Epilogue (1) – Dimitri

Translator – Yue

Years later.

“…and Elheim truly loved his human woman. But he was a God, pure and divine, so he could not remain too much longer on earth. If he stayed in the human world for too long, he’d lose all his divine powers…”

The man who was reading the book out loud paused for a while and looked at a particular direction in his audience. There, there was a little girl with the same hair color as him. He saw her yawning while little eyes narrowed with displeasure, as though wondering why he’d stopped. The man resumed reading the book.

“In the end, Eiheim had no choice but to leave the woman he loved and to go back on earth. However, he wept for the love he had to leave behind on the human world and those tears turned into rain. At the same time, a baby was growing inside his woman’s womb, a baby created from their union. This baby was born strong and healthy, and she had an incredible power. She had the power to turn himself into a bird. In the human world, she’d have a common bird form, but once she reached the heavens, she’d turn into a golden bird with blinding beauty. And the name of that bird was Maiastra.”

The man turned the page.

“Maiastra traveled from one side to the other between her mother and father, carrying the love message they longed to tell each other. In the end, the two of them could finally reunite and live happily ever after. Thus, till this day, the great legend of Maiastra has been told generation to generation. The legend also says that if a human saved Maiastra’s life, he or she could wish upon one of her golden feathers and the wish would be granted, regardless of anything.”

After reading the whole story, the man closed the book and looked at the little girl, smiling.

“Do you understand? If you have a wish, then you must go looking for Maiastra. The golden bird will definitely grant you your wish…”

“Hmmmph! Liar!”

The girl made fun of him. She did not believe a word he said.

“That’s just a silly old legend. There’s no way there’s a bird who grants wishes.”

“No, it’s true, the bird does exist. I saw it when I was young!”

“You must have seen wrong.”

“Think of your own name, do you think you were named after that bird for no reason?”

“Why does my name has anything to do with whether the bird exists or not?”

“…”

Dimitri stared at the charming girl in front of him. She looked very much like his cousin, but on the inside she was a little demon. When Rihannan was her age, she believe anything he told her. But this girl was set on not believing a single word anyone said, as though she spent her time finding out that she’d been living in a lie. What’s more, she spoke using a language more suitable for a grown adult rather than a little girl. She also liked discussing every minute detail with a clear, cold logic.

“You are really…”

Just like your father. Dimitri was about to say those words when the doors opened. The little girl’s eyes immediately lit up.

“Mother!”

The girl run happily across the room towards the beautiful woman. While she hugged her hips, she deeply inhaled the wonderful fragrance coming from her mother’s body.

“Mai.”

Her mother smiled warmly while she caressed her daughter’s head. She bent down to kiss her plump cheeks.

“It looks like your uncle was reading you a book. Was it fun?”

“Yes! It was very fun and interesting. I did not even feel time passing by, mother.”

Hearing that, Dimitri was dumbfounded. The girl who’d just yawned and showed no sign on interest whatsoever till just a while ago was now saying those words without a hint of shame.

This girl, in spite of her young age, had a quick mind and a super critical assessment of the situation. She knew that her mother wished for her to build a close relationship with her relatives from this side of the world, so she behaved as though she truly enjoyed spending time with Dimitri.

Rihannan smiled brightly.

“The stories Dimitri used to tell me in the past were always fun and fascinating. Of course, most of them were overly exaggerated or merely made up…”

“Ugh!”

Dimitri grabbed his chest, faking profound pain in the center of his core. Mai burst into laughter and agreed with her mother. Rihannan looked at her daughter and smiled.

“Mary said she’d go to the forest to pick up strawberries for the cake. If you want to tag along, you’d better hurry or you won’t reach her.”

Mai’s purple eyes shone immediately.magic

“Yes, mother!”

Mai run out the room excitedly. Even when she disappeared from sight, the echo of her loud footsteps running down the hallway could still be heard. Dimitri shook his head.

“I never thought winning the heart of that tomboy princess would be this difficult.”

“Well, it’s all because of this beard of yours.” Rihannan joked while teasingly pulling his beard. Dimitri hadn’t shaved in years, so it was no exaggeration to say that half his face was covered with hair.

“I told you. Mai only likes people who resemble her father. Someone clean and dignified. She definitely dislikes people who resemble beasts, like you.”

