Chapter 82

Miu’s POV

As I wake up, I can feel the sunlight spill gently through the curtains and onto my skin. Along with the smell the faint scent of tea lingering in the air, mixing with the crisp breeze drifting in from the eastern windows.

“Mmh…”

A small groan escaped me as I stretched beneath the blankets. Dear gods, that felt good. My muscles pulled tight from the movement, still sore from everything, but for once the ache felt distant. Comfortable.

I slowly opened my eyes and rubbed them lazily. Sunlight seeped through the curtains in soft golden lines, painting the room in warmth. 

I blinked at the ceiling for a few seconds, trying to gather my thoughts.

When did I even fall asleep again?

Fragments of last night drifted back little by little.. Lena holding me. The warmth of her voice.

I stopped moving.

…Lena.

My brows furrowed slightly. Was all of that real? Why does it feel like a dream?

I stared blankly ahead for another moment before softly shaking my head at myself. Honestly, I’m probably just exhausted. I can look for her later.

With a quiet yawn, I slipped out of bed carefully. The moment my feet touched the floor, my thoughts immediately returned to Tungsten. The evacuated civilians. The rebuilding. The injured. I can’t sleep in any longer today. There’s too much work waiting for me.

“Did you sleep well?”

“AHHH!”

I nearly threw myself into the afterlife.

My whole body jolted as I stumbled backward onto the bed again, clutching my chest while staring across the room in horror.

Lena sat by the eastern window completely calmly, one leg crossed over the other while holding a teacup in one hand. And the worst part? She looked entertained with my reaction.

“You almost scared the child out of me!” I protested dramatically, pressing one hand over my stomach while trying to catch my breath.

The reaction I got was immediate.

“What?!”

Lena practically abandoned her tea. The cup clinked loudly against the saucer as she stood up so quickly the chair scraped back. In seconds she was beside me, panic written all over her face.

“Are you alright?” she asked urgently. “Does anything hurt? Are you dizzy? Should I call Ria?”

I stared at her for one second. Then another. And suddenly I couldn’t hold it in anymore. A laugh burst out of me, bright and uncontrollable.

“I’ve never seen you this flustered before,” I managed between laughs, covering my mouth while tears threatened to form from how hard I was trying not to laugh louder.

Lena froze. Then slowly frowned.

That only made me laugh harder.

She let out a long sigh once she realized I was fine and finally sat beside me on the bed. I could still see the remnants of panic lingering in her eyes though, and for some reason, it made my chest feel warm.

“Only in front of you,” Lena muttered softly, tilting her head slightly as she looked at me.

The way she said it almost made my heart stop.

And before I could even recover from that—

“If you keep laughing at me,” she continued, her lips curling into a teasing smile, “you might not get your present.”

I blinked. “…Present?”

My entire attention shifted immediately.

Lena’s smile widened at my reaction. “Actually, I was planning to show it to you after breakfast.”

“Now is also a good time,” I answered without hesitation as I scooted closer to her.

A quiet laugh escaped her before she leaned toward the bedside table and pulled open the lower drawer. Slowly, she took out a velvet jewelry box.

The moment I saw it, something in my chest stirred faintly.

Lena carefully opened it in front of me.

And the second I saw what was inside, my breath caught.

Because I recognized the necklace immediately..

This is…

“Marry me, Lena. We’ll survive this war. Together. And when this ends… I will make you my Queen.”

My fingers trembled as I slowly reached toward the necklace resting inside the velvet box.

This is my mother’s…

The sight of it alone pulled me backward through time so suddenly that my chest ached.

I remembered the exact moment she gave it to me.

I was eleven then. Small. Scared of the world in the way only a lonely child could be.

It was the first time I would ever spend several days away from the palace—away from Mother.

Father had announced he was bringing me to some week-long celebration in another city. A feast. Politics. Nobles. And eyeing for new mistresses.

I had cried for days after hearing it.

“Mother, please come with us,” I begged between sobs while she packed my luggage. “I don’t want to be left alone with Father.”

“Matthew, your father has chosen to bring his mistresses to the feast. I cannot do anything about that,” she replied calmly as she folded another set of clothes. “But you do not have to worry. I will send Amelia to keep an eye on you.”

But I knew better even then.

Amelia could not stop Father.

No one could once he started drinking.

I remembered standing in the middle of my room, crying so hard I could barely breathe, wiping my face with my sleeves like a child trying desperately not to look weak despite already falling apart.

Perhaps Mother realized words alone would never calm me.

She sighed quietly before kneeling in front of me and holding my shoulders.

“What would it take for you to feel better?” she asked softly.

The question sounded almost helpless.

Like she truly wished she could give me the answer I wanted.

“You…” I hiccuped through tears. “I want you with me, Mother…”

For a moment, she only stared at me.

Then she stood and walked toward her vanity.

I remembered watching her search through her things in silence until finally she stopped before one particular piece of jewelry near the mirror.

Even then, I noticed the hesitation in her eyes before she picked it up.

She returned to me slowly and knelt again.

Then she took my hand and placed the necklace carefully onto my palm.

A butterfly necklace.

Made of crystal so clear and strange that whenever light touched it, colors scattered across its surface like fragments of a rainbow trapped inside glass.

I remembered staring at it completely mesmerized.

“Here…” Mother murmured softly. “My… my mother gave this to me before I left home.”

Her fingers folded mine gently around it.

“She said it symbolized a promise of brighter days ahead.”

Brighter days ahead.

At eleven years old, I had clung to those words desperately.

“Keep this with you,” she told me as her hand rested against my cheek. “Think of it as a remember me while you are away. Alright?”

Mother was never particularly good at comforting me. Not in the soft, warm way other mothers seemed to.

She loved quietly. Carefully. Like someone afraid the world might punish her for loving too openly.

But I never once doubted that she loved me.

Not once.

Everything she endured beside me proved it.

And the night I proposed to Lena… I remembered thinking the exact same thing Mother once had when I handed this necklace to her.

A promise of brighter days ahead.

My hand never reached the pendant.

Instead, I pulled back suddenly and covered my mouth as tears spilled down my face.

It was still beautiful.

Just as beautiful as before.

But after everything that happened… after Matthew died… after I buried that life… I truly believed I would never see it again.

And I thought… I’d never be able to wear it

I sobbed quietly, unable to take my eyes off the necklace.

“Miu?”

Lena’s voice pulled me back to the present.

She immediately set the jewelry box aside and wrapped her arms around me before I could fully break apart.

“I-I’m alright…” I choked out weakly, resting my trembling hands over hers. “It’s just…”

Another sob escaped me before I could stop it.

“It’s so beautiful…”

I looked up at her through blurred vision and smiled despite the tears.

I couldn’t believe she had kept it all this time.

This necklace…

It was the last living memory I had of my mother.

And the last memory of the love I once carried as Matthew.

“I’m so happy…” I whispered shakily as I reached up to cup her face. “Thank you.”

At that moment, I truly realized something.

I could never ask the gods for anything more than this.

Not anymore.

I was already exactly where I wanted to be.

Beside Lena.

“I love you,” I whispered softly before closing the distance between us.