.jpg)
“If you have time tomorrow, please tell the librarian that you gave me permission to borrow.”
“Permission?”
“I want to take a book from the library... but they say it's a precious treasure of gabrielism—some filthy heavy, oversized, old book—so I have to get permission from Father or Vasily. How tedious.”
A treasure of gabrielism kept in the Imperial Palace.
There was no way Valentin wouldn't know which object she was referring to. That was why he was even more curious. What on earth had possessed her to look for that book?
“I know which volume you mean. It's written in the Tiemut language; will you be alright with that?”
“What? Of all the...”
“There should be a translation in the holy hall.”
“Hmm, it's fine. If I compare it with a dictionary a few times, I'll learn it quickly. By the way, what is Vasily doing up until this hour?”
“He was killing time. You may come in if you cannot sleep, Lara.”
Valentin's eyebrows twitched.
To try and let Lara in despite knowing he was there. Vasily's mischief was occasionally so bothersome it made one click their tongue.
“I'm sleepy, I'll just go to bed.”
Fortunately, Lara didn't seem to have any intention of staying in such a stark space.
“I shall escort you.”
“Forget it... I'm not a child. I told you I'll be an adult starting tomorrow...”
After a brief moment of grumbling in a sleepy voice, the drawing room fell silent. Vasily, returning to the bedroom with light steps, curled the corners of his lips as he returned to the opposite chair.
“What a shame. I thought this secret rendezvous might finally be discovered today.”
Valentin snorted.
“Yes, you look truly heartbroken.”
“How about visiting a bit earlier next time?”
“We'll see.”
“Lara will be disappointed if she finds out.”
Valentin gave a light shrug.
“I've never intentionally hidden it. I simply didn't go out of my way to mention it.”
For the past four years, he had visited the Imperial Palace in secret three or four times every year. Each time he visited, he never failed to deliver a reply through Vasily, and not once had his letters reached the palace via courier or postman.
While part of the purpose was to eliminate the risk of leaking Valentin's identity and mission as a member of the Horgan Unit, that wasn't everything.
On the night he delivered a reply, Lara would always visit Vasily, usually for the purpose of:
[A reply came from Valentin!]
Or.
[You know... Valentin scolded me for a really long time. He says I absolutely must apologize to Sergei first. I really don't want to. I just can't stand the sight of him! Wh-what do I do in this case? Should I lie and say I apologized? Valentin wouldn't know if I lied, right? Right?]
Or.
[Vasily! Right now! I have to get apology flowers tomorrow! If I'm even a day late, all the flowers in the world will be sold out in Oblonsky. I want to smell the fragrance before the apple trees are stripped bare. That's the only way I can send a reply!]
Because it felt like receiving replies in vivid language rather than mere text, Valentin enjoyed hearing Lara's voice. It was quite characteristic and cute of her to visit at the same time every time—around 10 PM on a spring evening like today—perhaps because she didn't want to be a nuisance to Vasily.
“You're becoming more devious by the day, Valentin.”
Valentin turned his head away, pretending not to notice the gaze scrutinizing him.
“I am?”
“Stop smiling secretly after hearing Lara's voice.”
Had he been smiling?
Valentin consciously let the corners of his mouth drop and fixed his gaze on the table. From the moment he stepped into this bedroom, the white flower tucked between those books had caught his eye. A flower that looked as if it would crumble into dust if touched lightly with a fingertip.
“I smiled because the shriveled flower was amusing.”
“What a load of nonsense.”
The flower had been a gift brought by Valentin.
After completing a top-secret mission in Oblonsky, he had tossed a roughly picked flower branch onto this table, mentioning the 'meaning of apple blossoms on the day of the coming-of-age ceremony in Oblonsky' in his reply. This was because he knew Lara would seek him out the moment she received his letter.
Since the Crown Prince was infinitely generous toward his younger sister, he had neatly trimmed the branch—whose petals were half-crushed from rough handling—and handed it to Lara.
Lara, who had been chatting boisterously about Valentin as usual, fell deathly silent the moment she received the flower branch she had been so interested in.
[Why don't you take it if you like it?]
Lara answered Vasily's suggestion after a long silence.
[Mm, it's okay. It smells lovely and all... but it suits this room better. I read in the scriptures that apples are the fruit of God and apple blossoms are the flowers of God, and if you smell that fragrance for a long time, faith and compassion bloom. So, keep it in Vasily's room.]
Regardless of how typical that reasoning was for her, Valentin felt a belated sense of regret after Lara left.
He should have seen her face as she smelled the fragrance.
When she encountered the reality of the scent he had only imagined in his head, what expression did that girl make? Were her eyes disappointed, or were they intrigued?
“So, what on earth did you put in her head that Lara is looking for the 《Diary of Roo》? She's a child who has never had any affinity for books.”
The Diary of Roo. A sacred object of gabrielism that records the life of Roo, the progenitor of the prophets, in great detail.
“...Nothing in particular. She must have been deeply moved by the Statue of Roo. It's an age where a girl's sensibility overflows.”
Could she have become interested in that statue because of the encounter in Shaharansk? If so, it was an insight that made one click their tongue. Her intuition had been frighteningly good since she was a child. It was a sensitivity typical of Lara.
Vasily, having returned to the sofa, asked as he emptied his glass.
“How does it feel to meet her after so long?”
It was a question where the desire to brag about his grown younger sister and the intent to test Valentin were clearly felt. Valentin shook his head at Vasily's boldness in not even attempting to hide his ulterior motives, yet he could not erase the image of Lara from that day from his mind.
[Wh-why are you doing this? You've misunderstood on your own. I never introduced myself as Tanya...]
Yes, of course.
What kind of profane idiot in the world would confuse Princess Tatyana with Lara? Neither the eyes, brilliant as a midnight meteor, nor the scent that provided a gentle tranquility, could dare be compared to something like Princess Tatyana.
The two sisters resembled each other a tiny bit, with the corners of their eyes upturned like morning glories, but that was natural since they were born of the same biological mother. Even if they both had large eyes, Lara's were imbued with curiosity and kindness, while Tatyana's were stained with arrogance and pride. It meant they were not a comparison group to be placed on the same line.
Recalling the face drenched in embarrassment and bewilderment beneath the veil, he felt a pleasant blood flow rushing out of his heart. As it always had been, always.
“No need to ask how it felt; she ran away.”
“She's grown a lot, hasn't she?”
“I know she's grown.”
“Right, it would be strange if anyone but you didn't know. It was one of the things you asked tirelessly every time you came.”
Height, hair length, skin tone, and a smoother face shape were basic; her daily routine, the time she fell asleep, and even the personal details of the servants and maids who assisted her.
To put it in trivial terms, it was a desire to filter the image of the yearly growing Lara in his mind, and in broader terms, it was for the purpose of protecting Princess Larisa.
While he had occasionally familiarized himself with her appearance through photographs and portraits, he had to know her range of movement more detailedly and surely. For if any problem ever occurred with her safety, he would have to return even if it meant crossing a sandy desert.
.jpg)