Gardenia’s Heart

“Pardon me, what?”

Lily blinked several times, nearly raising her hands to clean out her ears, thinking she must have misheard something completely absurd.

“I am the second wif—”

“You’re the queen!?”

Lily leaped from her chair, her face filled with utter disbelief, as if she couldn’t fathom what she’d just heard.

From the stories and information that had been shared, Lily had assumed Abelia was, at most, a high-ranking noble from the capital. To suddenly discover that a woman she had found kidnapped in the middle of a forest was the queen of her country was as shocking as being punched out of nowhere.

“P-Please, calm down.”

(L-Lily, calm down!)

Two voices reached her simultaneously, urging her to calm down, both for entirely different reasons.

Settling back into her chair and watching Abelia do the same, Lily let out a heavy sigh to compose herself.

Carefully, she adjusted her posture. The tentacle coiled around her waist pressed tightly against her body, making it clear how much her sudden movement had driven Nia’s sensitive form wild.

(L-Lily... W-Warn me when... Nhmm... you’re going to move suddenly... Aaah... okay?)

“Sorry~” she hummed in a whisper, running her hand over her abdomen.

Lily had long since lost count of how many times Nia had climaxed inside her. What had begun as an improvised plan had spiraled into something entirely different, and now, overcome by pleasure, all she could think was that they might have stumbled upon a new addiction.

“I-I’m sorry for getting so worked up,” Lily spoke without fully meeting Abelia’s gaze, her face flushed for reasons entirely unrelated to the current conversation.

“To put it simply, no.” Abelia coughed softly to clear her throat, then straightened her posture and continued. “As the second wife, I have access to almost none of the responsibilities—or privileges—that the first wife, the queen of Anthus, holds. However, that also means I have none of the benefits.”

“Wait, no benefits? If you requested help from the capital or your family, surely they would send someone to rescue your daughter, wouldn’t they?” Lily furrowed her brow, Abelia’s explanation making no sense to her.

“Even if I asked for help and they did send someone, it would only be digging our own graves.” Abelia’s tone turned grim, her eyes distant as if staring into an unbearable fate. “Lady Lily, how much do you know about the capital’s history?”

“Well... aside from knowing we have a king and the Mage Tower, I honestly don’t know much.” Lily’s voice lowered as she scratched her cheek, finally realizing how little she actually understood about the subject.

Even though she had been born outside the mist’s territory, her father had never taught her much about the capital. After arriving in this village, the same held for its residents. People born within the mist, preoccupied with finding their next meal, cared little for those who sat on a throne they would never see.

“I suppose I’ll need to go back a bit in time to explain this.” Abelia rested her elbows on the table, her voice sharp and penetrating. “During the Great War against the Demon King, the continent of Anthus was not yet unified under a single ruler. Instead, it was protected by various families of mages.”

Lily swallowed hard, her ears attentive to explanations of things she had no prior knowledge of.

“After the Demon King’s defeat, despite Anthus being far from Finis, over half of the continent was consumed by the mist. All the influential families whose lands were now within the mist abandoned the people they were supposed to protect and attempted to flee to sunlit regions.”

Abelia traced an invisible line on the table, and with a subtle gesture, she tried to pass her finger through it, but her movement was halted by something unseen yet tangible.

“Among the five members of the group of heroes who faced the Demon King, there was one human. This individual took control of these lands and decreed that anyone who wished to live there must fully submit to his authority. Despite their power, no family could stand against such a mage. One by one, all the noble families swore allegiance to the hero, and this man became known as the first king of Anthus.”

Abelia’s cold words made something that was already a fact to Lily even clearer: the world revolved around strength.

“Throughout the history of Anthus that followed, the royal family focused on only one thing. It wasn’t caring for the population’s needs or establishing laws to protect the poor from danger; it was maintaining their grip on power.”

“Maintaining power? But didn’t all the families swear loyalty to the royal family?” Lily raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“No, loyalty was never the reason behind the unification—it was fear,” Abelia replied, shaking her head slowly. “For a king to pass the crown to one of his children, they must prove they are the best option to rule this continent—the one who won’t bring the lineage of the first hero to an end because of his weakness.”

Abelia then glanced at Cleomel, who nodded in acknowledgment, prompting the noblewoman to return her gaze to Lily.

