Chapter 62: The Meeting
Chapter 62: The Meeting
She had never once left my mind since I arrived in the capital. Whenever I was in pain, I would think of her and no matter what, I could smile. Miss Fay, you…
Kassel stood blankly in the hallway, letting his thoughts continue.
‘Fay… she’s my…’
There was no proof.
‘But it doesn’t make sense unless it’s her.’
An Eina candidate had originally been chosen to come instead of Dottricia.
A strange girl, cute, timid, and brave, who had become entangled with me purely by chance.
Even now, I understand what my feelings are. I don’t love her romantically. But I can’t stop thinking about her. And when I noticed Lucius liked her, it irritated me to no end. It was the same feeling I had when Sir Raphael casually said he wanted to meet her.
I know exactly what kind of emotion it is. Miss Fay, you…!
Kassel shut his eyes tightly, suppressing the urge to rush over to her immediately, and quietly returned that day.
No matter how long he had waited, he couldn’t afford to ruin their first meeting. So instead, he formally sent a message through his attendant Paul, asking to see her.
— — —
Before heading to the meeting place, he gently ran his hand over the Potyan Fay had so carefully gathered and shared with him. The yellow flowers, not fully dried, still looked delicate and lovely, and even the shriveled leaves retained a hint of vitality. The firmest root was still vibrant, as if freshly unearthed.
But in time, all of it would lose its moisture, bit by bit, and eventually shrivel into nothing. And just like she had said, it would become useless, thrown away and forgotten.
“People are the same. After crying and crying again… eventually there comes a time when they don’t cry anymore.”
Was I too late? Kassel desperately hoped it wasn’t.
“It doesn’t mean that person no longer feels sadness. It just means the pain has sunk in so deeply, so unbearably, that they’ve become numb. At that point… everything is already over.”
He had vowed never to live with regret again, but he had broken that vow once more.
The thought of the time he hadn’t recognized her, even while she stood right in front of him, filled him with crushing self-reproach.
Still, he had to go. Even if just to confront how foolish and dangerous his ignorance had been.
* * *
‘Hoo…’
Fay was dressed in robes of white and blue, traditional magician’s garb. Whenever she met with Kassel, she normally wore something plain under her cloak. But today, she felt compelled to wear this.
Even as people glanced at her while she got out in front of the Mijuang Hotel, she didn’t mind.
“Ppi-piit!”
“Momo, I think you’ve grown a little.”
“Ppiii?”
Momo cocked its head, feigning confusion, clearly unbothered by how monstrous its true form looked. It just seemed pleased to hear it had grown. Then, it shook its soft, fuzzy head, putting on a show of adorable flair.
“Haha.”
“Lady Fay, Lord Klein has arrived. Shall I let him in?”
“Yes, please.”
An employee who had been waiting inside came hurrying to inform her.
It was time to set aside the lighthearted thoughts from playing with Momo. Holding that warm creature in her hand always soothed her nerves.
At last… we’re meeting.
Not as Knight Leon and Magician Fay…
But as Kassel Deuplione Klein and Tiana Marietta Klein, who once lived as Morgana and Fay. This was the day of fate.
It was nothing like when she’d gone to the palace on the crown prince’s request. She couldn’t begin to guess what expression he would make when he saw her. He might demand why she hadn’t told him sooner, why she stayed silent even while standing right in front of him.
After all, hadn’t he been thoroughly deceived by a fake?
Has Lord Kassel ever lost his temper with me? I always thought of him as a strong knight, but I was never afraid of him… Maybe because he always treated me with care?
[“So what will you do?”]
Lucius had asked her that yesterday, after seeing Kassel’s invitation. He always gave her the choice whenever she reached a crossroads.
[“I’ll go. I’ll meet him.”]
[“Okay.”]
She had made her resolve.
Passing through the room with the grand piano, she stepped into the sitting room where only one man waited. She remembered the last time they were here, laughing with Raphael and Astein.
Astein’s radiant smile, freed from the weight of his royal duties. Raphael’s mischief. And Kassel, who had kept them in check while pretending not to notice Fay’s disastrous piano playing.
She still remembered the design on the teacup handles, the rich sweetness of the desserts they’d shared.
So what if the time we spent together was short? Could that dazzling moment return again?
Even if it wasn’t the same, even if it was just similar… I would be content.
‘I…’
She finally faced him.
— — —
At the moment he sensed her arrival, Kassel moved without hesitation. He dropped to his knees on the thickly carpeted floor, hard enough to echo with a thud.
