"I came on a Vermont ship."
"A Vermont ship?"
It was something even I had never seen before.
The ships that sailed the inland waterways along the Shen River were small and sleek.
Of course, I, who had never left the Valmonde territory, had seen huge sailing ships crossing the North Sea at the trading port, but the only time I had ever been on a ship on the Shen River was when I escaped to the capital on a Valquiterre ship, so it seemed strange that Madame Cronach had boarded a Vermont ship.
"Ahaha. Why are you making that face?"
Madame Cronach laughed out loud at the sight of her daughter's face. Madame Cronach's smiling face was refreshing, without any signs of tension or exhaustion, and I felt relieved but also bewildered.
"How did you get on a Vermont ship?"
“Irena took care of the departure permit. She also lent me a ship.”
“My sister?”
“Yes.”
I felt a gentle emotion.
‘It must have been hard for you too.’
The commotion at the Foundation Ball was not unrelated to Irena. However, I remembered her coming to see me once more with a pale face while the injured Kaian was being treated.
“Kaian told me to leave Hannah with him when she left the capital.”
“But why did you come alone?”
“Where would I go without you?”
“Ah...”
It was a stupid question. I had hesitated even on the day of the ball, even after receiving the note from Madame Cronach.
“I was planning to join you as soon as I got the signal that you had escaped.”
However, she did not mention that the soldiers of Valquiterre had come to capture her as soon as she left Salon Arvo.
My face still had a look of danger as if my sickness had not gone away.
“Mom.”
“Yes?”
“...Mom.”
I hugged Madame Cronach tightly.
The luxurious fabric that touched my cheek smelled like a faint perfume that noble ladies would wear. It was very different from the smell of my mother that I had longed for.
She was her mother, wearing thick makeup and a dress decorated with luxurious lace and embroidery in the palace of the capital, but she did not feel like my mother. She was so different from the image of my mother that I had kept in my memories. She was her mother, but unlike my former happy days, Madame Cronach’s face was full of worry and stiffness, and this image kept clashing with the memories I had in my mind.
Madame Cronach, who was not wearing makeup, had a scar on her cheek that was more clearly visible, but her original face was still clearly visible.
Moreover, the face that smiled brightly at me as if she had completely shaken off my worries was the same gentle face that she had shown me when I was young when she had picked so many wild strawberries that they stained the hem of her skirt.
So the joy that I had really found my mother welled up in my heart.
“Hannah. Come and sit with me.”
Several maids from Rowen Castle carried trays laden with desserts and teacups, making a lot of noise.
Soon, I, Hannah, and Madame Cronach sat around a tea table lavishly filled with various desserts.
“How about the baby?”
“Madame Repel and the nanny will take good care of her.”
“Thank goodness.”
It wouldn’t have been easy to persuade them all to bring her from the capital to Rowen. I was very fortunate that Kaian took such meticulous care of the baby.
"A Vermont ship?"
It was something even I had never seen before.
The ships that sailed the inland waterways along the Shen River were small and sleek.
Of course, I, who had never left the Valmonde territory, had seen huge sailing ships crossing the North Sea at the trading port, but the only time I had ever been on a ship on the Shen River was when I escaped to the capital on a Valquiterre ship, so it seemed strange that Madame Cronach had boarded a Vermont ship.
"Ahaha. Why are you making that face?"
Madame Cronach laughed out loud at the sight of her daughter's face. Madame Cronach's smiling face was refreshing, without any signs of tension or exhaustion, and I felt relieved but also bewildered.
"How did you get on a Vermont ship?"
“Irena took care of the departure permit. She also lent me a ship.”
“My sister?”
“Yes.”
I felt a gentle emotion.
‘It must have been hard for you too.’
The commotion at the Foundation Ball was not unrelated to Irena. However, I remembered her coming to see me once more with a pale face while the injured Kaian was being treated.
“Kaian told me to leave Hannah with him when she left the capital.”
“But why did you come alone?”
“Where would I go without you?”
“Ah...”
It was a stupid question. I had hesitated even on the day of the ball, even after receiving the note from Madame Cronach.
“I was planning to join you as soon as I got the signal that you had escaped.”
However, she did not mention that the soldiers of Valquiterre had come to capture her as soon as she left Salon Arvo.
