Chapter 36: The Promise Under the Moonlight

The birthday banquet came to an end.

As expected, the talk of the evening was none other than Empress Amanda, who had appeared in public after a long absence.

“Mother, you really went through a lot today.”

Rohan spoke as he helped Amanda onto the bed.

“What do you mean, ‘went through a lot,’ Your Highness? I should have attended much sooner.”

“……”

“How could a mother just sit back when her prince is trying so hard?”

My mother had spent her whole life hiding her true self.

She feared that being born a commoner would cast a shadow over her son’s future.

She always stood tall, forcing herself to fit into the shell of an empress.

She couldn't even call me by my own name, ‘Rohan.’

It wasn’t just the Emperor’s false letters that weighed on her.

Every moment she spent concealing herself in this Imperial City—where the arrogance of noble lineage prevailed—must have been suffering for her.

---

“Rohan, look. Today, Mom got this much corn!”

My mother, who used to look after other people’s children, receiving food as payment.

---

“Just a little longer, just a little. Then Daddy will come for us.”

My mother, who clung to my father’s promise that he would definitely come for us, and lived each day fiercely believing only in that.

How happy she’d been when she finally received that long-awaited letter from Father.

I still vividly remember that night under the dusky moonlight, when she clung to the letter and sobbed her heart out in secret outside.

‘I miss the mother from those days.’

Just as I missed her former self, she too must miss the days when she could run free and live as she pleased.

But things are different now.

‘Mother, I’m not as weak as I used to be. If someone charges at me, I’ll charge back. If someone looks down on me, I’ll drag them down even deeper into the mire.’

So from now on…

“Yes, Mother. Please, rest now.”

I couldn’t just ask her to call me “son” or “Rohan” like before.

The Rohan who used to seek comfort from Mother had grown up too much.

Just then—

“Your Highness, Empress Mother.”

The head lady-in-waiting rushed into the room.

“What is it?”

Rohan asked, and the head lady-in-waiting bowed her head.

“Well… a guest has arrived.”

“A guest?”

It was the middle of the night, with the moon high and bright.

A guest at this hour?

Amanda asked, puzzled.

“Who has come?”

“Well…”

The head lady-in-waiting wiped sweat from her brow and finally spoke.

“It’s… It’s His Majesty the Emperor.”

“What?!”

Amanda’s eyes widened so much it seemed they’d tear.

“H-His Majesty has come?”

Unlike the shocked Amanda—

‘He kept his promise.’

Rohan, as if he’d expected this, left the room with a calm, expressionless face.

---

“...Will this really turn out well?”

Rohan muttered quietly as he gazed out the moonlit window.

“Well, what’s done is done, right?”

Retina, perched on the windowsill, snickered.

Out in the Boronia Palace gardens, a man and a woman sat talking together.

A short distance away, two knights stood guard.

‘Imperial Knights, assigned directly by the Emperor.’

They were knights from ‘Vertion,’ known as the most elite order in the Empire.

In a future life, Martin had become Emperor and their leader, the Commander of Vertion, had served at his side.

“I didn’t do this to make them get along.”

Rohan rested his chin on the windowsill, watching the backs of the man and woman—Emperor Beltar and Empress Amanda.

“Still, your mother used to like the Emperor, didn’t she? Isn’t that a good thing?”

“...Well.”

Rohan’s feelings were complicated.

In his previous life, the two never even spoke before his father passed away.

Because their relationship was poor, Rohan never had a chance to speak to his father either, nor did he feel even a speck of affection for him.

No—if anything, resentment would be a better word.

His father had summoned them, only to make his mother sick and break her heart.

“I still don’t know Father’s true feelings.”

While searching for the original letter, of course Rohan had read its contents.

It was full of his father’s heartfelt confessions of love to his mother.

‘If anything, the original letter seemed even more fake.’

Apologies for not finding her sooner, confessions of longing, pleas to wait just a little longer, claims that politics kept him away…

None of it was anything Rohan could have imagined.

But that was two years ago.

He couldn't be certain the two of them still felt the same way.

“I don’t know how they feel now. All that matters to me is that this meeting stirs the person who swapped the letters into action.”

Rohan had only arranged for his parents to meet for that reason.

The first person who would react to their meeting. That was...

“Will Empress Emilia make a move?”

Rohan smiled at Retina’s words.

“She will. She may not care much for love, but she cares about power.”

Empress Emilia was convinced that the child in her womb—a boy—would soon become a prince.

She would try every means to interfere, for the sake of Elliot and the child soon to be born.

To protect her own power.

And for her father, Marquis Fabian.

“By the way, Retina.”

“Yeah?”

“I know you’re waiting.”

“...For what?”

Rohan grinned at Retina.

“You’re waiting for me to go to Silvaren. You haven’t been rushing me, but you’ve been waiting, right?”

“...”

Retina took a deep breath at Rohan’s words.

“I’m really, truly grateful you helped with my mother’s recovery. But... I can’t just leave right now.”

“I understand.”

Retina, too, had seen and heard things during her stay here.

She knew just how crucial this period was for Rohan.

“But, Retina, I’ve been wondering.”

Rohan looked at Retina.

“Isn’t it odd that Silvaren is allowing me to visit the World Tree just for my sake?”

“...!”

“Isn’t there something going on? Isn’t there something in Silvaren that needs me?”

At Rohan’s words, Retina stroked her chin.

“Hm, I never thought about it like that. I just thought it was because of Lady Arabelin’s prophecy.”

“What prophecy?”

“Should I say? Oh, whatever, you’re the subject of it anyway.”

