Chapter 31

Mirina's voice gradually faded away.

Dragon godmother. There aren't any fairies here, but they can't call it a ghost either.

A soft voice, a soft chair, and the bright sunlight. I was too comfortable to be in Mirina's palace.

'I am also stronger than dragon godmother…'

I fell asleep with that idea in mind.

***

(Mirina's 3rd person pov)

"So Cinderella…"

Mirina covered himself with the fairytale book and kept his gaze still. The black-haired child was sleeping soundly. Mirina's mouth widened as he saw it.

"Good night."

A surprisingly soft voice came out from him. If he heard it, he would want to wash his ears. He closed the book carefully and put it on the table with the same gentle gesture.

Sanya looked very happy today. That was because he saw a genuine smile on her, not an artificial smile she always showed. The child didn't laugh much. Most of the time she was expressionless, sometimes frowned, and when she saw him, she would fake a smile.

He felt sorry for her smile, for he knew that she was gentle. Everytime he would say she looks cute when she laughs, she would do it, but he could tell it wasn't sincere. There was an aloofness in the eight-year-old child's eyes.

At the age longing for love, she avoided people instead. She is said to be close to the escort, but he is also a child, and 'shadows' could not play a human role. Mirina just wanted the girl who walked in the hallways with a blank face every night to fall asleep comfortably.

Those images of Sanya reminded him of someone. At that moment, Sanya twisted her body, and frowned. No matter how soft the cushion was, she looked uncomfortable because of the chair.

Mirina quietly approached the tossing child. He gently held Sanya like a feather and laid her on the bed. He covered her with a blanket and hummed softly. After hearing him, the corners of Sanya's mouth went up.

The smiling Mirina went back and picked up the book he was reading to her earlier. In order not to stutter, he opened it up and read it again and again. He carefully turned the pages until Sanya woke up at the sound of paper turning.

It was a peaceful afternoon.

***

(Sanya's pov)

'…I'm crazy.'

That's what I thought as soon as I woke up from Mirina's bed.

Why… am I here…

I looked at the blanket with a puzzled face. It was soft. But the important thing was that it covered my body. I don't remember walking over here and covering myself with a blanket. So who did?

Also, Mirina left me alone?

I looked around, and fortunately, I could find him sitting where he was before. I sighed a big breath of relief. He was asleep with his hands still on his knees.

I came down from the bed quietly. When the blanket made a rustling sound, Mirina's body hardened for a moment. Fortunately, he didn't wake up. If I knew in advance this would've happened…

I looked at the disturbingly disorganized bedding and quietly arranged the blankets. Of course, it wasn't neat because it was done with a young child's hands.

'I'll ask the court lady when I go out.'

Thinking so, I got ready to leave. I made sure to tip-toe on the ground, so there will be less sound as possible, and walked carefully towards the door. I glanced at Mirina for a moment, and as soon as the door opened, I walked faster and faster towards the exit of the pavilion. But what I had overlooked was that the skirt was too long and I was still a small child.

Bam!

"Argh!"

I stepped on the skirt and fell. My court ladies, who were waiting for me at the entrance, ran towards me in surprise.

"Miss!"

"You fell – are you hurt?!"

When I saw them running towards me with anger, I put an index finger on my mouth without answering. Don't make any noise, and if Mirina wakes up, I'll be in trouble!

At that moment, something wet touched my finger. When I looked, there was blood. At the same time, the tip of my nose began to ache.

"Miss! Nosebleed!"

Yes, Hessa. I know that, don't be so noisy. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I tried to calm myself down, but failed because of the pain I felt in my nose. I couldn't stand it anymore and stomped my feet.

'I'm not coming back here again!'

***

Fortunately, Mirina's court lady did a good job, for ever since that day, I was never called back. I was just sent with a bunch of medical herbs, and since then, time has passed without anything particularly big happening.

Really, nothing big happened. Of course, the three of them continued to visit me, but there has been no other assasination attempts or me getting caught up in something.

Today was just one of those days. I was lying in bed, and in the room there was a court lady reading me a book. The sun rose in the sky, but I buried my face in the blanket. My unemployed life, which seemed very unlikely, was unexpectedly going steadily.

But what should I do… it's hot.

After rubbing my cheeks against the blanket a couple of times, I finally kicked it. What, why is it so hot?

"Who's there?"

"Miss."

The door opened and Heesa came in. I jumped out of the bed with my hands fanning. Heesa, who saw me, had her eyes wide open.

"Oh my, I'm sorry miss."

She moved busily around the room and took out a small stone. After tapping the stone twice, cool air began to flow.

'It's the mana stone.'

The magic of the Western Continent can be engraved into something specific. Since it was convenient, I could easily find things in the palace from the Western Continent. That's like the air conditioner in the modern times.

"Maybe it's because there'll be a blue moon, but the sun is rising… you can feel the heat."

Hearing Heesa's words, I stiffened. What, blue moon?

'It's May?!'

No, more precisely, it wasn't May. It's at least June, given that it's from the lunar calendar. As far as I remember, it was quite cold on the day of the wedding.

I ate, slept, and repeatedly ate more, but I was sick for a while. Wow, time flies. It's already summer. All the time I've spent here so far passed by in a flash. The emperor, Mirina, Garam, and other concubines often visited me.

Some of the concubines were like Jo Yoon, but they didn't stay too long, and some of them only came once and never came back again. It wasn't very pleasant, but I wasn't angry, so I didn't really do much about it.

The emperor took time to visit me once every other day for about two hours. Considering her situation as the emperor, it was still pretty frequent. She somehow tried talking to me, but I usually just laughed and answered bluntly. Nevertheless, she would always smile.

I don't understand what's so enjoyable about coming here, for Mirina and Garam do the same. No, they're a little better than the emperor. Sometimes, they would invite me to their palace and show strange hospitality.

Recently, I saw a huge firebird at Garam's palace. He looked as if he wanted me to compliment him, so he did it a couple of times throughout the day.

My shoulders shivered despite the warm weather. When I first entered the palace towards the end of winter, the leaves were dark.

"Oh my."

I muttered quietly. I felt refreshed after discovering that time has passed. I looked down at my hands in a good mood. Unlike before, when they were smooth but dry, now my hands were plump, and so is my whole body too.

My alertness seems to also have been lifted quite a lot compared to when I first entered the palace. I lived in a life where I constantly thought I was going to get killed the moment I say a wrong word. However, thanks to the emperor and everyone else, I was living comfortably where I could feel the time pass properly.

Oh, right. There's one more thing.