Episode-999
Chapter : 1997
Lloyd stepped back, giving them space. He felt like an intruder in this raw, beautiful moment, but he also felt a deep sense of satisfaction. The "Major General" inside his head checked the perimeter, scanning the room for threats, but there were none. Just a family putting itself back together.
He checked his internal status. His Void Power was sitting at a state of hyper-readiness. The Blood Steel in his veins felt calm, ready to forge refined steel wires at a thought. His Blue Ring Eyes were deactivated, the glowing seals fading from his irises as he allowed himself to see the world normally, without data streams or threat assessments. Even his spirits were quiet. Fang Fairy and Iffrit, usually so eager to comment or bicker, remained silent within his soul, respecting the moment.
Lloyd watched them. He saw the way Mina gripped Rosa’s dress, terrified to let go. He saw the way Rosa looked at her mother, drinking in the sight of her health.
It was a chaotic symphony of tears, apologies, and incoherent joy. It was messy. It was loud. And it was exactly what needed to happen.
But Lloyd knew that tears wouldn't fix the political nightmare they were in. The world outside this room still believed lies. They believed Rosa was gone, annulled, erased. They believed Mina was the only Duchess. If they didn't fix the narrative right now, this reunion would turn into a scandal that could destroy House Ferrum.
Lloyd cleared his throat. It wasn't a loud sound, but it carried the weight of command.
"We need to talk," Lloyd said.
The women pulled apart slightly, though they kept holding hands. They looked at Lloyd.
Mina wiped her eyes, her face flushed and tear-streaked. "Talk? Lloyd, she just got back. Can't we just..."
"No," Lloyd said gently but firmly. "We can't just wait. The servants are watching. The guards are watching. By noon, the entire capital will know Rosa is here. We need to decide what that means before the rumors decide for us."
He looked at Rosa. Her grey eyes met his. There was still pain there, and the shadow of the guilt she carried, but there was also trust. She gave him a small, almost imperceptible nod.
Lloyd turned to the gathering crowd of household staff who had frozen at the edges of the hall, unsure of what they were witnessing.
"Everyone," Lloyd announced, his voice projecting clearly to the back of the room. "Listen to me."
He walked to the center of the hall. He didn't look like a husband returning from a trip. He looked like a ruler taking his throne.
"There have been stories," Lloyd began. "Stories about why Lady Rosa left. Stories about this family. Most of them are lies."
He looked at his mother, Duchess Milody, who had just entered from the upper balcony. She stopped at the railing, looking down with a sharp, calculating gaze. She knew the political mess this created. She was waiting to see if her son could handle it.
Lloyd took a deep breath. He wasn't going to play games anymore. No more "Sofa King." No more hiding.
"In my first life," Lloyd said, speaking more to himself than the room, "I made the mistake of letting silence ruin us. I won't make that mistake again."
He held out his hand to Rosa.
"Rosa," he said. "Come here."
Rosa hesitated for a fraction of a second. She looked at Mina, then at her mother. Mina squeezed her hand and let go, pushing her gently forward.
Rosa walked to Lloyd. She stood beside him, her head high, the silver hair framing a face that was no longer a mask of ice, but the face of a woman who had walked through hell and come back.
Lloyd looked at the room. He looked at the servants, the guards, and his family.
"I am going to make a proclamation," Lloyd said. "And I only want to say it once."
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Lloyd raised his head. His eyes, usually hidden behind a veil of boredom or sarcasm, were burning with a cold, blue intensity. He tapped into his Void Power, not to attack, but to amplify his presence. A subtle wave of pressure washed over the room, commanding absolute attention.
Chapter : 1998
"You all know the rumors," Lloyd said. His voice was steady, devoid of the sarcastic monotone he used to deflect the world. This was the voice of the man who commanded the Titan Squad. "You heard that Rosa Siddik abandoned this house. You heard that our marriage was a sham, annulled to make way for a new alliance. You heard that she was a traitor to the Ferrum name."
He paused, letting the words hang in the air. He saw a few servants look down, ashamed. Those were the whispers that had filled the halls for months.
"Those were lies," Lloyd declared. The volume of his voice didn't rise, but the intensity did. "Lies fed to us by enemies who wanted to see us broken. Lies that I was too blind to see through until it was almost too late."
He turned to look at Rosa. He didn't look at her with the polite distance of a political partner. He looked at her with a raw, painful honesty that made Mina catch her breath.
"Rosa Siddik did not abandon us," Lloyd said. "She went to war for us. While we were sleeping safely in our beds, she was in the frozen north, fighting monsters and devils to keep this family safe. She sacrificed her title, her reputation, and her very health to protect a house that didn't appreciate her."
Rosa’s breath hitched. She looked at Lloyd, stunned. She had expected him to make a polite excuse, to spin a story about her being sick. She hadn't expected him to tell the truth—or at least, the emotional truth.
Lloyd turned back to the room.
"She possessed the power to destroy us," Lloyd continued. "She had the justification. In another life, perhaps she would have. But in this one... she chose to change her heart. She chose to save me when I didn't deserve it. She chose to be a shield when she could have been a sword."
He reached out and took Rosa’s hand. Her fingers were cold, but his grip was warm and firm. He lifted her hand, displaying their joined grasp to the entire room.
"Therefore," Lloyd announced, "let it be known and recorded. The annulment is void. It never happened. Rosa Siddik is, and has always been, my First Wife."
A gasp rippled through the room. This was politically impossible. He was already married to Mina. The laws of the Kingdom were strict. But Lloyd didn't care about the laws of the Kingdom. He was making his own laws.
"She is the primary Duchess of House Ferrum," Lloyd stated, his tone brooking no argument. "She is the Winter Queen of the North. Her word is my word. Her honor is my honor. Anyone who disrespects her disrespects me. And you all know what happens when I get disrespected."
The threat was subtle, but terrifying. Everyone in that room knew about the "White Mask." They knew about the bodies in the garden. They knew Lloyd Ferrum was not a man to cross.
"Mina," Lloyd said, turning to the younger sister.
Mina stepped forward, her eyes shining.
"Mina is my wife," Lloyd said. "She is the mother of my heir. She is the heart of this house. But Rosa... Rosa is the foundation. We do not choose one over the other. We are a family. A complicated, messy, strong family. And we are done apologizing for it."
He looked up at the balcony where his mother stood. Duchess Milody was smiling. It wasn't her usual polite, courtly smile. It was a genuine smile of pride. She nodded once, signaling her approval. The political fallout would be a nightmare, but her son had handled it with the strength of a king.
"Welcome home, Duchess," Lloyd said to Rosa, squeezing her hand.
Rosa looked at him. The "Silent Flower" of India, the "Ice Queen" of Riverio, finally let her mask fall completely. She smiled. It was a small, watery smile, but it was real.
"Thank you," she whispered.
The tension in the room broke. The servants, taking their cue from the Master, bowed low to Rosa. "Welcome home, Your Grace," they murmured in unison.
Later that afternoon, the sun was setting over the estate, casting long golden shadows across the floor of the nursery.
The political speeches were done. The armor was off. Lloyd was sitting in a chair, watching the women of his life.
Rosa was sitting on the edge of the large rug. Mina was beside her, holding the baby, Sullivan. The infant was awake, his deep eyes—so like Lloyd’s—staring up at the ceiling.
"Do you want to hold him?" Mina asked softly.