The sky couldn’t be bluer. It was an impossibly beautiful day.
The long entourage arrived at the hot spring. The front of this train was a white carriage with a three-eagle royal symbol.
The place was ready for the Cransian royalty. The owners, Viscount Nolan, and his wife had been getting the place ready for days to great the royal family.
The hot spring was thoroughly cleaned. The tiles were scrubbed until they looked new. The garden was decorated with the rarest plants borrowed from neighboring lands. This morning, all of the silverware was cleaned till they shined like mirrors.
They were ready.
Today was a special day. Even the lowliest servants were given new clothes. Everyone was excited and nervous at the same time.
Finally, the carriage arrived.
Per Viscount’s order, everyone kneeled.
“Greetings to your highness the emperor and your highness the empress.”
“Greetings to your highness the princess.”
Everyone said in a respectful voice as the carriage door opened. A woman in a luxurious dress got out and announced clearly.
“Please raise your heads.”
Viscountess Nolan looked up slowly. The woman who got off the carriage was in her early to mid-twenties and had exotic features.
Jet black hair and beautiful skin color. It was rumored that the empress was a highest born lady from a faraway kingdom and the viscountess now believed it. Viscountess Nolan quickly recovered from her nervousness and introduced herself.
“Greetings to the most honored Empress. I am Viscountess Nolan, the caretaker of this place Maram. My name is Belinda.”
The Viscount was next.
“Greetings to the most honored Empress. I am Belinda’s husband Viscount Nolan. My name is Talin.”
The empress smiled gently. “Nice to meet you, Belinda and Talin.”
Just then, a child’s whining was heard from the carriage.
“Oh my, Beatrice must be waking up.”
A brown-haired lady got into the carriage and appeared with a black-haired girl in her arms.
The empress said to her, “Thank you.”
“My pleasure. Her highness just woke up.”
Yulia handed the first princess Beatrice to her mother.
“Momm… mmmy…”
“There, there, Beatrice.”
The Princess was going to turn three soon and this journey must have been very difficult for such a young girl. The empress smiled at her daughter.
The little girl resembled her mother with her black hair and unique skin color. Her hair was braided with pearls and flowers, and her green eyes looked like emeralds. In her white lacy dress, she looked like a beautiful doll.
However, someone was missing. Viscountess Nolan asked respectfully.
“Umm, his highness is…”
Yulia answered quickly and firmly, “His highness had an emergency, so he will be arriving tomorrow. He planned this trip as he was worried about her highness’ health, so he didn’t want her trip to be delayed as well.”
“Of course. I apologize for an unnecessary question.”
Belinda nervously glanced at the empress, who, for some reason, looked upset. Belinda secretly ordered her maids and servants to remove any items or food for his highness and escorted the empress and the princess into the building.
***
After all the maids left, Bina put on a nightgown and opened the door to the garden connected to her room.
“Wow!”
The garden was bright with many lights. Despite the fact that it was night, the lights bounced off the white marbles of the hot spring tub, making the place look lively.
Bina walked slowly to the tub. The marble path was covered in thick layers of red rose petals and a sheer lace on top. It was over-the-top.
“This is definitely too much and unnecessary…”
It has been a while since the emperor and the empress visited this area, so the caretakers must have gotten too excited.
“Well, I guess I might as well enjoy it.”
It would be rude to order them to get rid of everything. She will make sure to tell them not to go this far in the future, but for now, she would respect their effort.
“Hmm.”
After a brief hesitation, Bina took off her slippers and started to walk on the rosy path. The feeling of lace and flowers felt heavenly on her skin. The fragrance of the rose petals was amazing.
“How romantic.”
It really was, but…
“What is the point of this if I’m all alone…”
Bina sighed deeply. She remembered Lucretius’ words before she and her daughter left.
“I’m really sorry. Cornelius collapsed… I need to see him first and I will follow you right after.”
Cornelius had recently retired due to old age, and a few days ago, Lucretius got the news that he collapsed suddenly. Lucretius was supposed to travel with Bina, but he couldn’t. Bina offered to stay with him, but Lucretius wanted her to go ahead first.
This summer was unusually hot, and Bina was having a hard time coping with it. It was very difficult, but they managed to find the time for this trip and Lucretius wanted Bina to enjoy it as long as possible.
Bina felt disappointed as she sat alone in the tub.
***
Steam from the hot spring filled the night air.
Maram was famous for its numerous hot springs, which were created by nearby volcanoes. Many noble families owned vacation castles in the area and, of course, the Cransian royal family owned the best and the biggest hot spring here.
The royal place in Maram hot spring was built by Emperor Celetus who was very sickly. During his reign, he often spent months at a time here. Because of this, the place was built especially large and luxuriously.
After Emperor Celetus passed away, the royal place was reduced in size as other royal families barely visited anymore. Instead, the spring water was sent to the city castle for the royal members. This was the first time in 50 years where the emperor and the empress visited in person.
“That must be why they overdid it…”
Bina murmured as she enjoyed the warm water. It had a nice temperature and Bina felt her fatigue disappear.
“The water looks like Milkis…”
Milkis was a milky carbonated drink she used to enjoy in Korea. Bina giggled as she leaned back comfortably.
The larger tub was filled with the hot spring water. Beside it was a smaller tub with cold water to cool down. The smaller tub had various flower petals floating on top. Beside the tubs were marble table and chairs with a bottle of wine and a single crystal glass.
That’s right. Just one.
“…”
The maids must have removed the emperor’s glass on purpose. Looking at the lonely glass on the table, Bina felt sad.
She stood up to get to the table. She was naked under the moonlight, but she felt comfortable since no one was allowed inside. She walked casually to the table and stared at the wine bottle. It was already opened and all she had to do was pour it.
This was annoyingly romantic.
“…”
She was so annoyed that she was about to drink the whole thing.
Just then, she heard a noise.
It sounded like someone stepping on a twig.
‘What is that?!’
She was completely naked. Bina panicked and quickly jumped into the cold tub with the glass still in her hand.
Splash!
‘It’s too cold!’
It was freezing. Bina tried to cover herself with her hands and glared at the place where the noise came from.
“Who’s there?! How dare you sneak into a private royal place…!”
Suddenly, Bina’s eyes widened.
“…?!”
