Isabella knew that she had been asleep for a very long time.

She wanted to wake up, but it felt as though an invisible force was holding her down, preventing her from opening her eyes no matter how hard she tried.

Now that her memories had finally returned, there was something she had to know.

If she woke up, would she see her mother?

Had her father escaped the fire safely?

Question after question crowded her mind, leaving her breathless.

Her parents had always worried about her. When she disappeared in the flames, they must have searched desperately for her. Or perhaps they had believed that she had died that day.

What would their faces look like when they saw her again?

If only her memories had returned sooner, she could have gone to them straight away. The thought that they might have been searching for her all this time weighed heavily on her heart, filling her with unbearable guilt.

‘They’re still working at the ducal estate… aren’t they?’

Although much time had passed, Isabella did not doubt it for a moment. Her parents had always said, out of habit, that they would work for the Frasers until they retired.

If she told the Duke, he would let her see them immediately.

Then again, perhaps he already knew.

After all, he had promised to find them for her.

A gentle warmth enveloped her body.

It felt like the embrace she had longed for; it felt like her mother’s arms.

Slowly, Isabella opened her eyes.

“…Mother?”

Instead of answering, a soft hand cupped her cheek.

She lifted her gaze.

There stood her mother, looking just as she had remembered.

Beside her was her father, wearing the same warm, easy smile.

“Our Isabella.”

A surge of emotion washed over her at the sound of that voice. The parents she had yearned for all her life were standing before her.

The emptiness in her chest finally seemed to be filling.

“Mother… Father…”

She threw her arms wide and threw herself into their embrace. Clinging to them like a child, she pressed her face against their chests.

“I missed you so, so much.”

Now she understood.

Her parents had never abandoned her.

She remembered her mother singing lullabies whenever she refused to sleep. She remembered her father’s hurried footsteps whenever she fell and hurt herself. She remembered those gentle hands that tucked her blanket around her each night.

Not for a single day had she ever been without love.

Tears streamed down her face as all the sorrow she had carried for so long finally broke free. She clung to them, not letting go until their clothes were damp with her tears.

She told them how much she had missed them. She confessed that even when her memories had faded, not a day had gone by when she had not ached for them.

Then, through her tears, her voice grew bright and eager.

“When I was in Netherwell, I had a friend called Joshua. He’s usually such a model student, but one day he skipped school and came back to the estate — and then—”

Isabella wept until she had no more tears left. When her sobs finally subsided, leaving her eyes red and swollen, she began to tell her parents everything that had happened.

She spoke of her friend Joshua, of Young Master Vincent — who was far more mischievous than Young Master Logan — and of her days living as a maid. Isabella, who was never particularly talkative, found herself almost at a loss for words in front of her parents, as though trying to make up for lost time.

She carefully avoided mentioning Lady Amelia or Jack Hunter, afraid that doing so would distress them. Even so, she could have told stories all day.

They had been separated for far too long.

Maria gently stroked Isabella’s hair as she listened to her daughter chatter non-stop.

“Our little girl who used to fight sleep…When did you grow up so much? Before we know it, you’ll be bringing home a young man and telling us you’re getting married.”

“Let him try. I’ll snap the rascal’s legs—!”

“Henry! Watch your words.”

Maria gently hit Henry when he clenched his fist and threatened their daughter’s future husband. No matter how much Isabella had grown, she would always be her five-year-old daughter to Maria.

“I won’t marry. I’ll stay right here with you, Mother.”

Burrowing into her mother’s embrace, Isabella spoke like a spoilt child. Marriage held no interest for her. All she wanted was to stay with her parents after so long apart.

This moment, when their family was whole again, was too precious.

She wished time would simply stop.

“I wish to stay with you too. But you cannot remain here, my child.”

Maria gently loosened Isabella from her arms. Her smile was tender as ever, yet her eyes were firm.

“Why…?”

She had only just found them again. Her memories had only just returned.

At the implication of farewell in her mother’s voice, Isabella shook her head.

“You know this is not where you belong.”

“I don’t know that. If you and Father are here, then where else would I go?”

“There is someone waiting for you. Someone who longs for your return.”

There was no need to name him.

Logan Fraser.

As deeply as Isabella had yearned for her parents, he had yearned for her just as long.

“I don’t want to.”

She shook her head more fiercely.

“I don’t want to go. We’ve only just met again…”

She had sworn she would never be separated from them again.

Compared to the years they had spent apart, this reunion was far too short.

Maria cupped her daughter’s cheek gently, just as she had long ago, when Isabella had once refused to part from her.

“You’re the same as before. Do you remember? The day you cried and said you wouldn’t go.”

“Mother.”

“You must live a life where you are loved, my daughter.”

“Mother…”

“That is all your father and I wish for you.”

Maria’s voice, though speaking of parting, was as gentle as ever.

The tears Isabella had tried to hold back spilled over again.

“I don’t want to be left alone again. I was so lonely. All by myself…”

She wept openly, like a child. She longed to cling to her mother as she had done before. She didn’t want to let go of the warmth surrounding her.

“Thank you for growing up so well, even on your own.”

Maria shook her head and pulled her sobbing daughter into her arms. She, too, was reluctant to part with her only child. But it was time to let her go.

So that Isabella could live well, even on her own.

“We will always be by your side.”

Henry wrapped his broad arms around the two of them. After so many years, the three stood together again, bound tightly as one.

“I love you, Isabella.”

Then, like mist rising at dawn, the world around them began to blur.

Maria and Henry’s figures faded. The warmth of their embrace grew faint.

“Mother! Father…!”

Isabella reached out desperately to grasp their retreating forms, but her hand swept through empty air. She stumbled forward and fell. The trace that lingered between her fingers scattered like smoke.

Tears slipped from her eyes.

As she took a breath, she felt herself returning to reality.

It was time to wake up.

***

Once again, the seasons changed.

The leaves that had once adorned the trees with vibrant colors now fell to the ground. The breeze that had once cooled the summer heat now carried a sharp chill.

As Isabella remained in a coma, Logan gradually resumed more of his business travels. He could not leave everything to his representatives indefinitely. With the construction of the hotel almost complete, there were matters that required his personal attention.

The train screeched to a halt as it pulled into the station.

Inside the carriage, which was slowing down, Logan checked his pocket watch.

‘There’s time before the next appointment.’

Although the train left late due to rail issues, it arrived earlier than expected.

He would have time to visit Isabella.

The train came to a complete stop, and a station attendant placed portable steps against the carriage.

Logan stepped down into the biting wind, his coat fluttering in the cold.

“Your Grace.”

Jeremy was waiting at the station to meet Logan.

Logan had arrived earlier than expected. He hadn’t expected anyone to be there. Yet there was Jeremy, out of breath as though he had run the entire way.

Excitement was plain to see on his face.

“What is it?”

“Miss Isabella…”

Jeremy straightened, forcing his breathing to steady before he spoke.

“She has awakened.”