Seraphina came running and sat beside the bed, her steps hurried. Though she was ten, she was smaller than most children her age.
Objectively, she was an adorably lovely child, but Johann simply looked at her with a composed expression.
Despite that, Seraphina looked up at Johann, visibly worried.
“Brother, are you feeling any better? You’re usually worse on rainy days.”
“…How do you know that?”
“The doctor told me.”
Then Johann realized Seraphina was whispering in a very small voice. It was a welcome thing for him, who often felt fatigue from loud sounds.
Still, Johann felt more bewildered than grateful. He quietly looked down at her and asked,
“So, what brings you here?”
“Oh, I just wanted to thank you… for what happened in the library…”
Johann had reported what happened in the library to Quillian. That the twins had tried to threaten and even strike the princess.
Quillian couldn’t have let that go. Whether child or adult, no one who harmed Seraphina would be treated lightly.
Even so, they couldn’t punish children too harshly. With Emma’s intervention, the punishment ended with the twin brothers being temporarily expelled from the palace.
Seraphina was satisfied with that. Because ever since the incident, the atmosphere around the palace began to shift.
“To think those two tried to frame the princess… Didn’t something like this happen before too?”
“There were times when the princess said it wasn’t her, but no one believed her…”
Harming royalty was no small matter.
Not to mention they damaged royal property and tried to place the blame on her.
Thanks to the twins, public sentiment began tilting slightly in Seraphina’s favor.
And that shift was the last thing their father, Theodore, would have wanted.
In this situation, Theodore would have no choice but to lay low for a while. If not for Johann, it would’ve been buried quietly.
But Johann simply replied with a detached face,
“I just reported what happened. Is that all you came for?”
“Oh, um… I actually have another request…”
A request? So that was the real reason.
Johann wondered if Seraphina was now trying to act spoiled even toward him. He could’ve rejected her, but curiosity made him nod to hear her out.
Seraphina hesitated, then tightly clasped her hands and looked up at him.
“Would it be okay if I read next to you?”
The word “read” drew his gaze. Seraphina was hugging a book tightly to her chest.
“I’ll be quiet. I know you don’t like noise, brother. If I bother you even a little, I’ll leave right away…!”
An unexpected request. Just… to be near him?
He fell silent. His eyes, cold as metal, calculated something as he looked at his sister.
He disliked having people nearby—especially on days like today when his body felt heavy.
Even the smallest noise could make his head throb. He considered sending her away, but…
“Do as you like.”
She won’t last long anyway. She’ll cry or pout soon enough and get in his way—he could send her off then.
That was the thought behind his permission, but when Johann agreed, Seraphina’s face lit up with the brightest smile.
“Thank you, brother…!”
Ah, that bright smile again.
To Johann, it was an unfamiliar smile, an unfamiliar emotion.
Seraphina beamed as if something wonderful had just happened. It was enough to make one think: if happiness took form, it would be Seraphina.
Still smiling, she opened her book and leaned her shoulders gently against the backrest.
Johann, too, picked up the book on his bedside table. She’ll get bored soon and leave.
Rustle, rustle… The sound of pages turning blended with the falling rain, echoing quietly.
It was rather peaceful. His headache didn’t return. Johann glanced at Seraphina.
Their eyes met. As their gazes locked, Seraphina smiled sheepishly, as if embarrassed.
Each of her reactions was unfamiliar to him. Why did she show him such warmth?
After a moment’s pause, Johann shifted slightly and said,
“…That must be uncomfortable. Sit here instead.”
It was simply because a child couldn’t sit on a chair for long. Nothing more.
When he made space on the bed, Seraphina’s eyes widened.
“I-I can sit next to you?!”
“Do what’s comfortable.”
The bed was large enough for two to roll around and still have space.
Seraphina hesitated for a second, then beamed and climbed onto the bed.
Johann observed her expression. She looked like she couldn’t believe this was real.
Rustle, rustle… The sound of pages turning resumed. Johann looked back at his book, then again at Seraphina.
This time, she didn’t notice. She was absorbed in reading.
A glance at the text showed it was a theology book. For someone her age, it would be quite difficult—but she was diligently reading.
‘Didn’t they say she’s been paying more attention in her lessons too…?’
Johann couldn’t understand why Seraphina had changed.
