That Lady’s Stalker - Chapter 29
My brother was completely out of place in this room. His neatly combed hair, his immaculate and luxurious clothes without a speck of dust—he looked noble from head to toe. Just looking at him made me feel like my dirtiness would rub off on him, so I instinctively lowered my gaze.
As I stared blankly at the floor, my brother’s agitated voice cut through the silence.
“Your behavior is the one disgraceful! Not you yourself!”
His anger was justified. Our conversations had always been like this, and it must have been frustrating for him.
“……”
“Prepare yourself. It won’t take long.”
His broad back disappeared behind the iron door. My chest tightened. Something must have been wrong with what I ate. No matter how hard I hit my chest with my fist, the tightness wouldn’t go away.
How many days passed after that? The old, rusted iron door creaked open with an unpleasant sound. It was my brother, holding a crown in his hand.
“Let’s go.”
I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want this. I was sure of it, so why were tears welling up?
I followed my brother out of the tower. The sky, which I hadn’t seen in years, was dark gray, not blue. It was as if the sky itself wasn’t welcoming my return to the outside world.
“I want to see Mother.”
I didn’t mind being locked away in the tower. It wasn’t uncomfortable.
But when Mother looked at me, it was as if she saw a child suffering in hell. Whenever she visited me in the Eastern Tower, she couldn’t see my eyes directly. Even though she didn’t show it, I could see the guilt weighing her down.
“Asher, it’s just a superstition. Stand tall.”
With a somber face, Mother embraced me tightly. It was the first time she had hugged me, even though she had always been strict.
In my mother’s arms, who became smaller than before, I swallowed my tears.
Perhaps at that moment, I realized. The guilt that had weighed down on Mother was growing like a snowball, and eventually, it would consume her.
“……”
My brother wordlessly led me to the imperial tomb. We, as brothers, said nothing. We just stared blankly at Mother’s tombstone.
That day, I made a vow. I would repay my brother, who personally took me out of the tower, for the cursed life that had slowly eaten away at everything, even my mother.
I would bring the Empire’s glory, the wealth that my father had so desperately wanted, to him.
Drizzle began to fall. A cold mist enveloped the tomb.
I kneeled before my brother.
“Your Majesty.”
He still said nothing. He just looked at me with a face twisted in agony.
994th Year of the Empire, May
I tried. I tried not to tarnish his face. To keep the promise I made that day.
I wanted to erase everything within me and become his sword. But every now and then, a face would appear, a name would echo, and they kept digging into me.
At first, I didn’t even know who Olivia Flonari was.
Her name, which I had no interest in, would occasionally drift through my ears. Eventually, I learned that she had red hair. For a moment, the image of the beautiful girl from my memory flashed through my mind, but I dismissed it, thinking it was nothing. Just a coincidence.
However, while walking down a street lined with salons, I caught a fleeting glimpse of her face, and there it was again—the face of the girl I had longed to see. If she had always seen only the good, eaten only the best, and heard only the finest things, she must have grown into a woman like that.
She was beautiful. A woman as dazzling as the sunlight of that day. The gray sky cleared up around her as if it was lifting just for her.
Olivia Flonari. I muttered that name under my breath, just to see what it felt like, and then turned away.
Something began to swell in my chest. It rose up to my throat, shimmering and wavering. What was this? Was it affection? Had I unwittingly embraced you, the one I thought I had forgotten?
A faded curiosity raised its head. Would you, even now, fail to see my black hair like you did that day? The broken hope, which had been scattered like sand somewhere inside me, now fluttered in the air. It seemed to call out, wanting to be seen.
“Olivia Flonari.”
I didn’t even realize my mouth had opened on its own.
994th Year of the Empire, November
“Olivia…”
Her name dominated me in an instant. Even when I swung my sword in the training grounds, when I trained my subordinates, and even on the battlefield, that name followed me like a shadow.
No, in fact, it was lodged firmly in my mouth.
“Olivia Flonari.”
As I uttered her name again, I heard soldiers talking outside the tent.
“I heard Lady Olivia’s ideal type is someone with long hair.”
“Long hair? That’s quite an unusual taste.”
I heard them chiming in with laughter. I absentmindedly ran my hand over the back of my neck. It felt oddly cold, like there was an emptiness there.
“Even if you say so, I know you’ll grow it out.”
“To be honest, I’ve been planning on growing it out for a while.”
Laughter rang through the thin tent, piercing through the cold air.
Since it was such a cold season, short hair wasn’t ideal for warmth. And on the battlefield, long hair would also help confuse the enemy.
After thinking it through from all angles, growing my hair out seemed to be the logical choice.
