HDBMTD 04

Chapter 4

“I’ll be back. Get some rest.”

Padva said what he wanted and quickly followed after their mother.

“……”

Once the two left, the bedroom fell silent.
Aria stared down at her hands like someone completely dazed, and the servants kept glancing at her anxiously.

Just as expected from someone who had been in a vegetative state for half a year due to a serious accident, Aria looked visibly frail.

Her limbs were wrapped in bandages, and burn scars peeked through.
Her body, weakened from prolonged starvation, looked like it could collapse any second.

How could her own mother be so cold to someone who looked like she’d break at a touch?
Her slapped hand had turned red and was trembling pitifully.

Even the usually bold Minette seemed to hesitate.

But Aria, who looked as though she might burst into tears, turned to Minette with a gentle smile.

“Tell me about you, Minette. How have you been?”

“…Huh?”

“It must’ve been overwhelming for you, too.”

Minette gave a small, helpless laugh at Aria’s calm, caring tone.

“Well, not as much as you. Should I go back? You seem like you’re struggling.”

“I’m okay. But Nocturne…”

“Oh, Sir Vendrix?”

Minette’s eyes briefly flickered with something unreadable, but Aria didn’t notice.

“He’s still recovering. It was a serious accident.”

“…Was he badly hurt?”

“Well, it’s not really something you need to worry about.”

“What do you mean? If I don’t worry about my fiancé, who will?”

“Is that how you see it?”

It was an odd response.

What did she mean by that?
Weren’t they still officially engaged?
Or… was Minette implying there were now others who worried more about Nocturne than Aria?

Reading her confusion, Minette smirked.

“I wonder if Sir Vendrix still sees you as his fiancée.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“He proposed to the beautiful S-rank Eschafae princess who was his long-time partner.
But now, you’re no longer Eschafae and also…”

Minette’s eyes clearly swept over Aria’s body—mockingly.
Her face hardened at the insult.

“Even if I’m injured, I’m still me.”

“You might think that way, but Sir Vendrix has a bright future ahead of him.
He’d be better off with someone more suitable.
Like…”

“Minette!”

Aria had tried to hold back, remembering how Minette used to care for her.
But if she heard any more, she felt like she’d collapse again.

Holding her pounding head, she warned:

“I’ll pretend everything you just said was drunken nonsense.
Come visit me again when you’re sober.”

“Come on, I was only trying to give realistic advice—”

At this point, even the maids acting like bystanders seemed suspicious.
Even if Minette was drunk, shouldn’t they stop her from behaving this way?

Finally, Aria gave a direct order.

“Why are you just standing there? Take the young lady back to her room!”

“Fine, fine. I get it.”

Minette stood up with a dramatic sigh.

“Ari, my beloved friend.
I’m so glad you woke up.
I’ll be staying in the annex for a while, so call me if you need anything, okay?”

“…Sure. Thank you.”

Aria replied in a calmer tone.
Minette kissed her cheek and smiled with drunken warmth.

“No need to thank me—we’re friends, aren’t we?”

A month had passed since Aria woke up.

Ironically, the phrase “woke up” didn’t quite fit, since she spent about 20 hours a day sleeping.
Even when she was awake, headaches and burning pain made it impossible to function without painkillers.

Thankfully, she gradually began to recover.

Thanks to that, she was finally able to hear news of her father from Padva.

“Father is in a deep sleep.”

“So… it’s come to that.”

The emperor had been suffering from an unexplained neurological condition.
His urgent push to pass the throne to Aria had been because of that.

While she was in a coma, his illness had worsened beyond control.
In the end, the empress herself had him placed in a state of cryostasis—to freeze his body until a cure was found.

“You’ve been through a lot… both Mother and Brother.”

With the emperor and successor both unavailable, the empire was held together by the empress and the prince.

Aria chose to believe their cold behavior toward her was simply due to stress and overwork.

At this rate, the throne would naturally pass to her brother.