Dimitri scratched his cheek with a finger. Looking at his aloof expression, Rihannan laughed.

“If you shave, you might be among her top 4 list. Really. I’m serious.”

“What? Why would I be top 4 and not top 3?! Isn’t it you, that guy and then me, in third place?”

“Pffft. You’ve got a rival. Someone called Kaka…”

“Kaka? Who’s that? Someone after Mai’s hand in marriage?”

“She’s only seven, Dimitri. Why are you bringing up marriage? Geez…”Rihannan sighed and crossed her arms.

“Kaka is Mai’s dog. The dog is huge and wonderful, Mai adores it. I had to put my foot down or she’d have brought it here.”

“Are you saying I’m below a dog?”

“Oh, Dimitri. Please stop being so obsessed with my daughter and marry already, then you can have a daughter of your own.”

Rihannan gave him a playful slap on the shoulder.

“Mai told me there are more wrinkles in your face. She was wondering to herself whether your lineage would die with you.”

The Marquis was extremely worried. His son was almost 30 years old but showed no inclination towards marriage. Dimitri loved Mai, which made everyone believe that he wanted a child of his own, but… there were girls lining up trying to get close to him, but he still preferred wandering the seas.

“In any case, the day for me to marry will come someday. But, can I really be top 4, then?”

He caressed his beard while he pondered. Rihannan smiled brightly and pulled his arm.

“Of course! Let’s go shave your beard right this instant. I’ll do it myself!”

***

Rihannan let out a deep sigh as she remembered all that’d happened till now. Igor did keep his word of treasuring Mai more than anyone else in the world. Ever since her birth, Igor not only personally bathed her, he also stayed by the baby’s side every night till she fell asleep whenever he had the chance to. Once Mai grew old enough to raise her own head, Igor brought her in to work with him, letting her sit on his lap while he sorted out government issues.

It actually got to the point in which Rihannan had to take her child away almost by force, telling him not to monopolize their daughter’s time too much.

“Why are you still calling him ‘that guy’? He has a name. His name is Igor.”

Dimitri laughed at Rihannan’s complaint.

“I still don’t like him.”

“What makes you not like him?”

“He did take you away from us by force. If he had brought gold and treasures in exchange for your hand, we’d have still needed time to consider it, but he simply took you away as hostage.”

“Well… the circumstances were…”

“It doesn’t matter the circumstances, I will never accept him completely.”

Dimitri complained with fury. There was still hatred in his heart. It seemed like ‘what happened back then’ was still engraved in Dimi’s mind, fueling his hatred towards Igor..

Six years ago, Rihannan gave up on returning to Chrichton and went back to Igor, which deeply infuriated Dimitri. He soon found out that Igor had actually gone to the port to take Rihannan back to the Palace.

He firmly believed that Igor had gone after Rihannan, threatening her and forcing her to never leave his side.

Dimitri then proclaimed that Igor had broken his promise and officially asked for Rihannan to be safely returned to Chrichton, but Igor firmly refused. It looked like the incident ended there but, not long after, Dimitri himself appeared on Arundel’s Royal Palace. Soon, all hell broke loose.

Dimitri was firmly grasping a document with the seal of the King of Chrichton, wreaking havoc within Arundel’s Palace.

“I have proof that this marriage is void! King of Arundel, give me back my cousin!”

At that time, Rihannan was on her last month of pregnancy. Upon hearing the news that her cousin had come to visit, Rihannan got so happy that, in spite of her heavy body, she managed to walk straight to the reception hall to greet him. However, as soon as she opened the door, she saw both her cousin and her husband going head to head against each other.

At that time, Rihannan felt as though she’d stepped into an overgrown forest filled with ferocious, savage predators. Seeing both men screaming and yelling at each other, Rihannan placed a hand on her forehead. She did send Dimitri multiple letters explaining that it was her decision and that Igor did not threaten her, but Dimi didn’t believe her. He thought that she was sacrificing herself for the good of the nation or something like that. After all, she did end up in Arundel in the first place because of such argument.

“What do you mean this marriage is void…!”

“Read it yourself!”