“When we first met, Lady Lily, you asked why we came to the Mist Territory. My son is competing for the crown. He is currently trying to conquer the Stardust Spring Labyrinth to earn the accolades tied to being a labyrinth conqueror. It was our best option, considering we have no support.”

“No support? Not even from your family?” Crossing her arms, Lily rested her hand on her chin as she pondered the noblewoman’s words.

“My family betrayed me,” Abelia stated bluntly, her lifeless eyes filled with nothing but fury.

Lily felt the air shift as the woman before her took a few moments to collect herself.

“The Vesalea House was responsible for forty percent of all the crops produced annually outside the Mist Territory. This ensured our stable position among the other noble families for generations. That is, until two decades ago when all the farms managed by our vassals were devastated by plagues and prolonged droughts. Our income plummeted to less than a third, and we spiraled into massive debt.”

As she spoke, her voice lowered in tone, and Abelia began taking long pauses between sentences, seemingly struggling to continue. Turning to Cleomel, whose face showed concern, Abelia couldn’t suppress her expression. With furrowed brows, she bit her lips nervously.

“The king, who already had a young child, was seeking additional wives to continue securing heirs. The outcome was inevitable. The Vesalea House offered their eldest daughter to the king in an attempt to improve the situation. That same year, I ceased being Vivienne Abelia Vesalea and became Vivienne Abelia Anthus.”

Abelia spoke with heavy sorrow, her gaze no longer fixed on either of the two girls, as if unable to face her reality.

“You were forced to marry?!” At those words, Lily couldn’t contain her anger, her voice bursting out.

A tentacle from Nia emerged, intertwining discreetly with her fingers. Even the metamorph couldn’t find comfort in the revelation. Marriage was something sacred. This belief resonated deeply within both wives, who loved each other unconditionally and would do anything for one another. To learn that someone they knew was trapped in a marriage against her will was enough to ignite a fire of fury in both women.

“The only time I came within twenty meters of that damned man was on our wedding day. Even though he fulfilled his part of the deal by giving my family the bare minimum to survive, he never supported me during my pregnancy. The king didn’t even show up for the birth of his children, not even when he was told it would be a high-risk delivery because I was carrying twins. I may be the king’s second wife, but I will never consider that man my husband.”

Abelia hugged her own arms, her expression softening as she finally managed to voice the feelings she had held in her heart for so long. “But please, don’t misunderstand. I love my two children more than anything in this world, and I would do anything for them.”

The noblewoman’s words stirred conflicting emotions within Lily. She was no stranger to human cruelty, but entering a marriage only to withhold love and support from one’s partner was a level of neglect she couldn’t tolerate.

(Don’t worry, Lily. I’ll protect you and our children!) Nia’s confident voice echoed in Lily’s mind, an oasis in the desert of her discomfort.

“I know you will.” Whispering to Nia, Lily intertwined her fingers more tightly with the tentacle wrapped around her hand. Her other hand rested gently on the lower part of her stomach, filled with anticipation for the day they would be settled enough for her to carry Nia’s children.

Now calmer, Lily turned her attention back to Abelia, whose hand was firmly clasped by Cleomel.

“Although I despise the king, I cannot blame him entirely for not supporting me, considering my family’s constant pursuit of self-interest,” Abelia admitted, sadness clouding her gaze as she shook her head. “The exact reason I say I was betrayed lies in what happened after we came here—when the first prince visited our home.”

“By ‘first prince,’ you mean the eldest son of the first wife?” Lily asked, and Abelia nodded.

“Currently, the king has more than twelve wives, and the number of children—just counting the sons—exceeds twenty.”

“Twenty princes!?” Lily blinked several times, as though the information she had just heard couldn’t possibly be true.

Tucking another strand of hair behind her ear, Abelia let out a soft laugh, her lips curling into a faint smile that never reached her eyes. Her expression remained hollow as she spoke her next words.

“That is, if you count the dead.”

Squeezing Cleomel’s hand even tighter, Abelia narrowed her eyes, her voice growing colder with each word.

“Earning merits or proving oneself the strongest isn’t the only way to claim the crown. If the princes are killed, their achievements mean nothing—the throne will go to the last one standing. I’ve seen so many mothers weeping through the palace halls for their babies who mysteriously died of an allergic reaction that claimed their lives within minutes, or for those who went out to play in the gardens and somehow suffered fatal injuries. If it weren’t for Cleomel protecting me and my children, I wouldn’t be alive today.”

