Chapter 346| Thank You... For Forgiving My Son
The white marble corridors of the Sol-Regis Palace felt infinitely longer and colder than usual that night.
The autumn air slipped through the cracks of the high windows.
Passing servants bowed their heads deeply. Rows of elite Silver Eagle knights stood as stiff as statues by every pillar.
Every soul in the palace knew... tonight’s summons was the final one.
Tap... tap... tap...
The footsteps of Caelus and Raveena echoed, piercing the silence.
Raveena strode gracefully, draped in a simple midnight-blue gown. Her black hair cascaded freely down her back. Beside her, Caelus walked with a rigidly clenched jaw.
The 7th Prince wore a dark blue coat bearing the golden Sun crest. His fingers repeatedly squeezed the hem of his cloak.
Raveena slowly shifted her hand. She slipped her fingers through Caelus’s, gripping his hand tightly.
Caelus turned his head. Raveena merely offered a firm nod. I am here.
Their footsteps halted before a pair of gold-carved wooden doors.
Leonardo was already standing there. The Crown Prince of Sol-Regis wore a dark blue coat. The bags under his eyes were pitch-black. The man’s face now looked extraordinarily exhausted and fragile.
"Brother," Caelus greeted softly.
Leonardo looked at his brother, then shifted his gaze to Raveena. "You’re here."
The Crown Prince turned the doorknob slowly. Creaaak... "Father is waiting for you inside, Caelus," Leonardo whispered. "Remember... his breaths are incredibly shallow. Do not burden him for too long."
The two nodded in understanding, then stepped into the dimness of the chamber.
The pungent scent of herbal incense and bitter medicinal brews immediately ambushed their lungs.
Hsssh... hhh... The sound of ragged, forced breaths sliced at the heart from the direction of the gold-canopied bed. The velvet curtains were drawn tight, leaving only the dim glow of a candle on the nightstand.
King Edward IV lay there.
The figure... was now nothing more than a frail shell. His skin was as pale as parchment. His cheekbones protruded hauntingly.
Yet, amidst that physical ruin, his pair of sea-blue eyes—the exact same eyes inherited by Caelus and Leonardo—still burned with the lingering sharpness of a sovereign.
Caelus immediately dropped to his knees beside the bed. "Father..."
King Edward shifted his eyes sluggishly. The corners of his pale lips pulled into a painfully weak smile. His wrinkled hand trembled violently as it felt across the mattress.
Caelus hurriedly caught his father’s cold hand and pressed it to his forehead.
"Caelus... my son..." Edward whispered. His voice was as brittle as rustling dry leaves.
Then, the King’s gaze shifted past his son’s shoulder. Staring at the black-haired woman standing humbly near the bedpost.
"Come closer... child," Edward called out with great difficulty.
Gulp. Raveena swallowed hard. She stepped forward carefully, knelt right beside Caelus, and bowed her head in profound respect.
"You are... Raveena..." Edward’s breath hitched. The old man coughed weakly. Cough! "...Caelus never failed to mention your name... in every letter from the North."
Raveena looked up. Her eyes met the King’s blue ones.
"Back then... I waged a foolish war... that nearly destroyed your family," Edward murmured bitterly.
The old man forced his fingers to move, touching the warm back of Raveena’s hand. Raveena didn’t pull her hand away at all. She allowed the frail touch to happen.
"But you... you are living proof... that no matter how thick the walls of hatred are... they can be torn down if someone is brave enough to open the door of forgiveness first." Edward’s eyes glistened with tears as he looked at the girl. "Thank you... for forgiving my son."
"There is absolutely nothing to forgive, Your Majesty," Raveena whispered genuinely. "Caelus is a very good man."
Edward smiled in relief. His eyes shifted back to Caelus, who was now bowing his head to hold back his sobs. The youngest prince’s shoulders shook violently.
"Caelus..." Edward’s breaths grew shallower. Their rhythm became increasingly erratic.
The King stared straight at Raveena, yet his decree was aimed absolutely at his son. "Take good care of this girl. She... is vastly stronger than she lets on. But... no matter how strong a girl is... she will always need someone... to lean on..."
The sentence hung unfinished.
Those sharp sea-blue eyes slowly lost their focus. His eyelids drifted shut peacefully. His grip on Caelus’s fingers slackened, then fell limply onto the silk mattress.
