Once Promised to Be the Finest
Chapter 3
As a child, Nova had followed her master into the palace for an audience with the Emperor.
Without warning, her master’s expression turned grave. “Nova,” he urged, “leave the palace. Run!”
Before she could ask why, she was fleeing in panic through the long corridors.
The next news she received of her master was his death.
She didn’t understand what had happened—she only knew she had to escape this monstrous cage.
Just as the guards were about to seize her, a palace maid she had never met stepped in and hid her away.
When Nova finally resolved to leave on her own, she witnessed that same maid being brutalized and killed in the palace—all for helping her.
With her last breath, the maid mustered her remaining strength to silently form the words: “Stay with Jason…”
That woman was Jason’s mother.
Nova’s heart broke.
That year, she was fourteen. Turning back into the deepest corners of the palace, she assumed the identity of a dead maid and found Jason—a newly orphaned boy of twelve.
She thought, since she had no one left anyway, and this child’s fate was just as bitter, she would stay with him until his grief eased.
Once he was better, she would leave.
But the longer they stayed together, the harder it became to walk away.
Jason’s eyes would often redden as he carefully tugged her sleeve. “Sister,” he would ask, “will you leave me too? Is it because I’m useless that Father, Mother… even you don’t want me?”
Sometimes he’d sneak a piece of candy from somewhere, presenting it to her like a treasure, the back of his hand still marked from the struggle to get it.
Nova, barely more than a child herself, felt her heart soften completely in those moments.
She had matured early, and from her eccentric master she had learned things beyond most people’s reach—strategy, insight, vision.
From then on, she was determined. She would use these skills to protect this boy, to guide him step by step out of the palace’s shadows.
Now, she regretted staying. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to let go. She told herself that once Jason no longer needed her, she would have no reason left to stay.
It happened to be Jason’s birthday—the Crown Prince’s first official celebration, an event every court official was scrambling to attend.
The banquet hall buzzed with toasts and laughter, everyone vying to present rare treasures.
When the crowd called for Nova to present her gift, she stepped forward holding a carefully embroidered sachet, her voice gentle. “Your Highness often reads documents late into the night, straining your eyes. I prepared this sachet with special herbs to soothe the mind and brighten vision. It may offer some relief.”
A chorus of praise rose immediately from the tables. “How thoughtful of Her Ladyship!”
A smile touched Jason’s lips as he reached for it.
Then Kimberly’s clear voice cut through, drawing every eye. “Sister Nova is truly considerate. However, eye strain has complex causes. Relying on fragrance to ease it only treats the symptom, not the root. It might even delay proper treatment.”
Turning to Jason, she spoke with confidence. “Your Highness, from what I understand of my homeland’s methods, your childhood activities in dimly lit places have weakened your eyesight. Using a secret technique from home, I crafted these ‘spectacles’ for you.”
She presented a pair of delicate, gold-rimmed glasses.
Curious, Jason put them on and glanced toward the hall’s entrance. His eyes widened. “It’s so clear! Kimberly, this is remarkable!”
He set Nova’s sachet casually aside, his tone cooling by comparison. “Nova, I appreciate the sentiment. But Kimberly is right. These folk remedies… it’s best not to use them in the future. They’re just a waste of effort.”
The words “waste of effort” pierced Nova’s heart like a needle.
She watched him fiddle with the glasses like a new toy, while the sachet she had poured her heart into lay forgotten beside him—just like her, seemingly unworthy of this grand stage.
Her heart twisted; her fingers trembled faintly within her sleeves.
And at that moment, Jason was smiling as he introduced Kimberly to the assembled ministers. “Miss Kimberly is an exceptional woman. Many of our recent, effective policies have come from her planning.”
An elder minister seized the moment to ask jovially, “Since Your Highness shares such a deep bond with Lady Nova, why not take this auspicious occasion to seek His Majesty’s decree for your marriage?”
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