Rina was shocked by this confession, standing frozen in place.
"A son… and I'm only twelve?! That's impossible! I'm not married, I was just in my room at the Vershi Palace!"
The child looked puzzled by her reaction, then said spontaneously, like a child:
"No problem… I want my graaanddpa!!"
Rina put her hands on her head, as if trying to stop her conflicting thoughts from exploding.
"Shut up! I am not your mother!"
The little boy frowned, tears beginning to gather again. Then he suddenly turned to the other side and ran away from her, shouting:
"Daddyyy! Daddyyy! Mommy abandoned me!"
Rina turned worriedly, and a tall man approached. His features were partly hidden in a soft light, but his presence exuded strength and calm. He picked up the child with one hand effortlessly, calming him expertly, then approached her slightly. His voice was deep and strangely familiar; even with his masculine tone, she felt her soul recognize him.
"Rina… aren't you tired of sitting outside? The sun is setting, and it will get cold soon. You might catch a cold."
Rina didn't understand why, but she didn't argue or question him. When he extended his hand to her… she took it to stand. He then held her in a warm, broad embrace and whispered next to her ear, words directed more to the little boy than to her:
"See? Your mother will never hate us…"
Those words and those faces were enough to make her feel a wave of familiarity and nostalgia, and a strange longing for an unknown future. She closed her eyes, a small smile forming on her face. At that very moment, she felt as if all the constraints of her strange body had been released…
---
Her eyes suddenly opened.
She jumped out of bed quickly, and the first thing she did was stare at her reflection in the large mirror in her room. She was herself—her small twelve-year-old body. She immediately realized she had been dreaming. She was now in her bed, in her real room. She looked toward the window: everything was dark, the sun had not yet risen. She glanced at the hourglass and the small clock on the bedside table: 5:00 a.m.
She got out of bed with slight anxiety. She didn't know why, but she felt an urgent desire to stay with her father a little longer. She thought he might be in his office—he was known for waking very early—but she decided to knock on his door first.
She knocked lightly.
"Come in."
She opened the door to find her father standing in front of a long mirror, fastening the buttons of a luxurious dark velvet formal jacket. He was surprised to see her at this hour.
"Good morning… Papa."
He smiled at her and gestured for her to come closer.
"Good morning, Rina… you're up very early. Didn't you sleep well?"
She nodded.
"No, I slept… Where are you going?"
He anticipated the question and replied in a calm, firm tone:
"I have a meeting with the Southern nobles. I must attend."
Rina nodded, understanding. Then she said softly:
"I wish you could stay with me today."
Theobald understood—after the recent incident, Karina didn't want to be alone. But he said gently:
"I ordered them to come. How could I skip the meeting? Don't worry, your grandmother is awake as well, and she has nothing keeping her busy today. She will be with you."
Rina accepted this, then remembered something.
"Papa… I had a strange dream last night… there was a little boy…"
Theobald turned fully toward her and smiled, curious.
"And what about that boy? Did you fight or something?"
She shook her head, saying with clear embarrassment:
"He was saying… that he's my son."
Theobald burst into loud, genuine laughter, then bent and hugged her tightly.
"So he's my grandson! That's wonderful!"
Rina's face immediately flushed like a tomato, and she grabbed her father to look at her.
"No, Papa, I… I'm joking! I'm joking! I didn't dream anything… forget it!" She tried to backtrack, but her father kept laughing, realizing she was embarrassed.
Then he whispered in her ear, his tone gentle and a little serious:
"You're still young, my dear. But one day you will know what it means to have a child… and you'll understand how precious it is."
Rina listened to her father's words, trying to forget the strange details of the dream. Then a sudden memory surfaced—the name that came to her in the dream: Crown Prince, Ron de Chanilly.
"If he's a crown prince, that means I might marry a prince…" she thought. But the title of the three princes is "Busashi," not "de Chanilly." Then she realized, if she married Ron, she wouldn't name her child after his father—that would be foolish…
And she believed her partner would be Ron!!
