Chapter 28
Elonia had a dream while suffering from a high fever.
It was a dream about her time with Artius before she died as Cheron.
‘Artius was a savior.’
There was a time when she thought of him that way, truly.
It was so long ago that she couldn’t even remember it now.
…No, actually she had been turning a blind eye to it.
The shock of having her will betrayed was so great that she had folded and hidden the old memories of him being her savior deep in her heart.
‘He said he would keep his promise… That son of a bitch.’
Saying he would definitely be a good father to the child that would be born.
The more she thought about it, the sadder she felt and the more tears came.
Elonia had built a sturdy levee in her heart since the time she was Cheron.
Crying wouldn’t solve anything and there was no one who would understand even if she showed she was hurt.
So becoming strong herself was the quickest solution.
But Artius had touched that levee with his cheap kindness.
The catharsis she felt the first time the levee broke.
She still couldn’t forget it.
Because of that, whenever she saw Artius’s face, the salvation she had tasted for a very brief moment surfaced again, giving Elonia false hope.
‘…Should I stop?’
Clinging to a single hope and crying my eyes out over this kind of thing.
She wanted to stop.
And now it was truly time to stop.
Rather than losing even the precious memory of salvation from Artius, it was better to let it go herself first.
That way, it would hurt much less.
It was at that moment when she was about to let go of everything.
[Then you have to wake up, Cheron.]
An unknown woman’s voice was heard in the air.
Elonia doubted her ears.
The voice clearly called her Cheron.
‘Who is it?’
[You have to wake up, Elonia.]
Now it calls her Elonia.
It was a somewhat playful yet sad voice.
She had no idea who the owner of this voice was.
‘Who are you? And I’m already awake.’
[No, listen carefully. Someone is crying next to you.]
The voice never told her who it was.
Left with no choice, Elonia listened for other sounds.
Then, as the voice said, she heard the sound of crying.
– With my dullness, Elon, I hurt you endlessly.
She could clearly identify the owner of this voice.
It was Artius.
Artius kept crying and talking to Elonia.
– If I hated you and you resented me, it felt like you wouldn’t die.
– No, it’s an excuse. These kinds of things are all excuses created by my own inadequacy, utterly useless excuses. I, I was completely wrong, Elon.
– You don’t have to treat me as your father. You don’t have to succeed the throne. Because you are more important than Ravanta. So please, please don’t leave my side…!
The harmonious family Elonia had wanted so much.
Artius was the one who shattered it, and Elonia was tired of his attitude and gave up on creating a harmonious family.
‘But why now…!’
Artius’s tearful repentance only fueled Elonia’s anger.
Seriously, this unhelpful bastard.
She had tried to completely let go of her lingering attachments.
She had tried to become strong so that no one could hurt her again, so that she wouldn’t cry again.
Honestly, she hated to admit it, but for a moment, she choked up.
Now that she could finally let go of hope, why was hope not letting her go now?
The playful yet somewhat sad voice kept talking to Elonia.
[Elon, did you hear? You have to wake up now. Dad is waiting.]
‘No. I don’t want to wake up. I don’t want to see that bastard’s face.’
[You have to wake up to give that bastard a piece of your mind. Come on, hurry.]
‘…’
Elonia didn’t answer.
Strangely, that voice naturally softened her heart as it felt nostalgic.
Her stubbornness was short-lived.
Right. She had to wake up to curse that bastard or grab him by the neck.
But even if she was told to wake up, how was she supposed to do that?
Just in case, she tried lifting her eyelids and her blurry mind gradually became clearer.
Just before her mind fully awakened, the playful voice affectionately stroked Elonia’s cheek.
[Cheron, and Elonia. The most important thing is you. This time, you must never forget that. Everything is on your side now.]
The most important thing is you.
Everything is on your side.
‘Who are you to be so certain of that?’
[…The person who made you unhappy. And the person who really wanted to see you again.]
She had no idea.
There didn’t seem to be anyone like that among the people who had made her unhappy.
But the voice wished for ‘the child’s’ happiness, whether it was Cheron or Elon, saying everything was on her side.
With those words, when she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was jet-black hair.
Before she could even think ‘what?’, her eyes met Artius’s.
For a moment, she doubted her eyes.
Artius’s eyes were not just red, but swollen from crying so much.
‘Am I still dreaming?’
It felt like her own desperate wish had manifested as a dream.
She could hate him but just don’t leave his side?
Recalling that bullshit, Elonia’s mouth opened on its own.
“No.”
—
Artius was doubting his own two eyes, wondering if he was seeing things.
Even the palace physician didn’t know the reason why Elonia wouldn’t wake up.
But Elonia had finally woken up.
And she had met his eyes.
Just for that, he was grateful and tears welled up again.
But Elonia was disgusted by him pretending to be sad.
“Why are you crying annoyingly again?”
“Elonia.”
“I hate it, go away! I don’t want to live with you, I’ll kill you, cough!”
“Elonia…!”
Elonia lashed out, then her voice cracked and she let out a dry cough.
Artius was startled and tried to hand her a cup of water and carefully help her sit up, but Elonia brushed off his hand.
The cup of water slipped from Artius’s hand, soaking the rug and shattering silently.
“…”
Artius looked at the shattered glass cup once and then up at Elonia with a hurt expression, but also with a face that said it was deserved.
