I’m the Only One Who Can Guide the Tyrant to Sleep - Chapter 18

“Look at this, Your Highness!”

Sprouting from the soil, new leaves were growing. They were very small leaves.

“You can’t revive already dead flowers. But after they die, they start anew. Look, new leaves are sprouting.”

“Starting anew?”

“Yes! So Your Highness’s ability is definitely not a bad thing. Look at these new leaves, how fresh they are!”

I smiled broadly. It was to comfort him.

“And whatever it is, it’s definitely not Your Highness’s fault. I believe in you completely!”

Caesar looked at me and then at the leaves alternately with a somewhat vacant expression.

“Your Highness?”

Whack—

He suddenly covered his face with one hand and turned his head. His ears seemed slightly red.

‘Did I do something unnecessary?’

I remembered all those countless transmigrators from my previous life who messed with the original male protagonists in various novels and ended up in dire straits.

‘Oh, it should be fine. Caesar isn’t the original male lead anyway.’

I lifted the corners of my lips and shook off the dirt from my hands. Caesar had already turned away from me and was fiddling with the flowers in the garden.

‘What’s he doing though?’

As I stared intently, it wasn’t long before a pile of flowers suddenly appeared in front of me.

“What do you think?”

Caesar was holding a small bouquet of flowers out to me.

“Why the sudden bouquet of flowers?”

“Because there’s someone to give them to.”

“Who could that be? Could it be me?”

As I playfully chuckled, Caesar’s neck turned slightly red.

“Why would I give you flowers!”

“…If not, why are you getting angry? Also, the bouquet looks too blue; it would be better to add some yellow.”

I was about to pick some yellow flowers from the garden when I hesitated.

‘Didn’t I tell Floria that she shouldn’t pick flowers though? But is it okay like this?’

“Picking flowers will make them wither quickly, you know?”

I felt guilty for not keeping my own words and blurted it out.

“But… Mom liked flowers.”

Mom? His mother had died more than ten years ago. Surely, he wasn’t talking about the current Empress.

“It’s her death anniversary soon.”

“Oh…”

I found myself dropping my head without realizing it. His mother had given birth to him and died within a year. So, his birthday, which was in February, must be followed close to the death anniversary.

“When is it?”

“On the first day of the new year.”

The heavens were truly indifferent.

Caesar must start every new year with a heavy heart. While others made wishes and celebrated new beginnings on New Year’s Day, he would likely be overwhelmed with guilt.

I plucked a bunch of yellow flowers. I felt sorry for the flowers, but there was no other way.

“Here, if you put these in between, it’ll look much more vibrant.”

Caesar accepted the flowers.

“You said they’ll wither quickly if you pick them.”

“Everything living eventually withers away, right?”

“You seem to change your mind a lot. Are you just making things up?”

“Did I get caught?”

I laughed awkwardly, and Caesar’s lips curved up slightly.

“You look much better when you smile.”

It was a compliment, but his cheeks stiffened.

“Try to smile more brightly and more often.”

“I don’t have the right to.”

“No, that’s not true. Your mother would want that.”

“Would she really?”

“Yes, she would. When you give her the flowers this time, ask her. Laugh more, Caesar. Can you do that?”

“No way.”

Even though I rudely called the crown prince by name without thinking, Caesar just burst into laughter. Indeed, he looked better when he was smiling.

‘Well, kids should smile. If they smile brightly without any worries, they can do everything they want.’

I smiled back at him, hoping that someday New Year’s Day would bring him hope for a fresh start.

***

It was only a few hours after praying like that.

I was tidying up the room before leaving for the day. In addition to Floria’s bedroom, the Princess’s Palace had several rooms, including a reception room and a dressing room.

Most of the cleaning and miscellaneous tasks were handled by the maids, and I was in charge of managing and supervising them.

After assigning tasks, I leaned against the window for a moment. Shortly before leaving work, someone holding a bouquet appeared outside the window.

‘Huh? That bouquet…’

It was the bouquet Caesar had made a few hours ago. The image of him smiling brightly as he said he would give it to his mother came to mind.

The bouquet was made rather sloppily, and there was no way I can’t tell that the yellow flowers I had added were from me.

However, the person holding the bouquet was not Caesar. It was his maid, Meriette. I squinted my eyes.

‘Why is she holding the bouquet?’

Under normal circumstances, a maid doing an errand for the prince might not have been something worth noting. However, Meriette was different.

“She seems suspicious.”

She had shown disrespectful behavior to Caesar several times before. Moreover, I had been suspecting her as a confidante of the Empress.

I opened the window slightly and observed her. Meriette, who had been standing in the garden, glanced around before heading toward a shadowed corner where the light didn’t reach.

It was not easy to notice unless you were looking down from above like me. It was an inconspicuous spot.

After confirming that there was no one around, she dropped the bouquet. Then she started to stomp on it mercilessly.

The bouquet turned into a mess in an instant. The vivid blue and yellow petals were torn apart, covered in dirty soil.

‘What is she doing?!’

I was filled with anger, and my body tensed up.

Until now, I had thought that whatever Meriette did was not my concern. I believed that the Empress’s animosity towards the prince and her efforts to control him were just part of the palace politics.

But this was different.

A human being couldn’t do something like this. How could she destroy a bouquet made by a young son for his deceased mother…? It was beyond belief.

I clenched my teeth. It had reached a point where I could no longer remain silent.