Chapter 222

It was dark all around. Nerys sighed, thinking it was a relief that she couldn’t see Cledwyn’s face properly.

“Do you know the Duchess’s personality? The woman who became my stepmother thought I was a filthy foreign object that had intruded upon her precious family. Even more so because Valentin hated me from the start. She used all sorts of excuses to abuse me—that my etiquette wasn’t refined, that my attitude wasn’t submissive. I wanted to be acknowledged in that house so badly that I studied, sacrificing sleep, and eventually, they could no longer find fault with my etiquette, but that was all.”

Life in that house was nothing more than a struggle to keep breathing.

“The Elandria family was desperate to become independent from the empire, and I used my Ja’an to help them. Then one day, the ducal house and the Imperial Family made a contract to make me Abelus’ wife. It was a marriage proposal that considered neither my wishes nor Abelus’, but since both families wanted it, the engagement was settled in an instant. The wedding was the same.”

No matter how positively she tried to frame it, her situation was that of a chess piece simply being moved to a new square.

“Abelus didn’t love me. The entire Imperial Family hated me for not being able to bear children because of a potion Natasha Grunehals gave me before the wedding. They must not have hesitated. On our wedding day, Abelus fell in love not with me, but with Megara.”

A complex expression appeared on Cledwyn’s face as he watched Nerys give a bitter smile.

Even without further explanation, he would understand. What she was saying now.

That it was about ‘the time she had returned to.’

“When the time was ripe, the Elandria family declared independence as a royal house. The Imperial Family accused me of acting as a spy for my family, immediately threw me into a tower meant for heinous criminals, and tortured me. I felt it was unfair. It was true that I had worked for my family, but I had also done my best for the Imperial Family. But no one listened to me.”

Nerys’s face grew somber.

“In the end, I died. At the hands of the people I had wanted to become family with.”

“Nerys.”

Cledwyn set the lantern down on the ground. And he pulled her into a tight embrace.

The hug, which asked nothing, made her body tremble. Nerys buried her face in his chest. Tears began to stream down, but it wasn’t too difficult.

“When I came to my senses, I was twelve years old again. When they killed me, Valentin said that even a dog’s corpse is useful. Camille must have been thrilled to get her hands on the corpse of me, her loyal hound. She must have thought she could finally fill the altar in her secret chamber. Whether it was due to her clumsiness or something else, the Seal broke and ended up bringing me back to life instead.”

Cledwyn took a deep breath. He seemed to be enduring some intense emotion. A negative kind, at that.

She didn’t want him to suffer. Nerys wrapped her arms around her husband’s body and gently patted his back.

“It’s okay. I’m paying them back one by one. I’m really okay.”

There was no reply. She gave a faint smile.

“You wanted to ask if confronting the Imperial Family head-on is what I truly want, right? That is exactly what I want, Cledwyn Maindulante. In fact, I should be the one asking for your intentions. The fight against the Imperial Family will be long and difficult, and the path may be paved with hell.”

The hand patting his back stopped.

She asked, as if whispering.

“Will you, will you fall into hell with me?”

A low, long breath escaped him, like the growl of a beast.

Cledwyn bit Nerys’s lips. The kiss was short but fierce. When they parted, if it hadn’t been for the desperate expression on her husband’s face, Nerys would have remained flushed for a long time.

Fear could be felt in his heated gaze, which poured over her as if even the time it took to blink was a waste. Nerys realized that he had noticed all her oddities until now, and that he had been anxious somewhere inside because she hadn’t explained the reason for them first.

‘You fool.’

This was a man who could have thoroughly interrogated her if he had wanted to.

Nerys gave a playful smile. Cledwyn bared his teeth and grinned.

“Don’t even think about going to hell alone without me.”

Suddenly, a faint voice could be heard from a distance. Your Highness! Your Highness! …ness!

Though it was far, it was clearly Aidan’s voice.

Cledwyn bent down and picked up the lantern. Soon, a flickering light appeared at the other end of the corridor. Several voices followed, sounding relieved.

It seemed they had found another entrance while digging through the ground from above. Nerys smiled and took Cledwyn’s hand.

“Let’s go. To the people waiting for us.”

❖ ❖ ❖

The carriage came to a stop in front of the White Swan Castle.

“Long live the Grand Duchess!”

“Long live the Grand Duke!”

The cheers of the people, which had been echoing throughout the city since the party entered the outer castle, exploded as the Grand Ducal couple stepped out of the carriage.

Colorful flower petals scattered under the blue sky. Nerys and Cledwyn nodded to those who had lined up in front of the castle gate to greet them.

“Your Highnesses.”

The person standing at the very front of the servants was Ellen. She bowed deeply, her face filled with deep emotion.

“We have been awaiting Your Highnesses’ return.”

“We have been waiting!”

The other servants shouted in unison.

Nerys felt a little embarrassed. She knew well how proud the people of Maindulante were. So she had come prepared not to mind if she saw signs that they followed her as an advisor but disapproved of her as the Grand Duchess, Nerys Truydd.

But looking at them now, she could only feel warm affection and trust in the eyes of the servants, and in the eyes of the officials standing on the opposite side.

Just then, a woman walked out from between the servants and officials as if running.

“Riz!”

“Mother!”

Nerys’s face brightened.

She couldn’t even count the days since she had last seen her mother. The mere thought of how worried her mother must have been, especially since she had been framed for murder by Adrian and dragged away by force, filled her with guilt.

Indeed, her mother was thinner than before. Still, it was a relief that her face, as she called Nerys’s name, looked bright and healthy.

Though she had inadvertently called out her daughter’s name, her mother was from a collateral branch of a noble family. Recalling how a guest should behave in a public ceremony welcoming the returning lord and lady, she stopped around the same spot as Ellen.

