Chapter 7
----------------------------------------------------------------- Translator: Diva Chapter: 7 Chapter Title: The Boy in the Rain -----------------------------------------------------------------
His hands were startlingly white—nearly as pale as her own. They were elegantly shaped, exquisitely beautiful.
Talia had unconsciously stretched her arm toward him, but she felt the bird huddled in her grip twitch its wings and hastily shook her head.
"No. What do you have in your hand right now?"
She could see the boy's eyes narrowing beneath the sodden hood, heavy with rainwater.
His gaze dropped to her hand clutched against her chest.
"Is it important?"
Talia hesitated for a moment before shaking her head.
"Not really."
"Then toss it."
"Even if it's not important, I can't just throw it away."
The words burst out of her in irritation, and a wrinkle formed between the boy's smooth brows. He seemed to be growing annoyed. For a moment, she thought he might just leave her there and go.
But the boy did something utterly at odds with his cold demeanor. He bent down in front of her and scooped up her mud- and rain-soaked body in one swift motion.
Talia let out a small shriek at the unexpected action. He wrapped his arms firmly around her wriggling back and said curtly,
"Hold still."
Talia obeyed him immediately.
While she carefully loosened her grip to avoid hurting the bird nestled against her chest, he nimbly climbed the slippery slope. His steps were as agile as a cat's.
But even with such swift agility escaping the mire, he couldn't avoid getting his clothes dirty. He looked down at his ruined pants, boots, and the hem of his robe, frowning.
"This is the worst."
"...You got that way helping me, so I'll make it up to you. I can buy you something far more expensive than what you're wearing now. Actually, I'm the daughter of someone very, very important. I'll make sure to tell my servant to give you a generous reward."
She blurted it out in apology, but he seemed somehow offended.
Avoiding the piles of dirt around the pit, he took a few more steps and said gruffly,
"This little thing has quite the attitude."
Talia's face flushed red. Normally, she would have slapped the impertinent boy across the face. No one could speak to the emperor's daughter like that.
But for some reason, she couldn't say a word. Even as the cold rain pelted her forehead and cheeks without respite, her face burned like fire.
The boy stopped beneath a massive tree that Senevia hadn't managed to uproot. At that moment, the bird let out a faint cry.
He had started to lower her to the ground but paused, his eyes dropping to her hand clutched against her chest.
"What do you have there?"
He finally seemed curious.
She hesitated a moment before carefully opening her hand.
"A bird?"
He murmured skeptically.
It was understandable. The tiny chick, with its muddy, bedraggled wings drooping and its pink breast exposed, looked more like a gutter rat than a bird.
Talia's cheeks flushed. It was the bird that was utterly pathetic, but somehow she felt shabby herself.
"It's because it fell into the mud. Originally, it was..."
Maybe prettier.
She trailed off. The scrawny brown bird with its prominent bones probably hadn't been pretty to begin with. Just an ordinary sparrow, the kind you could find anywhere.
But the boy seemed inclined to show kindness even to this pitiful, ugly little creature.
Supporting her with one arm, he drew her hand—bird and all—inside his hood.
Talia's eyes widened. His skin against her fingers felt as warm as firelight. The bird sought out the heat, pressing itself close to the hollow below his collarbone.
"Your fingers are like ice. How long were you standing there?"
Gazing down at the bird nestled under his chin, the boy turned his head toward her. Thanks to that, Talia found herself staring straight into his blue eyes, framed by thick lashes wet with rain, right before her nose.
His eyes were strikingly unique up close. They were like a clear winter sky scattered with flecks of silver.
Staring into them, Talia murmured without thinking,
"You know... there's a silver crown in your eyes."
The boy's eyes widened slightly.
His lips parted as if to speak, then closed again. Talia realized this nameless boy was peering into her eyes as well.
What had he found in her gaze?
As that thought crossed her mind, a familiar voice called from afar.
"Miss!"
It was the Nurse.
She still wasn't used to calling her "Highness," so she used her old title and often got scolded by her mother or the other maids. But old habits died hard. Her anxious voice echoed in the distance.
"I... I have to go now."
Talia whispered softly. She didn't know why, but she hated saying it. Maybe the boy felt the same.
He stood motionless for a long while before reluctantly setting her down on the ground, ever so slowly.
As his arms left her, Talia felt a chill seep into her bones. Only then did she realize how warm his embrace had been.
After hesitating, she held out the fledgling toward him.
"Will you take it with you?"
Because my hands are too cold, and yours are so warm.
She meant to say that, but he bent down and gently took the bird. Then, pressing it against his alabaster cheek as if to shield it from the rain, he pulled his hood forward.
Gazing up at him, Talia asked,
"That bird... will it live?"
"...Yeah."
His blue eyes, holding that silver crown, lingered on her face for a long time.
"It'll live."
His face was expressionless, but for some reason, Talia thought he was smiling.
She turned and ran off through the rain-soaked garden.
How far had she run amid the uprooted rose bushes, shrubs, and little mounds of dirt like graves? Drawn by something, she glanced back and saw him standing still beneath the massive tree.
Why hasn't he gone?
Maybe he's waiting for the rain to let up a bit.
Or maybe he's watching me leave.
Suddenly, Talia was seized by the urge to go back to him. She wanted to shelter from the rain together. To sit side by side before a warm hearth and watch the bird recover.
But as she wavered, the Nurse popped out from inside the building. Her round face was flushed with anger—she must have been searching for quite a while.
"Where on earth have you been! Do you know how much Lady Senevia has been looking for you?"
The Nurse grabbed Talia's hand with her plump fingers and roughly dragged her into the annex.
"And look at you! You're supposed to see His Majesty soon—how can you get your clothes this filthy!"
"...I tripped while walking."
"Walking? In this weather?"
The Nurse cried out in disbelief and strode toward the corridor connecting to the Detached Palace.
Talia stumbled along in her grip, twisting back for one last look. But he was gone.