IWBAACTWITOS Chapter 7

I watched Asher read the storybook aloud, careful with every syllable.

It had been two months since we became friends. I came to the imperial palace once a week to play with him.

The ducal household was thrilled. Until now, I'd done everything possible to escape whenever they tried to arrange playdates. Now I went to the palace on my own, every single time.

When I got home today, they'd interrogate me again about what Asher and I did together.

Just thinking about it was exhausting. And playing with Asher was seriously, deeply boring.

All we did was eat snacks, take walks, and read storybooks. We'd played hide-and-seek exactly once. That was it.

'Whoever made Asher such a boring prince character—'

Me. Damn it. There was no point complaining. I let out a deep sigh. Asher closed the storybook and looked at me.

"Is it boring?"

"Hm? No, keep reading."

When I told him to keep reading, Asher puffed out both cheeks in protest.

"But Tilly, you can read storybooks by yourself."

"No, I can't."

Asher puffed his cheeks at my casual lie. Last time, when he stumbled over a passage, I'd corrected him. He knew I could read.

But I kept pretending I couldn't and told him to keep reading.

"Cinderella put on the glass slippers and danced with the prince."

Aegis went back to reading, but when he reached the part where the prince and Cinderella danced, his lips moved soundlessly. I could tell he was choosing his words. I shrugged as if to say, if you have something to say, say it.

"I want to dance with Tilly too."

"Dance?"

"Yeah, dance. I just started learning a while ago, and my teacher said I'm doing well."

"Okay. But I don't know how to dance."

"Should I teach you?"

"Um... sure."

The moment I agreed, Asher's face lit up completely. I didn't really understand why he was this happy about it, but his bright smile was undeniably cute.

Asher closed the storybook again and went to the maid waiting outside the room to tell her we wanted to dance. I reopened the storybook he'd left behind.

'I can't believe they have Cinderella here too.'

It was one of my least favorite fairy tales. I liked it when I was young, but once I grew up, I realized it was just another brutal story in disguise.

'Well, it's based on old folktales turned into children's stories. Of course it's a mess from start to finish.'

I'd been caught off guard when Asher brought out Cinderella today, saying he'd been studying it ahead of time. I hadn't known this world had Cinderella. I probably hadn't bothered to detail every single storybook that existed in this world's setting.

'Still, why this one of all things? Oh—he must've picked it because he wants to dance.'

His thinking was so transparent it was cute. Not my preference, but he was my baby, so of course I found him adorable.

'All right. I'll show you what a dance legend looks like.'

I'd obsessed over idols back in high school and learned every kind of dance. My friend and I even did synchronized knife-sharp choreography together. A ballroom dance for little kids? Easy.

'Of course, by my late twenties I couldn't do it anymore.'

I remembered how I'd pushed through college and grad school without taking a single year off, burning through my lifespan recklessly. By my late twenties, I was constantly aching from lack of exercise. My dance crew friends and I used to laugh about how our knees would give out if we tried those moves now.

"Tilly! They're all ready!"

At Asher's call, I didn't have time to sink deeper into thought. I had to get up. I took his small hand and walked out to the garden, where a grand piano and quite a few people were waiting. Charlotte had even spread out a picnic blanket with snacks and was sitting in the shade.

"...Aren't we just dancing?"

"That's right."

"Then what's all this?"

"Well... I told my dance teacher about it, so they prepared the piano and everything. But Mother said she wanted to watch us dance."

Calling it "watching" seemed like an understatement—an artist had even set up an easel on one side. When I looked around with a bewildered expression, Charlotte approached me.

"I'm sorry, Tilly. Did it startle you?"

"No, it's just—"

"Actually, when I bragged about watching you and Asher dance, the dads complained it wasn't fair."

I grimaced at that. From Charlotte's smile—half apologetic, half amused—it was clear that not just Julian but the Emperor himself had thrown a tantrum. I couldn't understand why I had to be embarrassed about it.

Interpreting my reaction somehow, Charlotte tried to convince me.

"So I thought we'd capture the two of you dancing in a painting—would that be all right? You won't have to hold a pose for long. It won't be uncomfortable."

"..."

'Ah, so that's why they dragged a piano all the way out to the garden.'

I didn't know whether to call it dedication or excessive. But I was the one who'd written these doting fools into existence, so I had no grounds to complain.

"It's fine."

At my permission, Charlotte beamed and signaled to the artist and pianist. When the music started slowly, Asher extended his hand to me—he must've learned etiquette ahead of time.

Only then did I notice the meaning behind Asher's white formal suit and the golden ribbon at his neck.

'Miss, look at this! It's a new outfit and ribbon—do you like it?'

I remembered my nanny's usual fussing. As always, I'd answered half-heartedly: 'Yeah, yeah. Very pretty.' Realizing everyone had been in on this, I let out a hollow laugh and began dancing with Asher.

Moving to the music as Asher taught me, I accidentally stepped on his small foot. But Asher showed no sign of pain—just smiled gently.

"..."