Igor brusquely ripped the document from Dimitri’s hands. Reading through its contents, his eyes trembled. Rihannan grew curious. What was is in that letter that made Igor react like that?

“…”

After reading the document, Igor didn’t say anything. He bit his lips nervously while Dimitri stared at him with a smug expression.

“Rigorously speaking, Ria is not part of Chrichton’s Royal Family. Since Ria, who is NOT a member of Chrichton’s Royal Family, married the King of Arundel under the status of a member of the Royal Family, which she is not, then logically this marriage is void.”

Mrs. Cessly, who was standing silently behind her Queen, inhaled loudly in surprise. She quickly run to Igor, who was frozen from the shock, yanked the paper from his hand and went back to Rihannan.

Both women placed their heads closely together and quickly read the document. There, the document stipulated the extension of Chrichton’s Royal Family ever since the country’s foundation. The direct line till the fifth generation would be recognized as Royal Family. Branch lines, on the other hand, would be recognized as Royal Family up till the third generation. During Chrichton’s foundation, the chaos that ensued forced the redistribution of titles and land among nobles, who sketched this document to settle who’d be treated as part of the Royal Family.

As years went by, the Royal Family was selected based on the order of possible candidates to the throne, and Dimitri was among that list. Therefore, it was obvious that Ria, his blood cousin, would be considered part of the branch family. However, according to the document they had at hand, based on the laws established upon Chrichton’s foundation, neither Rihannan nor Dimitri could be considered members of the Royal Family.

The document then read that Rihannan’s marriage was void, that Chrichton would be responsible for whatever damaged was caused and that the King of Arundel would receive proper compensation.

Both Rihannan and Mrs. Cessly stared at Dimitri with a look of complete horror. Dimitri had an astounding tenacity. In his attempt of bringing back his cousin, regardless of the cost, he’d unearthed this ancient document and declared on his own that Rihannan’s marriage was void.

“Oh, my goodness…!” Mrs. Cessly shook her head, perplexed. “It’s the first time I see someone with such tenacity in my life. He’s unearthed a hundreds year old document, putrid from humidity and mold, just to make his cousin divorce! Now I understand how Chrichton’s Crown Prince fell so quickly. There’s nothing the whole world can do against such stubborn man!”

“Dimi is usually quiet and calm, but he can do things like these when he puts his mind in it.”

“But in any case, this will give His Majesty a great headache. After all, what Dimitri is saying isn’t false.”

Rihannan placed a hand on her belly and sighed. Recently, Igor had done everything in his power to get along with Dimitri. Once the baby was born, he was planning on inviting over Rihannan’s family from Chrichton, and to treat them with extreme care and kindness so that the animosity between both sides could fade away. However, before he even had the chance to repent, Dimitri struck first.

While Rihannan discussed this with Mrs. Cessly, both men continued yelling at each other. One side argued that the marriage was void and that he’d take Rihannan back to Chrichton effective immediately, while the other side retaliated by saying that none of that matter, that such argument was useless and to please get the hell out of the Palace as soon as possible.

From Rihannan’s stand point, both men were extremely stubborn and no solution would be reached. Just when she was about to move her heavy feet towards them to order a cease fire, since neither of them had even realized that she, too, was in the room, Rihannan felt a sharp pain in her belly.

“Ah…!”When Rihannan stopped abruptly while clutching her belly, Mrs. Cessly’s face turned ghastly pale.

“My Queen?!”

Rihannan shook her head.

“It’s nothing, my belly is just contracting a little bit, like usual.”

She had reached a point in her pregnancy in which it wouldn’t be a surprise if she suddenly went into labor. Just when the pain had gone away, making Rihannan feel like it was another false alarm…

“Ahhh…!!!!”

This time, she felt another type of pain in her belly, different from any other she’d felt till now. It was so painful tears sprang in her eyes. It didn’t stop there. Something began dripping down her legs.

“My Queen, are you having contractions?!”

Mrs. Cessly quickly supported Rihannan. When her water broke, Mrs. Cessly realized the gravity of the situation, so she threw aside all the elegance and manners she’d always held herself with till that day and yelled at the top of her lungs.

“Your Majesty! Now is not the time to argue! The Queen…!”

Hearing Mrs. Cessly screaming, both Igor and Dimitri turned their heads at the same time.

