Book 9: Chapter 27
It was just as I expected. Breakfast was simple, too.
Karana didn’t waste the precious sun in Socina. After breakfast, she invited me to take a walk together with her in the backyard.
I plucked a flower from the side out of curiosity. However, by the time I reached the rear of the palace, what I saw was no longer flowers, but snow sculptures. Every snow sculpture was exquisite. The sculptures were of two people in an embrace, kissing, walking hand-in-hand, and even reading together. I could see their affection for each other in their eyes.
I could tell that the female was Karana while the male was tall and big in stature. But despite them being snow sculptures, I could discern that the male was most likely old… At least, I haven’t seen a young man have the beard of an experienced elder. For some reason, I felt that the man was old enough to be my father…
‘Don’t tell me that he’s the previous lord.’
Karana nostalgically looked at the snow sculpture, “There are no pastimes in Socina, so I just sculpted these. Sadly, when I picked up my tools, I struggled to figure out what to sculpt. I did not know what memory I had that was worth sculpting into a snow sculpture that would last for millenniums and beyond. After deliberation, only my husband – who is the previous lord of Socina – came to mind.”
“The previous lord…”
“Yes. Our love is akin to the icy snow. It is pure, true, flawless, and yet short.”
Karana nostalgically touched the ice sculpture. She then looked up at her late husband’s face and softly lamented, “Your Majesty, you might find it unbelievable, but my husband was already fifty-seven years old when I married him. We were truly in love, though. I firmly believed that our love was pure despite the insults and gossiping behind our backs, because if I wanted status and wealth, I had a better choice…”