For the heart - Chapter 40

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 40

 

The further Casian got from the banquet hall, the lighter his steps became.

 

Like someone who had been trapped and finally released, his face showed not just relief but vitality beyond liberation.

 

“You said you’ve been living regularly? I’ve never seen Your Highness do that in my entire life?”

 

How could he tell such lies without even blinking an eye? For a moment, even I wondered if Your Highness had really been doing that. You would have made an excellent actor.

 

Emil chattered away by himself to Casian, who gave no response.

 

Only when they neared the Western Palace did Casian stop walking.

 

“Go in first. I have somewhere to go.”

 

“Huh? Where are you going at this hour? Could it be…?”

 

Emil narrowed his eyes and looked at Casian with suspicious eyes.

 

“Could it be what?”

 

“You’re not planning to go to the Satellite Palace, are you?”

 

Casian crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked at Emil.

 

This guy isn’t usually this perceptive except when his own safety is at risk.

 

“Something delicious for Tila without me knowing,”

 

“Hah. I thought so.”

 

As Casian turned around and strode away, Emil shouted from behind.

 

“Don’t come back too late! You know I’ll worry and won’t be able to sleep until Your Highness returns!”

 

Yeah right.

 

Casian headed toward the Satellite Palace without hesitation.

 

The waltz echoing from the banquet hall could be heard faintly in the distance.

 

‘I wonder if Nina knows how to dance? No, she probably hasn’t tried it? If she doesn’t know, I could teach her.’

 

Heh. Dancing with Nina.

 

Casian, who briefly imagined himself dancing with Nina, became embarrassed by his spontaneous laughter.

 

* * *

 

Nina, who left the meeting room only late at night, headed toward the Satellite Palace.

 

Throughout her walk, her mind was filled with thoughts about what methods could be used to conquer the Six Small Nations.

 

The method Nina always prioritized first was one that would cause the least damage to both Arsed’s knights and enemy lives.

 

When she entered, Tila, who had been dozing on the sofa, opened her eyes wide.

 

“Yawn. You’re back now, Your Highness. You must be hungry. Shall I prepare a meal?”

 

“No. I had snacks at the meeting room. It’s too late to eat now, and it probably won’t digest well. Go to sleep. Don’t worry about it.”

 

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Nina pushed the sleepy Tila into the bedroom and entered her own room.

 

She lit a candle in the dark room and plopped down in a chair.

 

Then.

 

Tap—! Tap—! Tap tap—!

 

Nina turned her head at the small sound and realized it was coming from near the closed window.

 

It sounded somewhat similar to when a messenger bird taps the window with its beak, so she quickly threw the window wide open.

 

“…”

 

There was no messenger bird.

 

Instead, a very small stone flew toward Nina, who stood in front of the window.

 

Nina lightly caught it and quietly made eye contact with the person standing below the window.

 

The tall, sturdy man was wearing a mask with an eagle’s eyes drawn on it. Even so, Nina recognized who he was immediately.

 

The man’s lips curved up in a grin, and he lifted something from his hands that had been clasped behind his back.

 

What Casian held in his hand was a white rabbit mask.

 

Only then did she remember the animal cookies Pieruto had made.

 

Tila was a bear, Emil was a squirrel, Casian was an eagle, and I was a white rabbit.

 

“Pfft!”

 

At the sound of Nina bursting into laughter, Casian brought his index finger to his lips.

 

Nina also closed her mouth and quietly looked behind her.

 

Though Tila should be asleep, she was surprisingly sensitive to sounds.

 

When she turned her head back, Casian came a little closer below the window and gestured.

 

‘Jump down?’

 

When Nina pointed downward with wide eyes, Casian nodded.

 

What was this about? The masked man had secretly come to find her and was telling her to jump out the window.

 

“Have you ever participated in a lantern festival? Montregger has a similar festival around this time too.”

 

“…No. Never.”

 

She remembered the conversation they had in passing on the day they went to the town square to look for the Saint.

 

He might have remembered that story.

 

Nina looked behind her once more.

 

The idea of secretly sneaking out of the Imperial Palace with just Casian to participate in the lantern festival at the town square.

