chapter 84
Ferdinand checked the jewelry box with trembling hands.
It was the gift his young son had once bought with saved allowance money for his mother.
He turned the rusty clasp and click—the box opened.
Inside was—
“Ah……”
Ferdinand couldn’t help swallowing a gasp.
Resting gently on velvet cloth was a necklace set with a pink diamond.
The very first jewel he had ever gifted to Solana.
“Light of Dawn…”
And beside it lay a neatly folded note.
My dear Ferhin,
If you are reading this letter, it means I am no longer at your side.
I worry for Koenig and Yeloise… but of course, I worry for you the most.
From the moment I first saw you in the gardens of Black Dragon Castle until this very moment when you must be thinking of me—
I have loved you every single day without fail.
Even now, while I have stepped away for just a moment, I miss you terribly.
I’m sure you miss me even more, don’t you?
How is life without me? Is it at least bearable?
I hope it is.
Don’t mourn for too long just because I’m gone.
I am the morning sun tapping at your window, and the sunset you see when you lift your head.
Because I am always by your side.
We will meet again someday—without fail.
I’ll be spending the time with Ern and Charles. So please, watch over the children we can no longer protect.
When all of your days draw to a close, when the last of them fades—
I will be standing there.
Please tell me, with a smile, that your days were joyful.
Then I will run to you and hold you, unable to contain how much I’ve missed you.
Until then, farewell… my Ferhin.
—Your sun, Solana
When he finished reading the final line, the sunset that had wrapped around him like Solana’s embrace finally faded away.
“Solana……”
He felt as though that warm light had been his wife, returned to him for a fleeting moment.
And when that light disappeared—
“……”
Drip. Drip.
Thick droplets rolled down his rough hands and fell to the floor.
But I burned this necklace together with Solana…
He remembered clearly handing it to her with his own hands—her favorite accessory for life.
So why was it hidden beneath the floor of the White Palace?
He couldn’t understand.
But the confusion lasted only a moment. Soon, a faint smile tugged at his lips.
Even in death, how do you still manage to make me smile…
It seemed Solana had sensed her approaching end and prepared many things.
She must have crafted an identical replica, hidden her treasure with the letter—
Inside the sunset they once watched together.
Probably because—
It was for me…
Solana had worried for the man who would be left alone even in her final moments.
And she left behind her own message of comfort.
“Solana……”
Ferdinand whispered the beloved name through clenched teeth.
It felt as though she would run in at any moment, lay a gentle hand on his rough one, pull him into her small embrace, pat his back, and say everything would be all right.
When he held her warm body, he always thought he had lived his entire life for that single moment.
All anger and sorrow melted like snow.
In this moment, he missed Solana with piercing intensity.
And then—
“……”
Something small tapped his hand. Too small to even be called a hand.
His grandson’s squirrel.
The tiny creature was making the same expression as him—
Huge tears, half as big as its face, clinging to its eyes as it looked up at him.
“Are you… comforting me…?”
The acorn-sized squirrel didn’t speak.
Instead, it wrapped its tiny arms around the back of his hand and buried its face in it.
It had been a long, long time since Ferdinand had seen someone cry for him rather than because of him.
Solana had been the last.
“You little thing…”
A faint laugh escaped him.
Whenever he saw people hugging each other for comfort, he always thought, ‘How is that supposed to help anything?’
He’d always thought it was just one more person bawling and making more noise.
But when something soft and warm touched the back of his hand—
“…Why is this… so comforting…”
At that moment, a familiar voice rose in his mind.
“I’ll send you a small angel to watch over you.”
It was the voice of his late grandfather.
Maybe… no, more likely—
“That angel must be you, little one.”
After that, major changes came to Black Dragon Castle.
“Kreutz, assemble!”
First, a strange new rule appeared:
no matter what happens, everyone must share at least one meal a day together.
Today, that meal seemed to be lunch.
Hearing Ferdinand’s voice from the banquet hall, I scrambled down the corridor.
“Chuut—!”
I’m here!!
“You’re early, little one. They say you shouldn’t take in black-haired strays, but you’re worth every bit of trouble. My useless grandkids can go away.”
That was the second big change at Black Dragon Castle.
Ever since I found Solania’s necklace, I had become the apple of Ferdinand’s eye.
“Ahem. Is there anything you want? I heard you like southern fruits. Should I put the entire Carless territory under your name?”
He was desperate to shower me with gifts every day.
Naturally, Koenig and Yeloise hated this with burning passion.
“He must’ve gone senile overnight.”
“Right? Just days ago he was talking about kicking Cherry out.”
Ferdinand didn’t listen to a single word from his grandchildren.
“Carless, you see, gets warm sunlight 365 days a year. The fruit there is sweeter than sugar. Would you like to visit with your old grandpa?”
For reference, Carless was the southern estate Ferdinand had lived in.
As he smiled, Koenig cut in.
“There’s no need for that. We’re already importing Cherry’s favorite fruits from the south.”
“What would a brat who can’t even taste anything know?! Carless fruit is on a different level!”
“Fruit is fruit, grandfather.”
“How can you say something so uncultured! This is why people need to broaden their horizons, you frog living in a Black Dragon well!”
Ferdinand clicked his tongue while Koenig shook his head.
Their bickering grew heated when—
“Cherry, rather than the South, why don’t you come with me to the Western Continent? It has fruits not found in the Empire—plus plenty of jewels you’d like.”
“I have jewels too, little one!”
The moment Ferdinand interrupted Yeloise and me—
“Anyone can talk. What matters is what one can give.”
Koenig held out something toward me.
A luxurious box—far too fancy to be ordinary.
When I opened it—
“Chu… Chuuuut?!”
C-Crystal?!
It scattered rainbow light in every direction.
A ring made of small crystals linked together.
Well… a bracelet when sized for me?
As I blinked blankly, wondering what it was, Koenig slowly spoke.
“I wanted you to have the very first crystal we mined.”
He said it took quite some time to process it to my size and craft it into jewelry.
But that wasn’t the surprising part.
“I put my mana into that bracelet.”
“Chuk— Chu—?!!”
I almost spat out the walnut I had just eaten.
Because this meant only one thing.
Yeloise had invented “crystal accessories capable of storing mana.”
And that concept held only a single meaning—
I want to always be with you.
Which meant this was…
Was this… a proposal?!
