Chapter 143: Misremembered Past

Chapter 143: Chapter 143: Misremembered Past

Ilara was surprised.

"What is it? It’s still raining and you’re soaked. Stay a while longer and keep Deborah company."

But Vaelen insisted, "I should attend to it first and return later."

Ilara tried to persuade him again, but Vaelen remained firm.

In the end, she could not dissuade him.

Watching Vaelen leave almost hurriedly, Deborah felt a strange twinge in her heart.

He had not even waited for a servant to bring a dry cloak.

Is he going after Elysia?

The thought made her uneasy.

She had deliberately arranged for him to learn that she was at the palace. She had expected him to come looking for her.

Yet the moment he arrived, his attention had been drawn towards Elysia.

He had not asked about the wedding arrangements.

He had not asked anything at all.

In fact, he had barely even looked at her before rushing off.

"That Duchess..."

Ilara sighed wearily.

Deborah immediately looked over.

"She brought up her knee pain right in front of Vaelen. It’s clearly meant to make him feel guilty."

Ilara dabbed lightly at her lips with a handkerchief.

Deborah’s eyes flashed with scorn.

I knew it!

Elysia did it on purpose.

Even as a Duchess, she is still so shameless!

Yet even as she thought it, something uncomfortable lingered beneath the satisfaction.

If it had truly been a performance, Vaelen had still watched it to the end.

And followed after her.

---

Elsewhere, Elysia had not walked far from Everbloom Hall.

The covered walkways were slick underfoot, and her attendants had slowed to match her pace without being told.

Then she heard footsteps mingling with the sound of rain behind her.

"Stop!"

She recognised Vaelen’s voice.

Elysia had no intention of heeding him.

Was she supposed to stop simply because he commanded it?

That would hardly be becoming for the Duchess of Draevenor.

She ignored him and continued walking, even quickening her pace slightly.

The footsteps behind her hastened.

Vaelen strode forward and soon planted himself directly in her path.

The servant holding an umbrella over him scrambled to keep up. In his haste, the umbrella tilted to one side, leaving half of Vaelen’s shoulder exposed to the rain.

"You’re avoiding me?"

Vaelen fixed his gaze on Elysia, his brow furrowed.

Elysia stopped.

She looked at him without much expression.

"Oh, it’s the Crown Prince."

Her tone was dismissive.

"Did you call for me just now? I didn’t hear anyone address ’Aunt.’"

Vaelen gritted his teeth.

Calling her that in front of his mother was one thing.

But saying it to her face in private felt wrong as hell.

Elysia glanced towards the palace behind him.

"Why aren’t you keeping Lady Deborah company in Everbloom Hall?"

Vaelen frowned.

"You..."

He looked at her, his expression complicated.

There was something about her manner that unsettled him.

She was too calm.

Too indifferent.

It was as though his presence no longer mattered to her, one way or the other.

His gaze lingered on her face before he finally asked, "Are you bothered by my marriage to another?"

Elysia’s eyes widened.

"Have you lost your mind?"

The words were so outrageous that she could hardly believe he had actually said them aloud.

Disgusting.

She did not want to spend another second standing here with him.

Her expression hardened.

"Stop talking nonsense. I’m leaving."

She moved to walk past him.

"Wait!"

Vaelen quickly raised a hand, blocking her path.

Elysia’s gaze fell upon the arm barring her way.

For a moment, the present disappeared.

She was suddenly transported back to her past life.

It had always been her blocking Vaelen’s path.

She had been the one offering him a pleading smile, hoping he would stop and listen.

Back then, she had believed their discord came from a lack of communication.

She had thought that if she explained herself more carefully, if she tried harder to understand him, perhaps they would eventually find a way to get along.

She had never once considered that he simply did not wish to.

But Vaelen had always been impatient.

His usual response had been cold and dismissive.

Don’t you have anything to do? You’re always clinging to me. It’s irritating.

The memory flashed through her mind.