My face still had a look of danger as if my sickness had not gone away.
“Mom.”
“Yes?”
“...Mom.”
I hugged Madame Cronach tightly.
The luxurious fabric that touched my cheek smelled like a faint perfume that noble ladies would wear. It was very different from the smell of my mother that I had longed for.
She was her mother, wearing thick makeup and a dress decorated with luxurious lace and embroidery in the palace of the capital, but she did not feel like my mother. She was so different from the image of my mother that I had kept in my memories. She was her mother, but unlike my former happy days, Madame Cronach’s face was full of worry and stiffness, and this image kept clashing with the memories I had in my mind.
Madame Cronach, who was not wearing makeup, had a scar on her cheek that was more clearly visible, but her original face was still clearly visible.
Moreover, the face that smiled brightly at me as if she had completely shaken off my worries was the same gentle face that she had shown me when I was young when she had picked so many wild strawberries that they stained the hem of her skirt.
So the joy that I had really found my mother welled up in my heart.
“Hannah. Come and sit with me.”
Several maids from Rowen Castle carried trays laden with desserts and teacups, making a lot of noise.
Soon, I, Hannah, and Madame Cronach sat around a tea table lavishly filled with various desserts.
“How about the baby?”
“Madame Repel and the nanny will take good care of her.”
“Thank goodness.”
It wouldn’t have been easy to persuade them all to bring her from the capital to Rowen. I was very fortunate that Kaian took such meticulous care of the baby.
Madam Repel was truly a royal nanny. She had raised twin Princesses and Valquiterre so she was very skilled at taking the baby away when it cried and fussed, and only when it was happy and clean and smiling brightly did she give the baby to me.
In noble families, it was rare for a wife to take care of a baby herself.
However, I, who had my baby taken away from me as soon as she was born, and even though I was dead, wanted to see the baby often and keep her by my side.
Even if I had the will, it would have been difficult for me, who was weak, to take care of the baby myself, but the skilled Madame Repel was a great help both on the ship and after arriving in Rowen.
“You took Vermont’s ship?”
Hannah asked, and Madame Cronach nodded.
“Thanks to that, we were able to avoid King Valquiterre's pursuit. The Duke of Vermont is completely on the King’s side right now.”
“That’s right. What can you get from a crazy guy like that? I feel bad for Miss Irena.”
When Hannah found out that I had Herzol, she didn’t hesitate to say that she would kill Irena, saying that the Duke of Vermont would also lose something precious. Now, she naturally separated the Duke of Vermont and Irena from the targets of her revenge.
Madame KlCronach smiled as she listened to Hannah speak.
“That’s why. I intend to forgive the Duke of Vermont.”
“...Yes? Ugh. Gulp.”
Hannah, who had been stuffing a large cookie into her mouth in a fit of excitement at the mention of Vermont, groaned.
“Gulp. No. Why all of a sudden... Gulp.”
“I owe him a great debt of gratitude to Irena.”
Madame Cronach looked at me.
“I always wanted to kill the Duke of Vermont. I really intended to get rid of him with my own hands.”
“Mom.”
“I resented the fact that I could have at least prevented Evan from dying.”
In a way, it was a self-contradiction.
The tragedy of Plogne Village was caused by Valquiterre in the first place. However, the cause of that was also Arbor’s prophecy.
‘Would it have been different if Valquiterre hadn’t prophesied that the country would be engulfed in war if he became King?’
As time passed, she chewed over the irreversible events alone over and over again.
“If Evan had been alive, Claudel wouldn’t have been an orphan either.”
If they didn’t somehow blame someone for the sadness and pain they were experiencing, they would go crazy.
“But it was actually me who failed to protect Evan. It wasn’t the Duke of Vermont’s fault or Valquiterre’s.”
Madame Cronach tightly grabbed my hand on the table.
“When you disappeared in the lake. I really wanted to stab Kaian.”
My eyes widened at those words.
“But I realized that I had no right to punish him.”
She saw her old self in Kaian, who was suffering from the loss of Claudel.
Just as her heart ached, his suffering was real.
They shared the same pain. She couldn’t blame him for not being able to protect her daughter, because she had been unable to protect the child she had given birth to.
