FTA Ch 29
by winter<Episode 29>
“Please forgive me for daring to appeal to your compassion, Gloria.”
Loreline closed her eyes tightly, her expression one of utter despair.
“Punish me, but please accept the Princess.”
Gloria wanted to ask why on earth she should do that but kept her mouth shut instead. Loreline’s complexion looked far from normal.
Ever since earlier, Loreline had been clinging to her with a face so pale that it wouldn’t have been surprising if she collapsed on the spot.
“…Has something happened to the Princess?”
In the end, Gloria set aside her initial resolve not to involve herself in Unite’s affairs and asked Loreline directly.
“Please, be honest.”
Only then did Loreline slowly lift her trembling eyelids, revealing her crimson eyes filled with turmoil. Her voice trembled as she asked Gloria,
“Did you not notice anything strange when you met the Princess earlier?”
Something strange?
Gloria pondered for a moment. But even after retracing her memory, nothing particularly unusual stood out, so she tilted her head in puzzlement.
Seeing this, Loreline who had been quietly observing Gloria was spoke.
“Compared to other children her age, the Princess is abnormally small and frail.”
‘Is that so?’
‘Hmm, she’s not sure…’
Gloria tilted her head again.
That was because most of the children Gloria had encountered were small, frail, and thin as twigs.
The children she had roamed the streets with as a child were like that, as were those she later saw at the Great Temple orphanage.
Because of this, Gloria hadn’t thought Unite was particularly small or frail.
“…It’s because of the medicine the Emperor has been feeding her.”
But Loreline’s next words caught Gloria completely off guard.
“The Emperor has been adding growth inhibiting drugs to the Princess’s food all this time.”
Clenching her fists tightly, Loreline continued with difficulty.
“I tried to stop it somehow, but it was impossible…”
‘Why would the Emperor do such a thing? ‘
‘Unite wasn’t a useless daughter to him, was she?’
Unable to comprehend, Gloria furrowed her brow without realizing it.
Meanwhile, Loreline’s explanation carried on.
“The Emperor does not want the Princess to grow. He wishes for her to remain small and adorable, a mere decorative doll.”
At this point, Gloria could somewhat understand the Emperor’s peculiar behavior.
The Emperor had greatly benefited from Unite being showered with the Empire’s love and affection.
Naturally, he would want her to stay in her small and cute form for as long as possible—like a little marionette doll that moves only as he wishes.
Someone ignorant, eternally cheerful, and innocent like a child.
However, that didn’t mean Gloria fully understood why Loreline was asking her to take in Unite.
After some thought, Gloria asked,
“When did you discover this, Sir Gidinium?”
“…Pardon?”
“I’m asking when you first realized the Emperor was drugging the Princess.”
“…”
It was essentially a question of why Loreline had stayed silent until now and was only acting now.
Facing Gloria’s indifferent gaze, Loreline understood she needed a more convincing explanation to persuade her.
“…Not long ago, the Princess awakened to an extraordinary ability.”
Finally, Loreline began to reveal the secret she had been carrying alone.
“Since then, the Princess has been able to communicate with beings that are not human.”
At that moment, a fragment of a conversation Gloria once had with Leonid flashed through her mind.
“Come to think of it, doesn’t the Princess also have green eyes?”
“Then she must have a unique ability too.”
It seemed Unite, like Leonid, had awakened her own special power.
“That’s why we had to escape—before the Emperor realized her abilities…”
Loreline knelt at Gloria’s feet with a desperate expression, like someone driven to the edge of a cliff.
It all happened so quickly that Gloria had no time to stop her.
“If the Emperor finds out, who knows how he might exploit the Princess in the future.”
“Sir Gidinium.”
“So please, Gloria… I beg you.”
“…”
Gloria bit her lip.
She couldn’t bring herself to coldly refuse Loreline, who was pleading so desperately.
More than anything, knowing the kind of hell the small, sweet Princess had lived through made it impossible to turn a blind eye.
‘If I don’t help, the Princess will also be treated like an object.’
Just as Gloria had been, and as Leonid had been.
That lovely Princess would inevitably be used, manipulated, and eventually discarded.
But unlike Gloria and Leonid, Unite still had a chance—a chance to escape before she was used and abandoned.
And Gloria could be the one to create that chance for her.
‘Well, I did smuggle out the Grand Duke.’
Adding one more person, like Unite, wouldn’t change much.
“Alright.”
After a long moment of thought, Gloria made her decision.
“I’ll protect the Princess.”
* * *
Leonid listened in silence as Gloria explained the situation.
She didn’t reveal exactly what Unite’s abilities were, only vaguely saying the Princess had awakened to some sort of power.
Gloria also mentioned that Unite had likely fled the palace out of fear of being exploited by the Emperor.
However, she withheld the information about the Emperor drugging Unite to stunt her growth and using her for political purposes. It didn’t feel right to share such a sensitive story when Loreline had revealed it in such confidence.
“Well, that’s the gist of it. From now on, the Princess will be staying here with us at the estate.”
Gloria finished her explanation, watching Leonid closely.
She felt uneasy about deciding everything on her own and then delivering it to him as a fait accompli.
‘He always tells me to do as I wish… but still.’
No one would feel good about being handed a decision without any prior consultation, no matter how understanding they usually were.
Above all, Leonid had been quiet the entire time, which made Gloria nervous.
She didn’t want things to sour between them.
‘…This is hard.’
Gloria had lived her whole life without caring about what others thought of her.
Guessing Leonid’s thoughts wasn’t easy.
If he showed signs of being upset, what would be the right way to respond?
Gloria couldn’t hide her growing uneasiness as she waited for his reply.
Time seemed to stretch until finally…
“The Princess’s birthday was always celebrated with grand festivals in the capital.”
“…What?”
Gloria tilted her head in confusion at Leonid’s sudden comment.
“Mm, yes, that’s true.”
‘It was, but why bring it up now?’
Gloria licked her dry lips nervously and looked at Leonid.
Breaking the silence again, he continued,
“And on the last night of the festival, the sky would be adorned with dazzling fireworks.”
“…”
“That day was my birthday too.”
Leonid had spent those nights gazing at the beautiful fireworks from the darkness of his bedroom.
He knew full well the fireworks weren’t meant for him, yet he couldn’t tear his eyes away.
Even if only for a fleeting moment, he wanted to feel like his life was being celebrated—a feeling he hadn’t known since losing his mother.
He would stand by the window until every last firework disappeared, the streets emptied of revelers, and the first rays of morning light pierced the deserted streets.
He stood there, endlessly gazing at the night sky alone.
“I didn’t know…”
Gloria’s face betrayed her surprise at the unexpected revelation.
Come to think of it, the banquet where she’d first heard rumors about Leonid had been hosted by the Emperor to celebrate Unite’s birthday.
“From now on, I promise I won’t forget your birthday. I’ll celebrate it every year.”
“That’s not why I brought it up.”
“Even so.”
The curiosity over why Leonid had suddenly shared this story vanished entirely.
What remained was a deep ache in Gloria’s chest, knowing that Leonid had spent every birthday alone, without a single person to celebrate with him.
“I want to celebrate it with you.”
“…”
The Princess’s birthday, celebrated by the masses.
The radiant fireworks painting the dark sky.
As Leonid watched them, what thoughts must have crossed his mind?
Clenching her fists tightly, Gloria declared with determination,
“That’s why, from now on, you’ll never spend your birthday alone again.”