THE fateful encounter had happened when she was twelve.
Amelia wasn’t allowed out of the Fifth Palace after the fifth consort’s passing, but all members of the royal family were required to participate in the ball on that day under the king’s decree. Thus, Amelia was able to leave the premises of the Fifth Palace for the first time in a long time.
The fourth consort had prepared a dress for her, with an outdated design, subdued colors, and a far cry from cute. Amelia could still remember how Prisca had thoroughly made fun of her.
She had been allowed into a formal setting wearing such attire prepared by her guardian, the fourth consort, which meant that even the king didn’t have any objections to this treatment. Amelia had barely interacted with the king to begin with, but learning that even her own father shunned her made her heart sink. She snuck out of the venue and sat down miserably in one corner of the garden, as if to hide from everyone else.
“If I’m that much of a nuisance, you could just not let me into the ball,” she muttered as she plucked the nearby grass.
Two years had passed since the death of the fifth consort. The servants at her palace decreased in succession. The garments and accessories of the fifth consort vanished. Even items such as furnishings disappeared. As if that wasn’t enough, even meals stopped being delivered to her residence.
At times, ingredients such as potatoes, wheat flour, and sugar were delivered as if the senders had whimsically remembered that Amelia existed, but it was far from enough for a growing child like her. If the elderly female attendant—who’d said that she was from a farming family—hadn’t cultivated a field and grown vegetables, Amelia and the very few servants present might have starved to death.
Thanks to the fact that she assisted with chores, Amelia had gotten proficient at weeding, and she’d also learned how to cook.
“I could keep going at it and become an almighty girl. It’d be nice if they could throw me out of the royal court when that happens.”
She was practically a prisoner, but it wasn’t that difficult if she only wished to leave the Fifth Palace—she could simply scale the walls. However, on one such venture, the fourth consort had discovered her when she’d been wandering around the royal court. For a good while after that, barely any food was delivered to her palace, and she’d also seen her servants receiving harsh reprimands. She wasn’t inclined to test her luck again.
Considering her dress today, as well as the fact that she’d almost never seen the man until now, the king must have absolutely no interest in Amelia. If she remained in the Fifth Palace, she’d probably marry into some unknown family for political reasons and lead the rest of her life there. Or, she might be killed when the appropriate time arrived. Either way, her future didn’t seem like it would be a fun one.
“Is there…really any point in being alive?” she muttered as she cast her eyes down.
Not a moment later, a shadowy silhouette leaped out from the thicket right before her eyes. “Y-You can’t die!”
Amelia’s eyes widened.
It was a boy about her age wearing a vivid azure jacket. His golden eyes were gazing at Amelia. Given that they were in the royal court’s garden and his attire, he must’ve been a noble’s son.
But what she didn’t get was why he was here, or wrap her head around what he’d just shouted.
Stunned speechless, she could only stare at him with wide eyes. The boy, who didn’t pay any mind to the numerous leaves stuck to his clothes, approached her. “H-Here.” His voice faltered as he held out a white handkerchief.
There seemed to be some kind of embroidery on it—was it perhaps a family crest?
The next second, the boy gingerly pressed the handkerchief against Amelia’s cheek. “I’ll give you this, so… Don’t cry. You…mustn’t die.”
It wasn’t that Amelia had wanted to end her own life. But those golden eyes gazed right into her soul, and he sounded serious, almost desperate. She nodded on reflex, and the boy breathed out as if relieved.
When she saw that the handkerchief was damp, she finally realized that tears had been rolling down her cheeks.
“Hey.” The boy sat down beside Amelia and cocked his head. “Just wondering, why is a cute girl like you crying in a place like this?”
The boy’s features were well-defined, and hearing him call her cute made her heart skip a beat. But his question sent her heart plummeting into gloominess in an instant. “It seems like I’m a nuisance. All I’m good for is summoning strawberries, so maybe it’s only natural.”
“Strawberries?”
