0&1 Ch 13.1

Beneath the Surface

Lady Rosé’s casket arrived in the capital a few days later. 

Lady Rosé had died.

When I first heard the news, I didn’t know what to think. 

The last time I saw her, she seemed healthy. It was dark, so I couldn’t see her complexion, but even though she was crying profusely, she didn’t seem to be ill.

When I hear someone died, I usually think of illness. But the cause was a carriage accident.

She had been in an accident in a small town outside the capital, and her identity was confirmed late, so the funeral was delayed.

Was this also part of the original game’s setting? 

Was Edward a tragic character who had been separated from his mother as a child and eventually lost her?

It would have been better if she had an incurable disease.

Why an accident? Edward was finally doing well.

It doesn’t make sense. 

If it had been an illness, I could have understood.

Edward hadn’t even had a proper conversation with her.

“Your Highness… are you alright?”
“What?”

“It’s okay to cry if you’re sad.” Dot said.

Could he interpret my reaction that way? It seemed that the Prince Joffrey Dot knew was that kind of person. Someone who could grieve over the death of someone he didn’t know well.

I don’t know Joffrey at all. 

I should have been sad to meet his expectations, but I couldn’t. I was just speechless.

I had met Lady Rosé twice since arriving in this game. The first time, we didn’t even speak. The second time, I saw her crying.

She was a nice person. Even when she thought Edward and I were village children, she tried to be kind to us. She was also a pitiful person. I decided that I would make sure Edward met her later.

And now they killed her off in an accident?

How is it that the last person the lady met was not Edward, but me?

Edward should have gone to the hunting ground instead of me.

Is the King stupid? Why did he take me instead of Edward?

That’s why I met the woman… That’s why…

Something kept bothering me. My head felt like it was going to explode.

“I need to see Edward.”
“Your Highness?”

Where could Edward be?

Dot followed me. He looked scared. “Your Highness…”

“Take me there.”
“To where?”

Where else? We’ve been meeting Edward often. “To Edward’s palace.”

When we arrived at Edward’s palace, there were no guards. I had seen Joffrey’s palace every day. I was familiar with the sight of guards standing at the main gate.

I thought it didn’t make sense to have soldiers standing there, as no sane intruder would use the main gate, but I never questioned the fact that there were soldiers there.

Edward’s main gate was empty, so it seemed that anyone, whether an uninvited guest or an intruder, could enter without hesitation.

I must be the unwelcome guest. 

As I passed through the main gate, I heard laughter coming from somewhere. The soldiers were playing poker in the shade.

Isn’t it time for them to be on duty?

They didn’t notice me even as I passed by. Dot and I weren’t being particularly careful.

“Where did you usually find Edward?”
“This way…”

I followed Dot into the garden. It resembled the structure of Joffrey’s palace. If this was the case, there must be a back gate leading to the garden.

Edward’s garden was more like a jungle than a garden. It was hard to believe that a few years of neglect could turn a place meant for flowers into this. The grass had grown into tangled vines, reaching all the way to my head.

It seemed like someone could be lying in the bushes and no one would notice.

“Oh, Eric. What are you doing here?”
“What’s the big deal? No one’s here.”

What was that noise? As I turned my head, Dot, his face red, covered my ears.

“Y-Your Highness! You mustn’t hear that! That’s a bad sound!”

I know what it is. 

“What is it?”
“I’ll tell you when you’re an adult, Your Highness.”

I caught a glimpse of lovers meeting in secret among the bushes. They looked like a soldier and a maid. They were living people. People with emotions and enough energy to fall in love.

I thought of Edward. An abandoned child. An abandoned building.

I thought it would have been better if it hadn’t been like that. There were many people in this palace. Yet Edward was alone.

“He was waiting here.” 

Dot had given Edward his lunch box here. It was a gazebo that looked like a ruin. There was a gazebo in the same place in my garden. 

There were roses and snacks and Edward there, but there was nothing here.