The wait had been long.
Kassel knelt by his own will, not by any command, and slowly raised his head. His eyes, red and burning like a blood moon, gazed up at her, drenched in sorrow.
Fay didn’t rush to speak or tell him to get up like she might have in the past. She had already guessed what he would say.
With her ears open, she heard the painful, longed-for words.
“Tiana… is it really you?”
She had always known this moment would come.
The foolish family who had cast her aside and lived merrily with the fake would one day learn the truth.
Would they regret it then? Would they loathe the time they had spent embracing someone who shared not a drop of their blood?
Perhaps they would love Dott too much to believe the truth. They might even reject her, the real one.
If that happened, then everything she had done since returning from the dead would mean nothing, like autumn leaves scattering in the wind.
That would be Dott’s perfect victory.
Just imagining it filled her with loathing.
The bleak future she had envisioned countless times shattered like a cracked mirror.
The past would not repeat itself.
Her tightly shut lips opened, and her shallow breaths scattered into the air. Like a full moon night that stirred the heart, an overwhelming energy filled the space around her.
In that moment, she felt a wild urge to let her long hair down and run madly, anywhere.
“Ah…”
Drip.
I’m crying.
She thought she had no tears left to shed. By day she smiled, but at night in the Magic Tower, her pillow had soaked enough tears to form a lake.
She had wrestled with betrayal and disillusionment for so long she thought she was numb to the past. Though it came terribly late, this was not the end. It was a fragile moment, still salvageable.
A single drop of clear dew fell from the last withered leaf on a dried-up tree.
“Uhhuhhh…”
“Tiana… I’m sorry…”
Overwhelmed by sorrow, she buried her face in her hands. It felt less like covering her face and more like drowning in an endless ocean of tears. She cried standing, her shoulders trembling, while Kassel knelt and wept, tears of regret and remorse streaming from his crimson eyes.
Those least at fault were the ones weeping in agony.
The one with the fewest sins was apologizing to her.
Even as she cried, Fay thought of Kassel’s sincerity and forgave him thousands of times in her mind.
She wanted to speak, to say she was okay, that it was enough, but all she could do was cry.
She had never truly been allowed to express her pain. The venting she’d done to Lucius had never been enough.
Now, all the feelings she had bottled up were rising to her throat.
Family…? Is it because Lord Kassel and I share the same blood that I feel this way?
Eventually, she staggered to her feet.
Though Kassel’s tears had stopped, he remained kneeling, only reaching out his hand.
“…May I help you up?”
“…Yes. Of course. Please.”
Still crying, Fay managed to call out to him with a choked voice.
He rushed over and embraced her. His arms, unusually warm, held her up as if guiding a toddler, and gently led her to the sofa. The moment he held her, the tight knot in her chest melted away.
It hurts. That today even had to come.
But I’m a little happy. That this moment came at all.
Having cried her fill and found some relief, Fay felt a strange mix of hollowness and catharsis.
Kassel asked gently, “Would you like to rest? We can talk later if it’s too much now.”
He had been waiting since the day his sickly sister was sent to the temple at birth. There was no reason to wait any longer.
“No, I’m fine. But… why didn’t you do it?”
“Hmm?”
His voice, so close and familiar, asked back.
“The paternity test at the Tower. I’ve never done it. I only heard about it from the culprit, and the details came later.”
Kassel replied easily,
“I have no doubt you are Tiana. And your silk robe, your belonging, is currently in Mother’s possession. Retrieving it isn’t difficult, but catching the spies around the mansion is the first priority.”
“…I see.”
“Don’t you want to gather everyone and tell them who you are?”
Fay, now fully composed, gave the same answer she had once given Lucius.
“I have my reasons. And I absolutely want Dott exposed for the fake she is. Just recovering my silk robe and verifying it will be enough to prove it.”
“…”
“But I don’t want to explain in detail what happened to me… or publicize that I’m the real princess.”
“You’ve suffered far too much.”
Kassel replied just as she had once romantically imagined he would. He didn’t demand why she was running from the truth, didn’t urge her to come home to the ducal estate with him, to trust him and go together.
He only tried to understand and help her just as she was.
Could there ever be another man in the world this perfect?
He gently stroked her soft pink hair. At that moment, she was tempted to tell him everything about why it was dyed that color.
“…”
Kassel looked into her reddened eyes and shared something new.
“The reason I started suspecting Dottricia… was because she made a prophecy recently.”
……
T/N: What is this on my cheeks? Oh, it’s tears… 🥺😢😭
