The Lantern Festival
The expressions of the southern and northern vassals twisted beyond control. They looked utterly bewildered by a meeting that had moved forward solely on the approval or disapproval of the central nobles, without once asking the opinion of the lords they served.
“Then I will personally receive the Archdukes’ interim reports. With that, this meeting is concluded.”
The stage—directed by Marchioness Lilche’s command, Count Silanda’s planning, and Duke Regentera’s flawless performance—had drawn its curtains with complete success.
My great-aunt had said we must show the Archdukes and their vassals, who had traveled from afar, the true power of the Regentera family. No matter their imperial blood, in the capital they could only exist beneath the Regentera name.
Today’s meeting would remain a profound shock in their memories. I did not believe it would serve as an effective deterrent forever. Still, I had judged it a necessary performance at least once.
When the meeting finally ended and I returned to my quarters, it was already late evening. I ate a light supper and slipped into bed earlier than usual.
Illid and Hellion must have been terribly upset.
I turned the day’s events over in my mind. The faces of the two Archdukes as they witnessed the Regentera family’s power kept resurfacing.
Illid had worn the expression of a man forcibly swallowing his own helplessness. His tightly pressed lips contrasted with eyes so sharp they had looked like a stranger’s—nothing I had ever seen from him before.
Hellion, on the other hand, had been unexpectedly calm when I had braced for an emotional outburst. He had frowned slightly in displeasure, but that was all. He had accepted the Regentera decision without resistance.
How strange. Both of them reacted in the exact opposite way I expected.
I wondered what lay behind their responses, but the drowsiness rolling over me was growing heavier. I pulled the blanket tight around myself and sank into deep sleep.
How much time had passed?
Knock, knock—
The sound of someone rapping on the door pulled me from sleep.
“Mmm… come in.”
Assuming it was Nanny Molly or Maid Chief Abigail, I called toward the door.
Creak—
The sound of a door opening reached me, yet my own door remained firmly shut, not a crack showing.
What…?
Wondering if I had imagined it in my half-awake state, I sat up in bed. At that exact moment, a chill wind swept across my back.
I turned my head slowly. The window stood wide open.
The curtain fluttered like a white ghost. Soft moonlight spilled through the gap, and between them loomed a large shadow.
“Kyaa! Mmph!”
My scream was swallowed whole by the large hand that clamped over my mouth.
“Shh! It’s me, Ishtel!”
Hellion’s blue eyes sparkled, catching the moonlight.
“Don’t scream.”
When I nodded, he lifted his hand away.
“Hey—you! What are you doing? Why are you coming out of there?!”
“You told me to come in.”
“There’s a perfectly good door! Why come through the window?”
“Ah, well…”
The intruder who had barged into my room so boldly now looked oddly sheepish. He spent a long moment simply running his fingers through his red hair before pointing at the open window. In the distant night sky, fireworks were bursting.
“Want to go release sky lanterns with me?”
“Sky lanterns…?”
Sneaking into someone’s bedroom in the middle of the night through the window, only to suggest going to fly lanterns together?
“Be honest.”
“About what…?”
“You didn’t like the meeting’s outcome, so you came to assassinate me, didn’t you?”
“Assassinate? What kind of thing is that to say!”
Hellion shook his head violently, insisting it was absolutely not true.
“There’s a lantern festival at the river tonight! I came to secretly watch it with you.”
As he said, every year at this time the Lantern Festival was held along the Kibir River that flowed through the capital of Seider. Fireworks bloomed brilliantly along the banks while lanterns of every color embroidered the night sky like stars.
The sight of people riding small boats along the river and sending lanterns carrying their wishes into the heavens was breathtakingly beautiful.
Which meant—
“You’re planning to push me into the river, aren’t you?”
It was the perfect day to blend into the crowd and commit a crime.
“No wonder you accepted so meekly when I said you had to report to me. You didn’t even throw one of your usual tantrums.”
“That’s not it!”
Hellion exploded in an aggrieved voice.
“Honestly, it does sting my pride as a member of the imperial family. But it’s something you’ve been handling for the past three years. I thought it wouldn’t be so bad to rely on your help until I get used to it.”
“And once you’re used to it, you’ll assassinate me?”
“I’m not assassinating anyone!”
Hellion’s face flushed crimson as he shook his head hard. The last remark had been a tease because his reaction was so entertaining. When I burst into giggles, he finally realized I was joking and pouted.
“Let’s go, Ishtel.”
Hellion moved to the open window and held out his hand.
