The Queen’s Retreat was located in the deepest and most secluded part of the ancient forest… situated entirely apart from the quarters where Iyue and the others were staying.
Here, only armored Guard Knights remained to guard the covered bridge and the palace gates.
Servants already waiting at the entrance welcomed the three inside.
“Iyue, you’ve never been here before, have you?”
Senia said to Iyue beside her as she handed her outer robe to an attendant.
“…No, Your Majesty.”
Iyue nodded. This was not her first time on Lake Heart Island.
Back when she was a Guard Knight, she had served as part of the guard during the Audience Ceremony on several occasions.
But at that time, Senia had not yet been Queen… so she had never set foot in this retreat, which only the sovereign was permitted to occupy.
“Then you should take a good look this time. This palace is older than my own father.”
Senia covered her mouth with a light laugh. As she said, the palace’s furnishings were exceedingly antique.
The floors and walls were built from timber and white stone transported from Fenglin City, with no excessive ornamentation.
Beyond the window lay a pond formed by the convergence of the many streams that flowed through the forest.
“Come, sit down.”
After Senia invited Iyue to sit, servants quickly brought pastries and tea.
Then, at a subtle glance from Senia, they silently withdrew.
“Then I shall stand watch outside the palace.”
Waletidina did not sit.
“Don’t you have anything you wish to say to Iyue? It’s been so many years since you last met. When I sent you to deliver the proclamation last time, the two of you never even got to speak, did you?”
Senia said to her with a slightly puzzled expression.
“Your Majesty—I have nothing I wish to say.”
After bowing to Senia, Waletidina turned and walked toward the palace exit.
But as she turned, her gaze fell upon Iyue for a single instant, and their eyes met for a brief moment.
In her eyes, Iyue saw no ripple of emotion whatsoever. After she departed, the door was gently closed.
Only Senia and Iyue remained at the square table.
After a brief silence, Senia rose and walked to the window. She pulled the half-drawn curtain open a little more, brightening the hall.
“Why are you standing up again?” Senia turned around and found Iyue had also risen to her feet. “Sit down.”
She said with a smile. But Iyue did not sit. Instead, she quietly regarded her.
“What’s wrong?”
Sensing something amiss in her expression, Senia asked.
“…Forgive me, Your Majesty. I just feel a lingering dread. Those scenes in the Illusion Realm… some of them still remain in my mind.”
Iyue took a deep breath to steady herself.
“Ah, yes… those scenes brought by the curse were truly terrifying.”
Senia seemed to recall something as well, her expression dimming slightly.
When they had met on the island earlier, no one had shared the specifics of their experiences in the Illusion Realm in detail.
But regarding the Illusion Realm Senia had encountered, Lian had told her a little… so she was not entirely unaware.
“Waletidina… she’s probably like me, still hasn’t fully recovered. I had wanted to properly catch up with her.”
“Waletidina?” The topic shifted naturally, and from Senia’s mouth, Iyue received the information she wanted to hear.
“Hmm… it seems she doesn’t remember anything at all.”
“Doesn’t remember anything?”
“Yes, much like Lian…” When she spoke Lian’s name, she smiled at Iyue. “The same condition as the Miss New Hero beside Lady Lian.”
When facing that seemingly endless Curse Tide in the Illusion Realm, Lian had already spoken with her about her days as a maid in the Duke’s Household, and about all the events that had unfolded on the journey to the Sea of Trees with Iyue afterward.
Iyue smiled back at her with mutual understanding.
“I see. Perhaps everyone’s aftereffects are different… I still remember very clearly.”
The suspicion that had taken root in Iyue’s heart upon seeing Senia and Waletidina was now confirmed—Waletidina had not told her Queen what she had encountered in the Illusion Realm.
Her Majesty seemed to have asked her. Waletidina could not possibly lie to the Queen.
Iyue believed what Senia said… because this Knight Commander’s loyalty to the Queen was beyond question.
And after much deliberation, Iyue did not think she should relay Waletidina’s entrusted words to the Queen while Waletidina herself was not present.
“You’ll have a chance to catch up later.” Fortunately, Senia did not seem to realize Iyue had been probing her.
She paused by the window, turning toward Iyue: “You’ve been refusing to sit. Is there something you wish to say to me?”
Her voice was very gentle… but landing on Iyue’s heart, it rang like the striking of a morning bell and evening drum.
Iyue did indeed have something she must do, something she must say to her. She stepped back half a pace and knelt on one knee before Senia.
“Your Majesty.” She lowered her head deeply. “I beg your forgiveness.”
As if she had long anticipated this, Senia’s expression did not change.
“Forgiveness? You haven’t committed any wrong. Why would you need my forgiveness?”
Iyue bowed her head even lower. “Back then, I left without a word, broke my oath, departed Fenglin City, left your side… this is the sin I committed.”
“That is long past. If that is the sin you committed, then it is nothing compared to the achievements you have accomplished.”
Senia said softly.
“That is not so. Your Majesty. My merits and faults cannot be so simply balanced. In the past, I did not understand what the oath I swore before you truly meant. You gave me trust, you gave me dignity, you gave me honor… and I cast it all aside like a worn-out pair of shoes. When I needed you most, you were always there. But when you needed me most, I failed to stand by your side. This is an unforgivable sin.”
“If that is so… then what face do you have to beg my forgiveness?”
Senia’s expression finally changed. She set aside her smile, revealing the sovereign’s majesty that belonged to a queen alone.
“I beg your forgiveness because I still have unfinished deeds, unfulfilled wishes. Iyue is not a cold and heartless person. The reason I left you… was my family.”
Then Iyue spoke of those things.
She spoke of her father, her mother—the Human man who had spent his entire life waiting only for his beloved and his daughter to return, and the infatuated Elf woman who, imprisoned for a hundred years, had stubbornly returned to the Forest Land, transforming into a great tree to be with her lover for eternity.
She spoke of that cabin, of those precious moments she could never forget, and of her sister—bound by blood, once inseparable, now a stranger.
And finally, she spoke of the enemy who had destroyed everything she cherished, the foe she would never be reconciled with.
She spoke slowly, because this was like cutting open her old wounds, pulling out the flesh, blood, and soul that constituted Iyue as a person, laying it all bare.
She told the Queen before her why she had once been so obsessed with power and prestige, why she had left without looking back that day despite knowing the Royal Court had treated her well.
“Therefore, I made my choice, paid the price. Accepted the result. Though this outcome did not go as I wished, I have no regrets about the choice that brought me to this day.”
Silence filled the room. Senia never interrupted her.
“But I know, my sin of breaking my oath cannot be forgiven.” Iyue finally raised her head, her eyes carrying both pain and clarity.
“I shamelessly beg your forgiveness… I ask that before you judge my guilt, you grant me a little more time.”
“The peace that my companions and I bought with our lives and our blood now lies in shadow. The remnants of the Demon King are stirring once more… I cannot allow them to destroy this peace. And I must care for my sister, I must uncover the truth of my mother and everything that befell her, and make that woman—make the Head of the Nelf Family—pay for what she did to my family.”
She spoke each word deliberately: “This is a duty I cannot yet abandon. Not a knight’s duty, but a duty as a so-called Hero, as a sister.”
“So, even if you deem my crime unforgivable, I still wish to ask that you allow me, before I fulfill all these duties, to keep for a while longer my soul and my flesh.”
Having said all this, she fell silent at last. She lowered her head, waiting for her former sovereign’s answer.