“I was unhappy and pitiful when I thought that all misfortune was someone else’s fault.”
She put her sword away from the man who was determined to find her daughter, whether she was dead or alive.
Duke Vermont had scolded her, asking why a commoner like her would call herself his brother’s wife, but the Duke's daughter had called her ‘aunt’ and had sought a way to live together.
Irena was a grateful person, but taking revenge on her father would have been like repaying a favor with enmity. The complicated grudge relationship was resolved with Claudel’s safety.
“Claudel. You don’t know how much it means to me that you’re alive.”
Instead of answering, I tightened my grip on Madame Cronach’s hand.
“Just knowing that you’re alive. It’s enough to make me forget all my other grudges.”
“I hope my mother doesn’t feel bad.”
In noble families, it was rare for a wife to take care of a baby herself.
However, I, who had my baby taken away from me as soon as she was born, and even though I was dead, wanted to see the baby often and keep her by my side.
Even if I had the will, it would have been difficult for me, who was weak, to take care of the baby myself, but the skilled Madame Repel was a great help both on the ship and after arriving in Rowen.
“You took Vermont’s ship?”
Hannah asked, and Madame Cronach nodded.
“Thanks to that, we were able to avoid King Valquiterre's pursuit. The Duke of Vermont is completely on the King’s side right now.”
“That’s right. What can you get from a crazy guy like that? I feel bad for Miss Irena.”
When Hannah found out that I had Herzol, she didn’t hesitate to say that she would kill Irena, saying that the Duke of Vermont would also lose something precious. Now, she naturally separated the Duke of Vermont and Irena from the targets of her revenge.
Madame KlCronach smiled as she listened to Hannah speak.
“That’s why. I intend to forgive the Duke of Vermont.”
“...Yes? Ugh. Gulp.”
Hannah, who had been stuffing a large cookie into her mouth in a fit of excitement at the mention of Vermont, groaned.
“Gulp. No. Why all of a sudden... Gulp.”
“I owe him a great debt of gratitude to Irena.”
Madame Cronach looked at me.
“I always wanted to kill the Duke of Vermont. I really intended to get rid of him with my own hands.”
“Mom.”
“I resented the fact that I could have at least prevented Evan from dying.”
In a way, it was a self-contradiction.
The tragedy of Plogne Village was caused by Valquiterre in the first place. However, the cause of that was also Arbor’s prophecy.
‘Would it have been different if Valquiterre hadn’t prophesied that the country would be engulfed in war if he became King?’
As time passed, she chewed over the irreversible events alone over and over again.
“If Evan had been alive, Claudel wouldn’t have been an orphan either.”
If they didn’t somehow blame someone for the sadness and pain they were experiencing, they would go crazy.
“But it was actually me who failed to protect Evan. It wasn’t the Duke of Vermont’s fault or Valquiterre’s.”
Madame Cronach tightly grabbed my hand on the table.
“When you disappeared in the lake. I really wanted to stab Kaian.”
My eyes widened at those words.
“But I realized that I had no right to punish him.”
She saw her old self in Kaian, who was suffering from the loss of Claudel.
Just as her heart ached, his suffering was real.
They shared the same pain. She couldn’t blame him for not being able to protect her daughter, because she had been unable to protect the child she had given birth to.
“I was unhappy and pitiful when I thought that all misfortune was someone else’s fault.”
She put her sword away from the man who was determined to find her daughter, whether she was dead or alive.
Duke Vermont had scolded her, asking why a commoner like her would call herself his brother’s wife, but the Duke's daughter had called her ‘aunt’ and had sought a way to live together.
Irena was a grateful person, but taking revenge on her father would have been like repaying a favor with enmity. The complicated grudge relationship was resolved with Claudel’s safety.
“Claudel. You don’t know how much it means to me that you’re alive.”
Instead of answering, I tightened my grip on Madame Cronach’s hand.
“Just knowing that you’re alive. It’s enough to make me forget all my other grudges.”
“I hope my mother doesn’t feel bad.”
I also accepted Kaian’s apology. I couldn’t blame him forever for the sake of her baby.
Kaian said that even if he could turn back time, he wouldn’t have been able to change the judgment he had prioritized.
So how much difference would I have been able to make?
