Side Story Chapter 18
In truth, if Evi’s birthday had been much later, he would have given it earlier.
A day to give a child a gift doesn’t have to be their birthday.
If you want to give it, you can always find some reason.
Because her gaze this morning was beautiful.
Because she ate all her meals without leaving a single bite today.
Because the number of books borrowed from the palace library had already exceeded five hundred, and so on…
Each day of a child’s life seems filled with things that make you want to praise them.
For other gifts, he could have found excuses like these to give them.
But this time, he wanted to give a gift on a day that held great significance for Evi herself.
After reading the report, Clois pondered for a moment before rising from his seat.
He walked out into the corridor and spoke to the head attendant.
“Inform everyone that the afternoon meeting will be postponed by one hour.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
As the attendant bowed, Clois immediately moved forward.
He headed to the place where the palace painters worked.
Upon entering the building, the distinct smell of paints hit him, and art supplies were piled up everywhere.
As he entered, those who recognized the emperor hurriedly bowed.
There was no one working there who did not know Clois.
He had been visiting this place very frequently lately.
Clois made his way, familiar with the surroundings, to the inner studio.
When he entered the open door, the palace painter standing inside bowed as if expecting him.
“Welcome, Your Majesty.”
“I hear it’s completed.”
“Yes. Finally, all the frames are finished as well.”
At the painter’s words, Clois turned his gaze to the wall.
There hung a portrait.
A red-haired woman wearing a pure white dress, shy yet smiling brightly.
It was Lillian’s portrait.
Clois quietly gazed at it.
Next to him, the painter watched his reaction anxiously.
She was the artist who had painted Lillian’s portrait that was displayed in the museum.
On the day that painting was completed, the emperor had shown rare delight and praised her work.
She herself thought it had been an exceptionally well-made painting.
The empress had never once come to the capital.
The previous emperor had refused to recognize her, so she had never even been officially listed in the imperial family.
Thus, there was no record of her in the palace.
“So I had to rely solely on Your Majesty and the surrounding ministers to paint her.”
Naturally, it was not an easy task.
First, the emperor found it very difficult to speak about the empress.
Especially when he talked about the child she carried, his words would often break off.
Still, he never showed tears.
Afterward, the painter repeatedly revised the painting, gradually forming the empress’s face.
But, of course, depicting someone from just one remaining painting was no easy feat.
“Still, Duke Kaelen and Marquis Lagselv helped a lot.”
The two, who had often met the empress, visited when the emperor was absent, giving detailed explanations and requesting revisions multiple times.
Even so, the face could not easily be completed.
Then, the painter had a dream.
In it, a woman with red hair and green eyes smiled at the painter.
Then she spoke:
[“The child is coming. I wanted to show you this, even like this….”]
Who is coming? What are they showing?
But the dream ended there. Upon waking, the painter, as if spellbound, immediately began drawing the face she had seen in the dream.
That afternoon, when the emperor visited the studio, he was unusually pleased.
“Keep it just like this. Really… it’s as if you’ve seen Lillian in person. It’s exactly alike.”
Thanks to this, the painting was finally completed.
The pride he felt on the day it was sent to the museum was immense.
Later, he heard that a child from the academy had been trapped in the museum—specifically in the room with the portraits.
“They must have been very startled and scared.”
Even while painting alone, the artist sometimes felt as if the person in the portrait was watching her.
Now imagine the child alone, trapped in a place lit only by moonlight—it must have been terrifying.
Then she thought of the portrait she had painted.
She felt that it would have comforted the child.
Afterward, the incident was completely forgotten.
Then, the princess who had supposedly passed away returned, causing an uproar in the palace.
A few months later, it was revealed that the returning princess was an impostor, and the child from the academy was the true princess.
Though he was surprised, Clois never thought this incident would concern him directly—until one day, the emperor summoned her.
“The princess really liked the portrait you painted. I wanted to give her the previous one, but she wanted it to remain in the museum for everyone to see. So I thought I’d have a new one made as a gift.”
