CHAPTER 293: NOT AS PERFECT AS SHE THOUGHT

Evelyn’s eyes glistened slightly with tears.

Yes. Deep down, she had been thinking just as Catherine had said.

It made her reluctant to accept the care the family was showing her, because she wanted to be close with her twin sister, and she didn’t want her to dislike her.

She had also thought somewhere in her heart that Catherine looked down on her in her heart because she didn’t have the same manners, or way of speaking, or walking, or carrying herself.

Everything she did was different from Catherine who was the picture of Aristocratic elegance and grace. She thought she would never reach up to Catherine and make Catherine not want to come close to her.

But hearing what Catherine said made her a bit emotional.

A handkerchief gently dabbed her eyes.

She looked to see Catherine beside her, gently dabbing her eyes with her own handkerchief.

Catherine smiled. "Are you crying because of what I said? If the children saw you, what would they say?" She said jokingly.

Evelyn couldn’t help but laugh.

"I’m glad to see you both together again." A voice barged into their conversation.

They turned to the door to see Maxim standing there with a smile on his face, the door open behind him.

Evelyn turned a bit rigid, remembering that she was standing in front of the Duke.

Maxim frowned a bit, but didn’t say anything.

He walked closer to them.

"When the both of you were babies, you couldn’t stand a second apart. Each of you would cry so loudly if you weren’t together, the whole mansion wouldn’t hear anything but your cries." When he finished, sadness showed in the depths of his eyes.

"However, it’s a good thing you’re together again. I hope none of you cries that way again." He said jokingly, his eyes resting for a second on Evelyn’s teary eyes.

A blush coated Evelyn’s cheeks. But she didn’t notice she wasn’t as tense around Maxim as she was.

Maxim turned to Catherine. "Have you already arranged for tutors?"

Evelyn had been told about the need for tutors for herself and her son.

"I have." Catherine nodded. "Have you made arrangements to inform the rest of the family?"

"I have," Maxim nodded.

Evelyn looked at them with confusion. "Family?"

The two of them turned to her. "Yes."

Evelyn would soon find out that her new family was larger than she thought.

***

"Can you read?" Lauren asked Allen.

"My mother taught me to." Allen replied.

"Oh. Your mother can read?" Aristia asked.

She and Alaric had had their classes in the Anton mansion and had just finished and were relaxing in the garden when Allen came.

Allen nodded. "There’s an elderly man who lived in the house close to ours. He and my grandparents taught my mother to read."

[Then that makes it easier.] Aristia thought. [If they could already read something other than names, it would make their classes easier since there is already a foundation.]

The children spent the rest of the day in the garden.

About two days later, Aristia, Alaric and Wilson returned home.

Wilson wasn’t very pleased since Catherine chose to stay in the Anton mansion.

He understood the emotions going through the family since finding the missing daughter and sister, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t sulk at the absence of his wife.

He had work to do, both in the palace and at home, so he had to return to the mansion.

After bidding the Antons goodbye, they got into the carriage and returned to the mansion.

As soon as the carriage stopped in front of the mansion and the three got down, Aristia was pulled into a crushing hug.

[Who wants to kill me this time?] She thought.

"Princess, I missed you so much." Adeline said, almost sobbing. "You were gone for so long."

[It was only three days.] Aristia thought, speechless.

She patted Adeline’s back. "Linny. You’re crushing me."

Adeline quickly released her. "I’m sorry, princess." She said, worry taking over her expression. "Are you alright? Did I hurt you?"

Aristia shook her head. "You didn’t."

She looked behind Adeline and saw Kai and Owen standing there.

[Gosh! Why are they acting like I was gone for weeks?] Aristia was dumbfounded.

Kai’s eyes were slightly moist with tears and Owen’s lips were twisted.

Alaric kept glaring coldly at them. What was wrong with these people? Why were they acting like someone died.

She looked up at that moment, seeing a bird flying toward her.

The bird perched on her shoulder.

’You’re back.’ Millie said rubbing against her neck. ’Those boys haven’t left me alone since you didn’t return that day.’

’Have they?’ Aristia asked rhetorically, amusement in her tone as they all entered the mansion.

It was just as Millie said.

Adeline, Kai, and Owen had been restless these few days.

Owen kept frowning, wondering why Aristia hadn’t sent a message through Millie like she usually did since Millie was at home.

Kai would lock himself in his room, practicing his magic. When he came out, he would ask whether it was possible to go and see Aristia.

When he got a negative answer, he would return to his room to practice magic for hours without opening the door.

Owen kept frowning like someone stole his puppy.

He would review all the work reports and then sit in front of Millie, asking her to contact Aristia.

But Millie wouldn’t reply. She would just turn her face away, and when his questioning became too much, she would either fly away, or fix him a glare so deep, Owen would feel the hair on the back of his neck rise.

Adeline herself would keep pacing around the mansion, muttering to herself about how the princess was doing— if she had eaten, or if she was doing anything else, or if she was eating.

Alaric looked at Kai’s slightly red, moist eyes, and the sight irritated him to no end.

"Are you crying like a baby?" He asked coldly.

Kai didn’t reply and only wiped his eyes. It was because Alaric had been with Aristia that he was mocking him now. If he hadn’t, he would have been the same.

Seeing Kai, wiping his eyes, Alaric rolled his eyes even further, muttering under his breath. "Childish."

Owen rolled his eyes. He clearly remembered Alaric’s reaction when Aristia had left the mansion without him on the night of the festival a few years ago.

Aristia just moved ahead silently. She was too speechless to say anything anyway.

Did she really have babies around her? Babies in the bodies of big boys and a young adult?

But somewhere inside her, she felt a bit of satisfaction. The satisfaction that they were attached to her to the point that a few days without her would leave them feeling restless.

She didn’t understand this feeling, but she didn’t think too deeply about it.

They finally arrived at her room. She had just taken a bath back in the Anton mansion, so she wouldn’t bother bathing again.

"Princess, did something happen?" Owen finally asked just as Aristia took a seat on her bed. "You didn’t return that day, and we suddenly heard that you went to the Anton mansion."

Aristia turned to him. "My mother has a twin sister that went missing a long time ago."

Owen and Kai’s faces turned confused, not understanding why she suddenly said this.

"I and mama found her and her son while strolling the streets." She completed.

Their faces turned surprised when she said this. That explained why Aristia and her mother suddenly went to the Anton mansion, and why Alaric and Wilson who should have returned home, didn’t until today.

So Princess Aristia had a new aunt? And cousin?

Aristia turned to stare out the window.

Remembering Evelyn reminded her of what happened to Leilani and Leif, not one, but two siblings.

She couldn’t help but remember Wilson’s words again that children went missing more often than she realized.

Only now did she understand the full extent.

[If children belonging to power families like the Antons are able to go missing, then how much more children from common families?]

This also made her realize that Amberale was not as perfect as she thought it was.

She now wondered if some of the children on the streets who now lives in Willows Haven weren’t just abandoned by their parents, but kidnapped.

"What are you thinking about, princess?" Adeline asked.

Everyone else was also staring at her curiously, wondering why she was so silent.

Aristia shook her head. "Nothing."

She suddenly remembered that she hadn’t yet appeared with her real identity since Leilani and Leif went missing.

Even though she had gone on the day she took Heidi and Penelope to Willows Haven, she had gone as ’Aris’. The children didn’t know she was the princess.

They were probably already wondering why she hadn’t come and if she hadn’t heard from Dahlia and Dorothy. It wouldn’t be good if she prolonged it.

She looked up at Owen. "Come with me to Willows Haven tomorrow. I’m going as princess Aristia."