serena pov
Two Months Later: Iansa's Separate Residence
The crisp, wintry air nipped at my cheeks the moment the attendant opened the door of the vintage motorcar. Flakes of fresh snow danced through the light, falling softly over the grand façade of Iansa's separate residence. Stepping out onto the frosted stone, I smoothed down the folds of my beige dress and adjusted the heavy coat over my shoulders.
Walking inside, the bitter chill faded into the welcoming warmth of the manor. I hastened my pace down the familiar, gilded hallways until I reached the bedchamber doors.
Click.
As the door swung open, the soft rustle of silk sheets filled the quiet room. On the massive, ornate bed, a small figure turned her head toward the door.
"Grandmother!" I called out, unable to hide the warmth rising in my chest. "You're awake?"
Her frail face softened, wrinkles creasing gently into a fond expression. "I feel alive the moment I see my princess," she murmured softly, her voice weak but full of affection.
I hurried over and sat at the edge of the plush mattress, leaning in closer. "How are you feeling today? Are you alright?"
"I am," she replied, her eyes scanning my face with deep warmth. "And what about you? Where are you coming from looking so elegant?"
I smiled, letting out a small, breathless laugh. "I've been running all morning. I attended the Ratasaeng Arts Academy students' regular performance first, then went straight to a lunch meeting report at the hotel. It wrapped up earlier than expected, so I couldn't resist stopping by to see your face."
Adjusting my position, I tilted my head toward her. "Later this evening, I have to head to the Ale Art Museum for a special exhibition opening ceremony."
Grandmother chuckled, a soft, knowing smirk spreading across her features.
"What's with that look?" I asked playfully.
"I'm just happy," she said gently, her gaze lingering on me with quiet pride. "I'm so grateful to see you smiling so brightly... and living your days as a proper President. Do you know how long I've waited for a day like this?"
A soft sigh escaped my lips as I reached out to hold her hand. "It's all thanks to you waking up that day, Grandmother. If it hadn't happened then, we would've suffered much longer."
My mind drifted back to the turning point two months ago.
For the longest time, darkness and uncertainty had loomed over us. But then came the miracle: Grandmother unexpectedly opened her eyes from her long slumber and revealed a secret no one could have anticipated.
Hidden away in the secret compartments of her private residence were stacks of carefully preserved letters-correspondence she had personally exchanged with the former Queen. Those hidden documents held the truth we desperately needed, exposing long-buried secrets and finally shielding us from the storm that had threatened to destroy everything.
Seeing her here now, alive and smiling, restored the peace we had fought so hard to reclaim.
She had hidden those letters away in the separate residence, protecting them for the future. Within their yellowed, bound pages lay the complete, unvarnished record of the truth behind the royal command given to our family.
The moment those letters came to light, everything changed. Their contents answered every lingering suspicion-shattering the web of lies that had bound us for so long.
Heavy, deliberate footsteps echoed across the marble floor of the grand hall as Madam Iansa strode forward, her presence cold and sharp as iron. Clutched firmly in her hand was the thick bundle of tied correspondence.
Gasps rippled through the assembled nobles.
"M-Madam Iansa?!" someone stammered in shock, staring at her as if looking at a ghost.
An elderly official wearing glasses and a formal coat stepped out, his voice trembling with a mixture of disbelief and panic. "It... it's been a long time. What brings you to the Royal Palace at this hour...? I thought you were still recovering...! How is your health...?"
Before he could finish his pathetic, cautious string of pleasantries, Madam Iansa drew back her hand and hurled the bundle of letters straight at him.
Pak!
The heavy stack struck him square in the chest with a sharp crack, knocking the wind out of his lungs.
"Ugh!" The official staggered back, grabbing at his chest in surprise as the tied papers thudded onto the polished floor before him.
"You must be disappointed," Madam Iansa's cold, unyielding voice sliced through the stunned silence of the palace. "I'm sure you were waiting for 'good news' until now."
Recovering slightly from the blow, the official's face flushed red with indignation. "Wh-what kind of disrespect is this?!" he barked, pointing a trembling finger at her.
"Disrespect?"
Madam Iansa tilted her head, her golden eyes burning with fierce, sharp anger. The cold fury radiating from her made even the surrounding guards freeze in place.
"A mother who nearly lost her child twice..." she sneered, her voice dropping to a icy whisper that carried across the entire room. "...should she really be expected to show respect right now?"
"Wh... what?!"
The official paled, stuttering helplessly as the weight of her words sank in. Beside him, an aide quickly dropped to his knees, frantically scrambling across the marble floor to gather up the scattered bundle of fateful letters.
The heavy parchment felt like lead in Prime Minister Maider's hands as he skimmed through the contents. Across from him, the elderly official wiped a bead of cold sweat from his brow, his hands trembling as he helped present the documents. Every line written in those long-hidden letters carved away at the carefully constructed facade of the court.
