The Cold Heart's Visit
The exalted sun of the empire stands before me.
I greet him with a formal bow, each precisely enunciated word carrying an unspoken description of the man. Familiar golden hair stirs in the breeze. Eyes the color of fresh leaves gaze down at me in silence.
Valcaros Lantana von Staufen.
Does he even need further titles? He is the Emperor. The sole sun of the Staufen Empire. Father to the unfortunate imperial princesses and the very man who imprisoned a cursed rose upon a distant, isolated star.
I stood before a heart of ice.
Why is he here?
The sudden appearance left me chewing on that final question even as I waited for his response to my greeting. At length, the Emperor parted his lips, his voice carrying a calm, resonant tone.
"So it's you. The new attending physician assigned to the second princess."
His words held no trace of life, only a chill wind brushing across the throat. Perhaps it was the meaningful inflection. Though little of substance had yet been exchanged, I instinctively understood that he knew everything. Otherwise, he could not possibly remain this composed.
From the very beginning... he was aware.
A quiet groan escaped me inwardly. I was never meant to be in this place. The matter of the rose was a secret the Emperor himself had buried; it was no space for outsiders to tread freely. Access to the detached palace had therefore been under the strictest control until now. I had only gained entry through Charlotte's assistance, yet even that felt like sneaking past barriers rather than following proper procedure.
In short, discovery would have placed me in a rather troublesome position.
I had taken every precaution because of it, yet it seemed the eyes of the sun could not be deceived. Valcaros had already taken note of my existence.
As I turned thoughts over in the silence, a middle-aged voice reached my ears.
"You may rise."
Permission to stand from my kneel. I dipped my head once more and slowly lifted my lowered body. Our eyes met lightly.
"Lord Sneakers."
"Your Majesty."
"This appears to be our first time meeting face to face."
"I had not expected Your Majesty to recognize me. I shall consider it an honor my house will remember for generations."
"When a guest arrives at one's home, is it not proper for the master to offer greeting? Even if that guest is an uninvited stranger who was never summoned."
"...As I thought, you already knew."
"Indeed. I have known from the start."
Just as expected. The Emperor had already assessed the entire situation. Even though I had come in the first princess's company, I had still intruded upon a forbidden domain. I added a belated apology, my expression grave and devoid of any smile.
"I am ashamed."
"There is no need to bow your head. You simply answered the first princess's request, did you not? She has often sought caretakers for the second princess."
Princess. Or simply her. Even when speaking of his own child, the address was stiff to the point of coldness. His excessively frigid tone only deepened the winter chill in the air.
While feeling that icy atmosphere, a scene from the original work briefly flickered through my mind.
Well.
He was not a character whose backstory had been explored in great detail. I could only piece together impressions of the Emperor from episodes involving the princesses. At one point he had even been a central topic of discussion.
Valcaros. A cold-blooded man who extended affection to nothing in this world. In his mind existed only a scale that weighed pure profit, and he harbored an extreme aversion to being swayed by personal emotion. No wonder his epithet in the original had been Cold Heart.
The players' evaluation had not been kind, as I recalled. He never truly appeared as a villain, yet his indifference toward his own blood daughters bordered on outright neglect. Worse, he had personally confined the cursed Elise within the detached palace. As one of the pillars of the story's tragedy, he could hardly expect favorable public sentiment. In the popularity poll held once upon a time, he had proudly claimed a spot near the very bottom.
I hated him too, once.
Even I had disliked him at first. While producing videos for the rose arc, I had inserted curses aimed at him more than once. The label hate-emperor had sunk its roots deep.
But now...
What is this...?
I could not hide my bewilderment. The sense of dissonance that had been nagging at me since earlier finally revealed its reason.
My gaze fixed on Valcaros standing across from me.
"I have heard the news. Signs of recovery, unusually enough?"
"Yes... that is correct."
"I stopped by to see for myself."
"......"
No. This man would never do such a thing.
Judging from his portrayal in the original work, such an event was impossible. Valcaros had been utterly indifferent to the princesses. It was not hatred or disinterest—it was as though they simply did not exist within his life. One might even wonder whether he had forgotten he had children at all.
As I mentioned before, nothing had been stated outright, but the fragmentary details scattered throughout the story led to that conclusion. Elise's own flashbacks in particular had contained similar implications many times.
What kind of whim is this?
Question marks flooded my mind. While I wore a doubtful expression, the Emperor's voice continued, still carrying that frosted, wintry resonance.
"There is no need to be so tense. This visit truly holds no deeper meaning."
"Forgive me. I was momentarily surprised."
I did not commit the rudeness of explaining exactly what had surprised me. To the imperial family, the second princess was a shame that must be hidden, a bloodline all but discarded. Any question touching upon her would have been inappropriate. I simply swallowed my inner thoughts behind a firmly sealed silence.
Perhaps sensing that atmosphere, Valcaros turned his head slightly. A brief silence followed.
Whiiiish—.
Only the night wind blew across the empty space, erasing the pause. The Emperor, who had been standing with lifeless eyes, soon let his words slip forth like something spilled. They were sharp as an awl.
"Recovery... I was told that curse cannot be treated."
"With ordinary methods, that is correct."
"Then with unordinary methods, it becomes possible?"
"It is difficult to assert definitively. However, I can say that we are currently at the stage of making the attempt."
"One might call it great audacity. To use a princess of the realm as a test subject."
"......"
Well, he wasn't wrong. But wasn't that the one thing he should not be saying...? Was he deliberately trying to find fault? Otherwise there was no reason for him to speak the word rose with his own mouth. I struggled to keep my frown in check.