“Rihannan!!!”

“Ria!!”

Both men stopped fighting and run towards Rihannan. Dimitri tried to hold Rihannan and lift her up but was tackled by Igor, who pushed him aside with his shoulder, got to Rihannan first and carried her away in his arms to an already prepared labor room. Twenty four hours of pain later, Mai was born.

Thinking back of that day, Rihannan burst into laughter.

“Mrs. Cessly later that day told me it was fun and bizarre to see two men who’d been previously bickering at each other suddenly stand frozen outside the labor room.”

Dimitri laughed softly.

“I didn’t know anything about childbirth, so I feared there was something wrong with you. I thought you were going to die.”

“Yes, Igor thought the same. He must have been shocked seeing my water break.”

“Honestly, after I saw you giving birth, I know you’d never come back to Chrichton. I realized you did love him.”

Rihannan stopped wiping Dimitri’s wet chin with the clean towel and looked at him, surprised. Dimitri had never recognized Igor before, not till now.

Dimitri looked at his cousin with his eyes curved as he smiled.

“Was that why you stopped opposing our relationship?”

“That’s right. I was actually trying to judge for myself your relationship, Ria. If you truly wished to stay beside him, I was planning on turning around and leaving Arundel in peace, making no fuzz. But that bastard…!”

Dimitri hit the wall with his fist, growling in fury.

“That bastard threw me out by force and sent me straight to Chrichton. He even made sure I’d never be able to step in the Palace ever again. How am I supposed to understand that?!”

“Igor didn’t know you’d changed your mind. He was worried you’d really use that document to get me out of Arundel. I’m not sure if I should tell you this, but Igor most probably wanted to throw you at sea rather than putting you on a boat back to Chrichton.”

“Ria, are you seriously defending him?”

Hearing his voice charged with fury, Rihannan burst into laughter and kissed his cheek.

“Don’t be mad. You know, I’ve never shaved my husband’s beard before. You are the first person I do that to, cousin.”

The kiss on the cheek immediately placated Dimitri’s anger. While he smiled like an idiot, Rihannan finished wiping his face with a rather sad smile on her lips.

“But, are you really ok?”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“I’m asking you if you’re ok with your current life.”

Three years ago, Prince Ivan was crowned as Chrichton’s new King. Had it been their past life, the rightful owner of the throne would have been Dimi. However, the future in this life had been changed.

Rather than becoming King, Dimitri dedicated himself to sailing the sea. He traveled far, far away, reached many unknown nations and met other people and their exotic cultures. He set up maritime commercial routes. He was living the life he’d dreamt in his youth. However, had it not been because of Igor and Rihannan’s interferences, Dimitri would have sat on the highest throne of Chrichton.

If he knew this truth, he might even end up hating Rihannan.

“You never thought of… becoming King?”

“What are you saying? Me, King? I might have the right to ascend the throne, but there’s a bunch of other better qualified people with even better pedrigree than me.”

Rihannan lowered her head.

“You might never know. All those royals who are ahead of you might simultaneously encounter some sort of unfortunate ending…”

Dimitri laughed.

“I’m not sure why you’re saying those things, but I have no interest in sitting the throne. You asked if things are alright, right? I’m satisfied. More than satisfied. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be sailing around the seas without bothering to get married, right? Ah, I guess being King would have some perks. I could show off in front of your husband. But, since you yourself are leading a good life, I have no need for that anymore.”

Dimitri raised from his seat. Then, he lightly inclined his body forwards and caressed Rihannan’s head.

“Are you worried? There’s no need. That man died long ago, and there’s nobody out there who can hurt you.”

Dimitri was referring to the previous Crown Prince.

Five years ago, the Crown Prince was found dead. After being overthrown from his position as Crown Prince, he went out hunting one day and suffered a terrible accident that put an end to his life. His body was found charred. There had been a fire on that side of the mountain at the time, and people simply assumed that the Prince had had no time to escape. His body had been so burned he was only identifiable based on the ring on his finger.

And thus, his existence was soon forgotten.

Rihannan had the vague suspicion that Igor had actually been involved in his demise. The previous Crown Prince had died the same way Rihannan herself could have died. She wasn’t neither stupid nor naïve to not make a connection between these two facts.