Lilia’s favorite. Did you know that?”

“…No.”

“Then I suppose you don’t know why she liked it either.”

After some thought, Yudit cautiously nodded.

“…I don’t know.”

“Lilia liked this flower because Your Highness gave it to her.”

“…What?”

“On her tenth birthday, while making the guest list, she insisted on inviting you. She said it wouldn’t be fair to invite all the other princes but exclude Your Highness.”