Chapter 853: Shock And Echoes in the Crown Terrace [3]

Everyone in the Crown Terrace continued watching the screens. The sound from the stage had been cut, leaving them with nothing but images. Still, they could see Edward speaking. They could see King Aslan listening with a tense expression, Reginald remaining on guard, and the other important figures observing him carefully.

Even without hearing the words, the scene was clear.

Edward controlled the conversation.

He sat upon the golden chair meant for the Saintess, covered in blood, surrounded by three breathtaking women, and spoke to the most influential people in Edenis Raphiel as though they were the ones who had come to seek an audience with him.

It was difficult not to see the stage as his court.

Then, at last, Edward stood.

The conversation appeared to be over.

No one knew the exact outcome, but everyone could tell he had obtained something. The way Aslan looked at him, restrained and unwillingly thoughtful, gave them more than enough of an answer.

The silence within the Crown Terrace remained heavy as Edward took Layla into his arms and rose into the sky. Silver particles followed in his wake, glittering briefly beneath the sunlight before disappearing into the distant blue.

Elizabeth followed almost immediately, holding Alvara by the arm as the two women took off after them.

Then the four figures vanished from sight.

Only after they had gone did the cameras return to the stage.

King Aslan seemed to be speaking with the other dignitaries, likely trying to decide how to continue the ceremony after such a disaster. Yet nobody in the Crown Terrace cared about the Saintess reveal anymore.

Not after what they had just witnessed.

"How... how the hell is he alive?" Reiner muttered.

He stared at the screen in utter disbelief, his expression twisted by confusion and anger.

"Lord Alector said he saw him die," Reiner continued. "He said he had disappeared into dust. Claudia said the same thing. They both witnessed it. Alea. Kleines. What about you two? Did you lie about it?"

His gaze snapped toward the Olphean couple with a glare.

But neither Alea nor Kleines answered.

They still looked frozen in their seats.

"Kleines, you bastard!"

Reiner took a step forward, ready to rush toward him, but Dora immediately grasped his arm and held him back.

"Dear, calm down," she urged. "Shouting will not give us answers."

"Father, please," Adrian added awkwardly. "There must be some explanation."

Even he looked suspicious, however.

There were only two possibilities. Either Alector, Kleines, Alea and a lot of others had lied about witnessing Edward’s death, or something far stranger had happened.

"He died..."

Jayden’s voice reached everyone through the tense silence.

"I—I saw him die. We all saw him die..."

His gaze turned toward Milleia.

"Right, Milleia?"

But Milleia was still standing in place, staring emptily at the darkened screen.

"Milleia."

Jayden caught her arm gently.

Only then did he see the tears running down her face.

"J-Jayden..." Milleia stuttered.

Her pink eyes lifted toward him, filled with such confusion that Jayden’s chest tightened.

"Is... is Edward alive?"

Jayden clenched his teeth.

For a moment, he did not know what to say.

"I... I do not know," he replied at last.

Yet deep inside, he already knew the answer.

He was almost certain of it.

"I—I need to speak with him," Milleia said suddenly.

She turned as if she intended to leave at once, but Jayden caught her hand before she could move away.

"W—Wait, Milleia! You do not even know where he went," Jayden said.

"But...!"

"I will speak with Aslan immediately and get answers."

Reiner’s voice rang out across the Crown Terrace as he rose from his seat.

"I am coming too," Beatrice said.

She stood just after him, an excited smirk on her lips. Unlike the others, who seemed shaken and unsettled by Edward’s return, Beatrice looked almost entertained by the chaos.

Jefer sighed and rose as well, clearly intending to follow his mother. As the Head of the Moonfang House, he could not simply remain seated while a new Utopian King appeared out of nowhere and disrupted a worldwide political event.

Priscilla followed him.

Her parents had not attended, which meant she needed to take responsibility herself. A new ruler had appeared in Utopia, and she intended to understand exactly what had happened, especially when her niece seemed to be alive.

The nobles of Sancta Vedelia needed explanations.

"Stay here," Namys told her three children as she stood.

