Your Regrets Are Late

“…”

To the completely unexpected answer, Charelize hesitated, not knowing how to react.

“His Royal Highness, Baroness Azwell is waiting outside.”

Just in time, the knight outside came in and announced someone’s arrival.

“…Tell her to come inside.”

“Yes, Your Royal Highness.”

“If it’s Baroness Azwell…?”

“She was your temporary servant in the past, do you remember?”

“I… remember.”

Charelize had the impression that she had heard that name somewhere. It was before she entered Rosielt Academy.

“If you need anything, don’t hesitate to tell me, Princess.”

“…”

“Her Majesty Xavi’s order was to do as much as possible what Princess’s wishes.”

When she stayed as an honored guest in the imperial palace of the Peschte Empire, she noticed that Baroness Azwell was the one who served her as ordered by Lanenxia Xavi.

“Greetings to the Royal Prince and little Duchess. May Goddess Resina’s blessing reach you two.” Soon after, Baroness Azwell, who came inside, bowed politely.

“By the way, why did Baroness Azwell suddenly come here…?”

“I heard the little Duchess brought your exclusive maid, but you might still feel uncomfortable.”

“But—”

“While you’re in my palace… Just keep Baroness Azwell by your side. I think it will be relatively comfortable when you’re with someone you are already familiar with, so I sent a letter to Her Majesty Xavi and received her permission.”

Arensis was really meticulous and considerate for calling Baroness Azwell, whom she knew well. However, his reckless behavior could have raised suspicions because of the current situation.

“As for details, you’d better hear directly from Baroness Azwell. I will leave you then, Your Highness.”

“Thank you for caring for me in many ways.”

“Baroness Azwell.”

“Yes, Your Royal Highness.”

“Guide the little Duchess to the room… where the sun comes the best.”

“I will follow your order.”

“Then.”

Arensis, who had been caring for Charelize until the end, left with that word.

“Is there any particular reason why His Royal Highness doesn’t have any other servants aside from his aide, Viscount Luche?” Charelize left alone with Baroness Azwell, asked her about Arensis.

Viscount Luche was the appearance of Lili when it turned into a human. It was also ambiguous to say that he was in Arensis’s aide.

“Arabella… No, I apologize, but please forget what I just said.”

“?”

Baroness Azwell’s face hardened rapidly as she talked about it.

“There is nothing I can say right now except that he’s tangled with someone… I shouldn’t be talking about, Your Highness.”

It wasn’t important enough to find out what made her troubled. Charelize was really curious. So she only pretended not to hear it.

“I have an exclusive maid I brought with me separately. Can you give her the room next to me?”

“How about a room connected to each other if you open the door in the room?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“I will inform your exclusive maid separately, but… there’s a floor with a pattern of pink flowers near the room Your Highness will be staying in.”

“Pink flowers?”

“Just don’t follow it. There won’t be any restrictions except that in the Royal Prince’s palace.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“…You have to be really careful, your Highness. A handful of servants, who had worked here before, entered there recklessly. His Royal Highness got angry with them and cut their tongues.”

Baroness Azwell, who was worried that something bad might happen, explained the reason why many of the servants were unable to speak.

“If you’re going to talk to the little Duchess, you should ask for her permission first.”

“…Your Royal Highness.”

“If you knew it was rude, it would have been better not to ask in the first place,” replied Arensis, smiling slightly.

Except for the hostility shown to Delphir last time, Arensis was always gentle.

“IS it because of His Royal Highness that there are people who can’t speak?”

“That’s right. Your Highness. Why are you asking…?”

“I remember him being calm and kind all the time… I don’t know what happened, but it’s hard to believe.” Charelize, who heard the unexpected story, opened her mouth in a puzzled way.

“His Royal Highness… is calm and kind…?” Rather, it was Baroness Azwell who didn’t understand. She seemed to be astonished.

“Isn’t he someone who doesn’t get angry easily? Why are you so surprised?”

“His Royal Highness is always alert to the point of getting tired by it. He doesn’t show his emotions well to others, and when someone makes a mistake, he doesn’t let it slide more than twice… That’s why Royal Princess Casilla is worried about him.”

