Chapter 5 -- Nightmare (4)

Athy stared absentmindedly at the bluebird flapping its wings and chirping in its birdcage. Recently, it felt as if all she'd been doing was breathing. Aside from eating and sleeping, her days consisted entirely of staring at Bluey. The palace doctor had come to the Emerald Palace several times and told her that she was recovering quickly; her lifestyle would remain unaltered. However, it wasn't easy to return to life as it had been before. Lily, Ces, and Hannah were extremely overprotective of Athy, so, for a while, she couldn't even take a single step outside of her room.

Then, one day, Athy impulsively decided to leave her room. Thankfully, there was no one outside of the door to stop her. After a few steps down the hallway, however, Athy faced a very familiar person.

"Ah, Princess!" It was Hannah, who held a warm, steaming towel that it seemed she'd recently washed. "You cannot leave the room like this!"

"I'm not in pain anywhere anymore. I'm just going to take a quick stroll."

Hannah rushed toward Athy with a look of surprise the moment she saw her, but Athy walked passed her and approached the stairs. The only people who could stop Athy were Lily or Felix, but they weren't there.

Following the young royal, Hannah attempted to persuade her once more, "But you still look pale."

"That's because I haven't been under the sun for a while."

Hannah's words passed through one ear and out the other. No matter how hard she tried to persuade Athy otherwise, the princess was adamant. Unable to do much else, Hannah fidgeted.

"Blackie is in the garden, right?"

But when Athy innocently questioned her, Hannah halted.

"Uh, Princess, I suggest you return to your room after all? I'll quickly prepare some snacks and tea for you. Today, I made lots of the cake that you like, Princess."

The moment of silence before Hannah spoke again was extremely brief, but it was enough for Athanasia to get a strange feeling.

"I must go to the garden."

"P-Princess!"

Leaving Hannah's cries behind, Athy went to the garden. Finally, it seemed that she understood the princess couldn't be stopped. Worried, the maid followed Athy before quickly rushing off to somewhere else. Athanasia thought to herself that Hannah must have gone to find Lily, but she didn't care.

She was able to reach her destination not long after but, for some unknown reason, the area where Blackie usually stayed was empty.

It had been some time since the princess had visited Blackie. Until that point, she had settled for asking Lily about the wellbeing of the divine creature. The two of them were responsible for the magical explosion that had injured Claude. Although there is no point in closing the barn door once the horse has bolted; the guilt of it all had made her hesitant to meet with Blackie. That day, however, the animal was nowhere to be seen. Yeah, the garden is so big that she could be playing somewhere else.

While telling herself this, Athy began to search all over the garden. "Blackie!" But, no matter how hard she looked, the divine creature did not reveal herself.

"PRINCESS!" A moment later, Lily came running towards Athy with Hannah behind her. Lily was at a loss of words. She stared at the princess, who was covered in leaves from searching for Blackie in the bushes.

"Lily, where is Blackie?" Athy questioned her. But, like Hannah, Lily seemed to be having a hard time answering her. Seeing Lily's response, Athanasia could think of only one answer.

"Did Dad take her, perhaps?"

"Princess, it's not like that…"

"Dad took Blackie to kill her, right?"

After hearing Athy, Lily began to say something. But, for some reason, the maid could only open and close her mouth repeatedly. It was as if she didn't know what to say to the princess.

"I'm going to see Dad."

"Princess, you can't!"

Ignoring Lily's protests, Athy headed to the Garnet Palace this time. On a day like that, it was odd for Claude not to be in his bedroom nor his office. She searched for the person she was looking for everywhere in the palace, but couldn't find him. Eventually, Athanasia left the palace and went to the garden that Claude usually strolled in.

"P-Princess!"

Claude was there. Athy saw Felix's eyes wide open once he saw her. Soon, the emperor's eyes also slipped toward her. It had been a while since she had last laid eyes on Claude. Because, in the past, she had seen his face every day, the time she'd spent without hearing from him had felt very long.

Claude looked healthier than Athy had thought he would. His complexion looked good, as though he had never vomited black blood. What had once been a blue face now looked shiny and healthy. Seeing him strolling in the garden, the princess believed that he must no longer have had any medical issues. It had been three weeks since she had last seen him; perhaps that was plenty of time for him to recover.

For a moment, Athanasia held her breath, stood still, and stared at Claude. Strangely, she didn't know what to say upon seeing his face. Something, though she didn't know what, was dying to come out of her mouth. Athy came to a small realization as she looked at Claude. Ah, I may have wanted to see this person more than I thought. Wanting to say something, anything, Athy parted her lips. At that moment, Felix came between them and cut her off.

"Princess, you cannot right now. You should go to the Emerald Palace for the time being…"

"Felix." Claude, who stood still as he looked down at Athy, finally spoke.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Felix replied with an oddly nervous expression. He glanced at the princess, his eyes trying to send some unknown signal. He looked as though he wanted to say something, but couldn't. His frustration was clear. At the same time, there was something evasive about him; he wanted to hide something from her. Finally, Claude's cold voice pierced Athy's ears.

"Why is that wench still here, acting as if my palace is her home?"

Gasping, she looked up at the emperor.

"Your Majesty, Princess Athanasia is…"

"I've heard that nonsense plenty of times already." As though listening to a bad joke, he cut Felix's words short.

"Princess. Princess, you say."

Soon, a chilly smirk appeared from his lips.

"Hilarious."

Athy did not even have a moment to breathe in the face of Claude's mocking.

"I do not have a child, so how could that be a Princess?"

Athanasia could hear Felix slowly inhaling. Like him, she also took a deep breath when Claude's steely eyes pierced her.

"Who sent you? What kind of madman dared to order you to impersonate a Princess?"

The Claude currently before her was different from the one she had met when she as five, or the Claude she'd known up until that point. Right now, he...

"Did that person coax you into believing that gold and riches could be yours if you pretended to be a princess?"

The Claude from before her completely believed that she was a stranger. In his eyes, she was not his daughter, Athanasia.

"I do not know how you fooled Felix and everyone else here. But your tricks will not work on me."

The way Claude looked at her made it clear that he was thinking: I do not know how, but she's a wicked, young wench who obtained the title of a "Princess" by tricking others. Despite knowing this, Athy stupidly opened her mouth and called out to him.

"Dad…"

"Dad?" Claude muttered after her in utter disbelief. His aura became stronger and more violent before he replied. "Shut up. If you call me that one more time, I will rip out your tongue."

Athy felt her heart thumping loudly. That was the first time in her life she'd heard Claude's threats directed at her.

"Shredding you to pieces would not be enough of a punishment, but your imprudence intrigued me for a brief moment. So, I shall allow you to hang on to your life."

In the past, when Athanasia had disobeyed Claude, he had never threatened to hurt or kill her. No matter what, when she appeared before him, it had been as his daughter. Even when he'd left her in the Ruby Palace and been cold towards her, she'd never heard such harsh words from him.

"From this time onwards, this wench is to be confined to the Emerald Palace."

"Your Majesty! That cannot be!" Felix shouted. He continued speaking to Claude, but Athy didn't hear a word.

"If you treasure your life, you better not show even a strand of your hair outside of the palace."

She could only stand still and stare at Claude until he left her, after looking down with those eyes that contained no warmth.

"If you appear before me once more, I really will kill you."

Bright, white sunlight shone before Athy's eyes. Felix, who continued to stand in place even after Claude left, told her something with a stiff expression. But it was to no avail because all she could hear were Claude's parting words to her.