The Abandoned Empress

“Do you remember what I said a few months ago? Why, what do you like? ”

“Oh, yes. I remember. Why is that? ”

“Just open it.”

I was curious why he was so anxious about it, but I untied the ribbon silently and opened the box. At that moment, my eyes popped up.

The tiny silver box contained all sorts of chocolates. Chocolates in the shape of hearts, stars, circles, triangles, squares as well as swords and shields and even the crest of my family.

“Wow, pretty…”

“Do you like it?” asked Allendis with a smile, surprised by my spontaneous admiration. I nodded gently, with my eyes fixed on the box.

“Yes, it’s my first time seeing this. How did you make it? ”

“Well, you told me you liked something white, warm and sweet like snow. So I tried making chocolates to your liking.. ”

It was great for him to create chocolates in such various shapes, but what really impressed me was not that. All the chocolates in the small box were not brown, but all white, to my surprise.

“It’s surprising that you made them all white.”

“Well, I thought it was good because it was sweet and warm when you ate it, but no matter how hard I tried to find it, there was no white. So, it took awhile for me to try to make it white. ”

“Wow…You’re really great. Thanks so much, Allen. ”

Little did I think he could make white chocolates.

As I looked at them, I was so amazed that I could hardly think of eating them, when suddenly a black shadow hung over my head. With all smiles on his face, Allendis was looking down at me.

“You know what, Tia?”

“Ugh?”

“There is one more condition if you want to make white chocolates. I’ll tell you if you’re not angry with me. ”

“I won’t. What is that? I’m curious.”

“It’s me.”

What the heck is he talking about? It’s me?

No matter how hard I think, it didn’t understand, so I slowly asked back, tilting my head.

“…What are you talking about?”

“Look at me. I’ve got fair skin, I’m more than warm-hearted and I’m a sweet guy. So, what do you think? Don’t I meet that condition perfectly?”

“…”

“So, please take me, Ugh?”

“… ”

“Okay, okay. Don’t talk about it anymore today.”

“Don’t you want to try these chocolates?”

“Well, I want to save them. They’re so cute…”

When he watched me hesitating for a moment, his emerald eyes sparkled brightly as if he thought about something. When I looked at him curiously, he took the box from me and picked a small chocolate.

“Oh, open your mouth, please.”

“Let me have it by myself.”

“Come on. My arm hurts. ”

“But…”

“Can you have it this time only, thinking about my hard work?”

I closed my eyes, feeling that my face was blushing hot. How smart you are, Allendis! I can’t refuse it if you beg me like that.

When I opened my mouth hesitantly, he put that small chocolate into my mouth.

“It’s really sweet. Delicious.”

“I’m glad to hear that. My hard work has paid off!”

“Thank you very much, Allendis!”

When I hugged his neck with a bright smile, he paused for a moment, then hugged me and stroked my hair gently.

“How about it? Was it white, warm and sweet? ”

“Yes, it was. I felt exactly as I wished.”

His low voice close to whispering was somewhat sweet, and I felt very warm when I was held in his white formal suit. I naturally closed my eyes, hearing his soft voice echoing in my head that it was him who was white, warm and sweet like snow. I felt relieved from the tension surrounding my whole body.

I didn’t realize until this moment that there was somebody overhearing my last dialogue with Allendis, and that it became the beginning of all the events that took place afterwards.

“What are these, everyone?”

“Gifts for you, my lady!”

“Gifts for me?”

“I heard that you wanted something white, warm and sweet. Is that right? We’ve got them for you.”

“Pardon?”

There were gift boxes piled up in the corner of the training center, with the knights looking at me nervously.

I alternately watched dozens of packages and the knights staring fiercely at each other. Are these all gifts?

“Please open them, my lady!”

“Really? Ah yes. Thank you, everyone. ”

As if there were only something ”white, warm and sweet,’ the types of gifts in the boxes were very diverse.

A white fox fur shawl, women’s gloves woven from white lace, white silk handkerchiefs that looked very soft, cakes with white fresh cream and all kinds of sugar cookies, and many more.

After I opened them all, the knights surrounding me while I was unpacking the box opened their mouths one by one.

“Which one is your favorite?”

“Pardon? Well…”

“I think you like mine best. A scarf may be white and warm, but it’s not sweet, right? ”

“What are you talking about? Isn’t it a warm and sweet white handkerchief? You can eat a white cake, and that’s it. But you can keep using it.”

I got dumbfounded, watching them having a quarrel over their gifts. When I was standing quietly without responding, Allendis carefully grabbed my wrist and pulled me gently.

Muffling our footsteps, he and I slipped out of the training field. When I finally entered the reception room nearby, my heart that was pounding fast finally came back to normal.

It looked like they overheard my conversation with Allendis a little while ago, but I wonder how they could bring all those gifts in such a short time.

When I thought they must have been running around to obtain the gifts all morning, a smile came to my lips naturally. Somehow I felt comforted warmly, so I put a white chocolate in my mouth, when I suddenly heard someone knocking on the door.

“This is Lina, my lady. May I come in?”

“Yes, you can come in.”

She was holding something big in her hand when she came into the drawing room. She looked at me with an expectant expression after handing it to me.

“What is this, Lina?”

“It’s cotton candy, my lady.”

“Cotton candy?”

“Yes, I hear you said you liked something white, warm and sweet. This is the masterpiece of the butler, chief chef and the house staff!”

“What? Masterpiece? ”

I was just speechless at that. Obviously, it was a little conversation between me and Allendis. How many were there who overheard it?

As I reacted feebly, she said with a smile, “They made it by pulling it like a white thread from melted sugar, then rolling it around a stick. Doesn’t it look warm like a cotton ball? It’s white, sweet and warm as you wish!”

“I see.”

“Please try it once. Come on.”

“Sure…Oh, this one is also sweet. Thanks, Lina. Please tell everyone that I would like to thank them.”

“How about it, my lady? Isn’t this what you wanted?”

I hesitated for a moment. How should I reply? She said everyone in my house put all their efforts into making it. In that respect, I could not reply in the negative.

Well, I could simply say she was right, but I felt like I would be in big trouble if I gave her a misleading reply. I knew I was put on the spot because of Allendis and the knights.

So, I hesitated, not knowing what to do, when I saw somebody entering the reception room.

I stood up, gladly welcoming the appearance of the unexpected ally.

“Hi, Daddy! There was a little disturbance because of me this morning. Sorry.”

“How are you, Marquis Monique!”

“Nice to see you, Verita Jr. Oh, that’s fine, Tia. I can understand that as your father. By the way…”

“Pardon?”

“I heard that you wanted something white, warm and sweet. Why didn’t you tell me if you wanted something?”

“…” Only

Returning Allendis’ greetings half-heartedly, he showed some regrets to me immediately.

I smiled awkwardly at my father who felt a bit upset. But I was so dejected as to respond now.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about what you wanted, but I could not figure it out. I hope this is what you wanted. ”

It was tea leaves that he gave me. The long tea leaves in a small box were slightly silvery, unlike the typical ones.

Wow, it’s white tea, which tasted bitter first, then sweet.

“Thank you so much, Daddy.”

When I carefully put aside the small box, I could feel everyone around me looking at me intensely. Not only my father but also Allendis, the butler, Lina and Sir League, who I didn’t even know came into the drawing room, were staring at me.