Chapter 89
Silbert did not immediately announce that Sonette had returned. If it became known that the beloved saint had been driven out and had now come back, the temple would feel as if a festival were underway. However, since Sonette’s physical condition was not very good, it was decided to focus on her recovery for a while before making any public announcement. Klagen also instructed his subordinates to keep things quiet. As soon as Sonette returned to the Moon Room she had stayed in during her time as a saint, she fell into a deathlike sleep.
“I will conduct a proper examination once she wakes,” Silbert said.
“Yes. I have been monitoring her while she was in the North, but it would be good to check her once more,” Ash replied.
“Thank you, Duke Valian. Hiding a saint who was practically expelled must have been dangerous, yet you accepted the request without hesitation. If there is ever anything I can do for you in return, I shall make sure to help,” Silbert said.
“No, High Priest. Your words are thanks enough,” Ash replied.
The High Priest expressed his gratitude to Ash repeatedly. Without Ash’s cooperation, it would have been impossible for Sonette to return to this place. It might even have been difficult for her to survive. At that moment, when the High Priest promised to repay the debt someday, the sound of urgent footsteps echoed through the corridor.
Unlike Ash, Silbert seemed to have already guessed who it was and turned to the figure rushing into the Moon Room.
“High Priest,” it was Dillon.
“I should take my leave now,” Dillon said.
“Very well. Make sure to stop by again,” Ash said.
Remembering Dillon’s pale face and his behavior in the Grand Hall, Ash subtly moved aside. Once he left, only silence filled the entrance to the Moon Room. The first to speak was Dillon.
“Sonette…”
His voice trembled with anguish, almost to the point of desperation.
“Please… let me see Sonette, even if just for a moment.”
Silbert, despite maintaining a youthful appearance as if time had stopped since Leopold disappeared from the world, had lived the same span of years as Marquis Blanche. His life had been truly arduous and brutal, carrying the burden of protecting the empire on his shoulders while living close to death.
So even if Sonette had endured much more than her young age suggested, she was pitiful. Though he wanted to grant the young emperor standing before him this request, he feared that letting them meet could lead to ruin.
“I cannot allow you to meet her,” the High Priest said firmly.
But Dillon did not give up.
“I am asking you like this. It will only be for a moment. It won’t take long.”
“Who besides us knows that Your Majesty has come here?”
“No one. I didn’t bring anyone deliberately…”
Dillon paused briefly, then spoke in a quiet tone.
“I came through a path no one knows, so they won’t know I am here. And I always go for a walk in the garden at this hour, so there will be no suspicion.”
‘So I thought all routes were blocked… but there was another path.’
A shadow passed over Silbert’s pale eyes.
Dillon and Sonette had loved each other passionately. Even those who criticized Sonette’s origins would admit that, looking at them together, they were a beautiful couple. However, Sonette had always been busier than even Crown Prince Dillon, leaving her no time to enjoy a brief moment of fresh air. Dillon was always the one to seek her out first.
Once, when Dillon climbed a tree to give Sonette a blue spinel hairpin and fell, the former emperor scolded the Crown Prince and forbade him from visiting except at certain times. But nothing could stop a prince deeply in love. When a gap appeared in the temple walls, he slipped through it.
During the spring festival, Dillon attempted to secretly take Sonette out, and when caught, he found another path to visit her. Sonette also enjoyed their love despite knowing it was forbidden. Silbert had even supported their innocent love at times, making excuses on their behalf. After Sonette was expelled, he restricted the Crown Prince’s visits and blocked all known passages because Dillon continued trying to see her.
However, it seemed that Dillon had still found ways to reach her without anyone knowing. Silbert sighed.
“What do you intend to do, Your Majesty the Empress?”
“!”
“Do you think you can avoid the Empress’s suspicion?”
No, she would surely become suspicious. She might have sent someone to verify if the emperor was indeed in the garden. During the joint council, she had reluctantly allowed his return without much objection. Now, she might be scheming to create a reason to expel Sonette again. If she learned that Dillon had seen Sonette, Silbert could not predict her reaction.
“High Priest,” Dillon said.