"Those letters will prove our family's innocence well enough," Madam Iansa's sharp voice rang out, clear and unyielding across the quiet court. "So I won't waste any more words."
She adjusted the dark fur collar resting on her shoulders, her amber eyes burning with an incandescent, predatory glare. Prime Minister Maider stared back, his knuckles turning white around the edges of the papers, but he remained silent-trapped under the immense pressure of her gaze.
"And there's something you need to explain as well, Prime Minister," she continued, stepping forward. The atmosphere in the room grew heavy, suffocatingly tense. "Now that the letters confirm the royal command was carried out through the Prime Minister's office... even if you weren't the Prime Minister back then, it's hard to believe you knew absolutely nothing."
Maider's eyes widened slightly behind his round spectacles. Beads of sweat began to glisten along his brow.
"Either you created this situation without ever checking the truth," Madam Iansa's voice dropped, each word dripping with venomous clarity, "or you knew everything... and assumed no records remained, so you condemned our family as traitors."
The court remained frozen. Silence settled like ash over the gallery as the full weight of her accusation took root. Maider's mouth opened slightly, but no words came out. His composure was unraveling, piece by piece, right in front of the gathered nobles.
"Instead of my granddaughter, I-the one who personally received the royal command-will answer at today's trial," she declared, her posture immaculate, radiating absolute authority. "Either way, today won't only reveal our family's innocence. Because there are questions that you, Prime Minister, must answer."
The letters presented during that fateful trial raised new, undeniable suspicions that Prime Minister Maider could no longer sweep under the rug. The momentum had shifted entirely.
Driven by the overwhelming proof, our family, President Herald, and the powerful alliance supporting him immediately demanded a full-scale investigation and interrogation of the Prime Minister. The tribunal had no choice but to break into separate, urgent proceedings.
Then, just a few days ago, the final blow fell.
The motion to dismiss Prime Minister Maider was officially approved.
Stripped of his political armor, his empire crumbled rapidly. Beginning with concrete evidence that he had systematically abused royal authority for his own personal gain, a dam burst-exposing countless illegal acts involving the Grayan family and several allied noble houses, surfacing one after another in a relentless wave of scandal.
The man who had once ruled the political court from the shadows was left standing ruined, looking down at his trembling hands as his legacy shattered around him.
The quiet luxury of the bedchamber stood in stark contrast to the fierce battles fought in the political arena. Bathed in the soft, warm glow of the room, Grandmother lay propped against her pillows, looking far gentler than the terrifying force of nature she had been in court.
"I had a dream that you died," Grandmother murmured softly, breaking the calm stillness. "That's why I woke up."
I blinked, taken aback. "Huh?"
"That day..." She closed her eyes briefly, her expression solemn as she recalled the vision. "At first, I was attending your mother's funeral... but somehow, the person lying there became you, not her."
She paused, taking a slow breath as the memory resurfaced. "I jolted awake the moment I saw it. It felt so real... and so horrifying."
Hearing her words sent a sudden jolt through my chest.
Huh...? Now that she mentions it...
"...So did I!" The realization hit me, and the words tumbled out before I could stop them. "I had a dream too, Grandmother!"
My eyes widened as a long-buried memory came flooding back, bursting through the fog of my mind.
That day, I definitely woke up after seeing Dad in my dream.
"While I was caught between life and death... I saw Dad," I whispered, my gaze drifting as the vision played clearly behind my eyes. "I remember crying so much because it had been so long since I last saw him."
In that realm between life and death, his face had been so clear-warm, gentle, and full of sorrow. He had reached out, his hand tenderly cupping my cheek.
"Don't worry about Mom, Dad, or your brother," he had told me, his voice a soothing embrace amidst the darkness. "Take good care of yourself and our people..."
"Yes, that's right," I murmured, a faint, nostalgic smile touching my lips. "That's exactly what he said. Dad was the reason I woke up."
Grandmother looked at me, her amber eyes softening into a warm, affectionate gaze. A gentle, knowing smile spread across her face as she reached out, her hand tenderly squeezing mine over the silken sheets.
"It seems Windsor came to save you for a moment," she said softly, her voice thick with emotion as she held my hand tight.
Then, her tender expression twitched slightly, a subtle comical scowl crossing her features as she pondered the contrast.
"Wait a second..." Grandmother grumbled playfully, pouting like a disappointed child. "So your father gently woke you up... but your mother had to appear in my nightmare just to save her daughter?"
She huffed with a dramatic, annoyed sigh. "What a cruel woman~"
I couldn't help but let out a soft laugh at her sudden shift in tone.
Haha... Still, if it made you wake up, then Mom really did know best. Though... she always did have such a fiery temper. I wonder who she got that from?
