who made me a non existent princess???

Returning Home

I'm sorry for the late update. These days, the light went out frequently in my house. Anyways, from today, I'm going to update daily until the story ends. There aren't many chapters left to get to the ending. I want to finish this story before the next month begins. Since I want to publish new fanfic starting next month. Oop! I've taken too much of your time. Please enjoy this chapter.

. . . . . . . . . .

Ariana's pov

The distance between the two of us decreased in a second as Ijekiel leaned closer toward me. His breath in front of my face was tickling the tip of my nose.

"I l-"

His low voice, holding importance and seriousness blew toward my ears along with the chilling breeze.

And at that moment that seems like an eternity, I was about to close my eyes with my heart thumping loudly while ringing in my eardrums.

It was then.

_Crash! Thumb!

Noises that didn't match the mood, rang loudly into my ears...no, directly into my head.

A heavy headache came along with the noises, making me groan in pain.

"Ria!"

Ijekiel, who became surprised because of me suddenly groaning in pain while clenching my head tightly, forgot what he was about to do previously.

The black chains which I haven't seen for a while appeared on my skin like rushes. What is this? I didn't use any magic.

Even my confused mind couldn't think properly because of the serve pain. I tightly closed my eyelids, crouching down to the ground.

_Ri-

_-in

Ezekiel's anxious voice began to fade away as my vision started to blur into white light.

_Daddy.

When I raised my head again because of the familiar voice, I didn't feel pain anymore.

Did I die?

Because of the scene in front of me, I had no choice but forced to think like that.

_Daddy, you should try this as well.

_It's okay.

It was a sight of Athy and Claude having tea in the rose garden of Emerald Palace.

_I wonder where is Ari right now?

_Useless men. They couldn't even search for a single girl. Tsk!

This feeling is like when I was watching from a third-person view. This is similar to when Bella showed me her memories. But I was sure Bella disappeared. Was I wrong?

_Cough!

_Daddy!

The peaceful situation from a while ago was destroyed in a second with Claude suddenly coughing up blood.

_Thub!

The palace was thrown into chaos as the Emperor losing consciousness.

Wait! I yelled as the sight in front of me began to fade too far away from me. Soon, my vision went blank again and the reality returned.

"Hah...hah..."

The first thing I saw was Ijekiel worriedly looking at me.

My breath was rough and short while my body was soaking wet with sweat like dripping into the water.

What was that? The shock didn't go away easily and I wasn't able to focus on my messy thoughts.

There was only one vivid thing in my mind about this circumstance.

"I need to return to the Palace immediately."

. . . . . . . . . .

_Bump!

The big door was opened with a loud noise due to my rush behaviour of pushing it. And the scene which I previously hope wasn't true became a reality for me.

"Ari!"

Athy, who was sitting by the side of the king-sized bed, ran toward me with a pale complexion.

"Where had you been all this time?"

She sobbed on my shoulders while hugging me tightly. The guilty of not returning sooner piled up in my heart as I hugged her back.

"We were looking for you."

"...I am sorry."

Words of apology came out of my lips rather than a warm greeting I expected a few days ago. Because this was how Felix and Lily reacted when they saw me earlier as well.

I glanced over Athy's shoulders. There was a man with golden blonde hair, laying on the bed peacefully. His face was drained with colour as his body was visibly thin like a sick person.

But my gaze was pinned on something rather than the man himself. I can feel a strong force of black magic coming from him.

"How long has passed since Daddy is being like that?"

"...It has been two days."

Athy answered while backing away from me.

I saw the scene this morning so this morning, so there is about two days difference.

I thought while walking near the bed toward Claude. Then, something familiar caught my eyes which was staring at Claude.

"Bella?"

At my call, the white bird laying beside Claude lifted its head weakly. I gently lifted, embraced Bella and whispered with a voice mixed with sorrow.

"You've tried hard. Good job."

"Kuu..."

Bella rubbed its head against me, before falling asleep in my arms because of tiredness.

"Can you heal Daddy?"

"I'm not sure."

If there was no resistance of magic on me, it may be possible. But if I did in my current situation, I'm not even sure whether who will die first.

"But I can make Daddy hold out until Lucas came back."

Yes, this was the only possible solution. Let's just hope for Lucas to return quickly.

. . . . . . . . . . .

"Hah..."

I exhaled out a sigh because of the stress piling up and my neck was sored by constantly looking downward.

There was still a mountain of letters left that I need to reply to. Athy was currently handling some of the paper works that aren't urgent.

Words of Daddy illness seems to have leaked out like the story.

We'll have to hurry and made Athy the Emperor's substitute. I'll just help her do paper works from behind. There shouldn't be any problem.

Ahh...my head hurt. I hadn't been able to sleep properly these days.

If I think about this, this situation happened because Lucas is being late.

"That damn useless luc-"

"You aren't cursing me perhaps."

_Bump!

Surprised by the sudden voice, I grabbed the thick book near me and hit whatever behind me.

"Ouch! Hey!"

I realized only after I hit that it was Lucas. And Athy is beside him as well with teary eyes.

"How dare you hit the great me like that?"

_Bump!

As a greeting gift, I gave another hit.