Silbert decided to become even more resolute, trying to send the young emperor away. But just then, the Moon Room’s main door opened. Sonette, exhausted and sleeping as if dead, opened her eyes without blinking and stared at Dillon. Dillon longed to approach her immediately but restrained himself in Silbert’s presence.
“Sonette… why are you here?”
“I am fine. High Priest, please allow me to be alone with His Majesty.”
Silbert gripped Sonette’s shoulders and shook his head. Meeting Dillon would only cause them both pain. Yet Sonette smiled gently as if to say she was alright. Her smile, seen after so long, was as lovely and soft as sunlight, yet her golden eyes, marked with scars, looked painfully sorrowful.
Should he just let them meet? Perhaps the best choice would be to remain firm and send Dillon away while pushing Sonette back into the Moon Room.
“I am truly fine. Please… let me meet His Majesty,” Sonette pleaded.
Finally, Silbert relented.
This was the Moon Room Sonette had never entered since her expulsion. All she had ever done was look up at the window near the old tree where her gaze always met Dillon’s. Coming inside felt as if returning to her hometown after being away. To Dillon, the Moon Room was a precious and cherished place. He hesitated for a long while, then reached toward Sonette, the first love who did not yet return his gaze.
“Sonette.”
“Why have you come here?”
Her response was cold. Dillon’s hand, hovering close to hers, fell weakly.
“I know you do not want to see me. But there is something I must say.”
“If it is just to tell me you missed me, please leave.”
Dillon’s green eyes twisted in sadness.
“…Missed you? Has it come to the point that we can no longer return to what we once were?”
His voice, trembling with emotion, finally made Sonette look at him. She still wore the white cloth over her eyes, as she had in the Grand Hall. The long, rough scar cutting across her eyes was unforgettable. Dillon’s hands shook uncontrollably.
“I am glad you have returned.”
Dillon began whispering the words he had buried in his heart, as if speaking of love.
“I thought you were dead.”
He reached for her again. When she did not pull away, he could no longer restrain his rising emotions and embraced her. Though she had been hiding in the North, and now spring had fully come to the capital, she was still as cold as the frosty winter dawn. She had once said she preferred a summer that might melt her, and hated the winter that froze her whole body. How could she be like this in Nostri…
“I thought you were dead, but part of me still held hope.”
“……”
“I believed you would return, just like this moment.”
Dillon could not bring himself to touch the cloth over her eyes and only pressed his lips together.
“Perhaps you remember the secluded palace, overgrown with vines and foliage that we hadn’t used in a long time. You loved it more than the Star Palace, and I promised that when I became emperor, I would give it to you. After you left, I began tending the palace that no one else would touch, removing thick, stubborn vines and moss, repairing the cracked walls…”
Though even the Empress could not enter this private space, it had been prepared solely for Sonette’s eventual return and as a place to remember their shared memories.
“In spring, I planted the white peonies you liked. In summer, the birds you cared for came to the door, and I fed them for you. You liked the red maple leaves, so I planted trees for you to see each autumn. And you would love the winter snow at the palace; even though you dislike cold, I am sure you would.”
Since Sonette’s expulsion, Dillon had always longed for her. He still loved her.
“Your Majesty…”
Yet Sonette no longer blushed or smiled at Dillon’s sweet words. As she slowly pushed him away, Dillon pressed her closer to his shoulder, afraid that letting go would mean never touching her again.
But the next words sapped all his strength.
“Have you properly handled my younger sister’s remains?”
Sabina, Sonette’s little sister. In fact, the reason Sonette had decided to enter the temple was to pay for Sabina’s treatment, who had been sick since childhood. Silbert had discovered the immense holy power within Sonette and appointed her as a saint. Even amidst her busy life, Sonette kept in touch with Sabina through letters.
When leaving, the only thing Sonette had wished to take with her was Sabina’s ashes.
“Where is Sabina?”
“……”
“You could not have conducted a normal funeral due to the mages’ interference and must have cremated her. Where are my sister’s ashes?”
At the mention of Sabina, Sonette hesitated to answer as Dillon scrutinized her expression. Then, her calm eyes, previously expressionless, rippled like a stone tossed into a lake. Her face twisted in anguish.
“Surely you did not mix Sabina’s ashes with the embers and bury them with the monsters’ remains, did you?”
