Epilogue 1. Afterward

“Heave-ho. Oh my. Oh my aching back.”

“Really now, if you’re already complaining about your back after moving that, how will you survive the entire day?”

“I’ll have to, what choice do I have?”

In response to one father’s complaints as he massaged his back, another household’s mother clicked her tongue.

“If only your body moved as well as your mouth does.”

“What is my dear wife displeased about now?”

“The same as always—inadequate nights… mmph!”

“Woman, it’s not even noon yet!”

The father reluctantly removed his hand from her mouth when she glared at him fiercely, wiping his palm on his pants.

“By the way, have you heard the news?”

“What are you going on about now?”

“About the border. A merchant I do business with looked quite distressed.”

“Why?”

“What happened?”

As the father began speaking, people who had been starting their daily tasks gathered around out of curiosity.

“The border? What about it?”

Urged on by someone, the father cleared his throat and began his tale.

He told of the covert plot by a foreign nation during the trade agreement period, how the Imperial family had uncovered it, and the Empire’s warning to the foreign nation that had coveted imperial territory.

“They released poison? To cause confusion by making people think it was an epidemic? Those bastards!”

Some reacted with anger, others remained indifferent to news that didn’t directly affect them, while others gossiped about the Second Prince Einar, who was rarely seen even at official events.

“The Second Prince hardly ever appears, but when he does, he brings a typhoon with him.”

“Indeed, that black tiger hide briefly displayed at the hunting competition was as big as a house.”

“Come to think of it, hasn’t it been a while since the Second Prince became engaged to the Bolshevik lady?”

“That’s right, it’s been some time since the announcement, so talk of marriage should be coming soon…”

The person speaking of Riina and Einar’s marriage couldn’t finish, as they had to hurriedly leave their seat when someone bellowed their name.

“Hey you! What are you doing there? Move it! We don’t even have time to eat if we want to open our stall at the night market today!”

“Oh dear, I shouldn’t be here right now. It’ll take ages to prepare the fireworks.”

“I should be going too.”

As the crowd dispersed in all directions, the father who had been watching them with disappointment received a cold glare from the other household’s mother and quickly moved as well, though he paused for a moment.

“A Bolshevik wedding, hmm. This could make for an excellent product…”

The Emperor tapped his chin with displeasure and spoke in a thoroughly disgruntled voice.

“Confinement is all?”

“Yes. Since Your Majesty is perfectly well, harsher punishment is difficult under current law.”

“Damn it all! Are you saying I should have never opened my eyes?”

Despite the Emperor’s outburst, the minister responsible for executing imperial law replied with perfect composure:

“Had that been the case, execution would have been the sentence.”

“It seems the minister deeply regrets my awakening?”

“How could that be? While Your Majesty was lying down, wasn’t the Third Prince’s fate decided so quickly precisely because I was running around unable to enter the council chamber?”

The Emperor sank deep into his rigid throne as if deflated by the minister’s still-calm response, but he leaned forward again at what the minister said next.

“However.”

“However?”

“There is no need for this confinement to take place in the luxurious Imperial Palace.”

Having expressly scratched the Emperor’s itch with an expressionless face, the minister bowed his head, and the Emperor’s lips twisted into a crooked smile.

“Indeed. When?”

“Anytime would be suitable.”

“Then immediately drag the Third Prince—no, the criminal—to the deepest dungeon beneath the palace. Ah, come to think of it, his accomplice is already there, I hear.”

“Yes. The Bolshevik lady took swift action.”

“I’m very pleased. Drag out that brazen criminal who still doesn’t understand what he did wrong and continues his scheming.”

At the Emperor’s command, the minister bowed deeply and withdrew. No sooner had he disappeared than the Emperor’s closest attendant appeared silently and announced:

“The youngest prince has arrived.”

“Send him in.”

Soon after, the massive, ornate, and thus unbearably heavy door to the Emperor’s office opened.

“You summoned me.”

“Tsk, tsk. You’ve picked up bad habits from your brother.”

When the Emperor frowned at Sierre for getting straight to the point without a greeting, Sierre smiled brightly and replied:

“Thanks to you putting off work by making excuses about having just woken up, the documents falling to me have formed mountain ranges. So I’m practicing the excellent Bolshevik maxim of ‘keeping it brief and to the point.'”

The Emperor, perhaps feeling called out, opened his mouth with a sour expression.

“Well then. You’re doing very well. Consider this all a test and experience. You’ll need to get accustomed to it before ascending to the Crown Prince position.”

The Emperor openly stated that Sierre would become Crown Prince, and Sierre accepted it without batting an eye.

“If I didn’t view it that way, I wouldn’t have accepted that tidal wave of endless documents in the first place.”

The Emperor’s face twisted into a strange mixture of fondness and displeasure as he watched Sierre speak his mind while smiling innocently.

“One more word and you’ll be throwing papers at your father’s face. You may go now.”

Of course, he made absolutely no mention of taking back and handling the documents he had sent to Sierre.

Though annoyed by the Emperor’s attitude, Sierre felt his time was too precious to waste, so he merely nodded his head somewhat irreverently before leaving the office.

“Because of work, I can’t even visit the night market.”

