CHAPTER 526: REBECCA’S LETTER

"Please let me know when dinner is ready," Abrielle informed Evelyn. They just arrived at the room she was using.

The sun was already close to the horizon, spreading its orange hue across the sky. Abrielle stood before Evelyn at the doorway.

Evelyn’s gaze was tender and filled with concern. She was greatly disturbed by how frail Abrielle was. She looked like she hadn’t eaten a proper meal in a long while, and Abrielle still trained rigorously despite her physical state.

Her heart felt heavy, filled with worry for Abrielle and Cedric. A scary thought popped into Evelyn’s mind.

’What if Prince Cedric was already dead?’ she wondered, but quickly shook off those thoughts. She could not have such negative thoughts.

The first prince was fine, she convinced herself but it was getting harder to believe each day. "Please try to rest, your highness. I will also inform Sir Sebastian when the table is set." She answered, then deliberated for a while before she hesitantly added.

"You will be having dinner with the Lord, won’t you?" Evelyn mentioned, hoping Abrielle’s appetite would improve now that Sebastian was around.

"I will ." Abrielle chimed. Evelyn then excused herself. Abrielle moved to the bed. She took a seat at the edge before dropping the letter by her side. Her eyes darted to the window which was fluttering lightly in the wind.

Soft sun streaked in softly, "Where are you?" She muttered. Her eyes then darted around the room. There was no trace of him in the room again. Not even the faintest scent. Even his clothes had lost his scent.

It felt like forever and she was starting to wonder if he was ever going to come again. She sighed then glanced at the letter Sebastian brought for her. Abrielle reached out for the letter then pulled out the neatly folded paper.

She opened the paper, and as expected, it was a letter from Rebecca. She had mixed feelings about seeing Rebecca’s letter. Things didn’t end up well in Vesper.

They never got the chance to speak about the confusion. Her eyes started reading between the lines of the letter

******

My dearest Elle,

If you are reading this, it means Sebastian has delivered my words safely into your hands. I pray you accept this letter with an open heart, though I know I have no right to ask for such kindness from you.

I have thought of you every single day since that night in Vesper the night everything shattered between us.

The memory haunts me still, and there are nights I wake with tears, hearing your voice, seeing your eyes when you learned the truth. Imagine how you felt after finding out the truth.

I am sorry, I never expected things to be this way, but truth be told, a part of me always knew, but I didn’t want to shatter our perfect family.

I cannot take back what was done. I cannot erase the pain of that betrayal. But I want you to know that it was never my wish for us to part in such a way.

I ask not for your forgiveness, because I know I failed you as a mother. I only ask that you hear my heart now. To me, you will always be my daughter. No law, no bloodline, no crown can erase the years I held you in my arms, the laughter we shared, or the tears I wiped from your face.

You were my child from the first moment I carried you home, and you will remain my child until my last breath.

When your father accepted Callista’s deal that night, it was not out of cruelty toward you. It was politics, survival, duty. I know we failed as your parents. But the entire Nightshade family was at risk. Maybe he should have hesitated but he made the decision to save the family and ended up sacrificing you

Vesper stood at risk of crumbling, and he chose what he believed would protect us all. Yet in protecting the duchy, he destroyed our family. I will always carry that regret.

Some evenings I spot Pierre just staring at the sky like his mind had drifted far away. When he thinks no one is looking he cries. The guilt he carries is slowly eating him up. He might retire soon, once Sebastian had learnt everything to be his successor.

When I was contacted by your true blood, the emperor of Heliosa, the letter he sent revealed everything and asked about your biological mother

I cannot put into words the storm of emotions that consumed me. Abrielle, my baby, my little girl whom I rocked to sleep, whom I kissed goodnight, was never truly mine by blood.

My heart broke, yet I was also overwhelmed with pride. My Abrielle was a princess all along. A lost daughter of Heliosa. It was so unbelievable that for days, I could not stop trembling.

To think that the enslaved woman whose child, my mother, swapped for my sickly one.

The baby I thought was mine for a year and had taken into my arms was no servant, but the crown princess herself... My heart could not contain it.

And yet, I do not regret the time I had with you. No matter what fate has written, the years I was given with you were real. Every smile, every embrace, every moment of motherhood

It was the purest gift of my life. For that, I will always be grateful, even if my soul must carry the weight of guilt for eternity.

I do not ask you to forgive me, Abrielle. I have no right to such grace. But I do pray that you find happiness with your husband, Cedric.

I wonder each day how the two of you are doing. A ridiculous bounty was placed on him, the crown won’t rest until they get his head. I don’t know what plans you have but I do know his love is real.

I hope he loves you enough to consider you in his decisions.

I hope he keeps you safe, that he gives you the love you have always deserved. More than crowns, more than power, more than names I wish for your joy.

As for Callista... I can only hope one day she finds it in her heart to forgive me. Though perhaps I do not deserve mercy for my sin of failing both my daughters.

Soon, I must leave for Vitalis with your father and Uncle Mikhail. It is our duty to stand for Lucian’s coronation, just as Sebastian travels to Heliosa with his mother and baby brother.

These are complicated days, and though I cannot come to you in person, know that my love goes with you wherever you walk.

You are, and will always be, my daughter

With all my heart,

Rebecca