Chapter 4
酒
I felt a bit reluctant to meet Lysette.
I had been sitting alone in the garden for quite some time, my heart sinking like a stone in dark waters..
Until Mariette came to me and said, “Your Highness, His Lordship has sent word to Silvermere Keep. The young lady is expected to return soon.”
As dusk approached, Lysette finally came back.
She rushed straight to me the moment she arrived, her gown lifted as she hurried towards me, the scent of paper still lingering on her.
“Mother!”
I pulled her into a tight embrace, her head buried against my chest as tears poured down her face.
“Mother, I thought I had caused your death…”
My heart clenched at her words.
I quickly took out a handkerchief, gently cupping her face and wiping away the tears on her cheeks. “Lysette, don’t cry. It wasn’t you who caused me to fall off the cliff. It was the assassins.”
That year, Cedric had chosen to ally himself with the third prince, making enemies left and right.
When we went to the mountain to travel, we were ambushed by assassins.
To protect Lysette, I put on Cedric’s outer robe and distracted the attackers.
During the escape, I fell from the cliff and suffered severe injuries, losing my memory. Eventually, I ended up in Verdantia, where I met Prince Reynard Wyvernguard.
I comforted Lysette, stroking her hair.
She pulled out a piece of rice paper to show me.
Then she pulled a sheet of parchment from her sleeve–a drawing of me.
Her voice was hoarse from crying.
“Madame Silvermarch taught me to paint, and I drew you, Mother.”
Four years ago, Cedric remarried.
That same year, Lysette became a student of Isolde, often staying at Silvermere Keep.
I carefully examined the painting, my eyes growing moist without warning.
She looked down, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Lady Blackthorn said my painting was terrible. She said that, as the eldest daughter of Father, I shouldn’t learn such things. But Madame Silvermarch told me you were once renowned for your painting in Crownspire, and I wanted to be like you.”
I smiled softly and reassured her, “For your age, this is already good enough.”
It wasn’t just empty comfort
Lysette finally smiled, her eyes glistening like the crescent moon.
I hesitated for a moment before asking gently, “I’ve remarried. Lysette, would you like to leave Blackthorn Keep and come with me to Verdantia?” She nodded eagerly.
I sighed in relief, smiling. “That’s good. I’ll have someone pack your things. We’ll leave in a few days.”
Dusk settled over the manor as we walked, Mariette lighting the way ahead.
Lysette chattered like a sparrow–about Cedric searching for a woman who resembled me to win her and Edric’s approval, about Rosamund discouraging her from lessons while studying herself.
Lysette looked up at me, her eyes clear and bright, “But she has always been learning–dancing, painting, even managing the household.”
Rosamund wasn’t foolish or old–fashioned.
Betrayed by her mate
She knew what she was doing. I felt my grip tighten.
We hadn’t walked far before I encountered someone I most wished to avoid.
Cedric stood in the corridor, his face half–shadowed by light eyes sharp.
“Rosamund has prepared the back room for you. Stay tonight.”
The back room had been abandoned for some time.
I frowned, “I’m not staying at Blackthorn Keep.”
Cedric sneered, his voice harsh.
“Where else would you go? You’re still my wife by law. Your name is in the Blackthorn lineage books. If you leave now, you shame us both.”
Lysette tugged at my sleeve and looked up at me.
“Mother, aren’t we going to Verdantia?”
I ignored Cedric, looking down and smiling at Lysette. “Yes, to Verdantia.”
