~Chapter 98~
“If the dream is right, there should be an antidote here.”
It wasn’t that there was no antidote at all.
There was a bundle of herbs that seemed to be Aurevita, along with another small bundle of herbs.
But that wasn’t all—there was another package, tied with crumpled parchment and a piece of string.
Camilla slowly untied the knot.
Inside was a locket.
She opened it carefully.
Thunk.
A small note fell into her hand. Camilla examined it carefully.
As she looked up, a small mirror was revealed. Inside the lid of the locket was a tiny portrait.
A young woman, embracing a boy and a little girl, all smiling brightly—like a family.
Camilla’s mouth fell open.
“…This is…”
A fluffy black-haired boy, still too young for a beard, and a little girl with equally curly black hair.
And a woman with sharp brown eyes hugging them, smiling warmly.
Looking closely at the familiar sulky expression of the girl and the cheerful boy, Camilla felt she knew who the brown-haired woman was—even though she had never seen her before.
“Kabul… mother… and… Stella.”
The sulky black-haired girl was her mother.
At that moment, Camilla recalled the words her mother had whispered in her dream:
“Among all medicines, the most precious antidotes should always be hidden separately.”
“…Hah…”
The most precious antidote.
The locket, painted with the portraits of those she had betrayed, had been kept together with the precious antidote.
Had it been treated lightly, they would never have been kept together.
Betrayed… so why?
Camilla unfolded the note.
Though slightly torn, it was still intact, fragile but legible.
Meisa,
I forgive you.
–S.E
The note, written in the initials of her mother’s mentor, was brief but shocking.
Camilla stared blankly at the two-line message.
A note too light to cover a lifetime of sins, delivered before proper apologies had been made.
Mother… that must have been why you suffered so.
Forgiveness granted to someone who perhaps should never have received it.
Had her mother even had the courage to accept this forgiveness herself?
If she had, she wouldn’t have survived on the money she got from selling her daughter to Baron Mowin.
Perhaps that was why the locket with the note and the portrait had been hidden away under the name “The Most Precious Antidote.”
Camilla, expressionless, closed the locket and whispered to Dane:
“…Shall we go?”
She wasn’t even sure why she had wanted to come here, or what she had expected to find.
At that moment, Dane reached out his hand.
“Camilla… can I see that locket?”
Camilla hesitated but handed it over silently.
“When I was young, these kinds of lockets were popular among nobles.”
Dane slid the mirror aside, revealing a thin hidden compartment inside.
“There was space inside for a secret portrait.”
Inside was a crude portrait, far less refined than the one before.
Black curly hair.
Green eyes.
A thin, twelve-year-old child.
Camilla’s eyes trembled.
“Don’t… joke.”
Her body began to shake.
“Camilla—”
“Don’t! Don’t joke!”
A scream tore from her lips, identical to the one she had let out in the tank to her mother.
The locket tumbled harshly to the ground.
Her mother had never spoken in her life.
Never confessed her sins, never asked for forgiveness.
She had only left two families inside the locket.
One she could never abandon.
The other, her own blood, she had rejected with her own hands.
“Why… why keep abandoning, keep selling, and act so ambiguously…?”
Tears fell from Camilla’s eyes.
“This… these clues… aren’t enough. I can’t know what she thought of me.”
If she didn’t speak, it wouldn’t reach anyone.
Even the portrait that might represent her mother’s thoughts would remain forever mysterious.
Dane’s fingers wiped the tears from her eyes.
He pressed a soft kiss to her swollen eyelids and gently patted her.
“You don’t know. So maybe you can think of it however you like.”
After all, the person was already gone, and the dead speak no more.
“But… I don’t think I’ll ever understand her.”
“You don’t have to.”
Dane held the trembling Camilla against him.
As she rested in his warmth, she realized the truth: she had come here wanting to understand, wanting to find even the smallest trace that her mother had thought of her.
“Before she died… she told me,”
Camilla whispered, collapsing into him.
“…to be free. Isn’t that funny?”