She didn’t regret losing the chance to become empress.
She didn’t feel jealous, either.

Because Padva had always been the same.

When Aria was first named heir and moved into the crown princess’ residence, her supporters grew bold.
At banquets, they would openly mock her brother’s faction.

“Feels great to finally knock those prince-aligned dogs down a peg!”

“It’s a shame, though. In the old days, anyone who stood in the way of the next ruler would’ve lost their heads.”

“Exactly. Princess, you should crush them now while you can. That useless prince still dreams of the throne just because you treat him with respect!”

“Agreed. That shady shaman he’s always dragging around is trouble too. Leave him be, and he’ll start something eventually.”

Aria overheard these conversations while taking a breath of air behind the banquet hall.

Though she was happy with her father’s trust, she feared that it might destroy her relationship with her brother.

Hearing those words made her furious.

But just as she was about to intervene, Padva appeared from nowhere and stopped her.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got something more important than the throne.”

“My little sister.”

That day, they embraced and cried together, finally realizing they felt the same way.

So even if Padva inherited the throne, she could genuinely cheer him on.

Yes—if she’d been cast aside after sacrificing herself for the empire, it could have destroyed her.
But she hadn’t lost her mental strength. Only her psychic powers.

She believed it was because she had once received so much love.

Besides, this unplanned rest wasn’t so bad.

‘I thought I’d feel depressed being stuck in my room… but it’s more comfortable than I expected.’

As she lazed about while her brother ran the empire, she began to think—

Maybe this wasn’t a bad life.

But unexpectedly, Padva reached out to her.

“Ari, please recover quickly and help me. I can’t handle it all alone.”

“…Me?”

“Yes. I’d feel stronger with you by my side.”

Aria had assumed Padva would exclude her from state affairs.

He was ambitious, unlike her.
And right now, sharing power with the former heir was a risk.
But he still asked for her help—because he trusted her.

Or maybe because she was no longer a threat.

Either way, Aria was moved.

She remembered how, after the war, she founded a rehabilitation center and once gave a speech:

“You’re still strong. You can still do anything.”

She’d wondered back then if someone who grew up with everything should say that.

But maybe now was her chance to prove it.

‘What can I do now?’

After Padva left, Aria tried to think of where she could contribute.
But nothing came to mind.

‘Everything used to be easy.’

With godlike psychic powers, she had spent her life hiding her strength to blend in.

Now, she was powerless.
Weak.

It felt like starting a new life from scratch.

‘If only Nocturne were here…’

But her fiancé hadn’t shown his face.

‘I don’t want to believe Minette’s drunken nonsense, but…’

She sighed in frustration.

“What could be taking you so long, you idiot.”

She absentmindedly touched her left ankle—

Where a flame-shaped mark, resembling Nocturne’s, had been etched since birth.

Aria remembered the day her nanny explained it to her:

“See this mark? It’s the sign of your fated partner.”

“What’s a fated partner?”

“Your soul’s other half. When souls come down to earth, they’re split in two.
Each is marked so they can find the other again.”

Her eyes sparkled.

“My soul’s other half…”

How romantic that sounded.

From that day on, Aria counted the days until she would meet her fated one.

Then one day at the academy, she spotted Minette hiding in the bushes.

“Minette, what are you doing here?”

“Ah? Nothing, really.”

“You look upset. Did something happen?”

That’s when Aria saw something strange—
In the lake nearby, a group of students was forcing a boy underwater.

“What are they doing?!”

As she stepped forward, Minette grabbed her wrist.

“Why are you stopping me? You were watching too, weren’t you?”

“I was, but…”

Minette hesitated.

“It’s best not to get involved with that one.”

“What do you mean? Who is he?”

“Nocturne Vendrix.”

Minette lowered her voice.

“That monster who burned down the Vendrix duchy.”

Aria blinked.

Her eyes dropped to her left ankle.

“Fire, huh…”