Chapter 98

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The once-beautiful maze garden of the imperial palace, adorned with magnificent flowers, now lay in ruins with barely a spot untouched. Even just repairing and filling in the torn and damaged ground was an enormous task.

Sian sat on the second-floor terrace railing, taking in the view of the palace garden under renovation.

‘…I’m sorry.’

Her legs dangled precariously in the air as if she might fall at any moment. As she casually swung her legs back and forth, Count Chandler’s image flickered through her vacant blue eyes that simultaneously captured both sky and garden.

‘It took me years after abandoning you to realize what a foolish choice I had made.’

Besides her father, who apologized with a heavy expression, her mother could only weep endlessly, just like the day they had abandoned her.

‘When we finally started searching for you, even if only to recover your remains, we could no longer trace your whereabouts.’

Sian barely suppressed a snort. Even recalling the memory now, the feeling of absurdity remained the same. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said… As if those simple words could earn forgiveness for all those years.

Try as she might to think it through, unlike her cold reasoning, her heart remained inevitably heavy.

‘If you’ll allow it, I’d like to amend the noble registry and reinstate you as my daughter.’

“…There, Lady.”

Though she tried to clear her mind by getting some fresh air, it was futile. Breaking through her spiraling memories, a gentle voice tickled Sian’s ears. Drawn to the voice, she looked down to see Carl standing in front of the garden on the first floor, waving at her.

“Are you preparing to fly? Why are you sitting in such a dangerous place?”

“I’m contemplating whether to fly or not.”

Sian responded with a smile to Carl’s jest.

“Where is that handsome gentleman headed?”

“I was keeping watch to see if my newly caught bird would fly away or not.”

“Ah.”

Sian let out a small exclamation, laughed consecutively, and then jumped off the terrace railing.

Startled, Carl’s eyes widened as he instinctively stepped forward to catch her with an “Oh.” But there was no need. Before reaching the ground, Sian emanated black magical power and landed gracefully without falling.

Carl, who had opened his eyes wide in surprise, let out a sigh of relief.

“Buildings are meant to be used—why don’t you use the stairs like a normal person?”

“What does it matter? No one was watching anyway.”

“I was watching.”

“Ah…”

Sian fumbled for words, momentarily losing her sense of how to respond. The words ‘Do I really need to mind you too?’ rose to the tip of her tongue, but somehow it felt wrong to say them out loud.

Sian decided to change the subject.

“I heard His Majesty is in critical condition. Is it alright for you to be wandering around like this?”

“Father’s been ill for more than just a day or two. It’s fine, my brother’s there too.”

Carl stretched widely.

“Shall we walk?”

Sian shrugged her shoulders in affirmation to Carl’s suggestion. However, once they started walking side by side, there was hardly anywhere to go in the devastated garden.

They naturally headed toward the garden, but ahead lay only chaos from the ongoing renovation work. Nevertheless, with nowhere else to go, Carl and Sian walked silently until they encountered a dust storm from the workers filling in the ground.

Without any prior arrangement, both Carl and Sian inhaled a cloud of dust and burst into coughs simultaneously.

“…I was trying to set the mood, but the situation isn’t helping at all.”

Carl complained while coughing, covering his mouth with his sleeve. Sian, who was also coughing from the tickling dust in her throat, burst into laughter.

“When have we ever had a good atmosphere between us?”

Carl wrinkled his nose at Sian’s words.

“It’s not like it was ever bad, right? I thought every day was fine, but I guess you didn’t feel the same?”

Now it was Sian’s turn to wrinkle her nose.

“It wasn’t bad, but… why do you keep calling me ‘sister’?”

“Huh? Well, since everyone else calls you sister, I guess I picked it up somewhere…”

Come to think of it, at some point, the naturally adopted form of address had practically become a term of endearment.

“Don’t you like ‘sister’? Then should I call you Lady Sian, or now that you’re a knight, should it be Knight Sian?”

Carl tilted his head, falling into serious contemplation. Ack, Sian barely managed to suppress a strange groan. Knight Sian—it felt incredibly awkward.

“If you don’t like that either…”

Seeing Sian’s contorted expression, Carl leaned in close to her face, letting his words trail off.

In a moment of carelessness, his turquoise eyes had come close enough to almost touch. Sian, belatedly realizing the intimate distance, startled and stepped back.

Far from being disappointed by her reaction, Carl smiled broadly as if that had been exactly what he wanted.

“Aira Chandler.”

At her real name, which came from Carl’s lips like an ambush, Sian’s expression instantly hardened.

“…I like that even less.”

Sian rejected it immediately without even taking time to consider. Carl smiled as if he had expected that response. Sian narrowed her eyes at him.

“From your behavior, I’m sure you must have heard something before coming to find me. You heard that Count Chandler came, didn’t you?”

Carl burst out laughing at having been caught dead-on.

“I also heard he asked you to return.”

“Then you must have heard I refused?”

Carl just kept smiling without answering. Sian snorted.

“…Really, people try to live so easily, don’t they? After abandoning me so ruthlessly, now they try to dismiss all the years I’ve endured with just one word of apology.”

“It might sound that way from your position, but Count Chandler probably had no choice. What more could he say besides ‘I’m sorry’?”

“I think it would have been better if he hadn’t said or done anything at all. It feels like rubbing salt in wounds that had already healed.”

“The guilt of abandoning his daughter must have been too great.”

Carl tried to help her understand the Count’s position while maintaining a gentle smile. His attitude made Sian extremely uncomfortable, and she let out a merciless sneer as if he were Count Chandler himself.

“That’s exactly why it’s more unpleasant. Isn’t it just them trying to ease their own guilt? What does it matter now whether I’m Aira Chandler or Sian Roosevelt? I am who I am.”

“That’s true. I’m not trying to take Count Chandler’s side, so don’t be so hostile toward me. You’re scary when you’re angry.”

Sian snorted again with a “hmph.”

“For someone who knows I’m scary when angry, you’re quite reckless with your words.”

“I just wanted to comfort you because you seemed troubled by it. There’s no need to call it reckless.”