The place where my mother was found was the inner palace garden. As they say, the darkest place is under the lamp, and it seemed that she and the search party had continuously missed each other. Meanwhile, the snowstorm was only getting worse. On the way back with my mother, the snow was so deep it sank to our ankles.
I didn’t even want to imagine what could have happened had the search taken any longer.
“I had fun playing with the baby. The baby’s hands were so warm!”
By some miracle, my mother was unharmed. She spoke excitedly about my brother, her voice more animated than usual. The doctor also gave a very positive report on her condition.
“Madam Mano is in excellent health. Her body temperature is normal, and there are no signs of frostbite. Ah, there was a slight injury on her feet.”
“Injury? What kind of injury?”
“It seems to be from walking barefoot on the ground, just a slight scrape. I believe it’s thanks to a court maid who gave Madam Mano fur shoes.”
The doctor smiled warmly.
“It’s truly fortunate. If she had continued walking in the snow with those injured feet, the frozen skin would have torn badly, and the bleeding would have been severe.”
I asked, puzzled by the doctor’s words.
“A court maid? Are you saying a maid took care of my mother when she got lost?”
“According to Madam Mano, yes. She said a baby-like angel shielded her from the cold. Not only did they give her their coat and fur shoes, but they also warmed her hands.”
It was strange that someone had given her a coat and fur shoes. When the knights found my mother, she had been wearing nothing but her thin nightgown.
“The owner of the clothes apparently took them back afterward. I’m not sure why they would have done such a thing, though…”
The doctor’s explanation only deepened my confusion. A maid helped my mother but then took back the clothes afterward? It seemed as if they were trying to hide the fact that they had helped her.
I tried to track down the court maid who had assisted my mother, but I failed. In hindsight, it made sense. If a maid had found her, they would have called for help rather than just give her their clothes.
‘Could Mother have been mistaken?’
After the doctor finished his examination, I gently laid my mother down in her bed. She smiled softly and asked,
“Are you going to see the baby?”
“Excuse me? The baby?”
“The baby was so beautiful…”
“Are you talking about the maid, or rather, the baby who helped you earlier?”
“Mhm.”
“Do you remember what they looked like?”
“They cried…”
“What?”
“The baby cried… Poor baby… How lonely they must be…”
My mother’s gaze grew distant.
“The baby shouldn’t be in pain…”
She sniffled softly as her eyelids slowly closed.
* * *
Once the commotion settled, I returned to my duties. Fortunately, I made it back just in time to attend the Elder Council meeting before it concluded. Though the ministers assured me they would take care of things, I always felt the need to see for myself. The chancellor chuckled as he watched me.
“You can leave such minor tasks to us. Though I’m sure His Majesty won’t listen to an old man like me.”
As the chancellor said, I tended to get overly involved in governance. Especially when it came to relief efforts, I personally oversaw everything from start to finish. If I didn’t keep a close eye on state funds, they could easily disappear. I couldn’t allow internal corruption while we were barely holding off the tyranny of the Holy Empire.
With this being a nationwide effort, there was a massive amount of work to oversee. Just the documents that needed reviewing filled several carts. Though the Elder Council helped narrow down the agenda, I had the final say, and the work felt endless.
Even as I buried myself in all these tasks, I kept thinking about what had happened earlier. Who had helped my mother?
「The baby cried… Poor baby… How lonely they must be…」
Ridiculously, the moment I heard those words, she came to mind.
Leticia, my wife.
The woman who had been trapped in the fortress of her own making, always lonely for the past few months.
‘Could Leticia have helped my mother?’
A vision of her offering her coat to my mother flashed in my mind, and my heart ached. I quickly dismissed the thought.
‘That’s impossible.’
The idea that she had helped my mother was absurd. She had never shown any interest in the people of Genos. She wouldn’t care if her husband was coughing up blood and dying.
The conclusion caused me further pain, so I immediately tried to push thoughts of her aside and focus on my work.