Retina shrugged.

‘The one called by Yggdrasil will appear in Rocterxia. He is the visitor of the world, the one who will mend shattered time... That’s all.’

“So they became convinced it was me because of the Rocteum Temple’s stone tablet?”

“That’s right.”

She nodded, and Rohan’s eyebrows twitched.

‘The one to mend shattered time. Does that refer to my regression?’

At that moment, Retina asked,

“Are you curious?”

“Hmm?”

“About your fate. Do you want to know what it is?”

Rohan nodded at her question.

“Yeah, I’m curious. Too many things have lined up too perfectly for it to be a coincidence.”

The Rocteum Temple’s tablet, Arabelin’s prophecy from Silvaren...

It was strange how everything fit together.

And then, mentioning his regression—it was only natural to be curious.

“Hm. I don’t care about fate.”

“Why not?”

Retina tilted her head back to gaze at the star-filled sky.

A cool breeze flowed in through the window.

“Among Elphyrians, there’s always been this thing called ‘fated destiny.’ But I really hate it.”

“What is it?”

“We’re born with our match decided from the start. That’s how it is for us. It’s awful.”

She said, mocking.

“Wait, you mean you can’t choose your own partner? Isn’t that more of a custom than fate?”

This was news to him.

Well, he’d never really cared about Elphyrian marriage customs.

“It’s close to fate, since it’s set by the heavens, not just a tradition.”

Retina pointed to a star with her index finger.

“Someone with the same constellation as me. That Elphyrian is my destined partner, supposedly. Some children are dragged to their marriage partner as early as age two, all for this so-called ‘fated match.’”

“Huh. So you still don’t know who yours is?”

“I do. All Elphyrians’ destiny plates, inscribed with their birth constellation, are kept at the Silvaren Temple.”

Rohan laughed at her answer.

“Really? Isn’t marriage about mutual affection? No wonder you hate it.”

Retina giggled at his words.

“That’s right. I hated it so much, I smashed it.”

“What? Wait, you smashed it?”

“Yeah. I went to the temple and smashed my destiny plate.”

“Wow.”

Rohan almost wanted to applaud her bravery.

He knew all too well how difficult it was to break ancient customs.

“Well, as punishment, I had to go find you and bring you back.”

Retina shrugged and smiled.

“So when you come this time, don’t believe too much in destiny. Destiny... it’s something you carve out for yourself.”

---

“Your Majesty. Why have you come to see me at this hour?”

In the shadowy garden, Amanda fiddled with her hands as she spoke.

“So, is this what you usually use to get around?”

Emperor Beltar muttered as he glanced at the wooden wheelchair Amanda sat in.

“Someone who struggles so much to walk—earlier, you moved so confidently.”

“...Th-that was...”

“You’ve been through a lot.”

“...!”

Amanda’s eyes widened at Beltar’s words.

“But you don’t need to push yourself like that anymore.”

“Does that mean...”

“I mean there’s no need for you to attend banquets.”

“...”

Was I a burden?

Amanda bit her lip tightly.

“I…”

“Let’s talk about it once you’ve fully recovered.”

“What?”

“There’s no need for you to strain yourself while unwell.”

“...!”

It wasn’t rejection.

It was concern.

“When you first arrived at the Imperial City, I’m sorry I couldn’t even show my face.”

“...Your Majesty.”

“And I’m sorry I made you wait so long, promising to summon you once I secured my place as Emperor.”

“...”

When Amanda first met Beltar, he’d only been a prince.

Beltar had promised to bring her to him once he became Emperor, and twelve years passed.

During that time, Beltar was caught in fierce political strife with his brothers, and it was Marquis Fabian who lent him a helping hand.

He owed so much to Marquis Fabian’s support on his path to the throne.

Beltar couldn’t treat him lightly.

“...I’m such a coward.”

At Beltar’s bowed head and low words, Amanda gently took his hand.

“Your Majesty, you look so gaunt.”

“Ahem, it happens with age.”

Beltar pulled his hand away and turned his gaze.

He didn’t want Amanda to know he was unwell.

“Your Majesty.”

Amanda spoke with a small smile.

“It’s true I’ve resented you all this time.”

“...”

“But when I learned those letters were all forged, that it was all a misunderstanding... Do you know how I felt?”

“...How did you feel?”

“...I was relieved.”

Amanda carefully crossed her hands over her chest.

“I was glad that the man I chose, the father of Rohan, wasn’t truly a bad person... I felt, truly, relieved.”

“...”

Beltar’s gaze dropped to the ground.

“Your Majesty. We’ve been apart for so long, and lived with such deep misunderstandings.”

“And so?”

“We need time to heal. Time to soothe our hearts. So... please, don’t just show up and startle me like this.”

At Amanda’s continued words, Beltar held his breath.

“Please, don’t just barge into my heart as if nothing happened, claiming it was all just a misunderstanding. Please.”

At her polite entreaty—

“...Understood.”

Beltar felt as if a piece of his heart had crumbled.

He stood up.

“It’s late. I’ll be going now.”

“Please, take care on your way back.”

No greeting, no attempt to stop him.

Once, their passion had burned bright; now, only formality remained.

Beltar thought he understood.

Why she treated him like this.

‘Rohan.’

It must be because of her son.

Rohan was finally finding his place.

That’s why Amanda, too, was trying to be strong.

So she wouldn’t be swayed by emotion.

So she wouldn’t fall apart because of love.

As Beltar walked back to the main palace, Amanda bowed her head deeply and offered him a long, silent farewell.