A short silence fell. The first to move was Cledwyn.

He, who until now had not taken his hand off his wife’s shoulder as if it were stitched there, let her go. He then strode over to Nerys’s mother and knelt on one knee before her.

“We have returned, Mother-in-law.”

Nerys watched her mother’s reaction with a nervous heart. Although it had been necessary due to circumstances, she had gotten married without a single word to her mother, so she couldn’t complain even if she was scolded.

She was prepared to be reprimanded. And she was prepared to take as much time as necessary to make her understand. But what about Cledwyn…

A gentle smile appeared on her mother’s face. Her mother extended her right hand for Cledwyn to kiss and spoke like a noble lady.

“Welcome, my dear son-in-law. You must have had a hard time on your long journey. Let’s go inside. Everyone has been waiting for you, and for my daughter.”

Waiting, she had said.

Those words finally made it feel like she was home.

❖ ❖ ❖

Ellen guided Nerys to the Grand Duchess’s chambers.

It wasn’t the former Grand Duchess’s room in the west palace. The room prepared for Nerys was an expansion and redecoration of the study that had originally been next to Cledwyn’s bedroom, and it had a door that led directly to his chambers.

Fabric dyed Tyrian Purple, the same color as Nerys’s eyes, decorated the room. Purple silk, said to be as expensive as its weight in gold, was embroidered with bright yellow arabesque patterns and covered the bed, while curtains of the same color with gold tassels draped lavishly from the canopy of the four-poster bed.

Above the massive fireplace that reached a person’s shoulder, a Fizan Mirror, famous for its glasswork, was lined up with pieces of Fizan Colored Glass and porcelain ornaments painted here and there with gold. Below them, the delicately crafted poker, andirons, and fireplace screen, all finished in brass, gleamed.

A mahogany desk with smooth curves, a luxurious chair with a purple cushion, antique walls with gold molding, and a table with a carved base and a top of jade so clear it was transparent.

The room was breathtakingly extravagant, with gold and purple incorporated into every possible space. Nerys asked Ellen.

“Does my husband have an obsession?”

“Pardon?”

Ellen looked bewildered for a moment before realizing Nerys was joking and smiled.

“The previous Grand Duke also decorated the entire room in the color of the Grand Duchess’s eyes. I suppose it’s this family’s way of showing love.”

Even so, she didn’t think it was necessary to go this far, but she liked the word ‘love.’ Nerys looked around the room a little more closely and, spotting a familiar object, walked toward it. In a spot where one could look directly out the window, there was a slightly worn chair, unlike the other furniture in the room.

“His Highness the Grand Duke sent a letter ordering that it be placed in a space where Your Highness can rest comfortably, as it is an item you cherish.”

Ellen explained, seeing Nerys’s gaze fall upon the chair. Nerys sat down in it.

A familiar comfort washed over her. The comfort of that space that had long been her hiding place and, in this life, the place where she met Cledwyn.

The only difference was that this chair was no longer in a secluded corner of the library but was now placed preciously in front of a bright and lovely window.

“This looks the same as the chair that was in the former Grand Duchess’s drawing room. Is my memory correct?”

“Yes, Your Highness. A Magical Communication Device was built into the armrest, so the former Grand Duke and Grand Duchess would secretly converse with magic when they were apart.”

So that’s what it was.

“Riz.”

The bedroom door opened. Nerys’s mother entered the room. Ellen bowed politely.

“Lady Truydd.”

There was an incomparable gap between a low-ranking noble lady staying at the castle and the castle lord’s mother-in-law, but Ellen’s attitude was not much different from before.

‘She was polite from the beginning.’

Ellen had always been extremely polite to both Nerys and her mother. As if she knew things would turn out this way.

“Lady Ellen, I’m so sorry, but…”

“You wish to speak with Her Highness alone, don’t you? Yes, of course.”

“Thank you.”

Soon, only Nerys and her mother were left in the quiet room. Nerys stood up from the chair and approached her mother with a slightly awkward gesture.

“……Mother.”

“My baby.”

After several months, the mother and daughter embraced. As Nerys smelled the soft, clean scent of her mother, she felt her heart become as peaceful as if by a lie.

There was so much she had to tell her mother. She had no intention of telling her about her regression, as it would break her heart, but there were many other truths her mother needed to know.

Like why Nerys had let herself be captured so meekly by Adrian.

Or what had happened to the Elandria family.

Or the secret of the Ja’an.

And even the circumstances of how she had married Cledwyn, become the Grand Duchess, and returned.

She had agonized over what to start explaining at this moment to convince her mother. But being held by her mother, she came to the realization that none of that seemed to matter.

Her mother soon looked at Nerys’s face and pinched her cheek. A cheerful smile appeared on her still-youthful face.

“My baby, I’m so glad you seem to have been well. You look better.”

“Really?”

“Of course. Your expression has brightened up a lot, too.”

“Were you very surprised that I suddenly got married without telling you?”

“Hmm, actually, I wasn’t surprised.”

Nerys was a little surprised by that. Why wasn’t she surprised?

“Why?”

Her mother’s smiling eyes deepened.

“Because it was so obvious that you two were in love with each other even when you were here.”

Nerys’s face turned bright red. She was already clumsy at discussing her own feelings. To hear such words while making eye contact with none other than her mother left her at a loss for what to do.

“……I-Is that so?”

“Of course, my pretty baby. From the beginning, the way you two treated each other was different from how you treated anyone else.”

Well… that was true. Perhaps this outcome had been all too obvious.

“Mother.”

Nerys buried herself in her mother’s embrace again. Her honest feelings slipped from her lips like a sigh.

“I’m sorry for making you worry.”

And then, haltingly, like a shower of falling flower petals, the stories of what had happened began to pour out.