Grandmother shifted slightly, resting her hands over her lap as her playful scowl faded into quiet concern. The banter melted away, leaving behind a subtle, lingering gravity in the warm air of the bedchamber.
"Putting that aside..." Grandmother spoke up, her eyes searching mine carefully. "What about Eiser? Still no news?"
A heavy silence settled over me. I lowered my gaze, the bright, golden light streaming through the window suddenly feeling cold against my skin.
...
It had been two months ago.
The last time I saw him was at the Royal Palace, standing tall and sharp in his long coat, carefully going over the official parchment that finally cleared our family of all charges. He had held the paper, his cool eyes scanning the lines that brought an end to our long night.
And then... Eiser disappeared.
Like smoke scattered by a sudden breeze, he was simply gone.
By the time I stopped by the hotel and returned to the manor, every single trace of him had already been erased. His room was empty, his belongings vanished, as if he had never lived beneath that roof at all.
I remembered confronting Lovis immediately, desperate for any shred of an answer. But no matter how much I questioned him, Lovis only offered a tight, awkward smile, offering polite apologies while steadfastly refusing to reveal where Eiser had gone.
"Haha, I'm really..." Lovis had offered, offering a apologetic expression while guarding his master's secrets to the end.
Of course, I didn't stop there. I searched every place I could think of-every mansion, every corner of the city, every ghost of a lead...
...Of course, I searched every place he might have gone.
I travelled out to his maternal grandfather's estate, stepping past the creaking wooden door frame into the quiet, amber-lit villa. The late afternoon sun filtered through the tall windows, casting long, lonely shadows across the dust-mote filled air and empty furniture. I stood in the middle of the room, listening to the heavy stillness, but found no trace or sign that he had ever stayed there.
I even dispatched someone to keep watch at Dustin Grayan's funeral, holding out a foolish thread of hope that he might show up to pay his respects. But he never appeared there either.
And just like that, he vanished.
As if he had never existed at all.
At first, his disappearance without a single word left me utterly confused. The sudden void he left behind was jarring, and for several weeks, I was consumed by anger too. How could he just step out of my life without a trace after everything we had survived together?
If I had simply surrendered to my emotions, I could have hunted him down. I could have thrown all my resources into the search, turned every stone, and pursued him relentlessly until I stood face-to-face with him again.
But in the end, I didn't.
Because, deep down, I trust him.
If he chose to leave, then he must have had his reasons. And I believed that someday, when the time was right, he would stand before me again.
That was what I chose to believe.
Looking back, that was probably the first time...
...since I was seventeen, when my family left me, that I had ever allowed myself to place such unwavering faith in another person. Standing in the cold, quiet stillness of my dimly lit study, surrounded by the heavy shadows of the room, I realized how profoundly he had altered my world.
...I realized how profoundly he had altered my world.
That there was no Grandmother, no Frederick, no Eiser in this house...
And I was completely alone.
The realization settled over me like a cold mantle, heavy and unyielding. The silence in the cavernous halls felt almost suffocating, broken only by the soft rustle of my own dress as I walked into the room.
"I don't know," I murmured quietly, sinking onto the side of the bed where Grandmother rested. The sheer mental weight of everything threatened to bow my shoulders. "I'm going to lie down for a while."
Grandmother shifted slightly, her warm eyes carrying a gentle concern as she smoothed the sheets around us. "Why? Are you exhausted? Is it too much?"
"No, it's just..." I trailed off, resting my head against her, seeking the comforting warmth that had been my anchor for so long. "It's just..."
I swallowed the lump in my throat, staring blankly ahead as the truth burned softly in my heart.
Eiser left.
Even if he comes back someday, that much won't change. The reality of his absence was already carved into the quiet spaces of this room. Being the one left behind, waiting suspended between trust and loss... still isn't easy for me.
My fingers curled tightly into the crisp white bedsheets, knuckles turning pale as I squeezed the fabric, trying to anchor myself against the sharp pang in my chest.
"It's just what?" Grandmother asked gently, a light, teasing tone softening her voice as she stroked my hair. "You're secretly heartbroken because Eiser left?"
"No!" I blurted out instantly, my voice muffled against the bedding as my pride flared up. "Wherever he is, whatever he's doing...!"
Even so, I won't stay trapped in that sadness.
"Leave him alone," Grandmother coaxed softly, her gentle hand continuing its rhythmic, soothing motion over my hair. "He went through so much; maybe he just wanted to travel somewhere alone."
"I'm not chasing after a man who walked away," I grumbled back, stubbornness taking over as I pressed my face deeper into the covers. "Who says I'm missing him? If he leaves, he's the one losing out. Why would I miss him?"
"That's true," Grandmother hummed, a gentle, amused smile lacing her voice.
