Chapter 29
“Why is that woman getting out of that carriage? What on earth is going on?”
Seluna could not comprehend the situation at all. She could hardly believe what she was seeing, wondering if she was dreaming. She froze on the spot like a stone.
No one was unaffected by Ephelia’s appearance, but each person’s reaction was different.
Amidst the hushed silence, the nobles’ eyes darted around. What would happen next? Whose hand would the crown prince take? Seluna, the princess betrothed to him, or Ephelia, thought to be dead but now returned? Everyone watched with great interest. The nobles’ minds were racing.
“…….”
Seluna opened her mouth but no words came out.
“Go.”
Her gaze fixed on one point. Regios was holding Ephelia’s hand.
Why was he holding that hand? He should be holding hers. Why was Ephelia still holding the crown prince’s hand, as if it were her rightful place?
It felt as if she had been transported far back in time, to an era she could never dare touch.
What was even more horrifying was what happened next. Regios brushed past Seluna, walking with Ephelia.
“I have returned.”
Regios spoke as he approached the emperor and empress. Hailun’s eyes widened as he stared at her.
The empress rose from her seat. She refused the hand of the chief attendant, who instinctively tried to support her as she walked unsteadily, and instead approached Ephelia herself. Her trembling, delicate hand touched Ephelia’s cheek.
“Ephelia?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Is it really you?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
As Ephelia answered, tears welled up in the empress’s eyes.
“You’ve been alive, Ephelia.”
“My goodness, you were alive, Ephelia.”
Both the duchess and the empress spoke simultaneously. Though their words were the same, their meaning was entirely opposite.
Unlike the duchess, the empress hugged Ephelia and cried. Seeing this, the duchess gave a small, regretful expression, but quickly composed herself and forced out tears.
Ephelia gently placed her hand on the empress’s back. The empress was genuinely happy that she had returned. Regios and Hailun, who were likely holding back their emotions, surely felt the same.
Among the many onlookers, Ephelia could feel who was truly rejoicing at her return.
Ephelia’s return caused a greater shock than the crown prince’s imperial tour. The welcoming ceremony ended abruptly, and the nobles departed. The only ones who remained were the duchess’s family. They sat with the royal family in the reception room.
“How… how have you been?”
The empress asked, stroking Ephelia’s hands continuously.
“I’ve been well. Some kind people saved me and spared my life.”
“How wonderful that such kind people exist. I must express my gratitude to them.”
“I already did.”
Before Ephelia could speak, Regios answered first. Could that really be called gratitude?
“Did you? I hope you were thorough.”
The empress asked, suddenly composed.
“Yes.”
“Good. Well done.”
The empress’s expression softened again at Regios’s precise answer, and she held Ephelia’s hands firmly. But her eyes inevitably went to Ephelia’s head.
She could see the sorrow in the empress’s gaze at her snow-white hair.
“When did your hair become like this?”
“I don’t know. When I woke up, it was already like this.”
“Ah…”
The empress cried again.
“Your Majesty, please don’t cry. I actually like this hair. It was too common before.”
“Common? Why would you say that?”
“Please stop crying, Your Majesty.”
“But our Ephelia……”
To the empress, Ephelia was not only the crown prince’s fiancée but also the daughter of her chief attendant, Elcia, who had been her childhood friend. To the childless empress, Ephelia was like a daughter.
“Well, now we need to decide what to talk about first.”
“Then what about the engagement between the crown prince and my daughter, Seluna…?”
The tactless duchess spoke up. The duke subtly stepped on his wife’s foot. Discussing the engagement in the presence of the person who had miraculously returned while the empress was crying over her survival was unwise.
“It’s best to postpone that discussion.”
Fortunately, the duchess had at least enough sense to divert the conversation. The emperor nodded in agreement.
“Right. We’ll need to address that eventually, but now is not the time. We’ll do it later.”
“Of course.”
Though he wanted to protest and demand that promises be kept, the other party was the exalted emperor.
“Thank you for telling me first.”
It was a reluctant concession, but hearing the emperor express thanks somewhat eased her resentment.
“Then, will you tell us, Ephelia?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. So…”
Ephelia recounted what had happened, carefully omitting her delayed return despite regaining her memories.
“I couldn’t return immediately because I recovered my memories so late.”
“It’s never too late! You should have returned the moment you remembered! I truly, truly thought you were dead…”
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”
“No, it’s not that. I wasn’t expecting those words from you. I am just grateful you returned alive.”
“I’m happy to see you again as well.”
Though Ephelia’s life had been filled with lies, this was the one truth.
“I’m glad to see you again too.”
“Me too, Your Majesty.”
“Then we must consider where Ephelia will stay.”
Everyone in the room understood the awkwardness. Though a duchess’s daughter, she was the crown prince’s destined partner. Naturally, she should stay in the palace, but she had not yet married Regios. Her official status was still ‘duchess’s daughter.’
“Return to your family home.”
“Of course, she should stay in the palace.”
Both Regios and Denold answered simultaneously, though Denold was slightly quicker, eager to assert himself. If Ephelia stayed in the palace, everyone might think she would again become crown princess. That could not happen.
“H-However, she is my daughter, just returned. I want to keep her close, even for a moment.”
Denold’s words were strange. While the duchess claimed her as her daughter, he claimed the same. He spoke as if he truly considered her family.
“…I see. You must yield, then.”
“Ephelia should stay in the palace.”
Regios’s firm words made the emperor pause. The emperor, also a close friend and ally of the duke, was overjoyed by Ephelia’s return. Though the situation was far from resolved, allowing her to stay in the palace did not seem bad. Denold even prostrated himself on the floor.
“My dear!”
“Duke!”
“Please, I beg you. Whatever thanks you offer to the crown prince for finding Ephelia, I still want to keep her. It is her home.”
His voice was full of urgency. To an outsider, it might seem genuine, almost believable—but Ephelia knew it was a perfectly executed act. She could hardly call the duchess’s mansion “home” after the nightmares she had suffered there.
“The duke insists, so I want to hear your decision, Ephelia.”
The emperor handed the choice to Ephelia. Regios frowned but did not object. Both Regios and Denold’s eyes were fixed on her.
Both wanted her by their side, yet Ephelia wanted neither. She wished to return to the warmth and care of family. That left her with only these two options. She did not want either.
“I will go to my uncle’s house.”
Denold frowned briefly. The choice of calling him “uncle” instead of father probably affected him. But she no longer wished to call either of them “father.” Only two men mattered, and Denold was not among them.
“Very well, she may stay at her family home for now. But she must visit the palace often, Ephelia. Understood?”
“But how could I possibly enter without permission…”
“Haha, isn’t this permission enough?”
Ephelia smiled forcibly at the emperor’s words, realizing Denold and Yuria were boiling inside. Their daughter could only enter the palace with their permission, yet the emperor’s permission overrode all. They could not say no, only stew in frustration.
“Then I shall do so, Your Majesty.”
That was the only bright spot in this miserable, agonizing situation.
