“What do you mean, it’s fine? What are you saying? You… don’t need it?”
“……”
“I mean, I’m sorry we went ahead and looked into it without you asking. We didn’t know when you might want to know, so we just started… and Sasha is just so competent. I didn’t think she’d be able to find out in just one day…”
Maybe it was because Angie didn’t look well, but I ended up mumbling an awkward excuse.
“Mom.”
“Y-yes?”
“Don’t get me wrong. I just meant there’s no need to delay going back to Belvo.”
Angie set her spoon down with a sharp clink.
“It’s not like I never thought about looking into it. But after putting it off for more than 300 years, it became frightening… And now that you and Sasha went through so much trouble for me, I didn’t know how to react.”
One of Cedrion’s eyebrows twitched slightly, as his name was conveniently left out of her gratitude.
“When are we supposed to go back today?”
“We just said ‘in the afternoon.’ We didn’t set an exact time.”
Since we were planning to go directly to the main palace through a teleportation portal, no formal schedule was needed.
“Then we’ve got plenty of time, don’t we?”
“Plenty of time…?”
So Angie was saying there’d be no problem returning to Belvo today, even if we went to Malreni right now.
But hadn’t they said Malreni was at least three hours away on horseback…?
“Father?”
“……You only refer to me in legal terms at times like this, Your Majesty.”
Cedrion furrowed his brows slightly and made a grand sweeping motion in the air.
It was his specialty—spatial teleportation magic.
***
“Welcome, and thank you for coming in search of Malreni. So then…”
“Yes, I’m Lenny Allen, aide to Her Grace the Grand Duchess of Norhart. I handle affairs on behalf of the Marquisate of Lure.”
A little while later, we were in the reception room of Baron Malreni’s estate.
Just like on the first night at the market, we were disguised.
At the same time, Angie had frozen time at the Edelburg villa, so no one would know we had disappeared.
“This is my assistant.”
“Thank you for your hospitality.”
Angie had even altered her appearance to look about fifteen years old.
“Her Grace the Grand Duchess of Norhart received a report from Dame Isaskina and ordered us, while we were traveling through the Ranba region, to confirm the artifact in person.”
“Ah… So it’s really true that Sir Albert served the first Marchioness of Lure. I honestly couldn’t believe it when Dame Isaskina told us…”
After confirming the Lure family seal I handed him, Baron Malreni wore a serious expression.
According to Dame Isaskina—Sasha—it was only known in Malreni that Sir Albert had participated in the founding war.
“If it’s alright, may we take a look at the letters Sir Albert left behind? According to the memoirs of Lady Angelica, the first Marchioness of Lure, he was with her throughout the founding war.”
“Of course. I’m sorry we only have those left. But, as Dame Isaskina already confirmed yesterday, there’s no mention of the first Marchioness…”
“That’s alright. What matters is verifying them. To compile a new royal chronicle, we need to document the Lure family’s history as thoroughly as possible.”
Smiling brightly, I threw in the idea of a royal chronicle—though we hadn’t planned it at all—to reassure Baron Malreni.
***
“These are all the letters from Sir Albert. I’m not sure if they contain what you’re looking for, but…”
“Thank you for letting us see them despite our sudden visit.”
“Not at all. For us in Malreni, just having a connection with the House of Lure is a tremendous honor.”
With a kind smile, Baron Malreni excused himself to give us space to go through the letters.
Click.
The sound of the reception room door closing echoed.
I pushed the wooden box of letters toward Angie, then moved to Cedrion’s side. Like the first night, Cedrion—disguised as our escort knight—had brown hair and green eyes.
“……”
Angie slowly opened the box with trembling hands. Inside were numerous envelopes in various shades.
She picked one and looked at the cover…
To Lorenzo.
From Albert.
Angie gently brushed the part where the sender’s name was written with a trembling fingertip. Even her shoulders seemed to quiver faintly.
“There’s not much time, so… do you mind if I look through them by myself?”
Angie smiled brightly at us. Her slightly reddened eyes and nose hinted that she was holding back tears in our presence.
She didn’t need our permission.
Moved by Angie’s aching heart, I felt as if I might cry myself. I tightly gripped Cedrion’s firm hand.
“……Hah.”
Not long after, Angie leaned back in the chair and let out a damp sigh. Her nose and eyes were now completely red—she had clearly cried quite a bit.
She must have frozen time again to read all the letters in that short span.
Most of them had been returned to their envelopes and placed back in the wooden box, but a few were still lying open on the table.
“……He really was an infuriatingly frustrating person. But I didn’t think it was this bad…”
I sat beside Angie again and gently stroked the child’s shoulder. With the appearance of a fifteen-year-old, Angie’s head rested comfortably on my shoulder.
“I told him to go back to his hometown, inherit his title, marry a kind and beautiful young lady, and live a good life… But apparently, he never even stepped foot in his hometown.”
“…”
“Right after the Founding War, the central government was in some disarray, so it was hard for administrative control to reach the south. I kept worrying about the lawlessness there… and it turns out, he went to Gorgiel and played the role of a lone peacekeeper.”
“Even just from his handwriting, you can tell he was a sincere man.”
“That was what made him so frustrating… and so lovable.”
Angie gave a faint smile, her eyes still tinged red.
Even after hundreds of years, even with efforts to bury it forever, powerful emotions and deep ties seemed to have an enduring lifespan.
