Goodnight Kiss
"Hellion."
I broke the long silence, calling his name in a low voice.
"We're not the children we once were anymore."
At my words, Hellion nodded, his eyes faintly tired.
"Unlike those days, we've become people who can no longer act purely on the emotions of the moment."
As the granddaughter of a duke and the daughter of a princess, we now bore the titles of Duchess and Your Highness the Archduke. Titles and ranks meant the weight of responsibility we had to carry had grown that much heavier.
"But do you know what’s even more terrible?"
Hellion shook his head slightly, gaze still lowered.
"Don’t get worked up. Just listen carefully."
I drew in a deep breath. I had told myself I must say this one day, yet now that the moment had arrived, every sense in my body seemed to revolt.
It was a mercy that Hellion kept his head bowed. This was not something I could have spoken while looking him in the eye.
"We… may have to marry."
The teacup slipped from Hellion’s hand and clattered noisily across the floor.
Startled by the sudden mention of marriage, he remained frozen, head still lowered. The sight made me flustered as well, so I began chattering in a deliberately casual tone to hide my embarrassment.
"I know, I know. This is an incredibly awkward situation. But what can we do? One of you—either you or the Southern Archduke—will become crown prince, and I will have to become crown princess!"
"……"
"So don’t treat the Southern Archduke with such raw emotion like you did today. If… if he becomes crown prince, it won’t do you any good to be on bad terms with him—"
Thud!
A heavy impact rang out as something dropped onto the table.
It was Hellion’s head.
"H-Hellion?"
Startled, I shot up from my seat. But he remained motionless, face planted against the table.
"What is this? He fell asleep?"
At first I thought he was teasing me. Then I noticed the overturned teacup and understood. That’s right—he had drunk the herbal tea.
"Ugh, you’re heavy."
I dragged his limp body across the floor and finally managed to lay him on the bed.
"I was going to tell him to apologize to the Southern Archduke, but I suppose that will have to wait."
I gazed down at the sleeping Hellion. Soft moonlight streamed in from the window, gently wrapping around his deeply slumbering form. I had thought he was fully grown, yet in sleep he still carried traces of the boy I once knew.
"Good night, Hellion."
I pressed a light kiss to his forehead.
Just as I had done in secret on those childhood nights when we had fought and I felt sorry.
"Yes, so that’s how it happened."
The Emperor looked at his horse with sorrowful eyes inside the stable.
Having regained his strength, the first place the Emperor visited was the stable. Upon learning that the horse he believed had been killed was still alive, he could not hide his joy.
Yet when he heard the animal was behaving strangely from the grief of losing its foal, he became deeply saddened.
"The sorrow of losing a child is the same for humans and for beasts who cannot speak…"
"Your Majesty…"
The head stable hand murmured in a pitying voice, understanding the Emperor’s meaning. The Emperor made an effort to compose himself and turned to the man.
"I hear there is a maid here who calmed Lu?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Where is that maid now? I wish to meet the child."
At the Emperor’s command, the head stable hand beckoned urgently toward Karina, who had been working behind the stable. Karina quickly set down the bundle of straw in her arms and hurried over. She then dropped into an awkward, deep bow.
"I greet Your Majesty the Emperor!"
"Rise."
The Emperor studied Karina carefully as she kept her head respectfully lowered.
At first, with her face covered in dirt, he could not guess her age. But upon closer inspection, she was a young woman no older than Ishtel.
The imperial stable required mostly strenuous labor, so it was a place dominated by men. It was hardly the sort of workplace one would expect to find a delicate young maid who might otherwise be polishing dishes or porcelain inside the palace.
"So you are the one who handled the task that even my head stable hand struggled with? Truly impressive."
"Not at all, Your Majesty. Clever Lu simply recognized me at the right moment."
Karina fidgeted, unsure how to respond to the Emperor’s praise.
"Thanks to you, Lu was able to survive. I am truly grateful."
"Y-Your Majesty’s grace is t-too great for this humble one."
Karina stammered and kept bowing deeply. It was the innocent clumsiness often shown by those meeting the Emperor for the first time. The sight was so endearing that the Emperor offered a faint smile.
"What is your name?"
"K-Karina, Your Majesty."
"And your family name?"
"I have none."
Commoners frequently lacked family names, so the Emperor asked no further questions.
"Is there something you desire?"
