“Well, I had a good rest like you told me. I also saw my uncle.”Ivan’s eyebrows frowned slightly at her reply, at the word uncle. She noticed that he was not annoyed at her meeting with the marquis, but that he’s trying to gauge her reaction.“He told me how you pulled him to the side and reassured him that you’d take care of me and protect me. Thank you, Ivan, for putting his mind at ease. He was relieved after hearing those words from you.”Somewhat flushed, his head turned slightly to the side. He looked a little bit awkward.Clearing his throat, he said, “I see. Umm… were you reading a book?”With glinting eyes and a rueful smile, he held her hand and led her towards the bed and sat together with her on the edge of the bed.He picked up the book she’d been reading seconds ago.“Ah. A report, I see. It’s a report highlighting past events from ten years ago.”“Yes. I’ve been away from Ehrlich for so long that…”Ivan let out a small sigh.“You’re a diligent person. You could have ta
Ivan’s eyes softened and flashed momentarily. “You said something like that before as well. When did it occur? When did you have trouble sleeping?”Alicia smiled bitterly and said, “Six years ago… when my mother died.”He looked at her with solemn eyes and stretched his hand out to caress her head.“So you’ve had a difficult time sleeping at night because of that,” his voice was soft, “I understand. To have someone you love dearly leave you would frighten anyone, after all.”“…Yes.”But truth be told, the moment insomnia plagued her at night was the moment she re-lived the past. She had no plans to wallow in self-pity or blaming others for the misfortunes she’d gone through, but it was difficult… was it depression? Fortunately, she was able to recover and mend her broken heart to an extent in Coulson, but when night came, memories of her death and the last minutes of it kept rolling on repeat.It was difficult to sleep.If she closed her eyes, she kept wondering if she’d end up in tha
Hearing Ataraxia’s words, Ivan’s heart broke into a million pieces. This heavenly being granted him a chance to fulfill his lifelong desire in the form of a wish, yet it could not work out as he hoped it to be. “…Do you not have any other wish? This is your only chance.” This heavenly being was merciless. Ivan looked up. Ataraxia’s large pool of golden eyes bore no emotions. None at all. It looked at Ivan with blank, quiet eyes. After a while, it shook its head and floated away. Ataraxia was leaving. Ivan gritted his teeth and spoke, “Then turn back time…! I’ll be the one to change her feelings for me.” “Time… yes. That is possible. What time do you want?” “…The time she wants.” Whether it be the moment she drank the poison or the time she had never known his existence, it mattered not to him. As long as she was alive… as long… then… he’d be ready to chase her through the ends of the earth to change her broken and caged heart. He’ll make sure of it. “I understand. I’ll grant
“Your Majesty, this phenomenon usually occurs with children. Those children fall asleep thinking they’ll never wake up from their deep slumber. So they begin to fear the night and fear the thing so natural to us. I’m not sure why Her Majesty’s experiencing a similar case when she’s a grown adult now,” the court doctor said with tightened brows, “but in any case, I had tried to ease the symptoms of prescribing medical herbs that would ease her nerves, but to completely eradicate her insomnia, I will have to place the responsibility of finding the cause root of her problem to you, Your Majesty.”Ivan nodded.He knew already the true cause of her suffering. She said that her troubles began after the death of her mother, but in truth, it had to do with the life experiences of her past and the memories she retaiTed.The answer was obvious to see.For a fragile person like her who came back from the dead, how can she not be afraid of the dark?His eyes were full of complex emotions looking
“It matters not. Her Majesty has no power nor does she currently wield one. That she is the Queen Mother’s goddaughter means nothing!” a voice said snarkily.“You’re right,” one noble nodded and pondered over the matter, “Even after the wedding ceremony, Her Majesty attended the night party for a brief moment before returning back to the Queen’s Palace. Moreover, I heard our king was furious after learning that she’d gone to meet the Queen Mother without his knowledge not too long ago.”Another sighed musingly and looked down at the wine glass in hand. “It looks like their bitter relationship between His Majesty and the Queen Mother still remains. I wonder when they’ll make up again…”As the talks moved in full swing, the melodic musing stopped abruptly alongside the chattering lips gossiping here and there.The main attendant yelled at the top of his lungs and announced the majestic entrance of the king and queen.“His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen now enters!”The nobil
Before making their public appearance, Ivan had attempted to pacify his beloved wife sensing that she was wrought with anxiety and nervousness.Heaving a sigh replete with anxiety, she readily agreed to Ivan’s suggestions. At her consent, he immediately grabbed hold of her hand and did not let go. Unknown to her, his heart gushed with mellow happiness.What he told her afterward shocked her more than his suggestion. He said that so long as she held his hand tight, the eyes of the nobility will remain fixated on their hands that none would care to look at her.It seemed to prove successful too. When they sat down on the throne, Ivan did not let go of her hand. She had tried to sneakily pull her hand away, but Ivan would not budge.It was a fortunate case that all eyes were glued to their locked hands despite pretending not to. From the moment they made their appearance in public with hands locked together, the nobility immediately lost interest in the queen and vied to know their relat
Alicia threw away the memories of her past and stood up from her seat. She had many times to think over the past month. The one enlightenment she came to was the people who wreaked havoc in her life were no longer, and the Ivan of this present life was a different man.She believed in this truth well.The king and queen walked down hand in hand. Meanwhile, the nobles hurriedly moved aside to create an empty space in the middle.After bowing to one another, they stretched one side of their hand outwards and spun in a circle in the spot. Their eyes did not move a single inch away from each other. While they spun the other direction, their gazes did not falter.Ivan pulled Alicia’s hips closer to him and moved a step forward.He looked at her.She looked at him.Her lips were filled with genuine smiles.He smiled broadly as they danced.No matter who saw them, they saw nothing but a king and queen stripped off their status and was simply a man and woman deeply in love.“…It looks like Hi
However, the moment Mrs. Cessley left the area, another group keeping a close watch on the queen all throughout slowly made their way to her.Alicia looked at them. She recognized the young woman leading the group and immediately, her countenance hardeTed.‘Seraphina.’Seraphina Rissel.In the past, she was one of the leading nobles who mocked and showed her derisive comment behind her back and in secret. She was married then, but for odd reasons, she remained unmarried and without a noble partner in this present life.“Greetings, Your Majesty. I am the eldest daughter of Duke Rissel, Seraphina Rissel from the House of Rissel.”The air changed subtly at that moment.The nobles who could not get enough of the queen and talked in fervent shut their mouth tightly as if there was a lingering unspoken promise.Their eyes drifted towards Alicia and Seraphina back and forth, attempting to read the mood.They lay in wait seeing what would happen next.Alicia’s intuition beckoTed her that some