Amelia reached out her hand, and in the blink of an eye, one petite strawberry appeared and rolled over on her palm. She offered the glossy and shining red fruit to the boy. “Here’s my thanks for your handkerchief. This is the only thing I can do. Sorry.”
At the very least, she’d willed it to be sweet and delicious. But if he found randomly appearing strawberries creepy, he probably would never touch them.
The fourth consort and Prisca had smacked her strawberries onto the ground and crushed them underneath their feet. She wouldn’t be surprised if the boy reacted similarly.
Amelia’s unease, however, came to nothing, for the boy’s golden eyes lit up. He accepted the strawberry and admired it as if it were a treasure. “Wow, it’s my first time seeing someone summoning strawberries out of nowhere. Is this magic?”
She was taken aback. “Ah, yeah. Probably.” The fifth consort had summoned watermelons, and the servants hadn’t seemed to pay it much mind, so Amelia had never thought too much about the phenomenon.
“You’re amazing,” he said in awe. “It’s really pretty.”
For the first time, someone other than the fifth consort and her servants praised her. Warmth spread in her heart, as if someone had lit a hearth.
Without hesitation, the boy tossed the strawberry into his mouth. “It’s sweet, tasty, and it cheers me up. I see now, you’re a strawberry princess. I have the feeling that as long as someone has your strawberries, they can do anything.” His golden eyes were bright as he smiled at her.
This time, her heart thumped wildly in her chest, almost suffocating her, but somehow, she felt content.
She’d never felt this way before.
The boy briefly cast his gaze down with slight sorrow. “I…can’t do anything, so I’m a bit jealous.”
Amelia tightly grasped the handkerchief and sprang to her feet. “That’s not true! You gave me this handkerchief, you were willing to eat my strawberry, you’re kind, and you’re handsome. I…I like you. I like the person in front of me.”
The boy stared up at Amelia with his mouth wide open. It was then that the meaning of her words finally sank in.
I yelled that he’s handsome and that I like him, even though we just met. I’m going to die of embarrassment, Amelia thought feverishly. He must be appalled. Maybe he thinks I’m improper and shameful.
She clenched the handkerchief and hung her head.
The boy stood up. He scooped up her hand and held it gently.
Startled, she looked up, wondering what was going on. Golden eyes shone in front of her. “I like you too.” The boy smiled warmly and pressed his lips against the back of her hand. “I’m Luke. What’s your name?”
She swallowed. “Amelia.”
Hearing that name, Luke’s golden eyes glimmered like a sea of stars.
At that precise time, a servant came searching for them. Amelia parted ways with Luke and returned to the hall in a daze, as if she were dreaming.
Amelia finally snapped out of it when the fourth consort snatched up her handkerchief and muttered with disdain, “To think that the young Lord Klein would…” Unfortunately, the fourth consort refused to return it to her.
Even after that ball, the fourth consort didn’t permit Amelia to leave the Fifth Palace, which meant that, naturally, she had no opportunities to see Luke. For days on end, she wept while grasping the necklace that was the memento of her mother and whispered, “I want to go back to the past…” That is, until one day, she received a notice that she would be betrothed to Luke Klein, the son of a ducal house.
Just knowing that Luke wanted Amelia in his life gave her hope to live on.
For four entire years following the betrothal, not only was Amelia prohibited from attending official functions, but she was barely even allowed out of the Fifth Palace. Even when she sent letters to Luke, she received no replies, nor had she gotten a single present. But it still didn’t faze her.
Prisca had scoffed at Amelia time and time again by saying, “It’s a betrothal in name only because you’re a princess, even if you barely qualify as one.” But ultimately, he had never called off the betrothal.
Perhaps Prisca was right. Maybe he needed a betrothal with a princess on paper. There was also a chance that he liked another woman now.
Nevertheless, her precious memory of Luke and the fact that they were betrothed to each other were what supported Amelia through her dark times of imprisonment and abuse.
That, and the strawberries that Luke had once praised with a smile.