Aerinwyn frowned, but she did not argue. Dentiel looked uncertain, while Cylien kept her gaze fixed on the screen, still unable to fully process Edward’s return.

"I should go as well," James said quietly to Leora.

Leora looked at him, then gave a slow nod.

"Yes. You should."

The Heads and royal representatives began moving toward the exit, but Reiner suddenly stopped when he noticed Tanya had not moved at all.

She remained seated.

Cold, calm, and completely unmoved by the chaos around her.

"Tanya," Reiner said, turning toward her with a hard glare. "You owe us some very good explanations for this."

Tanya slowly raised her eyes to him.

"I owe you nothing," she replied.

"Your daughter was with him," Reiner snapped. "She knew he was alive all along, did she not? And you knew too? You were secretly working with Utopia..."

Tanya’s yellow-green eyes sharpened.

"Choose your next words carefully, Reiner," she said, her voice quiet enough to be more dangerous than a shout. "You are making accusations because you are frightened and confused. Do not mistake that confusion for authority over me."

Reiner’s expression darkened.

"She was there," he insisted. "Alvara was standing beside Edward as if she had never mourned him. She must have known!"

"Perhaps she did," Tanya replied coldly. "Perhaps she did not. That is a matter between my daughter and me."

"You cannot expect us to accept that answer!"

"I do not expect you to accept anything," Tanya said. "You asked for an explanation. I told you the truth. I owe you none."

The Crown Terrace fell quiet again.

Even Reiner hesitated beneath Tanya’s cold stare.

"I am not believing any of this, Tanya!" He snapped, his voice rising with anger. "You will answer, whether you want to or not!"

Tanya ignored him completely.

Bryelle sat quietly in her wheelchair, looking a little frightened by the growing tension around her. She had been happy to see her elder sister again, especially beside Edward. To Bryelle, Edward had always been someone kind. He had saved their lives, stayed in Vanadias for days after the Utopian War, and treated her with more care than many people expected from someone with such a terrifying reputation.

She did not believe all the cruel things Sancta Vedelia said about him.

In the Teraquin Kingdom, Edward Falkrona’s name was not thrown around as an insult as well so to Bryelle, he was not the villain everyone described.

He was simply that kind man who saved her and her sister.

Reiner, meanwhile, could barely contain his growing anger. When Tanya refused to respond, he turned sharply toward Alea and Kleines.

"What about you two?"

His shout made Alea flinch slightly.

She looked toward Reiner, then at Kleines, who remained completely frozen in his seat. His face was pale, his eyes distant, as though he still could not understand what he had seen.

"Kleines," Alea said quietly.

He did not react.

"Kleines!"

She grabbed his arm and shook him stronger. Only then did he blink and slowly turn toward her.

"Alea..."

He looked shocked.

Then, after a long moment, he stood.

Alea rose beside him.

She needed answers as much as anyone else. Edward’s return had shaken every certainty she possessed, and she could no longer remain seated while the truth waited somewhere beyond the doors.

"I—I will come too!"

Christina stood immediately, wiping the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand.

"No," Alea stopped her. "You stay here and watch over your brother."

"But, Mother...!"

"I will tell you everything I hear," Alea replied, her voice softer. "I promise."

Christina bit her lip.

For a moment, it looked as though she might argue again. Then she lowered her gaze and nodded reluctantly before sitting back down.

Miranda also looked as though she wanted to go. Her eyes kept drifting toward the exit where the adults were gathering, yet in the end, she stayed beside Amael.

She turned toward him.

He had not spoken a word since Edward’s identity had been revealed.

"Are you okay, Amael?" She asked carefully.

She knew how much he disliked the name Edward. She knew how deeply the name was tied to everything the previous Amael had done, to the memories he could not fully accept, and to the painful part of himself he wanted to leave behind.

"Yeah..." Amael replied quietly.

His eyes remained on the screen.

"I just cannot believe he appeared like that."

"Amael?" Miranda raised a brow.

Amael finally looked at her.

"I felt so lost, Myra," he said. "And I still do."

His amber eyes held a rare honesty.

"But maybe he can help me."

"What?" Miranda asked, startled.

"He might be able to help you too," Amael continued, his voice serious.

