Book 16: Chapter 1
Granted the privilege of transporting me, the White Deer King had her nose up in the sky again, especially toward Dragon Mom. Lucia was slightly upset. With a hopeless smile, I said, “Don’t worry about me, Lucia. Head on back first. I’ll be back after some recuperation.”
Lucia tugged on my cloak and cautiously asked, “But I don’t want to stay in a palace without you… Your Highness, can I bring the girls to Duargana? I want to see Mom and Dad, too.”
I looked over to Mommy Vyvyan as a means of asking. She rubbed Lucia’s small head and smiled: “That’d be nice. Duargana is also Lucia’s homeland, so it’s a nice idea to let her visit her parents. That will give the girls’ grandparents a chance see their granddaughters. It’d be too unfair on Echte, otherwise.”
As soon as Vyvyan said that, Elizabeth immediately said to Nier, “Okay, then, Nier, you return to Hilles City for now. Daisy should undergo her baptism, too, now.”
Nier hesitantly looked at me. I nodded: “That’ll be good. I’ll be worried about leaving you alone in the Imperial Palace. With Mommy Elizabeth with you, I’ll feel more assured. Oh, right, Ying, Xia, you two should return to the Imperial Palace first.”
Ying and Xia nodded. The two seemed eager to return. I speculated Xia wanted to return because she wanted to cook, though. Xia really enjoyed working as a chef.
Reassured, Nier nodded: “All right, Your Majesty. I will head back, and then bring Daisy over.”
Elizabeth nodded: “All right.”
Our group arrived outside the forest. Irina followed behind us and had her head down in silence the entire time. Camille silently gave her daughter a light hug around her shoulders. I occasionally looked back, but I soon stopped, as I didn’t dare to look her way. I couldn’t bear to continue looking at her. Irina had just gotten pregnant, which was something she should’ve been jovial about, yet she was so poignant that she was on the verge of crying. We knew we couldn’t be together. Still, reality was harsh.