As soon as I opened my eyes.
I dressed up more carefully than ever. I endured the hands of the maids who scrubbed my skin with stiff, strong brushes until it turned red, and I endured the persistent combing that made my scalp tingle.
After finishing my grooming, I took out and put on the velvet dress that my grandfather, who had always given me an unfavorable look on the day I left the Taren household, had first given me as a gift.
When I looked into the mirror. I saw the image of a girl with a face as pretty as an angel. I thought that if Senevere were turned back to the age of nine, she would look exactly like this.
I stared intently into my mother's deep blue eyes through the mirror, then left the room with a determined expression. However, the boy who always trained at the same time was nowhere to be found today.
I, who had been wandering around the castle courtyard for a while, leaving the servant behind, slumped my shoulders in disappointment. My vision darkened as I thought that I might never see him again.
I couldn't figure out why I was so obsessed with someone I'd only talked to once.
No. Actually, I knew. On a day when the rain was pouring down like that, he could have just ignored the muddy child and walked by, but he didn't.
He came into the hole, dirtying his clothes and shoes, to save me.
He held my body, chilled by the rain, in his warm arms and looked into my eyes for a long time.
He carefully held the worthless bird that was about to die and took it to his home.
That alone was enough to give me hope.
I walked tirelessly along the outskirts of the building, which seemed to reach the sky.
The palace was like the belly of a giant monster. It was so vast and complex that even after living here for several months, I found myself constantly encountering places I had never seen before.
I wandered around the flower- and tree-filled garden for a while before moving across the wide open space to the back of the main palace.
My legs, which had been moving nonstop from early morning until noon, were throbbing and hurting. I felt like I had blisters, and the soles of my feet were burning with every step I took.
I wiped the beads of sweat running down my forehead and looked up at the blue sky through the lush leaves.
How long had it been like that? As I straightened up, thinking of going back to the villa, I saw the slender back of a boy between the tall birch trees. My eyes lit up with joy.
Even though he was quite a distance away, he was immediately recognizable. His agile and elegant movements, as he walked quietly, with his back straight, like flowing water, were something that no one could dare imitate.
I immediately started to chase after him, but no matter how fast I increased my speed, the distance between us did not decrease.
I noticed that the boy was in quite a hurry. Where was he going in such a hurry?
I tried calling out loud, but my breath was so heavy that I couldn't make a sound. In the end, I lost track of him.
I sat down with my back against the wooden ledge with a dejected look on my face. The needle-like sunlight poured down harshly on my sweaty face.
After squinting my eyes and staring blankly through the lush leaves for a while, I heard a faint laughter mixed in with the wind. It sounded like a small bird chirping.
I got up from my seat and walked slowly towards where the sound had come from.
As I passed through the thick birch trees and the thicket of leafy bushes, a beautiful flowerbed of lavender, marigolds, and white primroses, a pure white marble pavilion, and a small fountain came into view.
It was a lovely garden, like a fairy palace.
I looked around in a trance, taking in the enchanting sight of floating golden particles. Then I spotted a boy sitting on one knee in front of a marble chair.
He was not alone. Across from him sat a lovely girl who looked to be about my age. She was a pretty girl with silky, dark hair and rosy cheeks.
As she continued to chatter on and on, a faint smile appeared on the boy's lips. When I saw it, his heart prickled as if I had been stabbed by something sharp. It felt as if my own treasure had been robbed.
I knew that such feelings were irrational.
At first glance, the two seemed to have known each other for a long time. On the other hand, I was just a stranger.
So I decided to approach them and introduce myself politely. I wanted to somehow fit into the warm atmosphere surrounding them. Above all, I wanted to make the boy's blue eyes and faint smile turn toward me.
Driven by that powerful impulse, I stepped out from behind the bushes and approached the fountain, where water was gushing out. Then the boy's beautiful silver-blue eyes and a pair of clear green eyes flew toward me.
I, who had never interacted with children of my age, felt my mouth go dry for a moment.
But I was the Princess of the empire. I thought that there was no way she could dare refuse if I offered to be her friend.
I raised my chin and greeted them confidently.
"Hi?"
The boy just stared at me without moving an inch.
Could it be that he doesn't recognize me? When I first met him, I looked like I was covered in mud, so I thought that he might be unfamiliar with me dressed up like a Princess.
So, as I was about to tell him the story of how he had helped me a few months ago, the girl who had been sitting there with a blank expression suddenly let out a shriek.
"No! No! Not here!"
It was a desperate voice, as if she were facing a terrible nightmare.
The girl, who had been looking at me with terrified eyes, threw herself at the boy.
"Please, Barcas! Get that kid out of here! Don't let her set foot in here! Don't let me see her ever again!"
Two slender arms wrapped around the boy's neck.
The boy wrapped his arms protectively around the girl's back as she cried out in pain, and cast a cold gaze over her narrow, trembling shoulders. I took a step back.
He let out a growl in a low voice.
"Get out of here now!"
I, who had been blankly staring at his cold face, soon turned around and started running.
It felt like I had had ice water poured over my head. I couldn't think of anything as if my brain were paralyzed.
How long did I run and run like that? When I got close to the main castle, something grabbed my hair. My head snapped back, and my body tilted sharply. And before I could even comprehend what had happe ned, a heavy impact hit my body.
I rolled on the grass, clutching my aching stomach.
"Where the hell do you think you are, the kind of person who dares to set foot in that place?"
A young, angry voice resonated from above my head.
I looked up with a puzzled face. A boy I had never seen before was glaring at me.
Thick black hair, fiery green eyes. I could tell that his face looked very similar to the girl I had seen earlier, but I had no idea how long he had been chasing me, or why he was so angry.
I was frozen in shock at having been through the worst thing that had ever happened to me, when the boy kicked me in the stomach again.
"Cough!"
I crouched down in shock and let out a cough as my eyes went blank.
The boy continued to kick me as if he were kicking a small ball.
"Die! Die! Die!"
A scream like a scream pierced my eardrums like a long nail. The boy's curses and violence did not stop until the servants who witnessed the scene came running in shock.
I crawled on the floor like an insect, avoiding the fierce kicks.
The boy, who had been holding on to his arms by two attendants and was still angry despite being beaten like that, roared like an animal.
"Get out of this world! You dirty bastard!"
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