Chapter 8

‘Family?’

Of course. I didn’t want to talk about my family to anyone. I really don’t want to talk to him about it. I must have looked upset. He who seemed to care about me backed up as if a waring beast stepping back from the enemy with its claws hidden.

“Don’t answer it. I have no questions, master.”

Charlize was quite confused. She also felt a little disappointed.

“Is that so?”

“….”

Even if he asked about her family, she would have considered for a long time. Still, she wished he would ask her, but he sure was a wild beast.

He wouldn’t open himself up to me.

“This would be it for today. Thank you.”

Charlize laughed and stood up. She wasn’t trying to continue the conversation, nor did she ask any more questions. Her behavior made him anxious. But he didn’t stop her again.

But…

‘You’re not going to let this go…’

Dylan’s mind represented as a bowl, was starting to fill up with drops of water called curiosity. Charlize was expecting the time the bowl was completely filled with water and would overflow soon. If he bites the bait, she won’t let it go. Fishing is all about endurance.

Charlize was left feeling puzzled for the whole night.

‘Family.’

She kept thinking about him. He wasn’t interested in the King who gave birth to him. He only cared about the 7th concubine who gave birth to him. Before her return, the 7th concubine was the center of the compet.i.tion towards the throne. The second and 4th concubine hated the 7th concubine the most and bullied her.

All the princes both concubines gave birth to were dead. The death of a prince was considered common, but six princes were dead ‘first.’ The former crown prince had insulted Shan kingdom where the 7th concubine was from. And that prince was murdered the ‘most cruelly.’

The fifth prince was the only one who attended the 7th concubine’s funeral. After the intense compet.i.tion, the 5th prince was the one ‘taking the throne.’ At first, they thought it was a coincidence, but it was not.

Every situation could be explained by the 7th concubine.

‘Dylan was the secret ruler of this kingdom. This fact was known after his death. When he was alive, no one knew his true self. When Dylan died, the whole kingdom was in chaos because he was the real ruler who controlled the emperor.’

That’s not all.

‘At that time, the anonymous well-known painter, music, and musical composer was all him. The upper cla.s.s was in a mess with this incident.

Also, he wasn’t just talented in arts. He was gifted in economics, legislation, medical science, agriculture, architecture, and management. He was versatile academically.

His notes were later found and were published, and was sensational. All the notes written by him became legendary.’

‘The 7th concubine who delivered Prince Dylan must have had a big influence in his characteristics.’

‘That’s right. We had found the 7th concubine’s will later in the pension Dylan stated for a while. The scholars were ashamed they hadn’t realized his talents. And they started to pay attention to the forgotten 7th concubine.’

‘Don’t get sick, don’t stand out, and survive by any means.’

The 7th concubine’s will letter soon became popular. It was only one sentence, but it gave his purpose in life. He kept her words in mind until he died.

Charlize thought the only reason he never wished to become the emperor was because of the 7th concubine.

What if the will letter from the 7th concubine was ‘Become an emperor by all means.’?

The whole kingdom would have gone to ruin.

Charlize opened the window, and a cold wind blew inside. The sky was full of stars. Charlize believed in this opportunity. There was a reason for not becoming his master just after her return.

It had to be now.

‘This fall, the 7th concubine dies.’

The cause of her death was from poisoning. The 7th concubine who gave birth to him suffered great pain until she died.

If I want to gain his trust, I have to use this time as much as I could.

Char definitely needed to attend to 7th concubine’s funeral and stay until it all ended. She suddenly became distracted by a soft melody from a piano.

Char paused.

‘Piano?’

She could hear the piano from a close distance. Char turned her head.

‘This is……’

The sound came from his bedroom. The calm song’s tune soon became dark. She could imagine his face without looking. She had lived a long life as a sword.

Char was the closest companion of the emperors. She was knowledgeable about royalties’ hobbies and refinement. She could easily come up with the names of composition. It was the ‘Secret h.e.l.lo’ composed by Daruken. She murmured the lyrics she learned from the musical.

“You are an amateur, my fairy.”

Char started to sing following the melody. The sound of the piano suddenly stopped.

Perhaps he hadn’t noticed I was listening.

He must be hesitating. It was silent for a long time. Was it too hasty? Dylan was like an alert cat. Silence soon filled the room.

“…..”

But soon the keyboard continued playing. She quietly listened to the song.

“As soon as I saw you, I became your prisoner.”

This time, he didn’t stop. Charlize slowly filled the melody with her voice as if she was adding her own chords.