The ragged breaths that had been agonizing the room finally ceased completely.
"Father... Father!!"
Caelus exploded into tears. The man buried his face against the edge of the bed, gripping his father’s golden blanket in crushing despair.
Raveena bit her lower lip hard to endure the stinging ache. Tears pooled in her eyes, yet she refused to let them fall.
The woman of the North straightened her back, wrapped her arms around Caelus’s shoulders, and hugged the man as tightly as possible. Shouldering the weight of sorrow he could not bear alone that night.
A few hours later, in the West Wing of the Palace.
The fire inside the hearth of Caelus’s private chambers crackled softly, chewing through the remnants of pine wood. Crackle... pop... Caelus and Raveena sat side by side on the sofa facing the hearth. Both were still wearing the same clothes. Caelus’s eyes were red and swollen, staring blankly at the dancing flames.
"Hah... ever since I was a child, I always felt like I was nothing more than a useless shadow," Caelus broke the silence, his voice raspy. "The 7th Prince. Not the heir to the throne like Brother Leonardo. Not a pure magic prodigy like Cedric. I’m just... a burden."
Raveena turned her head. She brushed aside a stray strand of Caelus’s blonde hair that had fallen across his forehead.
"You know, Caelus..." Raveena smiled tenderly. "From the very first day I saw you at the Academy, I never cared about the number ’seven’ in your title. I saw you, not the crown on your head."
Caelus turned to look at her. "Then what for?"
"For the way you stood your ground," Raveena answered firmly. "For the way you chose to uphold the right principles."
Hearing that, Caelus felt the boulder crushing his chest slowly begin to erode. He shifted his seat, resting his head on Raveena’s shoulder. The woman stroked his hair affectionately.
The atmosphere of the night turned warm, tranquil, and intimate.
However, that peace did not last long.
Knock! Knock! Knock! A panicked rapping at the door shattered everything. The door swung open roughly. A servant rushed in, his face as white as a corpse and his breathing ragged.
"Prince Caelus..." the servant swallowed hard, his body trembling. "Just now... the main bell was tolled. His Majesty King Edward... has passed away."
Thump.
Time inside the room felt as though it had been violently wrenched away. Caelus froze as if drenched in ice water. His breath hitched in his throat.
Even though he had watched his father take his last breath with his own two eyes... hearing the official announcement of his death declared out loud caused reality to brutally slap him across the face once more.
His father was truly gone.
Caelus covered his face with both palms. His shoulders began to shake again.
Raveena immediately pulled the man into her embrace. Incredibly tight. Letting Caelus’s tears soak her blue gown.
That night, neither of them went to sleep.
Raveena remained sitting beside Caelus, refusing to let go of her embrace. She kept him company in absolute silence. Occasionally, her hand rubbed Caelus’s back in a soothing rhythm.
In the corner of the room, thick candles slowly melted. Drip... drip... The candles burned down until they became lifeless puddles by dawn. There were no wise words of comfort. There were only two hands gripping each other tightly, and two breaths merging in the midst of a dark night of mourning.
Three days later.
The death knell tolled slowly, vibrating through the sky of Sol-Regis. Dong... Dong... Dong...
The midday sun sliced across the marble courtyard of the royal cemetery. The funeral procession of King Edward IV was held with solemnity. Thousands of knights and nobles bowed their heads in a sea of black.
In the very front row, Leonardo stood tall like a tower of iron. His dark blue mantle now shouldered the full weight of the entire kingdom.
Beside him, Eleanor stood rigidly. The woman’s face appeared sorrowful before the public. Yet from beneath her black hood... the corner of Eleanor’s eyes threw a cynical glare toward Raveena. Ice cold.
Raveena caught that venomous glance. Instead of backing down, the Princess of the North lifted her chin slightly, returning Eleanor’s glare with absolute elegance. I am not afraid of you. Beside her, Caelus stood resolutely. His sorrow had settled into a newfound maturity. Raveena never once unlinked her arm from the man’s throughout the entire procession.
After the marble casket was sealed shut and the mourners began to disperse, Raveena slipped away to a quiet little garden. She needed to breathe fresh air, free from the cloying scent of incense perfume.
Rustle. The sound of shifting fabric echoed from behind a pillar.
