Wedding.

Yelena was in a daze for a while but when she was back to her sense, she finally smiled. "I would be very happy if you indeed wear that, Mother."

​​

Felix was always amazed by his mother's straightforward words whenever Yelena was around. This made him chuckled. "It would be a perfect match if you were born as a mother and daughter." He remarked.

The King was very quick to nod in approval. "That is on my mind too."

The two women laughed at the comments and they continued chatting again.

*

After they finished dinner, Felix brought Yelena to the Jewel Palace where Princess Gianna was alone. She had heard about Yelena's visit but... she can't bring herself to face her. As such, she was all alone in her room.

When her nephew brought Yelena inside her room, the Princess who was sitting on the bed, quickly turned away. Yelena nodded and Felix walked outside, giving them some time.

"I heard that you are sick, so I came to visit you, Aunt Gianna." She said and sat on the chair beside the bed.

"You don't have to come here." Princess Gianna promptly argued though she was still turning away.

Yelena fell silent for a while before she said, "You know, I really wish to say that I understand your feelings and comfort you but... I'm not a mother and I have no idea."

Her unusual words made the aunt slowly turned to her with a flustered face. Then Yelena slightly smiled.

"I don't want to lie. That's why." She muttered and narrowed her eyes at the bed. "But I want to say this. Though I'm not a mother, I'm a daughter." She looked up at the Princess again with a little smile. "If someone blames my mother for my wrongdoings, I will be very upset. That's not fair."

"Yelena - "

"I respect you a lot, Aunt Gianna," Yelena remarked, interrupting the Princess. "When I first came here, you were so kind to me. To be honest, I was in awe when I noticed how elegant you are. 'She is raised as a Princess. Will I ever be able to be like her?' That's what I thought."

"Don't say that. Your future mother-in-law is better than me." Princess Gianna muttered and Yelena smiled.

"I don't want to compare the two of you." The Captain jokingly said. "Felix told me that you are always the one who looks out for him ever since he was young. He loves you as much as he loves his mother. So, I'm sure that a good aunt would make a great mother."

"Yelena, you don't have to say that. How can I - "

"Aunt Gianna," Yelena muttered and hold her hand. "You are important to Felix and the same goes for me. I don't want you to blame yourself and live your life in regret. I... " She paused, thinking twice about what she was to say.

"I lost my brother six years ago. He was not just a brother for me. He was a parent, a friend, a protector; he was my everything. Since then, I live my life in regret and blame myself for his death. My life was like hell but... do you know what keep me going? My promise to avenge him."

"I don't want you to live in that hell, Aunt Gianna. At least, you can still see your son. So, you still have a reason to live. I don't want you to have regrets. So... I want to tell you that I forgive Alonzo for what he did to me." She added.

Princess Gianna lifted her hands and touched Yelena's face. "I don't understand how he could bring himself to harm someone like you. He is my son but I don't know him at all."

"Everything is in the past now, Aunt Gianna. Once I marry Felix, we will be family. I wish you could recover soon and teach me all the things I need to learn. Will you do that for me?" Yelena smiled and put the paper bag near the bed. "Felix said that what you need the most, for now, is to regain your health. I bought some vitamins and nutritional supplements for you."

Princess Gianna glanced at the paper bag and her face turned gloomy. After what her son did, she was so ashamed to accept a gift from Yelena!

"We consulted the royal doctor for all these medicines. So, you can take them with ease." Yelena explained. "Please recover soon. I have many things I wish to learn from you."

Princess Gianna couldn't ignore it anymore. She holds Yelena and then hugged her, shutting her eyes. "Alright. I will get well soon and help you." She finally gave in to the Captain's persistence.

Yelena smiled and this time, it was out of relief. "I will look forward to it, Aunt Gianna." She uttered.

*

"How did it go? Did she listen to you?" Felix promptly asked her the moment she walked out of the room.

Yelena nodded with a satisfying smile. "She said she won't skip her meals and she will take the vitamins and medicines regularly."

Felix heaved a sigh of relief and suddenly embraced her. "You're amazing! I was so nervous because this is the last idea I could think of. Even my parents can't make her change her mind."

"It's because she's feeling guilty towards me but don't worry. I will try my best to make her feel better. Now, she finally has the will to recover and it's good enough." Yelena explained with a smile, returning his hug.

"Like always, it feels so good to have you around, Yelena. When you are around, I feel like there's nothing unsolvable." Felix muttered. A genuine smile never left his face.

Yelena was about to speak up but...

Her phone went off and with a frown, Felix pulled back. She glanced at the caller ID and noticed that it was Lt. Morris. She realized the strange meeting which will take place in Lt. Gen. Haric's residence. Was it already the time? She answered the call with troubled thoughts.

"Captain, are you busy now? If you perhaps have some time, listen to the meeting that currently takes place. I can't even recite what they are saying. It's unimaginable!" Morris instantly uttered.

Yelena briefly glanced at Felix and when he nodded, she turned her attention back to the call. "I will listen. I'm available now."

"Alright."

Felix pulled Yelena out of Jewel Palace and took her to his rooftop room. "You will be able to concentrate more here. No one will come to disturb you."

Yelena nodded and put the call in loudspeaker mode to hear it clearly.

*

In the meeting at Lt. Gen. Haric's house

"General Logan Arista will retire after a few months. Once he is succeeded by Lt. Gen. Haric, everything will finally fall to the right place."

Yelena identified the voice as Major General Richard, the one who was determined to make things hard for her during that investigation.

"We only have to stay low for now. If anything goes wrong, our efforts for 18 long years will be all ruined. We cannot let that happen." It was Lt. Gen. Haric who firmly stated in an authoritative voice.

"Are you worried that Captain Yelena Arista might ruin everything? She is not even in the army now. What could she possibly do?" One unidentified man asked the Lt. General.

"She is not one to be underestimated. She even breaks free from that investigation easily because many high ranking officers favored her. What's more, she's an Arista." Lt. Gen. Haric said.

Their comments about Yelena didn't entertain the Prince at all! However, Yelena holds his hand to calm him down.

"You're right." One man said. "All the Arista's are a force to be reckoned with. Even that young man from years ago."

"Are you talking about Marvin Arista? He was a tenacious one and even his younger sister takes after him."

"Lt. General, did Colonel Maverick really - "

One person hardly slammed the table and the man fell silent. "Don't talk about Maverick. Killing him is already a huge loss for us. To create the world we dream of, we need someone young and capable like him." Lt. Gen. Haric uttered.

"First, it was Marvin Arista. Then it's Maverick Yaris." He added and anger was very evident in the Lt. General's voice. "Why did someone young and capable always failed us? Even now, it would be a shame if we have to shut up Captain Yelena Arista too. Arista or not, she's a capable soldier. I really wish to stop hurting our own."

They talked about her brother and proved that he died in their hands! Yelena tightly clenched her fist while Felix glanced at her with concern.

"It's our fault." Major General Richard spoke up. "We should have used all means to stop her from joining the army. We were too thoughtless and now, she has become a thorn in our flesh. Someone who poses a threat to our grand plan."

"Let's not worry." One man said. "We have waited for 18 years and now we only need a few months. After that, we will finally claim absolute power for ourselves, soldiers."

Hearing the last sentence from an unidentified man, Yelena's eyes grew wide! Absolute power for soldiers?! Then she quickly turned to Felix. "The grand plan they mentioned is to impose a military regime!"