Even going back to the past, I was still a sacrificial lamb thrown into the middle of a hostile family without a support base. The baby was also an unstable seed borne by a weak and incompetent mother. Even looking back on the past with regret, it was something I thought was right at the time. It was so surprising how I could make such a different choice when I, the one who made the decision, had not changed or changed.
What could change and be changed was not the past, but the present.
It gave me hope that if we tried to talk and understand each other even now, tomorrow would be a little different.
For example, instead of Madame Cronach stabbing Kaian with the knife in her hand, she could imagine a peaceful scene where she would be cutting bacon at breakfast tomorrow.
“I have a daughter and now a granddaughter. I thought I would never see you again. Just being able to see you like this is enough.”
Madame KlCronach looked at Hannah.
“But I feel sorry for you.”
“Yes?”
Hannah, who had been coughing earlier, tilted her head.
“You tried so hard."
“What are you talking about? I never asked you to do that in the first place.”
Hannah shook her head.
“I was able to endure it because of Claudel. That’s enough between us.”
She raised the corners of her mouth.
“I feel different after visiting the palace once. If the King is really the problem, I wish I could take care of him with my own hands.”
Madame Cronach’s face relaxed a little when Hannah answered coolly. Hannah habitually cupped her small, swollen belly with both hands.
“Now that I have a child, I want to worry more about the future than the past.”
For a moment, the three women sitting around became quiet.
They were all someone’s children. And they were holding children too.
The emotions I realized after becoming a mother made me realize that I was as precious as my child.
I didn’t want to let go of my misfortunes while raising my child, like sand that wouldn’t budge no matter how much I brushed them off.
In the end, I wasn’t doing a favor to the evil one and absolving him of his sins. I was the one who let go of the things I had in my heart and expected happiness.
“There was something I wanted to ask you all along. Hannah and I are also part of the village. We’re adults now.”
Madame Cronach opened her mouth at the unexpected point.
“What exactly happened in the village? Why is the lord and His Majesty the King so complicatedly involved?”
I asked seriously.
“How long are you going to keep the story of the sacred tree a secret?”
Kaian said that even if he could turn back time, he wouldn’t have been able to change the judgment he had prioritized.
So how much difference would I have been able to make?
Even going back to the past, I was still a sacrificial lamb thrown into the middle of a hostile family without a support base. The baby was also an unstable seed borne by a weak and incompetent mother. Even looking back on the past with regret, it was something I thought was right at the time. It was so surprising how I could make such a different choice when I, the one who made the decision, had not changed or changed.
What could change and be changed was not the past, but the present.
It gave me hope that if we tried to talk and understand each other even now, tomorrow would be a little different.
For example, instead of Madame Cronach stabbing Kaian with the knife in her hand, she could imagine a peaceful scene where she would be cutting bacon at breakfast tomorrow.
“I have a daughter and now a granddaughter. I thought I would never see you again. Just being able to see you like this is enough.”
Madame KlCronach looked at Hannah.
“But I feel sorry for you.”
“Yes?”
Hannah, who had been coughing earlier, tilted her head.
“You tried so hard."
“What are you talking about? I never asked you to do that in the first place.”
Hannah shook her head.
“I was able to endure it because of Claudel. That’s enough between us.”
She raised the corners of her mouth.
“I feel different after visiting the palace once. If the King is really the problem, I wish I could take care of him with my own hands.”
Madame Cronach’s face relaxed a little when Hannah answered coolly. Hannah habitually cupped her small, swollen belly with both hands.
“Now that I have a child, I want to worry more about the future than the past.”
For a moment, the three women sitting around became quiet.
They were all someone’s children. And they were holding children too.
The emotions I realized after becoming a mother made me realize that I was as precious as my child.
I didn’t want to let go of my misfortunes while raising my child, like sand that wouldn’t budge no matter how much I brushed them off.
In the end, I wasn’t doing a favor to the evil one and absolving him of his sins. I was the one who let go of the things I had in my heart and expected happiness.
“There was something I wanted to ask you all along. Hannah and I are also part of the village. We’re adults now.”
Madame Cronach opened her mouth at the unexpected point.
“What exactly happened in the village? Why is the lord and His Majesty the King so complicatedly involved?”
I asked seriously.
“How long are you going to keep the story of the sacred tree a secret?”
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