“Elonia…”
Ignoring Artius, Elonia poured herself water from another glass cup on the side table and drank it with gulps.
And she put it down on the side table with a loud thud, as if almost shattering the glass cup.
It felt like she was coming to her senses a bit.
And seeing it with a clear mind, she realized this was not a dream.
But perhaps because it had been so long since she had seen Artius shed tears, or maybe because she was still caught by hope.
For a moment, she almost wavered.
Moreover, having just woken up from the dream of Cheron, she treated him out of habit as she did when she was Cheron.
Elonia quickly pulled herself together and returned to her usual princess self.
“Your Majesty, please call Sarah.”
“Elonia. Are you alright now…?”
“It is not something Your Majesty should concern yourself with. So please call Sarah quickly.”
As Elonia kept asking only for Sarah, Artius looked hurt.
Elonia looked down at Artius with a ridiculous expression.
‘He kept crying loudly in my dream, so it was real? Why is he like this now?’
Honestly, she didn’t want to understand his intentions.
When was he treating me like he wanted to kill me, and why is he doing this now?
Didn’t he want me to suffer, so he gave me that kind of punishment?
I gave in to his battle of wills and collapsed as he wanted, so shouldn’t he be happy?
‘And why did he barge into my room and make a fuss?’
Artius had never visited her room even once.
But this current situation seemed as if he had waited until she woke up.
Moreover, his eyes looked like a ‘father’s’ eyes, which made her feel bad.
But Elonia had already made up her mind.
‘Let’s see you ramble on like you did earlier.’
She would ignore it all.
She didn’t have to treat him as a father and she didn’t have to succeed the throne?
In the first place, she had no intention of treating him as a father or succeeding the throne.
What a huge misunderstanding.
Contrary to Elonia’s expectations, Artius didn’t say anything more and obediently withdrew.
“…I’m sorry. Then rest, Elonia.”
“…?”
For a moment, she doubted her ears.
He’s sorry?
She never dreamed that she would hear the words ‘I’m sorry’ coming out of Artius’s mouth with Elonia’s body.
Moreover, with that face full of guilt.
‘…I guess it really wasn’t a dream.’
Only then did it hit her.
Everything Artius had been crying and begging for was all real.
I’m sorry.
Those mere four letters wouldn’t leave Elonia’s mind.
When Artius left, the maids and the palace physician rushed in all at once.
As soon as Sarah entered, she saw the broken glass shards and turned pale, checking on Elonia’s well-being.
“Princess, are you hurt anywhere!? Could it be that His Majesty—”
“No. I threw it.”
At Elonia’s answer, everyone’s jaws dropped.
At the same time, most of them had understanding eyes.
Elonia asked the maids while being examined by Chloe.
“What happened to the others?”
“The princes of the Asta family are confined within the ducal residence. And Sir Ricardo and Lady Ethan are still imprisoned, and…”
“I’m fine, so keep talking. What about Prince Dolce?”
The princes would be well taken care of by the Duchess of Asta anyway. As for Ricardo and Ethan, it was only a one-month imprisonment, so there was no need to worry too much.
What she was most curious about was Prince Dolce’s punishment.
“…Prince Dolce confessed all his misdeeds in the underground dungeon.”
“Underground dungeon?”
Elonia’s eyes widened.
To think he would send him to the underground dungeon.
“Then what is he doing now? Is he dead?”
“Well, before His Majesty could issue Prince Dolce’s punishment, you collapsed, Princess…”
“You mean he’s still fine?”
“Still, don’t worry too much! As soon as you collapsed, he rushed over and stayed by your side, so he hasn’t been able to issue the punishment yet. He will soon pay the price for insulting the imperial family!”
Elonia was surprised.
‘He really stayed by my side the whole time?’
It was unexpected.
She thought she had woken up at the right timing when he had briefly visited.
Come to think of it, his face did seem a bit haggard.
Elonia received Chloe’s diagnosis that she had now fully recovered and thought about it the entire time she was being devotedly attended to by the maids.
‘His face is the only thing worth looking at, so he should take better care of it.’
‘No, but why did he suddenly worry about me? To the point of staying in my room the whole time.’
‘Didn’t he hate me? Didn’t he forget all about the will?’
When was he acting so brutally, saying Philemia had died, and why now?
No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t understand.
No, actually, if she made a certain assumption, she could understand.
But the problem was that the assumption was absurd.
‘There’s no way Artius would consider me his daughter now.’
Elonia remembered how Artius had treated her from the moment she was reborn until now.
Moreover, she had already faced the brink of death several times.
But it was ridiculous for him to act so affectionately just because she had collapsed from a cold.
However.
But still.
‘Just one more time.’
Now that she had witnessed his tears with her own eyes, she wanted to have hope.
The voice of unknown identity had told her.
Now everyone is on your side, you are the most important.
Listening to her heart’s voice while recalling that warm voice, Elonia could tell that she herself wanted to have hope again.
Having a father who worried about her was a new and unfamiliar feeling for Elonia.
It didn’t feel bad.
‘Just one more time, I’ll believe, no. I’ll wait and see for now.’
She didn’t want to be betrayed twice by someone she had trusted.
So this time, let’s not trust him so as not to be betrayed.
Don’t believe, but observe.
Elonia herself couldn’t understand what she was saying.
But she still wanted a family enough to pretend not to know that.