We went back to the palace in a carriage. The carriage stopped, but it wasn't in front of the Palace of Forens.

"Okay, let's go out."

I nodded and got out of the carriage with Blake's help. I looked at the Amoria Palace.

It's been seven years...

When I was at the door of darkness, I didn't know it would take so long for me to come back here.

I've been missing this place. I wanted to come here even after I left the door of darkness.

"Shall we go in?"

'Yes.'

We went into the Amoria palace.

This place hadn't changed much. It was as if the flow of time itself had stopped in here.

A thousand years ago, I used to live here. And after I died, Philip named this place "Amoria" meaning love.

Love. How ironic. What he felt towards me was not love.

It was a terrible place, but I missed this place because of the time I spent with Blake.

Therefore, the name "Amoria" given by Philip was meaningful to me.

This place was full of love and memories for me and Blake.

I looked around Amoria Palace, and Blake took off my mask.

"You look prettier without it. Don't use it when you're with me."

'Okay.'

I nodded in appreciation of his consideration for me.

We entered the glass greenhouse first. It was full of beautiful roses.

On the other hand, however, vegetables such as beans, peppers, perilla leaves, and pumpkins were also planted there and did not go well with the elegant atmosphere.

That was my work. I had planted vegetables in the greenhouse so I could eat fresh vegetables.

Blake had been growing those vegetables ever since I left.

I looked at those vegetables, then quickly turned my gaze away. If I cared about that, he would think that I was Ancia. He was already suspicious, so I had to be careful.

'The roses are pretty.'

"Right? The vegetables have also grown well this year. You can go in and take a look if you want to."

'No, I like flowers.'

I fixed my gaze on the flowers and didn't even glance at the vegetables.

The red roses were beautiful. When I was Ancia, Blake gave me many gifts, starting with a red rose. The flower crown made of roses was so pretty that I couldn't bear to use it.

"What kind of flowers do you like?"

'Roses. Red roses.'

Was it okay to tell him the truth? There were so many people who liked red roses.

"I like them too."

He smiled.

After leaving the greenhouse, we walked together in Amoria Palace. Just like the greenhouse, the cauldron and furnace were still intact.

I thought it would be dusty since it hadn't been used for a long time, but it was clean.

"This is a furnace from the east. My wife asked the blacksmith to make it. She loved to cook eastern food."

Blake looked so happy as he spoke about Ancia that I didn't know how to react.

I nodded and turned around. I saw a big beautiful tree.

We used to mark our heights on that beautiful tree.

I was the tallest but Diana and Blake nearly reached me. The marks remained intact even now.

They hadn't marked anything since I left...

Another memory resurfaced. Even though I pretended not to know anything, I turned around and avoided looking at it.

Blake looked at the marks on the tree as he approached it.

Back then, he was very small for his age. He always looked at the tree saying he wanted to grow taller.

"Do you know why I brought you here?"

I shook my head.

"You really don't know?"

He looked at me. I couldn't turn my head away and my body felt as if it was frozen in place.

"I found out for the first time that I had the ability to read lips, but I couldn't do it to other people. I can only read your lips, Rose."

Blake touched my lips. His body temperature warmed my lips and passed all over to the rest of my body.

"You know why?"

I shook my head.

"The shape of your mouth, your habits, they are the same as my wife when you talk. That's how I can read it."

"......"

"The way you look at me, your expressions, the way you walk, the food you like, everything is the same as her. The more I look at you, the more certain I am."

'...it's an honor to be similar to the Crown Princess, but I am not her.'

"Lies. My intuition tells me that you're Ancia."

"......"

"You're Ancia."

"......"

"Please tell me the truth."

He begged. He was begging me to tell him.

I wanted to tell him the truth. I wanted to stop caring about the future and just tell him.

But no. I had to deny it for his sake.

'I...'

I almost gave in to Blake's pleading gaze, but Edon's urgent cry rang out suddenly.

"Your Highness!"

"What's going on?"

Blake asked indifferently. It was unlike how he usually spoke to me and his tone revealed his obvious displeasure. But Edon shouted regardless.

"We've found the Crown Princess!"

***

When Blake was told by Edon that they had found Ancia, he headed to the emperor's palace.

After Ancia went missing, countless people claimed that they were the Crown Princess.

They were fakes that weren't worth dealing with. The girls had blond hair and green eyes, but that was all.

There were some who did not look or seem alike at all, or they even changed their eyes and hair colour with clumsy dying or magic.

Tenstheon usually drove them home without showing them to Blake, and all those who pretended to be Ancia had to pay for their crimes.

Of course, it couldn't be stopped, but Testheon made sure to treat them harshly so that Blake wouldn't be hurt.

But he called Blake for the first time today. And as soon as he got the Emperor's call, Blake realized why.

'It's Ancia.'

Ancia sat next to the emperor.

She was Ancia. Blake could feel it the moment he saw her.

She had elegant large green eyes, a graceful nose, and red lips. Her face was beautifully sculpted.

Blake used to think about what Ancia would look like now, but he couldn't imagine. However, he felt it the moment he saw her.

"Come here, Blake."

Tenstheon smiled and called his son.

He was full of guilt because he couldn't save Ancia, but he had found Ancia today. Finally, he could look his son in the eye.

But Blake stood still. Then the woman next to the emperor sprang up from her chair.

"Your Highness!"

The woman smiled broadly and approached Blake. Tenstheon looked at them with a mellow heart.

It was their first reunion after seven years.

Ancia was back. Blake's reaction, however, was totally different from what Tenstheon expected.

Blake looked at the woman's face with a stiff expression, and then looked at Richard sitting across from her.

"Why is he here?"

"Richard brought Ancia."

"He did?"

Blake did not hide his hostility.

On the day Blake was celebrating the release of the goddess's curse, the Duke of Cassil had stormed the ballroom.

Tenstheon and imperial knights overpowered them, and Blake cured the wounded. When everyone was at ease, flames rose from one side of the palace.

The east side prison where Richard and Frank were trapped was enveloped in flames. They successfully put out the fire, but Frank, the eldest son of Duke Cassil, was killed, and Richard was also badly injured.

The Duke of Cassil admitted all his sins.

He said he set that fire to kill Richard, who had attacked the emperor and the crown prince and disgraced him. But it was Frank, his favorite son, who lost his life. Arnold Cassil, who killed his beloved son with his own hands, was panicked.

Tenstheon captured all the remnants of Duke Cassil, including Domiram, a black wizard.

However, he claimed that he was the wizard of Duke Cassil, not Richard, and that he set fire to prison under the order of the Duke.

He also said that he spread rumors about the black magic that could transfer the curse of the goddess under the orders of the Duke of Cassil.

The Duke of Cassil also admitted all his sins. In the end, the Duke was sentenced to death. The nobles who followed him were also purged.

However, they were divided over how to handle Richard.

It was reported that Richard's mother was a Roum and was falsely murdered.

In addition, Richard was treated as a servant. Testimony and evidence from the people of the Duke said that he had suffered from contempt and abuse.

Richard came to his senses a month after the fire and he shed tears, shocked by the fact that his father tried to kill him.

He testified about the abuse he had been subjected to. His words were exactly in line with the testimony of the people around him.

He was a victim who was almost killed by his father.

Although he committed some minor sins, they were all under the orders of the Duke of Cassil, and he did not play a crucial part in his plans.

Moreover, on the day the Duke of Cassil was executed, his wife and youngest son, Neon, killed themselves.

Now Richard was the last person with the blood of the Duke of Cassil. Gradually, public sympathy for him began to grow.