~Chapter 79~
“Grand Duchess, are you feeling any better?”
“I’m fine. I’m perfectly well. Not using that ridiculous incense made all the difference.”
Camilla’s worried frown earned a scoff from Lunellia, who then gazed silently at Camilla, the pale green silk of her dress catching the light.
“…I promised to be your saffron,” Lunellia said softly.
Camilla had no words, frozen in place, as Lunellia approached slowly and draped the veil she had been holding over Camilla’s head.
“I may not be able to be your saffron, but I can be your protector from now on.”
Camilla’s eyes trembled.
“Do you still have the ring I gave you?”
“…Yes.”
“Give it to Dane for a moment.”
Obediently, Camilla handed the ring—still threaded on her necklace—to Dane.
“Then, let us begin.”
Sonia’s cheeks were flushed, tears brimming in her eyes.
Lunellia stepped forward, standing before the couple to officiate.
“Dane Escalus and Camilla Mowin, do you vow to never let go of each other’s hands for eternity?”
Petals drifted from the grave, scattering with the evening breeze.
“I swear, before God, that I will never let go of Camilla Mowin’s hand.”
His eyes met hers, steel beneath the warmth, determination from battles past radiating in his gaze.
“I swear, I will never let go of Dane Escalus’s hand and will remain by his side for all eternity.”
Camilla’s voice was steady, without tremor.
“Do you vow to bear all sins and merits together, and to fight alongside each other as partners to the very end?”
“I swear.”
“I swear.”
Their voices intertwined.
The sunset faded, replaced by sparkling stars ready to tumble from the sky. Ian, caught between awe and disbelief, watched Camilla in her veil and Dane beside her.
“…So I just watch, then? Light this at the right time?”
Dane sent a silent glare that said, shut up.
Lunellia, supported by Sonia, stepped forward, a faint smile playing on her pale face.
At that moment, a single white candle flickered atop the gravestone—lit by Ian.
“Now… place the ring.”
The simple band slid onto Camilla’s finger, snug and gentle. Dane’s hand covered hers, and she held it tight.
“May all vows sworn today be kept until the end of your lives. In blessing your union, I shall place a vow’s kiss upon the bride’s forehead.”
Ian coughed loudly twice in protest.
“I’m not looking. Not looking,” he muttered.
Dane urged silence with his eyes, then smiled softly.
“Well, God will see.”
He pressed his lips to Camilla’s forehead. In that instant, her heart swelled with fullness. The five years apart, the layers of unnoticed sorrow, seemed to fall away.
Finally, his lips met hers.
The beating of their hearts was impossibly close—Camilla’s and Dane’s, steady and strong.
The man she had once thought a fleeting, doomed connection now stood alive, proving his life before her.
Their lips parted. They smiled at one another, hands clasped in unison.
“Think we can claim the Grand Duchess title now?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Camilla laughed softly, glancing aside. Beyond the cascade of stars, flickering candlelight illuminated the black gravestone and its white inscription:
Demian Escalus
The azure blood froze, and the heart slept in starlight
Now Dane, unlike the late Grand Duke, need not fear frozen blood or sleeping hearts under starlight.
“Are we going to greet Uncle since we’re married now?”
“He’s already seen everything, so I think he knows.”
Though the wedding was modest, the congratulations from witnesses were heartfelt.
“It seems we’re in front of Grand Duke Demian’s tomb,” Lunellia murmured bitterly, recalling how he had passed the title to his young sibling.
“Do you know him well?”
“Not intimately,” Lunellia replied, her eyes heavy with regret.
“He would have wanted ‘stella’ instead of ‘starlight’ on his epitaph…”
Camilla froze at the whispered words.
“‘Stella’?”
“Yes, that’s what he wanted.”
Stella. Then the inscription would read: The heart sleeps among the stars.
“Camilla?” Dane called, confused by her sudden silence.
Her mind raced.
“Were Grand Duke Demian and Stella Everit… lovers?”
“How do you know that…?”
Lunellia’s eyes widened. Dane’s did too.
Ah.
The estrangement between the Escalus and Everit families, orchestrated by Meisa, finally clicked into place.
And the secret lab in the Grand Duchess’s bedroom…
The late Grand Duke hadn’t intended the research for himself. It was for his lover and alchemist, Stella Everit.
A strange excitement coursed through Camilla.
“Grand Duchess, may I inspect the private lab you showed earlier?”
“Camilla? What is this…?”
Lunellia blinked in surprise as Camilla led Dane toward the lab.
“If I’m right, we might find research on that red herb there.”
“What?”
The Grand Duchess’s face mirrored disbelief. Research on the herb that had poisoned the Emperor and herself… could really be here?
“That herb was a hybrid created by Stella Everit herself.”
Ironically, the data that didn’t survive in the Everit family might still exist in the Escalus archives—the same family that had doomed Everit.
Lunellia nodded cautiously.
“I used that room for many years. There was never research like that left behind.”
Camilla knew if the data had remained, the poisoning would have been impossible.
“…It’s worth looking.”
In the Grand Duchess’s room, Camilla pressed the faded spines of medical books, and a section of the wall shifted softly.
“…!”
Dane’s eyes widened. A hidden passage revealed itself as the stone wall slowly parted.
“So this is what a private lab really is.”
“The lab of Stella Everit, the late Grand Duke’s lover,” Lunellia confirmed.
“Then surely there’s a chance research on the red herb remains here.”
She pointed to the shelves.
“Yes, those are her notes. But as I said, I never saw anything about that herb.”
Dane and Camilla searched the lab meticulously, but as Lunellia had said, nothing new appeared.
“Was there any other hidden space discovered?”
“No. Otherwise, I would have told you.”
Camilla asked about the notes on the shelves.
“May I borrow these for now?”
The Grand Duchess nodded at Camilla’s cautious request.
Before returning to their room, Dane kissed Camilla’s forehead, sensing her disappointment.
“Don’t worry. The samples from the Everit family are enough to persuade the senior members at the family council.”
