YWPWYLFDM 62

Chapter 62

The imperial capital, Benator. At the Visehafen ducal residence, preparations were in full swing to receive guests.

Lord Rodrick Visehafen himself had even come out to greet them.

At his side, however, Candice Eposher scowled and muttered in displeasure, grumbling that she didn’t understand why they had come all the way here.

“Are you not happy your sister is coming, Candice?” someone asked.

“It’s obvious—the Council of Mages sent for her. There’s no other explanation,” Candice muttered, her face shadowed. She kept whining that she’d hand in her resignation the moment she felt like it, and Rodrick watched her with a small smile.

Not long after, the sound of hooves echoed in the distance and drew nearer.

“Ah — they must have arrived,” Rodrick said.

A procession of carriages pulled up. Behind an elegant carriage at the front trailed several baggage carts.

The door of the foremost carriage opened, and a tall, slender woman who resembled Candice sprang out with a bound — so quickly that Rodrick had no chance to offer an escort.

“Whoa, Austin, careful — you’ll trip,” someone warned.

Natalia, stepping down from the carriage, took her husband’s hand as he followed. Rodrick, having lost his chance to greet them properly, simply stood there awkwardly.

“You’re here,” Candice said flatly.

“Yes, we’re here,” Natalia replied in kind, lips pursed.

“I’ve come too, sister-in-law,” Natalia said.

“Welcome, Austin. It must have been hard getting all the way here,” Rodrick added.

When her brother-in-law greeted them, Candice suddenly brightened as if she had not been cold at all and welcomed him cheerfully.

“Hey—what about me? Can’t I get a little greeting?” Natalia protested.

“Since when are you so charming?” Candice scoffed.

Natalia pouted in a wounded voice, but Candice blew air out of her nose and turned her head away dismissively.

Rodrick, feeling the awkwardness, finally found an opening and stepped in to address his guests who had come to his home.

“Welcome, Natalia. I heard you were married — I’m sorry I couldn’t attend.”

“Your Grace! It’s been ages. When did we last meet…?” Natalia searched her memory for their last encounter and suddenly recalled it had been when Eila was born; she quickly changed the subject. She didn’t want to bring up the lost first child and make things awkward.

“Oh, please. You’re busy — don’t worry about it. I’m grateful for the gift you sent back then,” she said brightly, introducing Austin to Rodrick so they could exchange formal greetings. After a lot of noisy salutations at the gate, they finally entered the mansion.

After taking a short rest from their long journey, Natalia and her husband gathered the gifts the Hailing household had sent and went to the mother and baby’s room.

Meeting them in this foreign land to offer congratulations, Natalia gazed at the tiny baby with eyes full of honeyed adoration — and Austin looked every bit as delighted.

“My goodness, she’s so pretty and adorable, Natalia. She reminds me of our Sheryl when she was that small. Sheryl was so pretty too,” he said with a proud father’s smile as he thought of their six-year-old daughter back home. Natalia agreed with him.

At that, Candice — listening nearby with a displeased look — interjected.

“That one’s a boy, you know.”

“Oh! I’m so sorry — my mistake,” Austin said, cheeks flushing with embarrassment. But Ophelia smiled kindly and shook her head as if it was no problem.

“It’s okay. People often mistake him,” she said. Noah had been born small and was so pretty that many had assumed he was a girl; they were used to the misunderstanding.

“By the way, what are all those boxes, Natalia?” Ophelia asked, pointing at the stacked packages that had bothered her since their arrival.

“Oh, those? They’re gifts from the Hailing household. They packed up all sorts of things when they heard I was coming to see you,” Natalia said with a shrug. Ophelia fell silent at that answer.

When Ophelia gave birth to Eila, she hadn’t received congratulations from her birth family. They had opposed her marriage to Rodrick and to staying in the Peles Empire, and their disapproval had driven a wedge between them. Although they had reconciled some years ago and her brother’s family had even visited the empire, she never expected gifts like these.

“Open them, Ophelia. Hurry,” Candice urged, draping an arm around Ophelia’s shoulders. Ophelia opened the topmost box.

Inside was a soft, high-quality cotton baby outfit — a matching set with hand-knit mittens and booties.

On top lay a letter in a familiar handwriting: a rough, sincere note from her brother, Isidore, congratulating her. As Ophelia read it, tears suddenly spilled down her face.

Isidore had been the family member who had opposed her marriage most strongly. He couldn’t understand how his talented sister would give up a future in the Tamora Republic to marry a foreign noble. Young Ophelia had felt terribly hurt then, especially because she had been so close to her brother.

“Why are you crying, Ophelia?” Rodrick asked, worried as he came over. He feared the letter contained bad news.

“My brother… congratulated me,” Ophelia choked out, burying her face in Rodrick’s chest.

Rodrick soothed her and read Isidore’s letter. It ended with words along the lines of: I’ve come to accept that your true happiness lies where you are now. I’m sorry I tried to measure your happiness by my own standards.

Rodrick’s eyes reddened slightly as well. After so many years, she felt acknowledged by her family once more.

“You see, they understand. That couple of yours has been terribly sentimental lately,” Candice commented, shaking her head.

Natalia shrugged as if she understood completely.

“It’s because you haven’t had a baby yet, sister. After you have one, you’ll get it,” she said, and even Austin nodded emphatically in agreement. Candice, though, still couldn’t grasp it.

Back beside the baby’s crib, Natalia noticed the mobile hanging above and her eyes widened. It was made of paper, the flowers and animals so intricately and delicately crafted that it was clear a lot of care had gone into it.

“Oh, this mobile is beautiful,” she said, and when she flicked it with her fingertip, the little bell inside the paper figure chimed clearly and sweetly.

“You know how precious that mobile is? The Crown Prince of the Peles Empire made it himself,” Candice bragged, puffing up her chest at her sister’s praise — even though it wasn’t hers and she hadn’t made it.

At the mention of the crown prince, Natalia suddenly remembered meeting Winfred at the harbor on the way here and gave her sister a playful smack on the back.

“Oh, right! Sister, I met the Crown Prince on the way. It was such a strange coincidence,” Natalia said excitedly, rattling off the whole story, down to the part where the crown prince had asked after her at the ducal house.

As she animatedly told the tale, Ophelia and Rodrick, their tears dried a bit, joined in the conversation.

“What an odd connection,” Rodrick remarked.

“Indeed. We’ve experienced all sorts of things on the way here,” Candice added.

“Well, we certainly did. Meeting the crown prince wasn’t the only thing,” Austin said quietly, sighing.

“What else did you meet, Austin?” Candice prodded. But the answer didn’t come from Austin — it came from Natalia.

“Oh right — I almost died, sister. We ran into pirates, you know.”

At the word “pirates,” everyone gathered around her, hanging on every word. Austin, eyes half-closed and shaking his head, corrected her as she began to exaggerate.

“Be precise, Natalia. You didn’t meet them — you leapt in to help a merchant ship that had encountered pirates,” he said.

“Hey! As a fellow sailor, would you ignore someone in trouble in the same trade? Of course not,” Natalia retorted, wagging her finger. “Anyway, tell the story — how did you almost die? I can’t see you getting bested by pirates.”