Asher's smile was beautiful, but that doll-like expression made my mood plummet.

The first time was an accident, but when I deliberately stomped on his foot a few more times, Asher looked at me in surprise before cleverly starting to dodge.

No matter how many times I stepped on his feet, Asher would never say anything out of consideration for me.

That's the kind of kid he was.

The heavy, floating sensation I'd felt in the ducal household ever since Royna was born swallowed me up again.

I'd escaped to the palace using Asher as an excuse, but it was the same here as there. Whether at the ducal estate or the palace, I was just a tiny child.

'I want to go home.'

Aegis watched Thaleia, who was holding her rabbit doll and staring out the window. Ever since they'd danced together in the garden last time, Thaleia had been tormenting Aegis in strange ways.

Pulling on his cheeks. Stealing his snacks. That kind of tormenting. When Aegis just smiled brightly through it all, Thaleia would scrunch up her face in displeasure.

'She can have all my snacks, and she can pull my cheeks as much as she wants.'

Aegis was trying every way he could to get Thaleia's attention, but Thaleia only tormented him occasionally and showed little real interest in Aegis.

Sometimes she'd look incredibly frustrated, then suddenly fall asleep.

'Just like now.'

"Should we take a walk in the garden?"

Aegis spoke hurriedly, worried Thaleia might suddenly fall asleep again at this rate. At his words, Thaleia turned her gaze from the window to Aegis.

Every time their eyes met—those beautiful purple eyes—his heart went thump-thump. More beautiful and mysterious than the lavender blooming in the Empress's garden.

Despite her cute appearance, her gaze and words were cold, but Aegis still liked Thaleia.

"Walking sounds tiring."

"I'll carry you on my back."

At Aegis's offer to carry her, Thaleia seemed to consider it briefly before nodding. When Aegis presented his back to Thaleia, she climbed on eagerly.

The rabbit doll she always carried dangled below his neck. Feeling a bit cheerful, Aegis stepped forward energetically.

All the servants of the Empress's palace they passed in the corridor smiled warmly.

"Tilly, it's stairs, so hold on tight."

"...Okay."

Thaleia's arms around his neck tightened, and her soft platinum hair tickled his cheek. He liked the sound of her breathing behind him and the weight that wasn't very heavy at all.

Worried Thaleia might fall asleep while being carried, Aegis kept talking without noticing how tired he was getting.

"Tilly."

"Yeah?"

"You said you have a younger sister, right?"

"...Yeah. You mean Royna?"

"What's your sister like?"

"She's still a baby who can only roll over."

"Is she cute?"

"She's cute."

"What does she look like?"

"Platinum hair and purple eyes, just like me."

"If she looks like you, she must be cute, right?"

"I think she looks more like Mom than Dad, though."

"I hope she looks like you."

Too tired to argue with Aegis's random stubbornness, Thaleia halfheartedly agreed that her sister resembled her too.

"I wanted a younger sibling too. Mother and Father seem to want a pretty girl like Tilly."

"I know. But you said 'wanted,' not 'want'?"

"I wished I had a younger sister, but now I have Tilly."

"I'm not your little sister."

"You're younger than me."

"I'll be five soon, just like you."

"I'll be six soon, though."

Displeased by Aegis's comeback that left her with nothing to say, Thaleia grabbed his shoulders and shook them.

"Ow!"

Aegis, who'd been holding on tight to keep Thaleia from falling, ended up dropping her after all. Thaleia fell and landed hard on her bottom. Startled, Aegis quickly helped Thaleia up and dusted off her clothes. Thaleia glared at Aegis with displeasure before asking.

"Is that why you smile like an idiot? Because I seem like a little sister?"

"...Half?"

"Then pick someone else from your other friends and make them your sister."

By "other friends," she meant the noble children Aegis met separately. At that, Aegis shook his head vigorously.

"I said you're half like a little sister, not that I want to make you my sister. I like you, not the other friends. You're the only one I smile at like an idiot. No, I mean, I smile at my friends too, but... I mean, um..."

As Aegis uncharacteristically stumbled over his words, Thaleia looked at him with a complicated expression.

"You only like me?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Because you're the same as me."

"How are we the same?"

"Well, Tilly, you're... a Remetio."

"Because we're children of the three families everyone has expectations for?"

When Thaleia put into words what Aegis couldn't explain, he smiled and nodded.

I knew it—Thaleia is the same as me. She's been looking at the same things I have. Aegis thought this and smiled brightly.

"...Then why do you meet the other friends?"

"Because I have to."

"Like taking lessons and studying hard?"

When Thaleia asked and Aegis nodded again, Thaleia let out a deep sigh and shook her head.

Thaleia looked frustrated again. Mistaking that frustration as being about him, Aegis grabbed Thaleia's arm.

"Tilly, do you dislike me?"

"...I don't dislike you."

"Then why are you like this?"

"I'm like this because I don't dislike you. I don't know what to do with you."

Aegis tilted his head at the words he couldn't understand. Thaleia picked up the rabbit doll from the ground and said:

"You're too young to understand."