“Where are you going, my fairy?”

As if Dylan was responding, he played another line. Charlize sang again. She turned her head and looked towards the bedroom where he was at. The wall was still hard and remote, but through the melody flowing the air, they were communicating.

‘Secret h.e.l.lo’ was famous. The composer was showing his excitement, shock, curiosity, and pounding when he first saw the muse. Attractive but mysterious and careful at the same time.

The muse was later caught for being a spy. It was a song which could attract someone who lures. The subt.i.tle for the song was ‘there are thorns in roses.’

“Don’t ignore me.”

Did Dylan feel something from Charlize?

Stars filled the night sky. And delicate scents coming from the diffusers were sweet. A soft and dazzling tune. An intense and devastating play of music.

The melody was too beautiful. It was quite tingling to communicate with the piano. The atmosphere was making her crazy.

“Please look at me.”

The song ended. The play stopped. The silence that filled the room was unreal.

“….”

Suddenly, he closed the keyboard.

Charlize grinned.

She turned her head, pretending she knew nothing. She was humming. She kept humming the melody of the ‘Secret h.e.l.lo.’ And the window wasn’t closed for a long time.

If Charlize was to choose one person in her family who cared about her, it would be the second young master. Still, that attention was nearly as much as an attention to an ant in the street.

 

———

 

“There aren’t any responses back.”

“….What?”

The second young master Dante was upset. The maid, feeling sorry, avoided his eyes. Dante sent Charlize a letter yesterday. It wasn’t something special. He was just asking how she was.

She still was his younger sister. He couldn’t be like the first young master or father who completely ignored her. Sending a mail required great courage.

Dante was shocked.

“There aren’t any responses.”

He was quite joyful while writing the letter. He was expecting her to be delighted by his attention. He was even concerned that she might consider the letter as a love letter and irritate her.

But she didn’t reply. He wasn’t even thinking about this situation.

“There will be a response tomorrow morning.”

Dante refused to accept this reality. This must be a mistake. The mailman must be lazy. Anyway, Charlize must have responded if she saw the letter.

“But young master……”

The maid shut her mouth as she saw Dante’s fierce eyes. She couldn’t say that Charlize read the letter. Dante kept thinking she would reply. Those thoughts made him feel better.

There will be a swordsmanship compet.i.tion soon.

‘I have to concentrate on training and distract myself from my thoughts of her.’

Dante erased thoughts of her in his mind and turned back. He was heading towards the training field. He didn’t know she had changed.

Also, the compet.i.tion won’t be the way he would have expected it to be.

 

———

“I will meet mother this afternoon.”

“You don’t have a cla.s.s so you can do as you wish.”

They were having breakfast. Ten days were enough to get to know each other. Charlize replied to his report.

‘Can I approach him a little?’

Dylan was super sensitive when it’s about his mother, the 7th concubine. How far could she go with this?

They weren’t connecting as if they were water and oil. Absolutely white or black. There wasn’t any grey between them.

Charlize didn’t want to stimulate him too much. She pretended to be calm and finished her salad.

‘He is planning to pay a visit to the 7th concubine.’

Dylan was brighter today. Of course, he is clean and flawless every day, but today he was much more brilliant. He had the fanciest and cla.s.siest uniform. His black hair seemed like it was from the East.

He was elegant and fancy. His handsome face as if it’s carved, was paired with calm marine eyes. Though his eyes hid his thoughts, this boy seemed to be brighter than usual.

His mouth was grinning a little.

“Can I accompany you on your way to your mother?”

As if it was nothing, she broke the silence. He turned stiff. The boy stared at Charlize as if he was trying to figure out what she was up to. It was the sharpest look he had given her.

‘I’ll take that as a no.’

But later, his response was unexpected.

“…..Okay.”

“What?”

It was Charlize who was confused. But she soon got back to her senses.

“Oh…Thank you, your highness.”

I never needed to thank him though. I was quite moved. He was like a cat, which was hesitating whether or not he should run away or not and finally succeeded to pet him.

He spoke hesitantly.

“You are the first one who paid attention to….my mother.”

‘I’m doing that to seduce you.’

“But if you see my mom, you’ll love her. She is very kind and sweet.”

When he was praising the 7th concubine, he finally was acting like his age. Charlize thought she was quite familiar with him, but with his ears red, it was quite strange and shocking.

‘Was he this handsome?’

Dylan now was dangerous to my heart. He was shining like the sun. He was too shiny that I couldn’t see him straight.

He looked at Charlize and smiled. She felt trapped for a moment.