“I thought I’d feel just a bit empty when we parted.”
“Maybe parting with only good feelings left behind made the longing even stronger.”
“…Maybe.”
Angie and I leaned on each other and stayed like that for a long time.
“You don’t want to take the letters? I think the Baron of Malreni would gladly give them to you if they’re records related to the first Marchioness of Lure.”
“…No.”
Angie slowly shook her head.
“Living in the shadow of someone I parted from… once was enough, with Albert, 300 years ago.”
“…”
“He went to every place I once said I wanted to visit… Mount Danui, said to have held the last dragon’s lair. Lake Schnefan, supposedly formed by the footprints of an ancient giant race. The Daren Coast, with its strange rock formations so beautiful they seem sculpted by the gods…”
Those dozens of letters contained no direct mention of the first Marchioness of Lure, but they were apparently filled with traces of memories only Angie would recognize.
Even then, Angie couldn’t take her eyes off the wooden box holding the letters.
She claimed she only wanted to know how he spent the rest of his life, not to reminisce—but once the layers of memory were stirred, it seemed nearly impossible for her to calm down.
That quiet stirring of emotion reached me as well.
After some more time passed—
“I heard his grave is in the family cemetery here.”
Cedrion, who had been silently watching us, suddenly spoke up.
Angie turned slowly to him, her expression more fragile than I’d ever seen.
***
We declined the Baron of Malreni’s offer to host us for lunch and left his manor.
Our destination was the family cemetery of House Malreni, located on the outskirts of the domain.
Sir Albert’s grave was deep within the park-like cemetery—a natural outcome, considering how long ago he had lived.
Guided by Sasha, we eventually arrived in front of Albert’s gravestone.
“Here lies the bravest knight of Malreni.
Albert Malreni
28 years before the founding – Year 33 of the Kingdom.”
Angie slowly brushed her hand over the weather-worn gravestone. At her careful touch, the withered vines that had crept over it crumbled away.
“He should’ve lived peacefully at home until he was eighty. What a fool…”
The moment her tearful voice escaped—
Swaaah—
A gust of wind rustled the dry branches, and Angie’s once-brown hair fluttered into shimmering silver.
Her eyes turned red.
Before we could even speak, she had transformed into the mature figure of Angelica, the first Marchioness of Lure.
Without a word, she knelt before the gravestone, motionless.
We couldn’t be certain, but it was clear she had twisted time again to relive her memories with Sir Albert to her heart’s content.
She might be crying. She might be pouring out all her sorrow.
I leaned into Cedrion’s chest and watched her strong yet fragile back.
‘That would be… such a sad thing.’
‘To hear that he never forgot me, lived as a wandering knight, and died alone… I think it would break my heart.’
We couldn’t be sure what Angie was truly feeling.
I, too, could only sense that she was submerged in deep sorrow—unable to know the exact depth or nature of it.
All I could do was hope that she would be able to reflect on her final farewell with Sir Albert long enough to find some peace.
About thirty minutes later, Angie returned to the appearance of a ten-year-old. During that time, we didn’t know how much time had passed for her, but the whites of her eyes were bloodshot under her swollen eyelids.
In silence, I wiped her face and cleaned away the cold tears left by the winter wind. Her cheeks were chapped and red, as if she’d been outside all day.
“…I’ve made up my mind.”
Sipping the warm ginger tea we had prepared ahead of time, Angie spoke in a nasal, tear-stained voice.
“In this life, I think I’ll just meet man after man, and once I get tired of it, I’ll pick the best one of the bunch and live with him.”
“Oh my…?”
At the solemn vow coming from someone who looked like a ten-year-old queen, Cedrion and I gave hollow chuckles.
Was this a joke to lift our spirits after making us all somber?
“To do that, I’ll need to abdicate while I’m still young.”
“What?”
So… it wasn’t a joke?
“If I stay stuck in the palace, I’ll only see noble brats. I mean, I’ll try going out with them too… but I’m curious about how commoners date. And I want to see all the places Albert went.”
“Wait, Angie. So…”
“If I abdicate right after my successor’s coming-of-age ceremony, that should be okay, right? And if you’re worried, Cedrion can be regent again, can’t you?”
“Oh, come on…”
“That’s right. What I promised Klaus and Charlotte was to make sure Arcadia doesn’t fall—not that I’d rule the kingdom until I die.”
Without any concern for our stunned expressions, Angie went on detailing her determined little plan.
“Angie, wait. What are you even saying? Could you explain this in a way we can understand…?”
“Hmm? I’m saying I’m done being the little kid who throws a fit at the thought of having a sibling to be jealous of.”
With tears still hanging from her silver lashes, Angie gave us a wide grin. Her chapped cheeks and runny nose were undeniably those of a child—
But her smile, full of resolve to have her way no matter what, was unmistakably that of our little tyrant.
One year later, between Cedrion and me, twins were born—heirs to the throne of Lure-Arcadia and successors to the Grand Duchy of Norhart.
~~End of the Side Story~~
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Pitidri
E ainda falta um bebê para herdar Lure kkkk ainda bem que ela não projetou seu amor não vivido em alguém parecido, pois, não seria justo com o Fred… mas e se ele for a reencarnação do amor dela… no entanto, que sejam todos felizes!
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Obrigada pelo trabalho duro, e fazer a tradução dessa obra maravilhosa ❤️