It was then revealed that the student previously trapped in the museum was the princess, discovered in front of the empress’s portrait she had painted.
The emperor requested a slightly smaller painting than the one sent to the museum.
He also showed an old piece of clothing:
“This is what the empress wore at her wedding. One of the few remaining mementos. I couldn’t bring myself to show it before…”
He said this with a wry smile.
But now, unlike before, he did not fall silent with a blank expression.
He soon composed himself, ready to leave as the princess was waiting.
Thanks to the clothing the emperor showed, the painter could complete the portrait even faster than before.
Perhaps because she thought about the painting all day, she even dreamed again of the red-haired woman.
This time, the woman ran to the painter, took her hand, and smiled brightly.
“Thanks to you, Evi comes to see me every day. I’m so happy… truly, thank you!”
Upon waking, the painter immediately captured the bright smile she had seen in her dream.
The moment the new portrait sketch was completed, she could not forget the expression on the emperor’s face.
A deep, old longing.
But now, his face showed neither sadness nor anger.
“Evi will be happy.”
Upon hearing the emperor’s murmured words, the painter remembered that the woman in her dream had also said the name Evi.
“Could it really have been Her Majesty the Empress visiting in my dream?”
At that moment, a servant who had followed Clois outside made his presence known and bowed.
“Your Majesty, the princess has returned.”
The emperor’s face, looking at the portrait, lit up with a bright smile.
“I must leave for now. The inspection is complete. This will be ready by the princess’s birthday…”
“Do not worry, Your Majesty. I will ensure it is hidden so that no one else can see it.”
After all, gifts are most enjoyable when the recipient does not know.
Hearing the painter’s words, Clois left the studio with a satisfied expression.
Of course, he did not forget to order that she receive a special bonus for her work.
“Papa!”
“Evi!”
When he arrived at the secondary palace, Evi had already bathed and changed her clothes.
Seeing him, she ran up and hugged him.
Lifting her, he noticed that Evi had grown a little heavier than when she first arrived at the palace.
Of course, by his standards, she was still as light as a feather.
Still, seeing her grow well here made him proud.
After setting her down, they headed to the dining room together.
They sat at the corner end of the table.
While the food was being served, Evi chattered about her day.
“So Arsel said he’ll come visit more often now! He also apologized!”
Good. That’s how it should be.
Clois nodded as he listened.
In truth, he had guessed why Arsel had been reluctant to meet Evi.
Arsel had a stubborn personality. If something went wrong, he would blame himself for failing to prevent it.
So he must have felt most responsible for Evi being hurt.
When Clois asked Duke Kaelen, he confirmed that Arsel was almost fully recovered and spent all day at the training grounds.
“But… I spilled fruit juice on my clothes…”
Evi continued to recount what had happened at the duke’s residence.
Listening to her babble, Clois recalled the past.
He, too, had once sat at this table with the former emperor.
The seating was not by birth order.
It was determined by how much the emperor cherished someone.
Clois, with the mark on the back of his hand, always sat closest to the emperor.
But even he sat far away this time.
The former emperor wanted children to respect and obey rather than love him.
“Poor man.”
Clois smiled bitterly at the thought of his father.
He would never have known the joy of sharing a day with his child.
When the food arrived, Evi clasped her hands and thanked everyone who had prepared it.
She had been doing this since her time at the orphanage.
The etiquette instructor frowned.
According to etiquette, it was natural for the empire’s citizens to obey and serve the royal family; expressing gratitude was not proper.
Clois pondered for a moment, then said:
“Then we must change etiquette.”
“Excuse me?”
“I don’t see anything wrong with being grateful to someone who made or prepared something. This applies to anyone, not just royalty. And etiquette has always evolved with the times. It’s fine to adopt a new practice in this era.”
He then ordered that the royal etiquette include giving thanks to everyone before meals.
By now, a new etiquette book was likely distributed across the empire.
As he watched Evi eat with a proud expression, he noticed something unbelievable.
Huh?
Evi had discreetly moved a bell pepper off her meat with her fork!
