The speaker was the man sitting opposite her, not yet forty years old, addressing her as "Imperial Sister," but he seemed older than her.
"I heard that you're the Crown Prince now," she said.
The Crown Prince smiled, "Yes, after Imperial Sister was deposed, Father Emperor made me the Crown Prince."
"Oh," she turned her head slightly, looking towards the multitude of palaces and a lush Fruit Garden, "when did a Fruit Garden appear there? I remember it was a Lotus Pond, and I had it dug."
The Crown Prince, with a pleasant countenance, replied, "Father Emperor ordered it to be filled in."
"Oh," she said again, her gaze lowered, "I was quite fond of the lotus flowers there."
"Imperial Sister," the Crown Prince said, "you see, you do remember things from the past."
She shook her head slightly, her tone gentle, "I only remember things before I was seventeen."