But he was beginning to think that what he once assumed was an act—might all be real now.
His hand paused mid-turning of a page.
“I have a question.”
“Yes?”
Surprised that he spoke first, Seraphina turned to him. She clearly hadn’t expected him to initiate conversation.
“Why are you reading here? You could’ve read in your room.”
“Ah… I’m sorry. Am I bothering you? I’ll leave right away.”
“No, I’m just curious.”
She stopped in her tracks, half-off the bed, and tilted her head with a confused expression.
“I just wanted to be next to you…?”
“Why, though?”
“Umm…”
Still confused, Seraphina soon smiled warmly at him. Her eyes curved so sweetly they nearly disappeared.
“I like you, Brother. I want to spend more time with you. I want to be near you.”
Surprise flickered across Johann’s face. He couldn’t quite grasp the emotion behind those words.
Affection with no reason, no condition? Did such a thing exist? He hadn’t even received that from his parents.
“…I see.”
That was all he managed to say before turning back to his book. Any more would be pointless—he wouldn’t understand anyway.
He tried to read, but the words didn’t quite register.
‘Why does she like me?’
They hardly knew each other. Technically family, yes—but strangers in all other ways.
Or so he thought…
“…”
After a while, Johann realized he couldn’t hear the sound of pages turning.
He turned his head. Seraphina had fallen asleep. Curled up like a small animal tucked into itself.
So innocent. So pure. So delicate a being.
Her back rose and fell gently with every breath.
Johann silently observed. This was a version of her he’d never seen before.
Her pale cheeks were tinged with the faintest pink. After a brief hesitation, he gently poked her cheek.
Softness met his fingertip. Had she always been this small?
As he wondered that, Seraphina flinched slightly.
“Brother…”
He pulled back, thinking she had woken—but it was sleep talk.
Then he noticed her eyelashes trembling faintly.
A single tear rolled down her cheek.
“Brother… don’t die…”
That plea. That tear.
Johann stared at Seraphina for a long moment.
What kind of dream was she having?
Why was she happy with him… and sad for him?
He still couldn’t understand. Maybe it was better to think of it as an act.
Yes. Just a passing whim. Tomorrow she’d wake up and be her old, bratty self again.
That’s what he told himself, as he gently tucked the blanket around her.
* * *
The summer rain didn’t stop after a day but continued for several more. An early monsoon.
I was sitting in my room, staring out the window. Night had fallen, and only the sound of rain echoed deep into the dark.
“Princess, have you finished getting ready for bed?”
At Emma’s voice, I turned around. It was already time for bed.
“Yeah. I brushed my teeth too.”
“Very good. Then I wish you a peaceful night.”
Once I crawled into bed, Emma turned off the lights and left. Her soft footsteps grew distant.
It was about 10 p.m. Normally, I’d fall asleep by now—but not tonight.
There was something I had to do.
I needed to find the herb that would heal my brother.
He had long suffered from a chronic illness. It was partly due to a frail constitution, but mostly from an irregular mana flow caused by the illness.
The cure wouldn’t be discovered until much later. And it was simple: steeping and drinking a flower called Luna Plena.
The problem was, that remedy wouldn’t be found until nearly ten years later. My brother would have to endure the pain until then.
I didn’t want to see him suffer anymore. So I had no choice but to find that flower myself.
I wanted to go as soon as I returned to the past, but Luna Plena wasn’t easy to obtain.
True to its name, the Full Moon Flower only bloomed briefly on rainy nights of a full moon—then withered immediately.
Worse still, it only grew in places where someone had died.
I knew when and where it would bloom near here. I just had to go pick it.
If I missed tonight, I’d have to wait over a month. I couldn’t let that happen.
Only after the footsteps faded did I quietly slip out of bed.
First, I crept to the door and pressed my ear against it. I could faintly sense the presence of guards outside.
They’d stay there all night, so I had to use another way out. Magic would do the trick.
I pulled down the black curtain with some effort and wrapped it around me like a cloak. Then I flung open the window. Raindrops hit my face.
My room was on the third floor. Looking down made me feel a bit dizzy.
Not that it mattered to me.
Whoosh…!
As I drew up my magic, a breeze stirred gently around me. My feet lifted lightly off the floor and into the air.