When I finished my tasks for the day and entered the bedroom at night, painful groans greeted me.
“Hhhng…”
I hesitated for a moment but quickly regained my composure. Her nightmares weren’t a new occurrence.
I considered checking on her but decided against it. There was nothing I could do to help someone trapped in a nightmare.
And she would only resent me for waking her.
“A husband who’s worse than a nightmare. How impressive.”
I tasted bitterness in my mouth. I ignored her and changed into my nightwear. After placing the unfinished documents on my desk, I washed up. As I dried my damp hair and picked up the papers, something felt off.
“It hurts…”
Her groaning was different from her usual nightmares. Curled up on the bed, her figure was barely visible in the darkness. I was overwhelmed by a strange feeling I couldn’t describe. It was as if I were watching sand slip through my fingers—an unsettling sense of urgency.
“Leticia?”
For the first time in months, I moved to wake her from her nightmare. As I reached out to pull back the blanket covering her, I suddenly froze.
‘What is this?’
Something was sticking out from under the bed. I crouched down to investigate and my eyes widened.
‘A coat?’
A thick coat, soaked as if it had been caught in a heavy snowstorm. I quickly knelt down and looked under the bed. Next to the coat, I saw wet fur shoes. They were the very ones I had gifted her—the sable fur shoes. The shoes were soaked and stained in places. Panic gripped me as I hurriedly pulled back the blanket.
“Leticia!”
She was drenched in sweat, trembling uncontrollably. The moment I touched her forehead, I flinched in shock. Her body was burning up. I immediately pulled the bell rope.
“Call the doctor!”
At that moment, her body went limp. I threw the blanket aside and opened all the windows. The snowstorm swept in, but I didn’t care. I needed to bring down her fever, no matter what it took.
“How long has this been going on…!”
The guilt hit me hard. How could I have neglected someone suffering so much? As I rushed to hold her, something caught my eye. Bloodstains marked the underside of the blanket. Fearing the worst, I checked her feet, and what I saw left me speechless.
Her feet were covered in wounds.
As if she had walked barefoot through the snow for a long time.
* * *
“The wounds on her feet are the most concerning. The frostbite is severe, so she will need intensive treatment for a while. We should be able to manage the fever with antipyretics, but we’ll have to monitor her closely. I also recommend prescribing a sedative. When she regains consciousness, she’ll feel all the pain acutely.”
“Is there any risk of side effects from the sedative?”
“There are no significant side effects. However, in some cases, people with sensitive constitutions might temporarily lose their short-term memory, focusing instead on past memories. It’s a form of temporary amnesia, but once the effects of the sedative wear off, she should return to normal. There’s no need to worry.”
The inner palace had seen two patients meet with the doctor that day. The results were polar opposites. My mother, who was found in good health, and Leticia, who was in terrible condition—as if she had taken on all of my mother’s suffering.
“Everyone, leave. I will look after her myself.”
After the doctors had finished their treatment, I dismissed everyone. The critical treatments had been administered, and now all that remained was to watch over her. The servants offered to take care of her and insisted I rest, but I refused. I gently wiped her forehead with a damp cloth.
Being alone with her like this reminded me of the time when we crossed the desert together.
The time when I fell in love with her.
The memories that were the most brilliant to me, at least before she tried to kill me.
‘Leticia, was it really you who saved my mother?’
My heart ached. I didn’t want to hold on to any more hope when it came to her. The pain of hope shattering was far too great.
But today, no matter how much I tried to ignore it, I couldn’t.
My mother, who came back unscathed from the snowstorm, and the mysterious person who helped her. The wet coat and fur shoes. And Leticia, who was now a wreck.
‘Open your eyes. Tell me yourself. Was it you who saved my mother? Why? Don’t you hate me? If not, why did you try to kill me?’
Was it simply a whim?
Had she pitied an old woman struggling in the snow, regardless of her hatred for me?
