Chapter 78 …
It was a frantic movement, as if a war had broken out.
Aiden sprinted in one breath, carrying Elena on his back as she trembled like a quaking aspen.
“Rena, just hold on a little.”
Elena buried her head in his broad chest, her shoulders shaking.
Her whole body was drenched and clammy, and her tears flowed endlessly like an unceasing spring.
She simply couldn’t believe everything that had just happened.
‘I am… your mother, Elena.’
‘So remember, Elena. Remember!! I am your mother!!’
‘You should have just died. Huh? Why do you keep—why—why do you keep appearing before my eyes!!’
Elena squeezed her eyes shut and replayed the memories from moments ago.
Her head rang loudly, like bricks being smashed by a hammer.
“…They say I’m the Empress’s daughter.”
Elena murmured quietly, sounding completely drained, like someone about to attend a funeral.
“The Empress… is my mom.”
Aiden said nothing—
as if he had already known this terrible truth.
Between them, only the faint chirping of insects and the wind brushing the leaves flowed softly.
“You… already knew, didn’t you.”
With her eyes tightly shut, she swallowed her tears.
Resentment toward him surged endlessly like waves.
“Is… is the Empress really my mother…?”
Even though she already knew the truth, she wanted to deny it.
She turned her head away to the very end, refusing to face it.
Her voice came out thick, as if soaked cotton were stuck in her throat.
“…Yeah.”
Aiden bit his lip hard before answering reluctantly.
It felt like his heart was shattering into shards of glass.
After that, they walked for a long time in silence.
When they entered the grand palace, countless rooms came into view.
Aiden strode forward and opened the largest door among them.
The moment the door opened, warm air brushed against their skin.
Just as Elena was about to sigh in relief—
Aiden suddenly stopped in place as if frozen.
“…Deca… Rus…”
It was a painfully familiar name she had longed to hear.
Elena slowly turned her head.
Standing there, as if it were a lie—
was Decarus.
“Karus…?”
“Elena.”
He looked like someone being chased by something.
His rough breaths spilling from his lips were unstable.
His pure white shirt was soaked as if he had just taken a shower.
“Elena, what on earth—”
“Get out.”
It was colder than ever.
The thick arms wrapped around Elena’s slender back and thighs trembled faintly.
“I said get out.”
“Aiden, I—”
She struggled to break free from his hold, but it was useless.
Aiden’s fierce gaze looked ready to kill Decarus.
“You couldn’t even protect her properly—what face do you have to come here?”
“……”
“What the hell were you doing while she ended up like this?”
“Aiden, stop. I’m fine—”
“Get out before I kill you. You don’t have the right to be here.”
At the murderous atmosphere, Elena sighed and grabbed his collar.
“Aiden.”
“You stay still.”
At this rate, the two of them would just start fighting again.
She felt sorry toward Aiden, but there was only one way to mediate this situation.
“I want to go home. I don’t want to stay here anymore.”
“Rena…”
Aiden’s expression fell slightly.
But even a passing dog would know the Grand Duke’s residence was safer than the Imperial Palace.
He could only stare blankly, resentful that he had to let her go without saying anything.
“Let’s go, Karus.”
Decarus wrapped the large cloak in his hand around Elena’s shoulders.
Without looking back, he quickly disappeared with her.
“…Ha.”
Noah stared endlessly at the roughly shut door.
A fierce whirlwind raged inside him.
Even though he clenched his teeth, the spark of anger did not die down.
“This is getting interesting.”
Inside the racing carriage, silence filled the air.
The flight of fireflies softly illuminated the dark carriage.
His hand, holding a large towel, gently rubbed her hair.
Thanks to that, her shivering, chilled body seemed to warm slightly.
“Get some sleep. We still have a long way to go.”
“…Okay.”
Elena closed her fluttering eyelids and leaned softly against his shoulder.
In the darkened view, the events from earlier passed by like a panorama.
Unable to endure it any longer, Elena opened her eyes and carefully spoke.
“Why… didn’t you tell me?”
“Tell you what?”
“That I’m the Empress’s daughter.”
The hand cradling her head stopped abruptly.
Lowering his voice, Decarus asked again,
“…What do you mean?”
A bitter smile leaked through her tightly shut lips.
An unknown heat boiled inside her.
“Were you going to pretend you didn’t know until the end?”
“……”
“You have no idea how miserable I feel right now.”
“Elena.”
“It feels like my heart’s been torn to pieces—like chunks of flesh have been ripped away.”
Decarus buried his face in the towel and pulled her slender waist tightly.
