When I was young, I found the Crown Prince and took him with me as we spent three years begging for a living.
After the Crown Prince was restored to his position, the Emperor took me in as his adopted daughter.
Everyone assumed that I would be betrothed to the Crown Prince. Instead, the Crown Prince became engaged to the legitimate daughter of the Duke’s Mansion.
On my birthday, he remarked with a casual smile in front of the crowd, “How can one of noble blood be matched with a beggar?”
I raised my glass and sincerely wished him a life free of worries, year after year.
He did not yet know that I had accepted the decree for a marriage alliance.
In the years to come, there would be no more Ah Yu by his side.