"Pardon?"
"I asked if there is anything you wish for. Since you saved the horse I cherish, it is only right that I reward you appropriately."
Both Karina and the stable hand beside her gaped at the Emperor’s words.
It was extremely rare for the Emperor to personally praise someone’s merit. A few well-chosen words could bring not only an extraordinary promotion but also enough wealth to live idly for years.
"What are you waiting for, Karina? Speak your wish to His Majesty."
The head stable hand urged her with eyes full of envy, clearly eager to hear what boon she would request.
"I have no particular desires, Your Majesty."
Her answer was entirely unexpected.
"I only wish to continue living as I am—caring for Lu and the other horses here at the stable and gathering herbs for Your Majesty."
The stable hand’s eyes nearly bulged from their sockets. Is she insane? To throw away such a golden opportunity? He nudged her boot with his foot, trying to jolt her back to reason, but Karina remained immovable.
"Your Majesty, the child seems too startled to think clearly about what she wants. If you could give her a few more days—"
"Wait."
The Emperor raised a hand, silencing the stable hand.
"You gathered the herbs?"
He recalled the tea he had drunk every night for the past several days. Ishtel had brought it, claiming it would let him sleep deeply without nightmares. Could this maid have been the one who picked those herbs?
"Did you gather the herbs and give them to Ishtel?"
"Y-Yes, Your Majesty."
The Emperor gazed at Karina for a long moment. His chronic insomnia had defeated even the royal physicians. Yet after drinking that tea these past nights, he had fallen into sleep so profound he had no wish to wake.
A maid with such talent for herbalism was far too valuable to leave working as a mere stable hand.
"Head stable hand."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Who sent this maid to the stable? Head Maid Sophie? Or Butler Derek?"
"Neither, Your Majesty. Karina was sent here directly by the Duchess of Wintera."
"Ishtel…?"
The unexpected name made the Emperor tilt his head slightly.
"I see. I shall speak with her myself."
"You wish to make Karina Your Majesty’s personal tea maid?"
I asked, carefully smoothing my expression.
"Did the tea I prepared not suit your palate?"
"It is not that."
"Then would it not be better to bring in someone professionally trained in tea service?"
"I am told the maid possesses considerable knowledge of herbs."
His Majesty continued in a calm, even tone.
"The medicines the court physicians provide are bitterly unpleasant. They also show little noticeable effect. But the tea that child brings agrees with my body."
"……"
"As you know, I suffer from many chronic ailments. Frequent coughing, severe anxiety… and moments when I feel as though my heart is sinking with unease."
"……"
"You are still young, Ishtel, so you may not understand how exhausting and painful it is to swallow handfuls of medicine each time."
I was not ignorant of His Majesty’s suffering.
Long-term illness had left him frail. As he said, he had to take dozens of medicines with every meal, most of them fiercely potent.
"I wish to keep that maid at my side to prepare my tea. It occurred to me that she… might be able to find remedies that truly suit me."
"As you wish, Your Majesty."
His resolve seemed firm, so I decided to offer a compromise.
"However, the maid will only brew the tea. Her official affiliation will remain with the stable. I will also double her current weekly wage."
"You intend to keep her tied to the stable?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. Karina has talent not only with herbs but with horses as well. Losing such a capable maid so suddenly would be a great loss to the stable, so I will give orders accordingly."
His Majesty rarely challenged my decisions. I had hoped to settle the matter of Karina here. But it seemed he had other thoughts.
"I do not wish for that maid to remain under the stable’s authority."
At last, His Majesty stated his opinion directly.
"It appears far too harsh a labor for a young woman. Most of those who work in the stable are sturdy men…"
"Yet it is work that must still be done by someone."
I answered with more resolve than ever before.
"Karina is an intelligent and meticulous maid. She possesses qualities the other stable servants lack. We cannot casually reassign someone like her."
"……"
"Besides, gathering herbs does not take long. She can easily do so alongside her stable duties, so there is no need for excessive concern on that front."
My reply was logical and left no opening for argument. His Majesty, who had been listening quietly, simply stared at me in silence.
"That is a rather unfamiliar reaction, Ishtel."
He smiled faintly, as though amused.
"The Ishtel I know would not oppose so fiercely a maid I have need of… In fact, she would not have sent such a young woman to a difficult place like the stable in the first place."