How strange it was to stand on the other side of it.

Elysia looked at the arm still barring her way.

Then she frowned.

"Is it appropriate for Your Highness to cling to me like this?"

Vaelen stiffened.

He immediately withdrew his hand.

"When am I clinging to you?"

Elysia gave a cold laugh.

"When?"

Her gaze moved pointedly to the space between them.

"Right now."

Vaelen’s face flushed, then paled.

He opened his mouth, but for a moment, no words came out.

Finally, he gritted his teeth.

"I’m here to talk about your knees."

Elysia said nothing.

"You were injured because you pushed me aside..."

Vaelen’s voice became defensive.

"But I never asked you to do that."

Elysia stared at him.

She had expected many things from him.

She had not expected this.

He had come out into weather he hated, walked the length of the palace grounds, and stopped her in the rain — in order to cast off the fact that she had saved his life and explain that he owed her nothing.

Vaelen continued, "I did say I’d be responsible for you."

His expression tightened.

"But I was young then. I didn’t understand what ’responsibility’ meant. I just blurted it out in the moment."

For a brief moment, Elysia was shocked.

Then even that faded.

Only calm remained within her.

She had wondered before how Zephyrus, a King who remembered kindness and repaid favours, could have sired such an ungrateful son.

Now she understood.

It was because of Ilara.

Barely an hour ago, the mother had told her that the injury was her own fault for leaving the palace.

Now the son stood in the rain, telling her the same thing in different words.

As the old saying went, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

Elysia could not even muster anger.

She simply gave a casual, dismissive nod.

"Mm-hmm. Understood."

For some reason, her reaction only seemed to increase Vaelen’s agitation.

She should have fought back tears.

She should have looked at him with eyes brimming with hurt and grievance.

She should have asked him how he could say such things after she had waited for him for years.

He had imagined the whole scene on the way here, arranging his answers in advance.

But I waited for you.

I waited for you to finally step up and take responsibility.

How could you say something like that?

Those were the words Vaelen seemed to expect.

But Elysia said none of them.

Her expression was too detached.

The matter that had tormented him for so long seemed almost trivial in her eyes.

Vaelen clenched his fists.

A turbulent emotion surged through him.

He did not understand why her indifference bothered him more than anger would have.

Perhaps because anger would have meant that she still cared.

Instead, she simply accepted his words and moved on.

As though he had merely confirmed something she had already anticipated long ago.

He deliberately continued, "And you don’t have to bring up your knees in front of me all the time. What happened then was your own choice."

His voice hardened.

"Besides, if you hadn’t insisted on taking me out of the palace that day, it wouldn’t have happened."

"Wait."

Elysia cut him off.

Vaelen’s gaze locked onto her face.

That should have struck a nerve. Now she would finally complain and cry, wouldn’t she?

But she did not.

Elysia remained eerily calm.

"First, I have never brought up my knees in front of you. Even today, my words were a fact stated to the Queen, not meant for you."

Vaelen’s eyes filled with confusion.

He had been certain she would argue.

Instead, she was correcting him.

Like a tutor marking an error, without heat and almost without interest.

Elysia continued, "Second, do you truly not remember why I took you out of the palace that day?"

Vaelen froze.

His heart skipped a beat.

He had carried one version of that day for years, and had never once had cause to examine it.

"Back then, you constantly complained to me about how boring the palace was."

Elysia’s voice remained calm as she recalled the past.

"You begged me to take you out to play. You asked countless times."

Vaelen’s expression slowly changed.

"Each time, I said your father and mother would be displeased."

She looked directly into his eyes.

"You said it was fine. You said that if we were caught, you would claim it was all your idea."

Elysia paused briefly.

"Only then did I relent and take you out."

The rain filled the silence between them.

Vaelen did not answer.

He searched her face for some sign that she was lying, or shading the truth to wound him.

He found nothing of the kind.

And he was no longer certain that her version was wrong.