"W-What? I do not need help," Miranda replied too quickly.

"Both of us lost something precious," Amael said.

He reached for her hand and held it gently.

"We lost time. And Edward is involved in that lost time for both of us."

Miranda fell silent.

The words reached somewhere deep inside her, somewhere she had tried not to examine too closely. Amael had lost two years of his own life, years that someone else had lived in his body. Miranda had lost an entire year spent with someone she cared about, only to learn that person had not truly been Amael.

Edward carried the memories that connected both of those losses.

Yet Miranda slowly shook her head.

"No... I just... I cannot."

A lump rose in her throat.

She had managed to calm herself after the first shock, but a quiet dread was still spreading through her chest. If that man truly was Edward Falkrona, and if he possessed the memories of the year she spent at Royal Eden Academy, then she did not know how to face him.

She could not speak to him.

Not yet.

If there was one person she could speak to, one person who might understand exactly what had happened, it was Layla.

Layla had been there.

Layla knew Edward.

And Miranda personally was close to Layla.

She would be the one able to explain what Miranda could not understand.

Behind them, Selene suddenly began walking toward the exit.

"Selene?"

Victor caught her arm gently.

"I need to see her," Selene said.

Her voice trembled.

Victor looked at her anxious expression, at the way her fingers shook slightly, and he understood. Selene had believed her twin sister was gone forever. If Elizabeth was truly alive, even changed, even dangerous, then Selene needed to see her with her own eyes.

She needed proof.

"You do not even know where they went," Victor said quietly.

Selene lowered her gaze.

"I will ask Alector for every piece of information he can give us," Victor continued, taking her hand. "Then we will find out where they are. Okay?"

"Y-Yes," Selene replied with a slight stutter.

Victor pulled her into a brief embrace.

Then, still holding her hand, he followed the Heads and royal representatives toward the exit.

"What do we do, John?" Amelia asked.

John had not moved from his seat.

"Do you not want to see him?"

"I will see him at the academy," John replied.

"At the academy?" Amelia repeated dumbfounded. "How do you know he will attend?"

John only shrugged.

Beside him, Rodolf had not moved either.

"Rodolf," Cylien said softly. "It is Nyrel."

"I know," Rodolf replied.

His voice was quiet, but he did not look away from the screen.

"We will see. For now, we can only wait."

"Then let us extend our stay here," Cylien said. "We need to speak with him."

Rodolf grumbled under his breath.

"Alright."

Cylien chuckled softly.

He was not being honest about it. She knew Rodolf wanted to see Edward just as much as she did. He simply did not want to admit how relieved he was.

"I am so glad..." Cylien whispered.

Her eyes became wet again. She reached around Rodolf from behind, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her cheek against him.

Rodolf’s expression softened.

"Yeah," he said at last, a small smile appearing on his lips.

While the Sancta Vedelia group left the Crown Terrace in search of answers, many others chose to remain behind.

Some were too shocked to move. Others did not know where they were supposed to go, or what they could possibly ask after witnessing something so impossible. Edward had returned from the dead, appeared as the new Utopian King, carried the emblem of a Guardian, and left the Grand Forum as though the entire event had merely been an inconvenience.

The screens still showed the stage below, though Edward and the three women had already vanished from sight.

"God, that bastard is alive, then..." Thomas muttered under his breath.

"He has always been alive," David replied from beside him, though his gaze had wandered toward Amael, who sat among the front rows.

Thomas followed his eyes.

"Yeah, but you know he is not really the one we knew," he said. "Does Amael really sound like the Edward we knew during that last year?"

"The one on the screen does not sound like the Edward we knew either," David retorted. "And he looks completely different."

"Maybe," Thomas admitted. "But after everything Layla said, after how openly she was clinging to him, do you really think she turned the page that fast and went with someone else? That is definitely Edward."

David let out a long breath.

"I guess you are not wrong about that."

He still looked unsettled. None of it made sense. Edward had supposedly died. Amael had returned in Celesta then, claiming he had no memories of the previous year at the academy.

Now Edward had appeared in front of the entire world as though he had never died at all.

