How to Hide the Emperor's Child - Chapter 15

“Yes. Instead, you should go with the maid.”

But today will be fine because Kaizen went out.

Moreover, Astelle wanted to separate Theor from Vellian, who was sitting in the room observing the two.

“Look around once and make sure to take him before it’s time to bathe him,” Astelle said to the maid.

The eye color-changing potion should be taken every morning and before dinner.

It was easy to put the medicine in the morning because she slept with Theor in one bed, but the problem was at night.

At that time, the maids were always in the room.

So she bathed Theor, changed his clothes, and took him to the bedroom herself, then put the potion in his eyes.

“Make sure to come back before that time.”

“Yes, Lady.”

Astelle sent Theor out after getting the answer from the maid.

***

Theor took the hand of the maid and looked around.

He also went to the castle’s inner room and library.

Compared to the imperial palace or other large separate palaces, this old-fashioned castle was small in size.

But in the eyes of young Theor, it looked enormously big.

A wall made of gray bricks for each floor crawled endlessly.

The railing of the window was also fixed with beautifully crafted stone columns.

Through the arched window, the central garden of the castle was seen.

It was still raining.

As he reached the corridor leading to the castle gate, he saw many people gathering at the end of the corridor.

While watching the people, he found Kaizen going out with the knights.

Theor ran to him before the maid caught him up.

Theor quickly entered the corridor, and the knights who guarded the emperor glanced at him.

However, Kaizen, who is ahead, did not pay attention to Theor and passed by taking a quick step.

Theor greeted while chasing him.

“Hello, Your Majesty.”

The emperor stopped there.

The gaze of the party turned to the young child at once.

Kaizen also slowly turned to Theor.

‘Ah, he is the little boy who was with Astelle.’

He has never seen this child since dinner.

He had never been particularly interested.

He heard that Astelle really cares about this kid through Vellian.

“Why is the child here?”

The maid replied, bowing her back, “Lady Astelle told me to show him the castle.”

After Theor had dinner with the emperor, he felt an intimacy with Kaizen in his own way.

In fact, Theor lived without meeting many people, so he was amazed to see all the people he saw for the first time.

He was also fascinated by the pretty blonde lady he had seen before.

Ah, but he hadn’t seen her since dinner.

Astelle said that His Majesty was a very, very high man, so he was particularly curious.

Theor hesitated for a moment and asked, “Your Majesty, where are you going?”

“I am going to the forest to hunt.”

Theor was curious by the word ‘forest’.

Theor remembered what Vellian said at the dinner.

There is a real bear in the forest.

“In the forest……can you see a bear?”

Kaizen remembered this child was once attracted to bear at the dinner.

“Do you want to see a bear?”

“Do you have a real bear?”

“Yes.”

Kaizen replied indifferently.

“It’s in the hunting lodge.”

The forest area around here was so vast that it was hard to guess the end.

After entering the forest far enough, there is a separate hunting lodge where you can take a rest after hunting.

Successive emperors enjoyed hunting in this forest all day long and then returned to sleep at the hunting lodge when the time was late.

Kaizen twinkled his eyes, and he stared at the little child.

According to Vellian, this child lost his father before birth, and when he was a baby, his mother left.

Kaizen remembered the appearance of Astelle holding this child.

Astelle took care of him like her own child.

If other people saw her, they might think that she was really this child’s birth mother.

This child lost his mother when he was a baby.

Astelle also lost her mother when she was a baby.

He wasn’t interested in Astelle, but he knew it for sure.

Kaizen suddenly remembered a very long time ago.

The day of his mother’s funeral, the Empress.

***

The Empress, Kaizen’s mother, was weak.

She lay sick for a long time after giving birth to her only son, and then died.

Throughout the funeral, young Kaizen showed no tears.

As a prince, he vowed not to show his tears in front of the nobles.

However, after the funeral ended and he returned to the imperial palace with a tired body, unbearable sadness came as he faced an empty garden.

He was sorrowful that his memories of his mother remained in every corner of the palace.

Kaizen cried alone sitting on a bench in the corner of the garden.

Above his head was a lilac tree growing high in the sky, hanging like a roof.

It was at that moment when he heard a rustling sound in a corner of the garden.

“Who?”

He shouted in surprise, and a little girl came out of the grass.

A pale white blonde. It was Astelle.

“……Sorry. Majesty.”

It was a long time since he was engaged with Astelle.

Today, Astelle wore mourning clothes, but they were still luxurious and had many embroidery decorations.

Only the color was different, but it was the same as the colorful and heavy dresses that she usually wears.

Kaizen quickly wiped away his tears.

He was pissed off that he was caught by her.

“Don’t talk about this to anyone.”

Astelle bites her lip and lifts her head.

“I won’t tell anyone. I’ll never say it.”

Astelle hesitated for a moment and then approached the bench on which Kaizen was sitting.

And she carefully sat down next to him.

Before Kaizen could say anything, Astelle placed her hand on Kaizen’s hand carefully.

“It’s okay, Majesty, I’ll never tell anyone.”

He was annoyed why she suddenly put her hand, but he couldn’t throw his fiancee’s hand either.

He turned his gaze inadvertently and looked straight into Astelle’s light green eyes.

The light green eyes like sprouts were wet with tears.

Kaizen of those days did not understand why Astelle cried.

But Astelle’s little hand was warm.

His grief subsided at the feeble warmth of her little hand.

He slowly stopped weeping.

Young Kaizen holding Astelle’s little fragile hand.

At this moment, he didn’t really hate Astelle.

***

Kaizen, who recalled the memories of that time, looked down on the child and asked, “Shall I show you the bear?”

“Really?”

Theor was very happy to think that he could see a real bear. Then he hesitated.

“Uh…… I have to tell Aunt Astelle……”

He almost accidentally said ‘mother’, but Theor managed to say ‘Aunt Astelle’.

Right. He’s still playing the play.

The maid, standing behind the child, bowed her head and said, “Lady Astelle told me to bring the young master before dinner time.”

Kaizen turned his gaze.

The gray sky has not yet gotten dark.

“You can come before that.”

He turned to the servants and ordered, “Prepare a carriage for the child too.”

The maid could not help it, because it was ordered by the emperor.

She held Theor’s hand and followed the emperor.

***

“Why haven’t you come yet?”

Astelle wandered around the room anxiously.

She managed to drive Vellian away and repair the doll, but Theor had not returned.

The sun was already set outside the window.

Astelle was nervous at the thought that the effects of the eye color-changing potion would wear off soon.

‘There’s still time, but……’

Astelle suddenly hid the potion in her pocket and went outside.

Astelle, trembling with anxiety, ran down the hallway, forcing herself to calm.

As she went downstairs, she sent the maid upstairs.

“Go to the other room and find the child.”

She went downstairs and searched here and there, but there were neither maids nor Theor.

As the emperor went hunting, the castle became quiet as many knights went to escort him.

As she went out into the castle’s corridor, Astelle met a middle-aged servant who had previously brought her a gift from the emperor.

“Lady Astelle, where are you going in such a hurry?”

“Have you seen Theor?”

At Astelle’s question, the servant nodded, “His Majesty has given the order. I was just about to tell Lady.”

“Pardon?”

She was surprised when Kaizen’s name was suddenly mentioned.

The emperor’s order……?

What does that have to do with Theor? The middle-aged servant said with a smile, not paying attention to Astelle’s concern.

“His Majesty brought Young Master to the hunting lodge.”

She felt like her heart had stopped beating for a moment.