Her freedom had been built on hurting others.
Moreover, she had been captured by the Empress Dowager and exploited, so whether she was truly free was doubtful.
“Some freedoms just become license to harm others.”
“…Right.”
Dane stroked her hair gently, whispering softly.
“Freedom is something you can only claim if you can bear the responsibility that comes with it.”
“…Haha… yes.”
Every choice has consequences.
Her mother had made choices Camilla could never understand.
I’m not kind or generous enough like her mentor. I probably won’t forgive her.
“…Is it okay if I don’t forgive her?”
“Of course. You have the right to.”
More comforting than anything else, Dane kissed the corner of her eyes again.
He absorbed her tears with his lips, then kissed her forehead.
Gradually, Camilla felt her heart being filled with warmth from him, replacing the ache.
“…Dane… thank you for bringing me here.”
Because of his warmth, she could remain standing.
Even if she didn’t understand, even if she couldn’t forgive.
Camilla lifted her head.
“I want to bury my mother’s ashes somewhere nearby.”
To someone who had abandoned her, but had comforted her whenever she was hurt.
She finally wanted to let go.
Camilla buried her mother’s ashes in a valley blooming with beautiful, vibrant flowers.
A breeze swayed the multi-colored blossoms.
In the sunlight, Meisa’s ashes would one day become flowers.
“…You know, I think I show a lot of sides of myself I usually hide when I’m with you, Dane.”
“What do you mean?”
“Like crying… feeling ashamed or pathetic.”
Her words were soft and weary as she stood. Dane’s eyes narrowed affectionately.
“If you say that, I showed you plenty when I was sick too.”
He tilted his head and whispered:
“Did you think I was pathetic?”
“…No.”
Dane held her hand, kissed the back of it, and whispered:
“I told you—you are always beautiful.”
Beyond her hand, his blue eyes sparkled like gems.
Camilla couldn’t look away.
“…You know.”
Slowly, she began to speak of her past, a story long kept secret.
Life in the cabin until she was twelve,
The days in the Mowin mansion,
The pieces of her heart that had moved toward him.
The things that, if left unsaid, would never reach anyone.
“I love you, Dane. Will you go through hell with me?”
His green eyes gleamed.
Dane gazed at her, entranced, before replying:
“…That’s cheating.”
“What?”
“I told you I had one more thing I hadn’t said.”
Camilla blinked. Indeed, Dane had said he had two things to tell her in the carriage.
“Even though I scolded Ian a lot, I also didn’t prepare a proper gift for the proposal.”
From his pocket, he produced a luxurious ring box.
Click. The box opened, revealing a pair of blue diamond rings, sparkling brilliantly in the sunlight.
“…Dane… this is—”
“These gems were taken from the Grand Duke’s signet ring. A family heirloom.”
“…No way.”
“The palace craftsmen did an excellent job. I prepared this while you were diagnosing the Emperor and making the antidote.”
Camilla’s eyes widened in shock.
“…Wait! What about the signet ring now?!”
“It’s still intact. Don’t worry.”
Dane slowly sank to one knee.
Petals fluttered in the gentle breeze.
“I love you, Camilla. Will you be my family? Not just through hell, but through life?”
There was only one answer she could give.
“I will. I will be your family.”
She bowed her head, kissing him softly.
Rings exchanged, they returned to the carriage, smiling at one another.
Looking back, the small cabin grew distant.
The pain, the past—they still remained. But finally, they could move forward.
Camilla whispered without realizing it:
“You know, Dane… if we had a child, I’d want to love them so much.”
Dane chuckled.
“Even though you’re not yet used to kissing?”
Camilla let go of his hand and ran ahead, glancing back with a bright smile.
“We can practice.”
Shy, yet happy.
“…Really.”
He caught up instantly, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her high.
“Kyaa!”
“We’d better head to Escalus!”
“You really are a rogue!”
Camilla’s screams and laughter echoed through the valley.
A butterfly fluttered upward, hovering over their comfort.
<End of Part 2>
