Chapter 52

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Translated by Sylph

Read only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net.

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From his perspective as well, Clois had been rapidly breaking down since the beginning of this year.

All day long, he would gaze out the window with a face completely devoid of expression, lost in a daze.

It was the same during meeting times. For seven years, he had driven the ministers to an extreme extent, confirming everything personally.

Thanks to that, many things progressed quickly and without disorder.

If even a hint of corruption or deception were revealed, the party involved truly had to prepare for death.

Because Clois worked by driving himself so frantically, the Empire quickly regained its prosperity.

In exchange, Clois was rapidly ruined.

Even so, they thought he was somehow holding on…

“He is truly at his limit now. He refuses medicine, and if it continues like this, something truly major will happen…”

The Imperial Physician said so while looking uneasily at the window where Clois often stood.

Although he could not bring himself to say it, he was subtly suggesting that the Emperor might take his own life.

But even knowing the Emperor’s condition and its cause, there was no way to cure it.

A dead person cannot return to life.

So the Minister of State tried his best to at least slow down the Emperor’s deterioration.

Naturally, no results were achieved.

‘But…’

A while ago, Clois’s state changed.

He, who used to sit blankly without any motivation, began to move. Expressions gradually appeared on his cold face.

‘When did that start?’

The Minister of State tried to recall what happened in the Imperial Palace around the time Clois began to change.

He soon remembered what had occurred.

‘The Gifted Center opened.’

But there was no way Clois would like that.

Hadn’t he continued to oppose it even when the ministers repeatedly urged him to open it quickly?

Furthermore, Clois used to become even more depressed upon seeing young children, as they reminded him of the deceased Princess.

So it shouldn’t be that he improved because the Gifted Center opened…

While the Minister of State was agonizing as he couldn’t quite find the reason for his improvement, Clois put down his pen.

“This much confirmation is enough. Please handle the rest yourself.”

Having said that, Clois rose from his seat.

“Your Majesty?”

The startled Minister of State stood up after him.

As expected, it was strange.

Normally, he would have personally confirmed everything until the end, but to hand over the work after looking only at the essential parts.

“Do you have another schedule?”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just… I want to walk a bit. Then, I’ll leave it to you.”

At his answer, the Minister of State bowed his head.

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While walking, Clois was recalling his actions just now.

‘To not check until the end.’

It was something that could not happen normally.

Because if he let his eyes and hands rest even a little, depressing thoughts would keep occurring, so he was the type to even create work that didn’t exist.

But he had handed over many things to the Minister of State and hurriedly come outside.

And now, like a person with an appointment, he was heading toward the graves of Lilian and Evbien.

The guards protecting the entrance to the graveyard recognized the Emperor and bowed their heads.

Clois gave them a brief greeting.

“Good work.”

“…!”

At those words, the guards’ shoulders flinched.

“What is it?”

“No, it’s just that it’s the first time Your Majesty has spoken to us first like this… ah, never mind.”

The guard who had been answering with a flustered voice hurriedly closed his mouth.

Clois was also flustered.

‘Was it so?’

Thinking about it, whenever he came here, he always felt like he was walking through a dark and deep swamp.

He couldn’t even breathe properly and stepping forward was difficult, so let alone looking around, just holding on was overwhelming.

So he had no room to offer greetings to them.

Those people now, for the first time, were properly seen.

The people who were always here, only now.

Clois said with a bitter smile.

“…I am always grateful.”

At the Emperor’s greeting, the guards bowed their waists even deeper.

Clois, who had given a return greeting by lightly raising his hand, headed inside.

Passing through the narrow path, he noticed a change. The sadness he felt every time he walked here had faded.

‘Why is that.’

People said time would erase his sadness.

That oblivion, a blessing allowed to humans, would also bury his past deep within his heart.

Soon, emerging from the path, the usual graves of his wife and child greeted him.

But…

“….”

Clois wiped his face with one hand.

It was strange.

Today, his throat wasn’t choked. His eyes didn’t become hot either.

It wasn’t that the sadness had disappeared. It was still alive deep in his chest. But why…

While he was blankly staring at the graves, a rustling sound came from the bushes behind.

“…!”

Clois hurriedly approached that spot.

A small child revealed herself while pushing through the bushes.

The child, who raised her body from a prone position, looked up at him. The green eyes curved softly upon seeing him.

“Professor!”

At the sight of her reaching out her two arms as if asking to be caught, Clois approached as if enchanted and lifted the child up.

The small and warm body was fully held in his arms.

“Evi?”

“Yes! It’s been a while!”

A voice mixed with laughter mumbled within his embrace.

Clois put more strength into the arms hugging the child.

Was it because he put too much strength? The moment he heard a sound of struggling, he regained his senses and hurriedly sat Evi on the nearby bench.

Evi’s state, having come through the bushes, was a mess.

Not to mention her disheveled hair, leaves and dirt were stuck here and there on her clothes.

Clois sat on one knee in front of Evi, matching her eye level, and picked off the things stuck to her.

“Dear, are you hurt anywhere?”

“Yes. I’m okay.”

He thought she was just saying that, but after picking off the stuck leaves, there was truly not a single wound.

‘All sorts of things happen.’

Even though there were parts on her clothes that looked scratched or a bit worn, there was not a single hurt spot on Evi’s body.

As if the bushes had moved out of the way on their own.

He turned his head and looked at the bushes.

‘I had thought about blocking it.’

If he had given the order, that path would have been blocked that very day. Perhaps a wall would have been erected in the forest so that no one could cross over.

But in the end, he did not give that order.

After finishing tidying even her hair, the child’s appearance was properly seen.

‘She looks much better.’

The appearance of Evi seen on the first day the Gifted Center opened was enough to draw a sigh.

A small height and scrawny limbs. She didn’t even have the chubby baby fat that should naturally be seen at this age.

On top of that, her parched and lackluster hair made Evi look even more pitiful.

But it was not to that extent anymore.

Was she eating well? Her skin and hair, which had looked rough, now had a glow.

Flesh had risen on her hollow cheeks, and a healthy flush was visible.

The clothes that used to be baggy because they didn’t fit despite wearing the smallest ones seemed to fit to some extent now, and protruding bones were no longer visible on her wrists.

And…

“That’s right, thank you so much for the gift!”

Not a single shadow could be seen in the smile she showed toward him.

Clois looked at Evi for a moment without being able to say anything.

She was a child who smiled well even when they first met.

Wasn’t she the child who approached him, a stranger, handed him a handkerchief, and immediately greeted him while saying who she was?

But at that time, the tension she couldn’t fully hide was evident.

Compared to that, now…

‘She looks like a child who has lived here all her life.’

No tension was seen in Evi’s attitude now.

It was an extremely familiar and natural attitude, as if she were roaming around her own front yard.

‘The Gifted Center seems to suit her well.’

A smile also hung on his face.

The reason he wasn’t very favorable toward the opening of the Gifted Center was due to the nobles’ problems, but more than that, it was because he was worried about the children.

He was worried about the children who had to come alone from far away at a young age.

So from this year, he ordered to maximize the days children could go home.

Thanks to that, the Gifted Center had more holidays than before and vacations also became longer. Going home on weekends was also authorized.

But that is a good thing only when family lives nearby.

Children from distant cities find it hard to see their family unless it’s vacation.

Furthermore, since it’s each person’s responsibility from the moment they leave the Gifted Center, for a child who came from far away and doesn’t have sufficient means like Evi, it is virtually impossible to go and meet them.

So he thought she would be anxious about being away from where she lived, but not a single hint of that was seen in Evi.