"I apologize."
"Well... it does not matter."
He was a man whose intentions were nearly impossible to read. If one were to compare him to another person... yes, perhaps he belonged in a similar category to Charlotte. He gave the strange impression of existing in an entirely different world from everyone else.
"So."
Those green eyes glanced toward me. They resembled the leaves of a rose, yet unlike hers, their color had withered.
"Can you truly do it? Cure her."
The question was asked. My answer was already decided.
"I believe the possibility is more than sufficient."
"Hah... such overflowing confidence."
"The term incurable does not mean a disease that can never be cured. It simply means the solution has not yet been discovered."
"It sounds almost as though the solution rests in your hands."
"You may interpret it that way. Only the near future will provide the answer."
"An intriguing proposal."
Valcaros nodded. Perhaps my bold attitude had sparked his interest; a faint light flickered within those characteristically empty pupils. He was an adult frozen solid and sculpted by cold.
"It truly sounds like a dream, does it not?"
Was he still only half convinced? Under normal circumstances he would have dismissed it as nonsense, but hearing that actual signs of recovery had appeared seemed to leave him confused. His expression suggested he was wondering which part to discard first as rubbish.
"...I hope that bravado of yours proves real."
"Pardon?"
"If so, I could even hand this entire empire over to you."
"That is rather excessive for a mere joke."
"Do you believe it a joke?"
"......"
I ultimately had no choice but to fall silent. The Emperor before my eyes felt different from the image I had known in my previous life. The overall atmosphere remained as I remembered, yet his reactions, attitude, and the light in his eyes deviated in subtle ways.
I hope that bravado proves real.
The words sounded like someone praying for a miracle to heal Elise's illness. Like someone hoping the rose's curse would be lifted. The man I knew had never been the sort to utter such things.
While I mulled over those tangled thoughts, Valcaros, who had been standing quietly, turned away. It seemed he intended to leave.
"I should be going."
"Were you not here to see Her Highness Elise?"
"I have changed my mind."
"Then I shall greet you again when the opportunity arises."
"Well... I would prefer we not meet again, if possible."
"Pardon?"
"I am leaving."
Before the conversation could even reach its natural conclusion, the Emperor departed first. Watching his retreating figure disappear from the garden, all sorts of idle thoughts flooded through my mind. I murmured inwardly, as though unraveling them.
I never expected this.
Could there be a backstory I was unaware of? Details recorded beyond the Emperor that the original work had never revealed. Before I realized it, a smile had formed on my lips.
"Ha."
It really was an interesting world. I had believed I knew everything, yet the closer I drew, the more something entirely different waited. Unknown things lay hidden everywhere, anticipating my arrival. Ignorance brimmed with such vivid life—how could I possibly view this world as false? Every scent that brushed the tip of my nose carried sincerity.
However.
Precisely because of that, I could not treat everything carelessly. When the time came for me to depart, I would have to wither away without leaving scars upon the things I had come to love. Only the marks left by thorns would remain at my fingertips.
After briefly savoring the lingering emotion, I set my steps forward. The path led toward the bedroom.
Before sleeping... perhaps I should check on her condition.
Elise's state had been poor these past few days. Remembering how she had said the pain grew worse at night, I quietly made my way toward the room where the rose resided.
Crossing the chilly air, I soon reached the door at the end of the corridor.
"......"
A narrow gap had been left open. Faint light leaked through it—the dim glow of only two or three candles. Though the hour had already passed midnight, it seemed the rose within the greenhouse could not fall asleep.
I slowly opened the door and stepped inside.
"Haa... haa..."
The moment my foot touched the soft carpet, I heard breathing. It was ragged, mixed with pitiful groans as though she suffered greatly.
"Eut... ugh."
The rose was not lying on the bed. Instead she sat collapsed in the center of the room, body curled tightly inward. Her shoulders twitched with each rough breath. The red-haired girl seemed utterly absorbed in something.
This is...
My expression hardened. A fishy scent brushed my nose, and red traces scattered across the floor entered my vision. What faintly filled the room was none other than the metallic scent of blood.
"...Heut."
Tears fell in steady drops. Transparent droplets accompanied red spots blooming from her wrist, staining the carpet. Between what looked like cleanly sliced wounds, countless roses blossomed. Even though she was already drenched in red petals, the girl moved her hand as though still unsatisfied.
At her fingertips hung a pocket knife soaked in crimson. A long, discarded bandage trailed across the floor. The pure white cloth from only hours earlier had forgotten any notion of healing; it was now soiled by violence. All that remained was a thirst for self-destruction.
"Hauk... eut."
Slice. Slice.
In a daze, the rose continued adding wound after wound. She did not even register another person's presence, merely vomiting blood and tears in silence. No vitality remained in her blinking eyelids. The green pupils that once resembled fresh leaves seemed to wither into blackness.
"Your Highness."
Even when I called out softly, the rose kept crying and harming herself. It seemed no other words could reach her ears. I drew closer to the girl.
And then—
I wrapped my arms around her slender frame from behind, seizing her mangled wrist in a firm yet gentle grip.
"Eut...! Ugh!"
Startled by the sudden restraint, she struggled, but the arms holding her did not budge in the slightest. I held her warmth against me and soothed her, pressing my lips close to her pure white ear, whispering reassurance again and again in a calm voice. My hand never stopped gently stroking her hair.
"Shh... It's all right."
"Hic... eut."
"Everything is going to be fine. Because I am here beside you..."
Like that, the two of us remained, resting together until the fierce atmosphere gradually subsided, melting into the lukewarm warmth.