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Chapter 271
“Her Highness the Princess once asked me—if her daughter ever returned to the imperial palace, I must deliver this letter to her. I’m truly relieved that I can finally fulfill her last wish. Ever since I heard the rumor that Lady Iona might be the Princess’s daughter, I’ve spent every night sleepless, agonizing over how best to give this to you.”
The words spoken by the woman standing before her hardly reached Iona’s ears.
All of Iona’s attention was fixed solely on the letter in the woman’s hand.
She could not bring herself to accept it. Instead, she stared blankly at the woman’s wrinkled hand holding it out.
The entire situation felt utterly surreal.
The sudden appearance of her mother’s trace.
The unbelievable loyalty of a handmaiden who had supposedly safeguarded it all this time.
“…I…”
Her throat was dry.
Iona tried to reply but instead swallowed hard.
The handmaiden waited patiently, showing no signs of rushing her.
At last, stumbling over her words, Iona spoke.
“I… might not actually be her child. For now, it’s still nothing more than suspicion…”
“I beg your pardon, but I did endure thirty years in the imperial palace. I know more people than you’d think… and I’ve already confirmed it for myself.”
“You’ve confirmed it?”
“You’ll understand once you read it.”
The handmaiden, as if realizing her words might sound insolent, added with a slightly embarrassed look,
“I’m sorry. I memorized every word of the letter, thinking that if I were ever to lose it, I could at least recite it aloud. I apologize for daring to look at something so precious without permission.”
With that, the handmaiden pressed the letter once more into Iona’s hands.
Iona, with trembling fingers, finally accepted it.
Yet she couldn’t bring herself to break the seal.
If this turned out to be some cruel prank, she feared she’d never regain her composure.
She dreaded the possibility of raising her hopes only to fall into despair from which she could not recover.
Seeing Iona hesitate, the handmaiden seemed to think she needed more time. She checked the oil in the lamp.
“It’s late. If you don’t want to arouse suspicion, you should return now.”
“…”
“If there’s more you wish to ask, please bring out the clothes you found that note in earlier. The surveillance is strict on anything leaving the annex palace, so please make sure to leave no trace.”
With those words, the handmaiden offered a hasty farewell, picked up the laundry basket she had set down nearby, and departed.
Iona remained frozen in the dark storehouse until the woman’s hurried footsteps faded into the distance.
Realizing belatedly that she couldn’t read the letter in such a place, she carefully tucked it inside her garments.
Then, in a daze, she returned to the annex palace.
It was sheer luck that she wasn’t caught by the guards.
Only when she reached the window she had jumped from earlier did Iona realize she would need to climb the wall instead of using the stairs.
Normally, such a feat would have been nothing to her—but now, her body was utterly drained, and she could not muster the will to act.
As Iona stood there, staring blankly up at the window, a face she had desperately longed to see suddenly appeared from within.
Leroy, upon spotting her, wore an expression of shock mingled with relief.
His lips shaped the words:
‘Where on earth did you go without saying anything?’
‘Just…’
Iona tried to offer some half-hearted excuse but closed her mouth again.
It wasn’t as though she had any reason to keep it a secret from Leroy.
But she also lacked the energy to gesture or explain.
When Iona let her shoulders droop with exhaustion, Leroy furrowed his brow.
He made a few unrecognizable hand gestures at her, then suddenly puffed his chest and shouted aloud:
“Iona!”
Startled, Iona stumbled back a step.
Leroy immediately left the window, dashed downstairs, and within moments appeared in the courtyard where Iona stood.
But he wasn’t alone—his sudden outburst had drawn the guards, who trailed behind him.
Leroy hurried to Iona, cupping her face in his hands.
“Are you all right? You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”
“Huh? Y-yes.”
“No matter how much you want to pluck stars for me, you can’t just cling to windows like that. Look—you ended up falling after all!”
Iona glanced nervously past Leroy’s shoulder.
Already, startled by the sudden commotion, palace attendants were gathering one by one.
Snippets of conversation reached her ears—
“What happened? What’s going on?”
“They say she fell while trying to pluck a star for him.”
“…A star? Was she drunk?”
The absurdity of the situation made Iona feel faint.
What bewildered her most was that everyone seemed to accept such a ridiculous explanation as if it were perfectly natural.
After standing there in a daze for quite some time, Iona finally managed to collect herself enough to reply.
“…You’re right, stars can’t be plucked in the first place. Why on earth did I try such a thing?”
“You don’t need to go that far. I already know how much you love me.”
Leroy smiled gently and brushed her hair aside.
In his embrace, Iona was led back into the building.
Whether this could truly be called a “natural” return, she wasn’t sure.
But at least the abrupt incident had jolted her dazed mind awake.
Once they reached the bedchamber and closed the door, leaving only the two of them inside, Iona was the first to speak, offering her gratitude.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, I came back without trouble.”
“Good. Then now it’s my turn—to hear your excuse for sneaking out in the middle of the night.”
With that, Leroy pulled her firmly by the waist until their faces were level.
And, like the melodramatic hero of an old romance play, he said with exaggerated sweetness:
“Of course, I’m not worried about another man. My wife loves me so much she’d want to pluck down stars for me, after all.”
“…Somehow, that makes it sound like I should be climbing the persimmon tree out back.”
“There’s a persimmon tree here?”
“The fruit’s rather sweet. The gardener made sure to select only the finest variety.”
Her frivolous answer made Leroy let out a soft chuckle.
It seemed Marsha hadn’t told him anything in detail, for there was no sign of worry in his eyes.
Perhaps, knowing she had once served in the imperial palace, he assumed she’d slipped away under the cover of lax surveillance to meet an acquaintance.
When Iona said she should change her clothes first, he let her go without fuss.
She declined her husband’s offer to summon a maid and instead went alone into the toilette.
At last, she was in a place where no one could see her.
Rushing to the vanity, Iona pulled the letter she had received earlier from the inner pocket of her outer garment.
Perhaps intentionally leaving no trace, the envelope hadn’t been sealed shut.
After a long moment of hesitation, Iona opened it and unfolded the letter inside.
Slowly, carefully, she began to read each word.
[To my beloved daughter.]
I stopped writing as soon as I began… because I started crying.
It suddenly struck me that I don’t even know your name, and therefore I cannot call you by it.
Back when I carried you, I did have a secret name for you in my heart, but now it has no meaning. You haven’t lived your life under that name.
What kind of irresponsible mother doesn’t even know her daughter’s name?
I have no excuse for being such an unworthy parent, but there is one thing I want you to know.
I never wanted to abandon you. More than anything, I wanted you to survive.
Daughter, how have you lived?
I don’t wish to speak ill of your father in front of you… but I doubt you grew up in a good environment.
That thought has always been a source of pain for me.
I regret sending you to him, the result of my mistaken judgment, for the rest of my life.
It was my choice to marry Hayden, so I have no right to make excuses. But what sin was it of yours to be raised under such a man?
Of course, you must have resented this foolish mother.
Looking back, my life with you has been nothing but a string of apologies. I never did anything a mother should do.
Perhaps that’s why I can’t even picture you smiling.
The only image I carry of you… is you crying.
At that point, Iona’s eyes stopped.
Her instincts told her at once—
This was her mother’s true last will.
It was exactly as Teresa had said.
She had never known her mother’s face except one streaked with tears.
And now, even before her handwriting, that truth remained the same.
---The End Of The Chapter---
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