Ever since Aster turned five years old, something awakened inside him—
not just his magic, but his curiosity.
The Wynfall Mansion was large and beautiful, but its walls felt like borders drawn around his life. And so, one early morning, Aster slipped through an unlocked side gate and stepped into the world outside.
The royal capital was far louder, livelier, and brighter than he ever imagined.
Street vendors shouted prices for warm bread, sizzling meat skewers, and colorful pastries. Children ran across cobblestone streets, laughing. Merchants carried crates of fruit. Mana lamps hung from ropes overhead like strings of stars.
Aster stood there, stunned.
*So this… is the world I was born into.*
He visited again the next day. And the day after. And the day after that.
He learned their names:
- Old Man Hervin, the fish vendor with a booming laugh.
- Mila, the florist girl who always tucked flowers into Astra's hair.
- The baker couple who insisted he take free pastries because he was "too adorable to resist."
At first, the townspeople had no idea who he was.
But eventually, someone recognized him.
"The prince…? The concubine's boy?"
Aster froze—afraid he'd be treated differently, like royalty, like someone above them.
But instead—
"Hah! Even princes should eat street food!"
"Come here, Aster, try this new bread!"
"You're the prince who sang at the debutante ball, aren't you? I heard your voice was beautiful!"
They spoke to him the same way they always had.
They treated him not as a prince…
…but as Aster.
He loved that more than anything.
Some days, Astra sneaked out with him too. She always held his hand tightly, terrified of getting lost, but delighted by every new flower, pastry, and friendly face.
They were happy.
Until one afternoon.
"Aster Wynfall!"
He returned—and nearly fainted.
His mother stood there, arms crossed, foot tapping, her expression frozen somewhere between fear and exhaustion.
"M-Mama…"
She approached him quickly, not angrily, but with trembling relief. She hugged him tightly.
"Aster, sweetheart… you mustn't go outside alone. If something happened to you… I—"
Her voice broke.
Aster hugged her back. "I'm sorry, Mama."
But after a long pause, she sighed and pat his head.
"…Next time, at least tell me."
She didn't forbid him.
She understood him.
He never loved her more than in that moment.
***
A month before her birthday, Aster began preparing something special.
A stage.
A performance.
Not in the palace.
Not for nobles.
But for the people he'd come to know and love — the people who had accepted him without his title.
He gathered them quietly over several evenings, explaining what he wanted.
"I want to perform," he said. "On my mother's birthday. For everyone."
The vendors and townsfolk exchanged stunned glances.
"A prince… performing for commoners?"
"Aster, are you serious?"
"But your magic… your singing… that's not something we can just host casually."
Aster bowed deeply.
"Please. I want this. My mother deserves a birthday the entire capital can celebrate with her."
Silence.
Then the baker pounded his chest.
"If the prince wants a stage, we'll build him a stage!"
The florist clapped excitedly.
"And I'll decorate it with the biggest flower wreaths!"
The old fish vendor nodded firmly.
"If this boy says he'll sing, then we'll make sure the world hears it."
Aster's eyes shone.
"Thank you… all of you."
Word spread quickly through the capital—quietly, secretly, out of respect for the twins' privacy. Yet by the night before the event, hundreds of people were preparing decorations, lanterns, food stalls, and a large wooden stage in the biggest open plaza of the capital.
Aster watched it all from a distance, Astra beside him.
"Everyone is amazing…" Astra whispered, eyes wide.
"They are," Aster said softly. "And tomorrow… we'll give them something unforgettable."
"What song?" Astra asked.
Aster smiled.
"One Mama will remember for the rest of her life."
***
On the morning of the event, the capital was transformed.
Lanterns hung from every rooftop. Flower garlands lined the roads. Stalls prepared food for thousands. And in the center of it all stood a beautiful, sturdy wooden stage decorated with blue-and-white cloth — the colors of their family.
People gathered from dawn, whispering excitedly.
"Is the prince really performing?"
"For Lady Arlienne?"
"How sweet… she is loved by the people more than the palace knows."
"And the princess too? The little angel?"
But there was one person who knew absolutely nothing about it—
Arlienne Wynfall herself.
She woke up as usual, expecting a quiet celebration in the mansion.
Instead, she found Aster and Astra strangely dressed, strangely excited, and strangely evasive.
"Mama," Astra said, tugging her hand, "come with us."
Arlienne blinked in confusion. "Where are we going?"
Aster smiled mysteriously.
"You'll see."
He had kept this secret for a whole month.
He had snuck out early to help set things up.
He had trained for weeks to perfect a song powerful enough to touch hearts.
Because today wasn't just the queen's birthday.
It was his mother's.
And for the first time ever…
the entire kingdom was about to celebrate **her**.