“…No way.”

She knew better than anyone else how difficult it was to keep your body and mind in an alert state all the time. Charelize was speechless at Arensis’s unexpected coldness.

“The room that gets the most sunlight, as the Royal Prince said, is the closest to the place where those patterns are drawn.”

“…”

“Even Royal Princess Casilla can’t enter it without his permission, so I was a little surprised at first. Your Highness is the only one… who directly gets the permission to get a room close to that place.” Baroness Azwell expressed how she felt honestly.

When she heard that she was the only one, Charrelize’s heart began to race again.

“…Oh my, Your Highness. Are you feeling sick…?”

“I’m okay, don’t worry.”

Charelize shook her head quickly when Baroness Azwell worried as she saw her blushing cheeks.

As she went along, she noticed a pattern of pink flowers carved into the floor of the road to her left, just like what she had heard.

“But, this… what flower is it?”

“His Royal Highness had been receiving the blessing of flowers, so it looks like he made it himself.”

Charelize looked closely because she felt somewhat familiar. When she asked what kind of flower it was, Baroness Azwell replied that Arensis received ‘blessing of flowers’. After thinking about it for a moment, Charelize quickly remembered what it was. It was something needed to enter Rosielt Academy’s Faculty of Magic.

Basically, they had to have the mana flowing through their body and inherent ability they had from birth. The well-known water blessing mark appeared on the wrist, the lights blessing on the back, and the flower blessing on the forehead. And it was said that each person doesn’t have their limitations.

“Is there  a mark on His Royal Highness’s forehead… that shows he has been receiving flower blessings?”

“I’m not sure if it’s intentionally invisible or if he completely erased it.”

“If you refuse the blessing, something will happen to your body.”

Charelize narrowed her eyebrows as she recalled the case of a man who was blinded because of refusing the blessing of light. Those who received the blessing of flowers were able to create flowers with the shape and scent they wanted.

“We’re here, Your Highness.”

“Ah.”

“As for the exclusive maid, she can stay in the next room. If you open the door over there, the road there will lead.”

The room that Baroness Azwell guided her was warm and sunny. Dark blue and light purple harmoniously create a warm atmosphere overall.

“Thank you for guiding me. You can leave now.”

“Yes, Your Highness. Then make yourself at home.”

When Baroness Azwell disappeared, Charelize wandered around the room. After a long tour, she laid on the bed and closed her eyes for a while.

* * *

Charelize was aware that she was in her dream now. As she walked to where the colored petals had fallen, she saw a woman with pink eyes. The butterfly, flying near the woman, sprinkled the golden powder on Charelize. Then, it came back to the woman and landed lightly on her finger.

“You’ve grown a lot.”

“…”

“When I saw you before, you were a little girl who couldn’t even reach my waist.”

The woman smiled and said, “Maybe it’s your first time seeing me.” Her slightly curved eyes resembled Arensis.

“Who… are… you?”

The woman approached Charelize slowly.

“Please stay with that child… on my behalf.”

With her muffled voice, the woman kissed Charelize’s forehead slightly.

* * *

“Butterfly…?”

At that moment, a butterfly that she saw in her dream was flying in front of her when she woke up. As if it was flapping its wings to follow it, Charelize rose up and followed it.

The butterfly, who was leading the way, went into the greenhouse garden. Charelize carefully walked and looked around the greenhouse garden. All the flowers in the flower bed had withered, as if they hadn’t been cared for a long time. The butterfly again sprinkled Charelize with golden power, just as it had done in her dream.

I have to go before Baroness Azwell comes… What to do…

She could see the image of her when she was young around the greenhouse garden. The butterfly entered the right path. As she followed it, she found a door leading somewhere. Only then did her memory of her childhood come to her mind.

At that time, she heard that her mother was in critical condition, so she sent a letter to Duke Marsetta, but the reply never came. With the sudden change in environment, food, and people around her, Charelize couldn’t get used to anything. That’s why she wet her pillow every night.