"I still do not understand how any of this is possible," David added quietly.

"Tell me about it," Thomas replied.

His gaze moved toward Amael again.

They had heard that Edward and Amael were different people, but then Amael had come to visit them in Celesta. He had spoken to them casually, as if he had known them his entire life. He had even been friendly, which had made both Thomas and David feel strangely stiff. Alfred, especially, had not known how to respond to him at all.

Then Amael had explained that he suffered from memory loss, that the person they knew during their final year in the academy had not truly been him.

It was confusing enough already.

Yet after seeing Edward with Layla at his side, seeing the way she looked at him and the intimacy between them, it became easier to separate the two in their minds. The man sitting on the Saintess’s throne had been Edward. The person sitting several rows ahead was Amael, someone else, perhaps yes, that childhoodfriend they had before he turned wrong following Oryanna’s death.

Two people connected by a past neither of them could fully claim.

"His Highness Alfred is going to be shocked," Thomas said, letting out a small laugh.

"He is probably watching the broadcast right now," David replied.

"Just like Her Highness Aurora."

"Leave the Princess out of this," David groaned. "She is engaged."

Thomas slowly turned toward him with a smirk.

"That is very ironic coming from you. You should leave her alone already."

"I am turning the page," David replied.

"The book must be very thick, then."

"Fuck off."

Thomas laughed while David glared at him.

On the left row besides the duo, meanwhile Loid was speechless.

"What the fuck is happening..."

"Do you know him, cousin?" Gisla asked glancing at him.

"Well, yeah, I think..." He muttered not knowing how to answer that question actually.

Joyca meanwhile was just confused.

Edward was the name of the boy he used to see with his elder sister but it was long ago and now he thought the boy was Amael but then who was Edward?

"You okay Joyca?" Gisla asked concerned.

Joyca blushed under her gaze and looked away.

"Y-Yeah, I am fine," he stuttered.

Kornel looked at them before staring back at the screen, at his father who was discussing seriously to the others on the stage.

"Edward Falkrona..." He muttered lost in thoughts.

The last memory of that man was a strong one in a world broadcast when he was declared as the Guardian of the Holy Tree of Ymir by Freya Ruvelion. Right now, however the man seemed to have come back from the dead, he didn’t know what to think of that.

Not far from them, Simon remained seated alone.

He had not looked away from the screen even after Edward disappeared.

The stage had returned to normal, at least on the surface. King Aslan and the other dignitaries were speaking among themselves, likely trying to decide how the ceremony could possibly continue after such an interruption.

Simon barely noticed them.

His thoughts remained fixed on Edward.

He was beyond shocked, but he did not truly doubt it was him.

Edward looked different. Still, Simon knew him.

It had to be Edward.

Only the Edward from that year could have become so close to Layla.

A huge sense of relief slowly spread through Simon.

Edward was alive.

Could they finally resume their unfinished conversation from the prison? There had been too much left unsaid between them. Simon still needed to apologize properly about Elona. Or perhaps he did not even need to begin with an apology.

Maybe they simply needed to talk.

To talk with someone who understood.

Edward was the only person who truly could.

He had been there when Simon began distancing himself from Elona after learning that Thomen Falkrona had been involved in the death of his parents. At the time, Simon had been overwhelmed by anger and grief. He had pushed Elona away because every connection to the Falkrona family felt unbearable.

Edward had come to him then.

He had told Simon not to drag Elona into his personal hatred. He had told him that Elona had done nothing wrong, that she did not deserve to be punished for the sins of adults.

But Simon had not listened properly.

He had tried to make things right later. He had wanted to speak to Elona, to apologize and return to the way things had been, but it had already become too late.

She died before he could truly fix anything.

That regret had shattered something inside him.

Even now, it still hurt.

A soft squeak came from his shoulder.

Simon turned his head toward Ember.

The little creature looked back at him quietly, sensing the sadness in his voice even if it could not understand the reason.

"What do I do, Elona?" Simon whispered.

His fingers brushed gently against Ember’s feathers.

He was certain that if Elona were still here, she would tell him to go speak with Edward. She would probably scold him for hesitating so much.