The carriage carrying the Crown Prince entered the “Palace of Roses”, the residence of Empress Onissia Prince.
Alisto crossed the garden and the corridors filled with fragrant scents with hasty steps, and ascended the brilliantly decorated spiral staircase, until he reached the front of the Empress's suite at the end of the long corridor.
There were bridesmaids and guards guarding the door, but they stood like statues; They did not ask the Crown Prince about the reason for his visit, nor did they block his path.
If a stranger had come for the first time, he would have felt strange in the quiet and depressed atmosphere, as if they were at a funeral ceremony, but Alisto was accustomed to it, so he opened the door of the ward and entered without hesitation.
A strong scent of roses rushed into his nose, and at the same time the scene of the room dissolved before his eyes.
“Mom”
The Empress did not notice his entry, but continued to hit the back of a huge man kneeling in front of her with a bouquet of roses over and over again.
They were roses whose thorns had not been trimmed.
I wonder how long it lasted like this?
Dozens of flowers were lying on the ground around them, torn and worn out.
As for the back of the man receiving the beating, it was a mess of scratches and bleeding wounds, and if you looked closely, you would find old scars covering it, indicating that this act of violence had been going on for a long time.
In the midst of all this, the man remained quietly kneeling, content to endure in silence, and this was another familiar sight for Alisto.
When the Empress raised her hand with the roses high again.
Alisto quickly approached and grabbed her wrist, shouting: “Mom!”
Only then did Onisia notice his presence, and she turned around, panting hard: “…Alisto?”
After making sure of her eldest son's face, she sat on the sofa tiredly, as if her strength had run out, and threw the roses in her hand to the ground.
Alisto picked up the shirt lying on the ground and put it on to Gerold: “Get out.”
Gerold furrowed his eyebrows for a moment at the pain caused by the shirt rubbing against his wounds, but he acted like an obedient child.
While his brother was buttoning his jacket, Gerold muttered: “Mother’s hand has been hurt a lot.”
“Take care of your wounds first.”
Before leaving, Gerold turned around and bowed to his mother respectfully: “I will ask permission now.”
The Empress said coldly, without even looking at him: “I’m sorry.
What should I do when I get so angry every time I see you?”
Hearing this short and insincere apology, Gerold forgave her again: “I’m fine.
Then, rest.”
Silence prevailed in the dark room, with curtains covering half of its windows, until Empress Onisia broke this silence: “Don’t look at me like that.
I apologized to him.
Didn’t you hear him say that he was fine?”
“Mom”
“You also know why I get so angry whenever I see him!”
When her voice rose, Alisto called her in a firm tone: “Mom!”
Then the Empress rose and shouted almost convulsively: “I!”
Her sharp voice rang through the room, and Alisto and Onissia exchanged sharp glances.
But in the end, she couldn't hold back her tears and turned away.
She sighed deeply, and her next voice was full of sobs: “You know how many insults I have been subjected to since entering this palace!
Do you only pity this that is evidence of that insult?
Do you not pity your mother who lives only because she is not dead yet?”
Alisto closed his eyes tightly as he saw his mother mentioning death again as she always did.
Gerold might envy him because his mother treated him so carefully, but in truth he sometimes wished to escape from her.
“Catch the snake as soon as possible.
When I rest, I will stop torturing Gerold.”
Begging his mother to kill the Emperor was nothing new.
“You are my only hope.
I have lived my whole life just for you.
I gave you everything I had.
Why?
To avenge your father.
This is the duty of a son.”
Onissia's voice became wet with tears; She knows that appealing to his feelings with this sad voice will make him pity her.
She was correct in her prediction.
Alisto, who sometimes hated his mother because she instilled hatred and vengeance in him from a young age, at the same time felt sorry for her; After all, she is his mother.
He began to pat the back of the woman drowning in sadness and despair to calm her down: "I know that.
It's not time yet, so be patient and wait.
And stop torturing Gerold; isn't he still a child?"
Onisia privately laughed at her son's description of the big man as a child, but she did not express her remark in public. (For your information, Gerold is 24 years old, his height is 190 cm, and his weight is 92 kg)
She wiped her tears with her injured hand, staining her face red, but she did not care and buried her face in Alisto’s chest, saying: “I will try.”
***
Blossom's Almond Suite had been filled with the scent of flowers since the morning.
Atha decided to start flower arranging based on Ruby's advice, and today was the first day.
She chose a narrow-mouthed vase that seemed easy to arrange, and gradually began filling it with the larger flowers first.
This hobby sounded really good; She felt that her confused mind was beginning to calm down a little—Oh, right!
'I had to ask the governor to block the announcement of the revelation when it came yesterday.'
Atha placed the crystal pieces at the bottom of the glass vase to finish the arrangement.
Then she raised her head and scanned the living room.
Ruby, Bella, Sandy, and Katrina were around her, each one going about their business.
Bella was taking care of the tea utensils and leaves meticulously, and today she seemed busy polishing the decorated cabinet with oil.
Sandy was in charge of the Almond Pavilion's furniture, textiles, and consumables, and she seemed to like the essential oil candles that had recently arrived, so she would light a different scented candle every day.
As for Katrina, she was responsible for the clothes and jewelry, so she did not leave the dressing room much.
It was a familiar sight, but it looked different today for some reason.
'I feel some kind of...distance?'
“Miss Atha, I have brought tea.”
“Huh?
Oh, thank you”
Ruby placed the teacup on the table and spoke gently: "I sensed that you were in a low mood today, so I prepared pomegranate tea mixed with honey.
Having a refreshing and sweet tea will improve your mood."
Ruby always monitored my mood and looked for what I needed herself.
“Did my mood seem bad?”
Ruby lowered her head with a slightly worried face: “I have crossed my limits.”
“No, I'm glad you cared.”
Atha raised the cup and took a sip of warm tea, then asked Ruby, "Tell me, Ruby.
If you fell into a world where everyone—except you—thought and acted only according to what was determined for them, how would you feel?"
Ruby looked puzzled: “A world where everyone thinks according to what is defined only for them, except me?”
“Yes.
For example, me, Sandy, Katerina, Bella, the rest of the colleagues in the palace, the family, everyone.
It is as if you entered into a pre-determined play.”
Atha was not asking in search of an answer, but was expressing her chest tightness indirectly.
She was curious to know what others would think about a world like this.
“How long do I have to live inside this play?
Is it forever?”
“Yes, forever”
“Are these ‘dolls’ hurting me?”
“I don’t think so”
“So, is it difficult to communicate with her because she only says specific sentences, or does strange things?”
“No, they look just like humans.
Let's just say they're identical.”
Ruby thought carefully for quite a while, then slowly opened her mouth: “If I had to live inside a play forever against my will...
I think I would try to fit in with those dolls, and live my life diligently.”
“…Why?
Why live so hard in a fake world?”
Ruby shrugged: “If this is the world I eat, sleep, and breathe in, doesn’t that mean it’s no longer a fake world?”