“The person I longed for so much—my mother—told me to die. Said I’m useless.”
“……”
“It feels like my very existence is being denied. Like I shouldn’t be alive.”
The tears she had been holding back surged past their limit once more.
It felt as if her chest had burned completely black.
In a trembling voice, Elena continued,
“Why—why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you say the Empress was my mother? If I’d known from the start… it wouldn’t have hurt this much.”
“……”
“Please, say something. Please… At least lie and say you didn’t know.”
“……”
“How could you do this to me? Why—why did you…?”
His long, firm arms wrapped tightly around her.
The warmth between the thick towel slowly seeped into her skin.
Decarus bit his lip hard and lowered his head onto her shoulder.
“I didn’t want to give you the same wound.”
“……”
“I didn’t want you to have nightmares again.”
At that moment, the emotions that had risen to her throat burst out.
The sobs she had been holding back poured out all at once.
Elena cried like a child, wailing.
Her tears fell like a sudden downpour, soaking her already drenched dress even darker.
No matter how much she wiped them away, it was useless.
Like broken brakes, rain kept pouring endlessly from her eyes.
The once-quiet carriage filled with harsh, choking sobs.
“My heart hurts so, so much. I wish everything that’s happened until now was a lie. I wish this were all a dream.”
“……”
“I want to go back to how things were. I want to go back to when I didn’t know anything.”
Only now was everything beginning to make sense.
Everything surrounding her had been a carefully staged play.
Jane, Decarus, and everyone in this mansion—
they had all known the truth.
As if she alone had been left isolated on a shattered iceberg.
“I’m such a fool.”
Despite all the clues, she hadn’t noticed.
She despised herself for it.
The secret wedding and birthday banquet, the heart necklace with the name Elena found in Jane’s room, her portrait in the underground library, the book titled To Elena, and those occasional piercing, knowing remarks…
All of it flashed through her mind like a lantern of memories.
Why hadn’t she realized?
Why?
“It hurts… it hurts so much…”
He said nothing, only gently soothing her small, heaving body.
His large hand clasping her slender fingers was warm like a tiny spark.
Thus, the carriage cut through the dark night without rest.
Before long, the Grand Duke’s residence appeared in the distance, softly lit with yellow lights.
In front of it stood about twenty attendants and guards waiting for them.
“Come here.”
When the carriage stopped, he carefully lifted her limp body.
As they stepped down the stairs, the first thing she saw was Jane’s shocked face.
“Jane…”
Elena immediately slipped from his arms and ran into Jane’s embrace.
“My lady, what happened to you… who on earth—”
Jane frantically checked her body for injuries.
Seeing her on the verge of tears made Elena’s heart clench again.
“…It was Her Majesty the Empress, wasn’t it….”
Jane pulled Elena tightly into her arms and cried silently.
But it was obvious she was crying.
Her choked voice was too desperate.
“How could she… to our lady….”
“I’m okay, Jane. It’s nothing.”
Elena forced a light smile to reassure her.
Jane, wiping her tears, became angry for the first time.
“I won’t forgive this. Even if it’s Her Majesty the Empress. I—I…!”
“That’s enough. Let’s go inside. The wind is cold. Jane, prepare bathwater. And you—come here.”
Decarus lifted Elena again and headed into the mansion.
At this point she felt like baggage from being carried so much.
“Karus, you can put me down now. I’m fine—”
“With you sneezing like that?”
In truth, after standing outside so long while soaked, her body trembled like someone catching a cold.
She even sneezed.
She tried to hide it, but she couldn’t escape his radar.
“Wash up and come out. I’ll be waiting. You can bathe by yourself, right?”
His tone, like he was treating a child, made her face suddenly heat up.
“O-of course.”
Elena hurriedly turned and dashed into the bathroom.
Her flushed cheeks were still burning.
“…Hoo.”
As she sank into the warm bath, she felt like she was melting away like cotton candy.
Stretching her legs, her feet fit perfectly against the end of the tub.
Slowly, she closed her eyes.
The horrific scenes wouldn’t leave her mind.
Her first meeting with the Empress, their dinner together, and the dark basement.
She shook her head hard to erase the bad memories—
but it was useless.
The more she denied them, the more vividly they resurfaced.
Elena bit her lip until it nearly bled.
But she couldn’t stop the tears that fell again.
Droplets fell one by one, drawing soft circles in the clear bathwater.
And so she swallowed her terrible sorrow alone—
secretly, by herself—
until the black petals blooming in one corner of her heart had all fallen away.