Then an important question came to her mind, and she asked curiously:
"Papa… who is the Chanilly family?"
Immediately, Theobald's eyes darkened. His expression changed suddenly, and a cold, sharp chill covered him, as if the mere mention of the family name could awaken a mountain of ice within him.
"They…" he said, in a lower, colder tone, "are one of the greatest families in the empire, in terms of influence and military wealth. Or as everyone knows their leader: Duke Alex de Chanilly."
Rina had heard much about him in the past. A fanatic, strong-willed man, whose dukedom trained war dragons. Most importantly… he had always been a fierce hater of the emperor. In the past, a war had erupted between them. His hatred of the imperial family was notorious and extreme. She also remembered that he was the half-brother of Arian—currently the fiancée of her uncle Yuri.
"How old is he?" Rina asked, trying to understand more. "Does he have children?"
"He's about two years older than me…" Theobald replied, his eyes still bright. "No, he has no children. And there… are old rumors that he has a wife, but no one knows for certain, as he guards his privacy obsessively."
Karina understood this superficially, but inside, questions were boiling: if the de Chanilly family has no heir… then how did that dream happen? How did that child suddenly become the crown prince? And why is his name specifically "Ron"?
She pressed her head as if trying to push out these conflicting thoughts, then noticed that her father had moved to open his office door, gesturing gently for her to follow.
She followed silently, walking together through the grand hallways lit by the faint dawn lamps, heading toward the Duchess Mother's wing.
Theobald stopped in front of the intricately carved door and knocked softly.
"Come in."
They entered quietly. Ohsana was seated in her plush chair by the wide window, embroidering on soft fabric with precise, calm movements. In front of her on a low table lay a pile of open, stacked books—some on the complex history of kingdoms, others on noble traditions and feudal laws, and even rare references to ancient magic.
She raised her head as they entered, her pure white eyes reflecting the clarity and strength of her heart, and gave a warm smile.
"Good morning, Theobald… and also, good morning, little Theobald."
She was joking with her granddaughter, hinting at the strong resemblance between Karina and her father, in facial features and hair and eye color.
Rina smiled:
"Good morning, Grandma."
They came closer, and Theobald began to speak:
"Mother… this girl felt like she's a little child again." He cast a loving glance at Rina. "The important thing, I have an important meeting soon in the Southern Meeting Hall, and Rina doesn't want to stay alone today. And as you know, today and tomorrow are Carla's holidays to visit her relatives in the village. So I would like Rina to stay under your care."
Ohsana nodded, fully understanding the situation. Then she cast a tender glance at Karina and said:
"Very well, my dear… take your time. You'll be safe in your grandmother's hands."
Theobald sighed in relief, then turned to Rina. A careful look, then raised one eyebrow.
"Didn't you at least wash your face?"
Rina realized just then. She looked at her hands and then felt her disheveled hair. She had gotten up directly from bed without doing her usual morning routines.
"Ohh…! Right! I forgot! I'll go now!"
She darted like an arrow toward the door, her steps quick.
Theobald's voice came from behind, a mixture of firm warning and fatherly concern:
"Don't run! You might trip, girl!"
Rina heard the gentle scolding, immediately slowed her pace, and replied without turning:
"Yes, sir!"
The sound of her quick steps disappeared down the hallway.
Ohsana laughed at the whole scene, her smile carrying distant memories. Then she said gently:
"You remind me of the days when I always scolded Yuri not to run in the palace… he was a mischievous child in every sense. If I let my guard down even slightly, you'd find him climbing a tree or sneaking into the stables, causing trouble for himself before anyone else… unlike you. You were always calm and peaceful."
Theobald smiled, a picture of his younger brother frolicking without fear appearing in his eyes. Then he nodded toward the corridor where Karina had disappeared and said:
"I fear this little girl… will never grow up."
Ohsana shook her head gently, disagreeing.
"She may have childish movements and a desire to play, but I see… she has already started thinking about matters beyond her age. She asks smart questions and notices details that adults might overlook."
