For the heart - Chapter 71

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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 71

* * *

Nina, lying on her bed, quietly embraced the white rabbit that had always occupied the spot beside her at some point. Then she raised her hand to look at the bracelet on her wrist.

Over her slender, white wrist, red gems strung on gold thread sparkled.

“Pretty….”

Jewelry… It was the first time she had ever owned such a thing.

The gem was called Casianite, wasn’t it?

“It’s similar to Casian’s name….”

Not only the name, but the deep yet transparent light that seemed to hold blood was so remarkably similar to Casian’s eyes that it was fascinating.

“If he was going to give me something like this… why was he so full of displeasure?”

She recalled him being sulky the whole time.

Though he eventually softened his expression, kissed her wrist, told her the meaning of the gem, and then disappeared.

“A noble soul….”

It felt as if the sensation of his lips that had touched the inside of her wrist was coming back to life. Feeling ticklish for no reason, she gently rubbed that spot with her fingertips.

It was strange how he kept whispering about nobility to her, who had never been noble for even a single moment.

But she didn’t dislike it, and rather, the thought that perhaps she might be a somewhat noble being kept sprouting.

Though that couldn’t be true.

If I really were a precious being… Father wouldn’t have left me like this, would he?

It was something that always came along with the thought that she needed to find her father.

Father was alive yet never came to rescue me, who had lived as a war weapon.

“If I were a father… If I knew my daughter had become a war weapon sacrificing herself for Arsed, I would have definitely rushed to save my child.”

When she believed he was dead, it didn’t matter, but now that she knew he was alive, many thoughts arose.

“Why has he never once come looking for me?”

She couldn’t understand it even more because no reasonable explanation came to mind.

Nina, who had been lost in thought, turned her gaze back to the teardrop-shaped red gem on her wrist.

Her troubled heart that had been wandering in all directions returned to its place.

The emptiness she felt when thinking of her father seemed to be healed just by looking at this gem.

Her body growing warm, the peaceful sensation, even the inexplicable ticklish feeling.

As if proving what filled her mind right now, a quiet, short name flowed from Nina’s slightly parted lips.

“Casian….”

Why am I really acting like this? Why can’t I escape from thoughts of Casian?

Nina buried her face completely in the white rabbit doll.

She couldn’t tell whether the doll was warm or if heat was rising to her face.

* * *

A few days later, the entire empire was bustling with the integration banquet being held in Arsed.

The vast continent would now move under the single name of Arsed, and Arsed would become the greatest center of this world.

Representatives from each nation had been arriving one after another since yesterday, and the quiet Imperial Palace was filled with guests.

The Western Palace, used especially as lodging for distinguished guests, was the most crowded.

Early in the morning, Nina, who was heading to the Reception Room, stopped abruptly at the sight before her.

“Wow, you really do get up early, Princess!”

“Good morning.”

Emil, who was carrying a basket full of onions and potatoes toward the Kitchen, greeted her, and Casian, who was sitting at the dining table with his legs crossed reading a newspaper, smiled brightly.

“Why… are you here?”

“Oh my~ Representatives from each country have been arriving since yesterday. The Western Palace is packed, so meals are delayed and it’s sooo chaotic that they told us to come eat at the Satellite Palace for the time being.”

Emil laughed “hehe” at Tila’s explanation on his behalf.

Casian also smiled as if there was no reason to refuse such kindness and gave Tila a thumbs up.

Only then did Nina step into the bustling Dining Hall and sit across from Casian, when Pieruto quickly set down a cup of warm tea.

“Thank you, Pieruto.”

“Hehe, today I succeeded in getting the tea temperature right! His Highness also said it wasn’t too hot and the temperature was just right.”

Pieruto’s eyes sparkled with pride as he boasted about his daily improvement.

When Nina lifted the teacup and took a sip, the temperature was indeed just right.

Pieruto’s eyes followed Nina’s hand as she set down the teacup.

“Huh? Princess, you’re wearing something I haven’t seen before?”

“Hm?”

Only then did Nina notice the bracelet still on her wrist.

Casian, who had his eyes on the newspaper, glanced at the sight and lifted one corner of his mouth.

“It’s so pretty! It suits you well, Princess!”

“What does?”

Tila, who was approaching with freshly baked bread in a basket, poked her head out at Pieruto’s words.

Pieruto eagerly explained to Tila.

“The Princess is wearing a really pretty bracelet!”

“Huh? Our Princess doesn’t wear things like that?”

“Come on, it’s true!”

“Let me see, Princess. Is it really true?”

“Uh, well, um….”

Nina found herself flustered like never before.

She could see several distinct red gems dangling over the slightly exposed wrist of the hand holding the teacup handle.

Now unable to hide it any longer, Nina froze like a broken person.

“Oh my, oh my! It really is! What’s all this about? There’s no way our Princess would buy something like this herself.”

Tila and Pieruto’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.

“Uh…”

Nina sneakily looked at Casian, but he was covering half his face with a newspaper, pretending not to know anything.

“It seems the ancient relic Arcadia sword was excavated in the Atir region? I wonder if it’s real this time.”

Unlike Nina who was colored with embarrassment and confusion, the very relaxed Casian even shared the content of the newspaper article he was reading.

Only his eyes were visible, but somehow it seemed like he was grinning below them.

There was no way he hadn’t noticed my predicament.

Just then, Emil approached carrying a soup bowl, grasped the situation, and made a “Ahem!” sound.

“You wouldn’t tell us no matter how much we asked. So the owner was here all along.”

Tila, who immediately understood Emil’s words, looked back and forth between Casian and Nina, pressed her lips together tightly, and chuckled softly.

She had long known that whenever the Princess she had raised for 20 years showed unfamiliar behavior lately, Casian was always nearby.

Secretly leaving the Satellite Palace late at night and returning, bringing a large doll claiming she found it on the street, sleeping while hugging that doll tightly.

Even when listless, she would regain her vitality after spending time with Casian.

‘It seems spring-like days are finally coming to our Princess instead of just frost.’

* * *

Maids Ivana and Stella were carefully adjusting each ornament on Lillien’s splendid dress.

Lillien stood with her hands on her waist, watching her bare wrist in the mirror.

“What did that man who just left buy?”

“It was a bracelet made of red gems called Casianite.”

They said what Casian bought at Maison Riolat was a bracelet. Moreover, that the gems were something Casian possessed.

“He entrusted us with reprocessing it, saying it was precious so please handle it carefully. Casianite is a rare gem that’s only mined in certain regions of Montregger, so it’s hard to see in Arsed. It even has the meaning of noble soul, making it the gem most used by the Imperial Family.”

Lillien had been waiting for Casian to come to her for several days.

But until today when the banquet was being held, Casian had not come to find Lillien.

Ivana, who had an ominous feeling that the owner of that bracelet might not be Lillien, was deliberately not bringing up the bracelet topic.

“Maybe he’s planning to give you the bracelet after today’s banquet?”

But in the end, the oblivious Stella brought up those words.

“I was thinking, seeing how he hasn’t given it until now, maybe he’s planning to give it as a gift along with a confession.”

“…Do you think so?”

Lillien’s mood, which had been low-pressure, quietly lifted at Stella’s words.

Lillien raised the hands that had been on her waist and quietly gazed at her empty wrist.

The bracelet Casian would soon put on her, that bracelet made of the precious gem called Casianite, appeared vividly before her eyes.

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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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