I shook my head.
The idea that *Leticia* would show such great kindness, even at the cost of her own health, was absurd. It was more likely just a coincidence.
“Mother…”
Then it happened. A weak, barely audible cry made me freeze. It was the first time she had ever called out for Josephina in her nightmares. Clear, silent tears rolled down her closed eyelids.
“Please… save me… I was wrong… Mother…”
* * *
The snowstorm continued for nearly another week after that. Thanks to swift relief efforts, there were almost no casualties. The Minister of Finance, who reported the status of the relief operations, wore a bright expression.
“Despite it being the worst snowstorm in nearly ten years, we had the fewest casualties. This proves the success of our relief plan.”
The other officials shared in the positive atmosphere. They exchanged smiles and compliments. One of them turned to me and said,
“It’s all thanks to Your Majesty’s direct oversight. With you at the helm, the future of Genos is bright.”
“Indeed. While Genos may currently lag behind the Holy Empire, that will change in time. Even without the Dragon’s Blessing, we will prosper without envy.”
“The Holy Empire may use the goddess’s power to prevent snowstorms, but even that has its limits. In the end, it is human effort that responds to disasters.”
Though the expectation of surpassing the Holy Empire was a bit excessive, the relief effort had been a resounding success.
It was an achievement worthy of celebration, so I responded to their compliments appropriately.
At the same time, I couldn’t stop thinking about what had just been mentioned: the *Dragon’s Blessing.*
I had been thinking a lot about that *Dragon’s Blessing* recently.
The Dragon’s Blessing.
The transcendent power bestowed by Sigmund, the dragon who founded Genos, upon the twelve guardian families.
If the Holy Empire had the Wings of the Goddess, Genos had the Guardian Families.
My maternal family was the Gilead family, the family of prophecy.
Had the dragon’s power remained, I likely would have inherited the power of prophecy myself.
After my brother’s death, I spent many nights praying for the return of the dragon’s power.
With Gilead’s power, we could have completely stood against the tyranny of the Holy Empire.
Of course, no miracle occurred, and at some point, I stopped praying for it.
But recently, I started having strange thoughts.
Thoughts that maybe, just maybe, the dragon’s power was returning.
My wife.
It was because of Leticia.
「Please, save me. I was wrong. Mother.」
At first, I thought I had misheard. But I hadn’t.
She was begging, not recognizing me by her side.
Begging her mother, Josephina.
Before I could even recover from the shock, she said something even more astonishing.
「Please, open the door, Mother. It’s too cold…」
I was hit by a wave of shock.
A long time ago, on the road to the Holy Empire.
Those were the exact words a young girl cried out in the snow in my dream.
Confusion overwhelmed me.
What on earth was going on?
Why was she having the same nightmare as the girl from my dream?
Then, an utterly strange thought crossed my mind.
What if Leticia wasn’t just suffering from a nightmare?
「One of the side effects of the sedative is that it can make her relive past memories.」
What if she was now repeating something she had said in the past?
What if, contrary to what is known, Josephina had actually abused her daughter?
It would explain a lot. Even the young maid my brother had encountered could have been her.
Of course, I knew my speculation was wild and baseless.
Unless I had somehow dreamt of her past through Gilead’s prophetic abilities, it was all just far-fetched.
I spent the entire night grappling with the truth, but I couldn’t find any answers.
Yet, amidst all the confusion, there was one thing I was sure of.
If Josephina had indeed abused her, I would have to reinterpret every one of her actions.
Even her attempts to kill me.
‘What if she didn’t try to kill me because she hated me, but because of some other reason? What if, for example, Josephina had been blackmailing her…’
My breath caught in my throat.
The hope I thought had long withered away suddenly began to swell.
It grew rapidly, uncontrollably.
If my speculation was correct, she might not despise me enough to want me dead after all.
And if that were true, perhaps there was still hope for us…
I couldn’t shake off that hope.
Leave a Reply