She paused for a moment, then added with a more thoughtful tone:
"She always reminds me of myself… at her age. I was also full of life and curiosity, but… I returned from those different years… and changed a lot."
Theobald looked at his mother longingly, understanding the hidden meaning behind her words—a subtle nod to the great transformation she experienced after her husband's death, bearing the duchy's responsibilities while still young.
Karina returned, her hair slightly wet and combed imperfectly by herself. She held a blue silk ribbon in her hand and wore a comfortable, elegant cotton dress, but the back tie was loose and hanging haphazardly.
Theobald gestured for her to come closer. She approached, trying to hide her embarrassment about her outfit. Her father skillfully tied the ribbon around her waist, transforming the loose dress into a coordinated and beautiful look. Then, with a sudden movement, he began taking strands of her wet hair and weaving them into a neat, beautiful braid.
"Papa, do you know how to do this? How?" she asked, amazed, her eyes wide.
Her father smiled faintly, his eyes glancing briefly at his mother Ohsana, who watched the scene with a mixture of nostalgia and amusement. Then Ohsana immediately said, before he could utter a word:
"He learned it for you… I mean, for Rivellina. Before they married, he practiced until he mastered it." She laughed afterward, enjoying her granddaughter's surprise and the tender mix of shyness and memories showing on her son's face.
Rina was a little lost in thought, surprised by this romantic tidbit. Then she looked at her father and said:
"I never expected that."
Theobald laughed as he tied the small silk ribbon at the end of the braid, finishing his work perfectly.
"And you, why didn't you ask the maids to help you?" he asked gently.
Rina turned to him and whispered softly:
"I don't want… I only want Carla."
Her father understood her attachment to the maid who had cared for her since childhood, especially after recent events that had heightened her sensitivity and distrust of strangers. He nodded in agreement.
"Now, I must go. Goodbye." He said, then left the room quietly, leaving Rina with her grandmother in a serene and intimate atmosphere.
Rina sat on the small couch beside her grandmother, watching her return to her embroidery for a while. Then she broke the silence with a question that seemed childlike but carried deeper curiosity:
"Grandma… why hasn't Uncle Yuri married yet?"
Ohsana was a little surprised by the direct question. Then she said after a short pause:
"I don't really know. Ask him. The first time I asked him, he said his fiancée wasn't ready due to some circumstances… anyway, I didn't ask much."
Rina nodded, thinking to herself. Then she remembered Arian—the woman who returned divorced from the North with a child from the Vershi lineage. Arian never smiled at Rina, and there was a strange coldness between them. Rina felt that Arian's arrival at the palace brought some dark magic or strange influence—something that manipulated everyone's emotions and made the atmosphere tense, as if Rina herself were the cause of the conflict between Yuri and Arian, despite her innocence.
She frowned slightly, recalling those details and quiet quarrels. Then she decided to dig deeper.
"Grandma… tell me about Arian. Everything you know."
Ohsana smiled in a traditional tone, as if preparing to narrate a noble tale. She paused her embroidery and set her frame aside, looking at Karina.
"A Northern girl, from the far cold North. Her father was the brother of a major marquis there. As for her mother… she is Carmen, the current Duchess of the North, who gave birth to three daughters: Arian is the eldest, then Julia, then Lilia—they are twins." She paused to breathe, then added more complicated information:
"Of course, that's not all. The Duke—Carmen's second husband—also had two sons from his first deceased wife: the eldest, Kirlo, and the younger… Alex."
When Rina heard the name Alex, she felt a strange spark run through her chest. It was the same name her father had mentioned earlier: Duke Alex de Chanilly. History hides much beneath the surface.
Ohsana continued the story as if narrating a chapter from a royal tragedy:
"Kirlo and his father were killed in the great war that broke out before your birth… and the duchy was inherited by the younger son, Alex. That man… no one has seen him for almost fourteen years. He hides behind the walls of his northern castle, as if the earth swallowed him."
Because that dear person to his heart… left unjustly…