Sierre’s footsteps thundered disrespectfully as he crossed the Central Palace, the Emperor’s residence.

“Careful.”

Einar naturally and smoothly wrapped his arm around Riina’s waist and pulled her toward him.

After pushing away some unidentifiable bundle that had suddenly appeared at Riina’s feet, he hesitated briefly before bending down to whisper:

“Is it all right to stay like this?”

“It’s uncomfortable to walk. Let go.”

But Riina mercilessly pushed his arm away, and Einar, though drooping his shoulders dejectedly, obediently released her.

Then a slender, white hand suddenly appeared before him.

“Hold my hand instead.”

Under the bright moonlight, she pulled him along, smiling even more brightly than the moon itself.

For a moment, Einar could see nothing but her, and had to close his eyes tightly before opening them again.

“Einar?”

“No, it’s just that I’m happy.”

Letting his sincere feelings slip out, he smiled as brightly as she did.

For some time, the two explored various parts of the night market.

At one point, they stopped briefly in front of a stall selling various bouquets and items made from them, where they heard unexpected words.

“Hey, young people, this is exactly what you need right now. The Bolshevik lady will be getting married soon, so there’ll be an even bigger festival then. You’ll definitely need this. Get one now. These are real flowers, but they’ve been treated so they won’t wilt and will continue to smell nice.”

“M-marriage?”

“That’s right! The wedding of the Second Prince and the Bolshevik lady. Prepare early!”

At the words of the merchant—that same father from earlier—who was promoting corsages, Riina was dumbfounded.

Marriage? She hadn’t thought about it… well, since they were genuinely engaged rather than merely contracted, they would naturally get married someday.

“What are you hesitating for? Buy it!”

Thus, somewhat dazed, Riina left with a corsage wrapped around her wrist, her mind elsewhere.

Einar seemed to be in a similar state, as they both remained silent by unspoken agreement and left the busy main street for a quiet alley.

Unlike the main street, which had been as bright as daylight, the dimly lit alley, illuminated only by moonlight, was silent, as if they were the only two people there.

After some time, just as Riina, who had been fidgeting with her corsage, was about to speak—

“Just a moment.”

Einar covered her ears with both hands, and Riina’s vision flickered as she blinked rapidly at his sudden action.

—Bang! Pop-pop-bang!

The next moment, her eyes curved happily as she saw fireworks brilliantly coloring the night sky, accompanied by a thunderous sound.

Only then did Einar remove his hands from her ears, and he too looked up at the sky.

As the large burst faded, another firework immediately blossomed, and by the time the third one spread across the sky, Riina burst into laughter.

“Riina?”

Einar bent his head toward her sudden laughter, and Riina, tapping the corsage wrapped around her wrist, spoke with laughter in her voice:

“No, it’s just that when the fireworks went off, I remembered what those merchants said earlier with their obvious sales pitch.”

Still in that position, she raised her finger to point at the continuously exploding fireworks and continued:

“For a proposal, usually the fireworks burst like this, doves fly away, flower petals rain down, and you play the piano.”

“…That’s quite specific.”

“Becky wouldn’t stop chattering about it until my ears hurt.”

As Riina shrugged and laughed lightly, her smile was tinged with the multicolored light of the fireworks bursting in the sky.

Einar stared at Riina, momentarily entranced.

Though he was always looking at her, there were moments when Riina took his breath away.

—Whistle, bang! Pop-bang!

And so Einar wished.

That he could never miss such moments. So…

“I don’t have a piano.”

Murmuring quietly, Einar took Riina’s hand and smiled brightly.

Immediately after, as if by magic, flower petals rained down on their heads.

No, it was a flower downpour.

“Aaaah, why suddenly!”

Though a scream-like sound came from above, Einar laughed delightedly as they were showered with flower petals that fell precisely on just the two of them.

Then another sound rang out from quite far away.

“…told you not to wave it around recklessly!”

With that shout, though they weren’t live doves, a mass of paper folded into dove shapes fluttered down.

Surrounded by the flower downpour and paper doves, the two looked at each other for a moment before simultaneously bursting into laughter.

Eventually, Einar, still holding Riina’s hand, slowly knelt on one knee.

“Riina.”

At his call, Riina could guess what would come next.

Only the female protagonists in romance novels, who are somehow only oblivious in matters of love, would fail to anticipate this.

Einar pressed his forehead to the back of her hand, then slowly lifted it, meeting her gaze as he spoke:

“I want to share a lifelong vow with you.”

His hand, cold as if from nervousness, carefully squeezed Riina’s hand.

“That I may accompany you on your path, and you may be by my side on mine. So that on terrible days when there is nowhere else to turn and we’re barely holding on, I can hold your hand and embrace you.”

Though his face was constantly obscured by the excessive shower of flower petals, it didn’t matter.

Even without seeing him, she could clearly picture what expression he wore.

“Riina, will you please marry me?”

Whether because the bursting fireworks were red, his face seemed slightly flushed, and Riina let out a clear laugh.

She withdrew her hand from his grasp and stretched her arms toward him as he knelt.

As the corsage wrapped around her wrist tickled the nape of Einar’s neck, Riina embraced his neck with all her might and answered in the happiest voice in the world:

“Yes.”