It was a night lit by a slender silver crescent moon. Hellion’s pale blue eyes gleamed even more beautifully in its light.
“No.”
I refused flatly.
“How would we even get out? If we fall from here, we’ll be badly hurt.”
“It won’t happen. Just hold on tight. I’ll carry you on my back and climb down the wall.”
“No. It’s terrifying.”
“Don’t you want to see the lanterns?”
“Of course I do.”
But it really was frightening. Carrying me down from this height? The idea was absurd.
I planted myself firmly on the bed, arms crossed in clear refusal. Hellion stepped down from the windowsill and walked over to me.
“You’ve changed. When you were little, you begged to sneak outside, tied a rope around your waist, and jumped right out the window.”
“I was young and foolish then. Look at you—you’re still not fully grown, climbing walls in the middle of the night to reach my room. Grow up a little. You definitely won’t do things like this anymore.”
“True. If I grow up here like you say, maybe I really won’t do this again.”
“……”
“So before I grow any taller, let’s do something ridiculous just one more time. Yes?”
Hellion tugged at my arm. My tightly crossed arms came undone, and my body spun toward him.
“Let’s go. Please?”
He whined in the same spoiled tone he had used as a child.
Ah, I really shouldn’t give in.
Yet the sight of his eyes shining with anticipation made my resolve crumble.
In the years we had spent apart, both our bodies and hearts had grown beyond recognition. When we met again a few months ago, we had already passed the age for foolish pranks and impossible dreams.
Even so, I missed it—the bright, innocent version of myself that caused trouble without thinking of the consequences.
Hellion, who was a little younger than me, might still carry some of that innocence. That must be why he had thought to climb the castle wall and come to me in the middle of the night.
I relaxed the tension in my gaze and looked at him. Perhaps this would be the last time we could share such an absurd adventure together.
“You absolutely cannot drop me. Understand?”
In the end I took his hand and stood. Hellion grinned, promising it would never happen.
I followed him onto the windowsill. From that dizzying height, I wrapped both arms tightly around his neck and shoulders, clinging to his back.
“Here we go.”
Hellion gripped the stones and began descending one careful step at a time. Looking up at the moon made my neck ache; looking down made my head spin. I squeezed my eyes shut and tightened my hold on him.
“Almost there.”
Hellion’s calm voice tried to reassure me. The wind rushed past my ears, alternating with the scrape of his boots against the wall.
“Done!”
After what felt like forever, a soft thud sounded as Hellion set me safely on the ground.
“My goodness… we really climbed down from all the way up there?”
The sheer height left me dizzy. At the same time, a thrilling excitement swelled in my chest.
“See? I told you it would be fine.”
Looking proud, Hellion brushed dust from his hands and draped a black cloak over my head. He then pulled the hood of his own fur cloak low over his face.
“Hurry, or we’ll be late.”
Somehow I had grown more excited than he was and now urged him forward.
We ran toward the dark forest. The ceaseless croaking of frogs followed us like a friendly companion with every step.
The Kibir River was overflowing with people who had come to enjoy the festival.
Adults and children alike carried sky lanterns of every color. All of them watched the fireworks painting the night sky while they waited for the lantern release to begin.
“Oh, perfect—there’s exactly one boat left right there.”
Where Hellion pointed sat a long wooden boat.
Not long ago Rose had told me that securing a boat on the day of the Lantern Festival was like plucking a star from the sky.
So if someone had managed to get a boat, it could only mean they liked the person they wanted to share it with very much.
Yet here was a boat left so conveniently?
Don’t tell me he prepared it ahead of time?
The signs of preparation were everywhere. A blanket lay neatly folded inside, along with tea and snacks waiting beside it.
“We’re pretty lucky today, aren’t we?”
The awkward smile on Hellion’s face confirmed everything. This had all been meticulously planned. I considered teasing him about it, but his effort was so touching that I decided to pretend I hadn’t noticed.
Swish—swish—
Hellion rowed toward the middle of the river. The others in boats around us were writing wishes on their lanterns. Hellion and I each placed one on our laps and picked up pens.
“Hmm…”
Now that the lantern was in front of me, no wish came to mind. Hellion, too, sat lost in thought with pen in hand.
The time to release the lanterns was drawing near. I quickly invented a wish and wrote it down.
“What did you write?”
Hellion peeked over like a student trying to copy answers.
“I wrote, ‘When a wish finally comes to me, let it come true.’ Sort of a placeholder wish to store future ones.”
It was the best I could do when nothing specific came to mind. Hellion’s expression suddenly brightened with understanding, and he hurriedly began writing on his own lantern.