“My lady…” The dark-skinned knight’s expression was a mix of worry and warmth. Her hands remained steadfast, never letting go of Abelia’s since the moment they were clasped.

“When the first prince came to my family, he offered to protect the Vesalea house once he ascended the throne, even proposing to take me as his queen. Of course, all I had to do was give up my son.”

Lily clenched her fists tightly, dark mana swirling around her hand, threatening to destroy the table. Only Nia’s quick intervention, tightening her grip around Lily’s waist, kept the situation under control.

“So, it wasn’t just about earning merits—you fled?” Lily asked.

“My family never believed we had a chance of winning this dispute. They abandoned us the moment they had a better opportunity.” Abelia nodded. “That doesn’t mean we would be captured if we returned, but it does mean the Vesalea house will offer no assistance to my son or me.”

The explanation stunned Lily. She had no idea how intricate and ruthless the world of nobles could be. Her perception of nobility shifted entirely.

(Humans are complicated.) Even Nia, who typically showed little interest in such matters, couldn’t help but comment.

“You’ve truly been through a lot to get here,” Lily said, observing the two women before her. Despite their struggles, they persisted in doing their best. Lily offered them a composed smile.

“I appreciate your concern, Lady Lily,” Abelia replied, adjusting her posture in her chair, “but I must redirect our discussion to the topic that brought us here.”

She continued, “I met Velmont Sunshard about eight years ago during one of his visits to the palace. At that time, he was already a two-star mage. He attended a meeting with the court treasurers to discuss issues related to the transportation of food from my family’s lands to Caligo.”

Abelia let out a weary sigh, her shoulders stiffening.

“Since Caligo is near the edge of the misty territory, it’s possible to purchase food from outside sources. Velmont called that meeting to complain that recent shipments from my family had been reduced. This was due to our failed harvests, and with no room for negotiation, he canceled our trade agreement.”

“Do you have any idea why he’s doing all of this?” Lily asked, her mind racing to piece together the information. “Is securing food for the city so vital that he would kidnap innocent people and force them to work to death in the mines?”

“I don’t think that’s the case.” Abelia shook her head again. “Based on the revenue from the sale of the captured individuals listed in the documents we stole, combined with the income from the mines, Velmont makes more than enough to buy food and still generate a significant profit. There’s no shortage of funds in Caligo; of that, I’m certain.”

“That doesn’t sound good at all.” Lily reflected deeply but couldn’t yet discern Velmont’s true motives.

“We have another problem,” Cleomel interjected for the first time in a while, her face clouded with concern. “Initially, Velmont didn’t know Lady Alice’s appearance or origin. But after our confrontation, he discovered her existence as one of the laborers. He knows we can’t cross the Connection Bridge or seek help from the capital. It won’t be long before he tries to use this against us.”

“If he plans to use Alice as a hostage, at least we can be assured he’ll keep her alive,” Abelia said, though her clenched fists and bitten lips betrayed her growing unease.

“I’d like to say we could immediately attempt to rescue her using the teleportation portals,” Lily said, her fingers gently gripping Nia’s tentacle beneath the table. “But now that he’ll be expecting us, any unprepared approach would be far too risky.”

If they fought outside the reach of the ivory herbs, Lily was confident that she and Nia could overpower Velmont. However, if that proved impossible, they would need a well-thought-out plan to increase their odds in a disadvantageous battle.

“Even though we don’t know exactly what Velmont is planning,” Abelia said, her voice steady yet somber, “we’ve learned enough to know that it poses a threat to everyone in Caligo. We might not have any choice but to seek her help.”

Lily tilted her head at Abelia’s words, momentarily puzzled.

“Her?”

Lily watched as Abelia closed her eyes for a moment, her face contorting into an amalgamation of emotions that Lily couldn’t quite discern.

“Lady Lily, some time ago, I mentioned that Cleomel, Alice, and I stayed behind to handle certain matters in Caligo,” Abelia began, opening her eyes to meet Lily’s gaze. Seeing Lily nod in agreement, she inhaled deeply before continuing.

“I sought support for my son in his battle for the throne from the only person I believed could offer help without demanding anything in return.”

Clenching her fists with determination, Abelia spoke without further hesitation.

“My one and only childhood friend, the headmistress of the Mage Academy and the second two-star mage in Caligo—Selene Leontar.”