Summer 15

Senita was asleep.

Gaspar tried to wake her up, but Iskandar stopped him.

He slipped his hand under the wet towel and checked her temperature, which was quite high. Perhaps sensing the touch of another’s hand on her forehead, the child tossed and turned with a feverish groan, but only briefly. She was too ill to even open her eyes properly.

“She has a high fever.”

“Shall I call a physician?”

“Do that. Stay out until the physician arrives.”

The attendants dutifully followed the prince’s instructions.

Once they had left, Iskandar sat down on the wooden chair beside the bed and looked down at the child.

One day. He had barely left her alone for a day. In that one day, while his mother rested and he went hunting, Senita had become like this. Was she a child he couldn’t take his eyes off of, not even for a moment? It was amazing how weak she was.

Still, seeing her nestled under the covers up to her chin and breathing shallowly gave him a subtle sense of relief. However, there was also a faint sense of discomfort behind it. Relief and discomfort. Feeling these two completely different emotions simultaneously, Iskandar looked around the room. Dressed in splendid clothes, he felt out of place in this gloomy, shabby attic.

He had come to this humble place himself, concerned by the news that a maid was ill. He could have ordered someone to bring her to him, but he hadn’t. He was worried that she might get sicker.

He didn’t need to do this, yet he did.

Why?

For the first time in his life, Iskandar questioned himself. Ironically, he couldn’t fully comprehend his own decision. It was difficult to explain without using the word ‘impulse’, and acting on that impulse made the experience even stranger and more unfamiliar.

Still, he felt as if he wouldn’t have been able to bear it otherwise.

He thought she was a toy, but it seemed he was actually treating this lowly girl like a younger sister. Or perhaps he was more compassionate than he thought.

Either way, Iskandar chuckled at the absurdity.

Then, his gaze, which had been casually surveying the surroundings, landed on a cloth on the nightstand beside the bed. More precisely, it was the assortment of red and purple berries on the cloth that caught his eye. Iskandar picked up the piece of paper lying next to them.

「If you eat the fruit, your cold will get better quickly! Eat this and get well soon!

—Lorenzo」

Lorenzo. A man’s name.

Judging by the clumsy handwriting, the writer was either someone who rarely wrote or a young child who had recently learned to write.

Could Senita even read and fully understand this? There weren’t any difficult words, so she would likely understand it all. Iskandar crumpled the note in his hand.

Just then, the physician arrived. He instructed the physician to enter and then gently shook Senita awake.

“Senita.”

After calling her name a couple of times, the child slowly blinked her eyes open. Recognizing Iskandar, she quickly opened her eyes wide.

“Your Highness, how…”

“Just lie down. The physician is here.”

Iskandar prevented the bewildered Senita from sitting up and made room for the physician.

The examination was brief. After glancing at Iskandar, Senita told the physician that she thought she had caught a cold from falling into the water. The physician confirmed that it was just a cold. After handing over the medicine he had brought, the house call was over. The instructions for bathing and feeding Senita would need to be given outside.

Once the physician left, Iskandar laid Senita back down. Her already small, thin limbs were limp. She looked just like a marionette with its strings cut and broken.

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

Senita mumbled with a smile, pulling the thin blanket up to her chin. Her weak voice barely escaped her lips. Iskandar gently stroked the child’s cheek; his face was expressionless. The skin under his fingertips was soft and slightly clammy.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“No.”

Senita looked up at him, her wet eyes sparkling.

“Did you come because I was sick?”

“Yes, you look pathetic when you’re sick, Senita.”

The joy that had filled her face vanished in an instant. Sadness and shame rose above her wrinkled nose. Her transparent emotions were truly amusing.

“Why did you fall in the water?”

At his next question, Senita averted her gaze. Her blue eyes darted away from his golden ones.

“Tell me honestly.”

Annoyed by the child’s evasiveness, Iskandar frowned. Startled by his lower voice, Senita hesitated before cautiously answering.

“I knocked over the bucket. I got wet because I spilled the water.”

“You got wet, but you didn’t fall in?”

“That’s…”

“I suppose you tripped over the water you spilled?”

“Ah, well, yes.”

Her answer was clumsy. What a foolish girl, trying to lie when she couldn’t even do it properly. Iskandar glared at her with cold eyes.

“I don’t tolerate lies.”

Flustered by his sharpness, the child stammered and blurted out random words.

“Ah…so, actually… It’s not that. I—It was my fault. It’ll all be better after I sleep! So…”

She was so flustered that she seemed oblivious to the items on the nightstand.

Iskandar stared intently at the shrinking Senita. The pitiful child looked as if she were about to cry. Her sky-colored eyes were moist, and her lips were dry and red with fever. Even ill, she was pretty.

If she looked lovely to him, then surely she would seem even more so to others. It was an obvious fact, yet it bothered him nonetheless. The raw, tangy scent that brushed the tip of his nose was enough to put him off.

An unpleasant, persistent unease gnawed at him. A simmering discontent began to boil within him, one that could only be relieved by tearing or cutting something. He felt like gouging out the eyes of the child named Lorenzo. But knowing that would be brutal and inappropriate, Iskandar merely smiled gently at Senita.

“You’re being hated, Senita.”

Because there’s something more beautiful here to hurt and tame.

“I wonder who could hate you so much…”

His slow words caused ripples in her composure. Ripples he had created. Iskandar was satisfied.

He could see right through the child who couldn’t lie properly. He had known from the beginning what would happen if a lowly child was overly favored. That was why he’d ordered her worn clothes taken away. He didn’t want his toy touched by anyone else.

“I’m the only one who’s nice to you, aren’t I?”

Iskandar smiled more gently. It was a cruel thing to say, but facing his smile, Senita nodded meekly, mesmerized. Her submissiveness calmed the thorns in his heart. He sighed softly and stroked her damp cheek.

“Poor Senita.”

My poor toy.

“Don’t worry. I won’t let anyone bully you.”

Even if she is only a fleeting amusement, she is entirely mine.

“Go to sleep now. Everything will be better when you wake up.”

Iskandar slowly caressed her cheek. His gentle voice, like the spring sun, caused Senita’s eyelids to flutter before closing. Soon, soft snores could be heard.

After confirming that she was asleep, Iskandar stood up. He watched her for a moment before leaving.

When Senita woke up again, Nora greeted her. She took a large, luscious fruit from the nightstand—a gift from the Prince—and fed it to Senita. The fresh plum was delicious, and Senita was happy that Iskandar cared for her. It was a meltingly sweet joy.

***

The next day, the child got out of bed.

However, the Prince didn’t summon Senita. Instead, he ordered her to rest for a few more days.

Gaspar obeyed the Prince’s orders implicitly and watched over Senita. It was also his responsibility to deal with the young maids who had tormented Senita, as the Prince had reprimanded them directly, regardless of whether Senita had spoken up.

Once Senita had fully recovered, the Empress and the Prince summoned her again. Her ankle had healed, and the weather was nicer, so they played outside for a few days. They played hoop rolling, blew bubbles, and played croquet. The child ran around, her lace-trimmed skirt fluttering.

The Empress smiled, watching her son play with the young maid. It was a beautiful smile, but less radiant than before.

As the flush faded from her face, a gust of coastal wind swept through the garden of the Summer Palace. In the winds of Martiera that ruffled her platinum hair, Svetlana felt the presence of her distant homeland.

The gentler sunlight, the blue-tinged air, the flowers beginning to fade…

Time passed. Summer was ending.