"It's his loss if he can't see me for even one day~" I muttered, allowing the warmth of the room and her presence to slowly ease the tight knot in my chest.
Because I promised I would become someone who...
...Because I promised I would become someone who could take responsibility for him.
"I don't know, it's just..." I buried my face into the soft duvet, my voice muffled as I let down my guard completely in front of her. "The house feels so empty. I'm still not used to being alone in the manor."
Grandmother let out a soft, affection-filled sigh, resting her palm gently against the back of my head. "Oh my~? I thought you had finally grown up, but you're still a little puppy?" She smoothed my hair down with tender strokes. "Shall we go buy a ribbon dress together this weekend?"
"Ah, stop teasing me...!" I protested weakly, my cheeks burning as I pressed deeper into her lap, but my voice softened a moment later. "So please don't get sick anymore. You're the only family I have left, Grandmother."
And that includes you too, Grandmother. It's a loss if I don't get to see you for a day~!!
Her hand stroked my shoulder in a slow, steady rhythm-a quiet, reassuring pat that seemed to ground my restless heart.
Now that the storm has finally passed, everything is slowly settling into place.
Taking a peaceful breath that I'm still not used to, and continuing the independence I fought so hard to achieve.
"Though I'm in a bit of a ribbon slump lately," Grandmother mused aloud, looking down at me with warm, nostalgic eyes.
"Really? Since when?"
"It just happens sometimes. Anyway, since you're already going out, make some time this weekend," she continued softly, cradling my head against her. "Come to a cafe with me, then let's take a drive along the river."
I leaned into her warmth, feeling the gentle rise and fall of her chest, letting the quiet serenity of the afternoon wrap around us.
I don't know how long it'll take me to grow used to this peace.
When I eventually returned to my own residence later that evening, the heavy oak doors clicked open, revealing the grand foyer lined with attentive staff. The chief maid stepped forward with a warm, welcoming smile, bowing respectfully.
"Welcome back~ You must be exhausted. I've already heated the bath. Shall I prepare it now?" she offered smoothly, gesturing toward the inner hall. "And the dresses you'll wear to next week's embassy event arrived this afternoon. Would you like to try them on first?"
I unbuttoned my heavy coat, hand hovering over my scarf as I offered a tired but steady answer. "Bath first."
Still, it won't be much longer.
Stepping into the warm, fragrant waters of the bath, I rested my arms along the marble edge and leaned my head back with a deep sigh. The steam rose around me in gentle coils, carrying away the lingering tension of the day.
"Hah... I finally feel alive," I whispered to the empty room, letting the warm water submerge the quiet ache in my chest.
It won't take that much time.
"Oh my~ You look absolutely beautiful!"
the maid exclaimed, clasping her hands together as she marveled at the sleek, asymmetrical black gown clinging to my silhouette.
I glanced into the gilded mirror, catching the reflection of the shimmering embellishments across the shoulder and the stark contrast of the white fur wrap resting over my arm, my hair still loosely wrapped up in a plush white bath towel. It was striking, sophisticated, and undeniably elegant-yet as I stared into the glass, a sudden, quiet intuition tugged at me.
Somehow, I have a feeling...
"Um, actually..." I started, turning away from the mirror as my gaze softened. "I think I'll go with the pink dress I tried on first. I just feel like wearing pink that day."
"Yes, understood. I'll prepare that dress," she replied promptly with an accommodating bow.
She turned to adjust the garment rack, but her tone shifted into something far more discreet, lowering her voice as she addressed the matter lingering in the background.
"The matter you mentioned last time has been completely taken care of," she informed me quietly.
I unpinned the towel from my hair, letting my dark locks spill over my shoulders as I listened carefully.
"And I've also prepared what you requested," she added, holding out a sleek, elegant box toward me. "Would you like to see it?"
I went still for a beat, my fingers lingering near my collarbone.
"..."
A quiet, heavy silence settled between us in the lavishly decorated dressing room. I turned my eyes slowly toward the box in her hands, my expression unreadable as the gravity of what lay inside hung quietly in the air.
팁
세레나는 부모님이 아이저와 함께 썼던 침실에 처음 들어간 이후로 옷, 장갑, 신발, 시계, 기타 액세서리를 포함한 어머니의 소지품을 자주 착용해 왔습니다.
이 반지와 시계도 어머니의 것이었습니다.
Tip's
SERENA HAS OFTEN WORN HER MOTHER'S BELONGINGS, I - NCLUDING CLOTHES, GLOVES, SHOES, WATCHES, AND OTHER ACCESSORIES, EVER SINCE SHE FIRST ENTERED THE BEDROOM HER PARENTS ONCE SHARED WITH EISER.
THIS RING AND THIS WATCH BELONGED TO HER MOM TOO.