Chapter 35
Even though she was his cousin, Damian wondered — if he ever had a real little sister, would it feel like this? Would she be like Rosalyn?
Rosalyn was lovely no matter who looked at her — chubby, rosy cheeks and eyes that sparkled like jewels.
She rarely pouted, and even when she did, her sulks never lasted long. She smiled often and trusted people easily.
What if she meets someone bad?
Damian worried about her. Of course, Rosalyn had plenty of people who would protect her, but sometimes he wanted to be one of them too.
He couldn’t tell whether that feeling came purely from wanting to protect Rosalyn herself… or from wanting to belong to that warm, harmonious family of the Chardena Border County.
In truth, he didn’t even realize those were two different desires.
Damian and Rosalyn’s friendship continued even after that day.
But when Rosalyn turned seven, they could no longer see each other as often.
She began attending etiquette lessons, becoming busier than before — and so did Damian.
When his baby cousin was born, Damian, as a collateral royal, had to participate in every imperial ceremony.
“How beautiful Her Highness is. Look at those sparkling eyes! Aren’t they like a morning star?”
People showered the newborn princess with admiration.
The bright, radiant princess — his cousin — was nothing like him, who always seemed shadowed and grim.
Damian silently watched as the baby grasped his finger tightly. The Empress smiled and asked,
“Well? How does it feel to have a little sibling?”
“…It’s different from what I thought.”
The baby smiled often, just like Rosalyn. But she wasn’t the same.
Damian found his real sister unfamiliar — not someone he wanted to protect, but rather, a complete stranger. An intruder who threatened his place.
The faint hostility welling inside made him uneasy. He forced his discomfort down and asked,
“Have you decided on Her Highness’s name?”
“Not yet. But I want to give her a name related to the stars.”
A few days later, among several candidates, the baby was given the name Roxanna.
It’s similar to Rosalyn, but… stiffer, Damian thought.
He compared everything about Roxanna to Rosalyn. And the more he did, the more he realized Rosalyn could never be his sister.
Then what were they? Friends?
“Friends”… that hurts my pride.
He poked the baby’s cheek.
After his cousin was born, the abuse that had once stopped began again. He missed Rosalyn.
If only I could see Rosalyn again, maybe my parents would stop doting only on that baby and finally smile at me again.
Even in the capital, grand banquets were held — but Rosalyn never attended.
Damian began counting the days until he could leave the imperial palace for Chardena… or until his parents’ interest in his baby sister faded.
And perhaps a devil heard his wish.
Three months later, the entire Imperial Family perished.
It was a day of heavy rain when Damian moved from the mansion to the imperial palace. It felt strange to live in the place he used to visit as a guest.
And staying there made him think of his cousin — the baby who couldn’t even speak yet.
Short silver hair, golden eyes. A baby who could only smile, sleep, or cry.
That child was no longer here.
It wasn’t the baby who threatened my place… it was me who threatened hers.
The Emperor and Empress had died on their way to the Chardena territory — supposedly inspecting the border near the Land of Death while the Empress recovered from childbirth.
Their carriage had crashed on a steep mountain road, shattered beyond recognition.
The bodies of the Emperor and Empress were recovered, but the baby was never found.
Some hoped the princess had survived.
But with days of relentless rain and no nearby settlements, the chances of a newborn surviving were almost zero.
His parents dabbed at their eyes with handkerchiefs, feigning sorrow, but Damian knew the truth.
The Empress had chosen Chardena as her rest spot because of his mother’s scheming.
And that on the day of the accident, his parents had toasted in the study with cheerful voices.
Damian tried not to show his disgust. His parents were the kind who would even kill their own child.
Given what they had done to him, there was little reason to think otherwise.
“We continued the search for a week, but the princess could not be found.”
Considering the continuous rainfall and the lack of nearby villages, the missing princess was declared dead.
That made the line of succession clear. The throne could not remain vacant long, and so the Grand Duke’s family moved to the palace.
Thus, Damian met Rosalyn again — not in Chardena, but at the imperial coronation.
“When I was sitting on the bench, you came up to me,” Damian said, tousling his own hair with his hand. “And with the hand that had just been plucking grass, you messed up my hair completely.”
Rosalyn’s sleepy face brightened in surprise.
“I did that?”
“Yes. Later, I noticed there was dirt and grass juice under your nails.”
Rosalyn fanned her face with embarrassment, lowering her gaze shyly.
“From the sound of it, it doesn’t seem like love at first sight.”
“That’s true. But you were my first love.”
Damian nodded, smiling as he smoothed his hair again.
Then he reached out and gently placed his hand atop her head. His body was always slightly warmer than hers, so her forehead felt cool against his palm.
“If that was our first meeting, it doesn’t sound like you could’ve liked me much…” Rosalyn murmured softly.
Damian tenderly brushed her hair aside.
“I thought so too. But one day… I saw you crying alone, where no one else could see.”
Once his parents secured the imperial throne, they became more lenient. But leniency didn’t mean kindness.
He was still nothing more than a useful chess piece to them.
“We went through all that trouble bringing you into the palace, and yet you always wear that gloomy face.”
“He was always unusually close with your younger brother’s family, wasn’t he?”
The guilt he couldn’t hide as a child became the biggest reason they saw him as useless.
At least they no longer hit him directly, and people’s attitudes toward him had changed.
After all, he was now a prince. No longer the hollow Grand Duke’s son whose family could be purged at any moment.
Damian no longer resented the other children — because, in the end, they’d been right.
His parents had rebelled again. The only difference this time… was that they succeeded.
Still, he couldn’t grow close to anyone.
He kept a distant, polite relationship with the nobles. Only Rosalyn was an exception.
He still played with the Moore siblings often.
But he could no longer face Rosalyn properly.
Every time he saw her bright, innocent smile, he remembered the baby — the cousin who had been just as pure once.
Their time together was always fun, yet seeing Rosalyn so loved by her family filled him with a sharp sense of distance.
She’s too different from me.
Guilt over his cousin, and the inferiority bred by his twisted family — could Rosalyn ever truly understand that?
Probably not. Not in this lifetime.
Even if the world around him had changed, his situation had not.
Damian gradually grew used to life in the imperial palace. He rarely saw his parents anymore, which was a relief.
Servants and attendants watched him constantly, but it was still better than life in the mansion.
He was ten years old now.
The summer sun blazed down, burning everything in sight. It was unbearably hot — so much that sweat trickled down even while standing still.
Normally, he would’ve stayed inside the prince’s quarters all day. His jet-black hair heated up instantly in the sun.
But today, he was wandering the garden for a reason.
“Where’s Rose…?”
Damian wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Just moments ago, he’d heard that Duke Moore had come to visit his father.
Which meant Rosalyn was here too — the Duke always brought his daughter along.
It’s been a while since they last visited… The Duchess has been sick lately.
Even if he couldn’t confide his true thoughts, time spent with Rosalyn was always pleasant.
Still, he worried about her — about how deeply her mother’s illness must have hurt her.
Rosalyn and her mother, Alina, had always been very close. Damian could easily imagine how saddened she must be.
“It’s so hot…”
The attendants who usually stuck by his side were nowhere to be found — they were all hiding indoors, avoiding the heat.
And really, who would bother to check what a ten-year-old boy was doing outside on such a scorching summer day?