 

‘Really, would that be okay?’

 

She had never done such a thing.

 

She had naturally never been invited to the lantern festival banquets held in the Imperial Palace either.

 

‘I want to go. I want to see it too.’

 

They said it was a spectacular sight when people gathered in the town square simultaneously released colorful lanterns at the darkest time of night.

 

She wanted to really see the scene she had only imagined.

 

Nina nodded to Casian, who was still looking up. Then with a whoosh, she jumped down from the window.

 

Casian lightly caught Nina’s body as she fell steadily.

 

“You didn’t need to catch me.”

 

“You know I’m a man of refinement. Of course I must catch a lady jumping from a window.”

 

Nina shook her head as if to say ‘what’s the point of saying that.’

 

And the two quietly slipped out of the Imperial Palace.

 

* * *

 

The town square was filled with people wearing masks.

 

As the time to release the lanterns was approaching, shops selling various colored lanterns were especially bustling with people.

 

Nina and Casian also put on masks and stood in front of a shop.

 

“What color would you like?”

 

“Well….”

 

Having never had to consider such things before, Nina couldn’t choose right away.

 

Casian pointed to a red lantern for Nina.

 

“Red lanterns stand out the most. They also go well with the night sky.”

 

“Really? Then I’ll take red.”

 

“Give us one red lantern and one blue lantern.”

 

Casian chose the blue lantern without hesitation.

 

Holding their unlit lanterns, the two walked through the square. Delicious smells wafted from here and there, and there were many places selling small toys.

 

Behind her white rabbit mask, Nina’s blue eyes sparkled with lively light.

 

“It’s amazing. This is the first time I’ve come out to a square during a festival at this hour.”

 

“You’ll be coming out more often from now on.”

 

Nina looked up at Casian for a moment as he spoke with certainty.

 

Behind his mask, his eyes were curved pleasantly.

 

“I see many families. They look happy.”

 

“I have memories of flying lanterns with my parents when I was young. I was so worried that the lantern I released wouldn’t rise high into the sky and would fall instead.”

 

Nina smiled faintly and nodded.

 

The memory of flying lanterns seemed to be quite a good memory for young Casian.

 

“Someday I should fly lanterns with my own child too. I’ll let them do many things I couldn’t do.”

 

At Nina’s words, Casian stopped walking and looked at her.

 

“Why?”

 

“Do you perhaps have someone in mind?”

 

Even when they had argued through secret letters recently, Nina had said she wouldn’t marry until everything was over.

 

That meant she would marry once she could live the ordinary life she wanted.

 

At Casian’s serious question, Nina muttered ‘what am I saying’ and started walking again.

 

“Not yet. But if someday I can live an ordinary life… I might meet a trustworthy man like a comrade and fall in love. Then I’d marry and have my own child.”

 

A rare smile spread across Nina’s face.

 

If someday she met someone to share her heart with and had a child, she wanted to pour out all the love she never received onto that child.

 

Enough to erase from memory the harshness she received from her parents.

 

But from Casian, who was listening to those words, came a cold voice.

 

“I wonder about that. I’ve seen a man fall in love with a woman who saved his life, force through a marriage everyone opposed, yet that love couldn’t even last four years. Love isn’t such a reliable emotion. I’ve never seen love that holds power against authority.”

 

It was just Nina’s hopeful mood, so why did such twisted words come out?

 

Casian found himself pathetic and bit down hard on the inside of his lips.

 

Who knows. Perhaps Your Highness will meet a good man who will love only you for life.

 

That was the thought that followed, but those words were stuck tight in his throat and wouldn’t come out.

 

Nina looked at him, who had suddenly seemed cynical.

 

She recalled the story of the Emperor of the Montregger Empire, who took a non-noble woman as empress, then within a few years took a noble family’s daughter as imperial consort.

 

Those words just now were probably about his own father.

 

“I heard that empress killed the young prince’s mother right in front of him. How could anyone be so cruel?”

 

Because of that, he must have stopped believing in love.

 

Instead of finding Casian rude, Nina came to understand a little why he so desperately desired power.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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