Valerine emerged with practically soundless footsteps. The brown-eyed princess stared at Raveena with an analytical sharpness that never faded.
"Are you returning to the North tomorrow morning?" Valerine asked, breaking the silence without any preamble.
Raveena nodded slowly. "Yes. My duty here is complete."
Valerine reached into her cloak pocket. "If you have any cross-border return documents getting stalled by Church bureaucracy... give them to me. I’ll handle them through a shortcut."
Raveena was slightly taken aback by the genuine offer from this deadpan woman. "Thank you, Valerine."
"Tch, don’t misunderstand," Valerine scoffed, looking away. "You are officially my future sister-in-law. There is nothing left for me to debate regarding your status in this family."
Valerine spun on her heels, preparing to leave. But she shot a fleeting glance over her shoulder. "Have a safe trip home, Raveena. Try not to die in a bandit ambush on the road."
Raveena could only chuckle softly at her future sister-in-law’s personality.
Her laughter was cut short when far more frantic footsteps were heard across the grass. Rustle! Rustle!
Adriana appeared, lifting the hem of her mourning gown slightly. Her dark blonde hair was a mess, her green eyes incredibly swollen from crying all day. The moment she saw Raveena, she immediately rushed forward and hugged her tightly.
"Raveena... can you really not stay here a little longer?" Adriana sobbed, gripping Raveena’s cloak.
Raveena returned the embrace with equal warmth. "I have to get back to teaching my students at the academy, Adriana. I’m sure they’ve been waiting for me."
"Huuu... but I really wanted to see the heavy snow in Northreach... and taste the rendang Queen Aurelia makes," Adriana complained, pouting her lips.
"The doors of our castle will always be wide open to welcome you whenever you decide to visit," Raveena chuckled, rubbing her back.
Adriana released her embrace. She looked deeply into Raveena’s eyes, then whispered with a serious, pleading tone.
"Raveena... please take good care of Caelus. He... he often pushes himself too hard to look strong in front of others. But the truth is... his heart breaks far too easily."
"I promise, Adriana," Raveena clasped both of the woman’s hands. "I will protect him with my own life."
The next morning. The dawn air was still biting as the Lightning Rail hissed at the capital’s exclusive station.
Raveena and Caelus were already standing on the platform.
Suddenly, a palace servant hurried over in a half-sprint. The man bowed politely and handed a neatly rolled, small parchment to Raveena. There was no official envelope. No royal wax seal.
Raveena accepted it and unrolled it. Crackle.
It contained a single line written in dark red ink with sharp, angular handwriting.
"If you ever dare return to this city one day, we are obligated to finish the remainder of our magic calculation discussion from yesterday. — C."
Caelus, who had peeked over to read the letter, immediately glared. "Huh?! That’s from Cedric?! That maniac is still challenging you?!"
Raveena, on the contrary, smirked. She rolled the parchment back up and slipped it into her cloak pocket.
"Tch, don’t be too hard on him, Caelus," Raveena chuckled. "Your mother forced him to become a weapon of mass destruction... even though deep down in his heart, Cedric is merely an artist obsessed with the beauty of magic."
Caelus snorted in resignation upon hearing Raveena’s absurd analysis. "Whatever you two say, you absolute nerds."
The two of them stepped up into the carriage. The steel doors hissed tightly shut.
The magnetic technology train accelerated flawlessly smooth, leaving the capital station. From behind the thick glass, Raveena watched the golden towers of the Sol-Regis Palace slowly shrink, swallowed by the morning mist, until they vanished entirely from sight.
Raveena took a deep breath, then rested her head incredibly comfortably against Caelus’s broad shoulder.
"You know..." Raveena murmured softly, her eyes heavy with sleep. "...when we first met back then, I thought you were a spoiled prince who was incredibly troublesome."
Caelus looked down, stroking Raveena’s black hair. "And now?"
"Now... my heart feels overwhelmingly full," Raveena smiled, closing her eyes. "You are a very... very... good prince."
Hearing that genuine confession, Caelus’s chest warmed. The prince planted a long kiss on the top of the head of the resilient woman who had stayed by his side through the darkest storms.
"Our home in the North is already waiting for us, Raveena," Caelus whispered tenderly. "Let’s go home."