352. Buried Memories Part 2

The little girl sat with her knees pulled tightly to her chest, her arms wrapped securely around them. She hadn't moved an inch. Her chin was tucked firmly against her knees, her small shoulders hunched forward in a heartbreakingly familiar posture of silent grief.

“I knew you would be here,” a young, red-headed Aurora announced as she arrived at the base of the massive oak tree. She stood before the young Ravenna with her hands folded over her chest, looking down with a mixture of concern and gentle scolding.

“Aurora…” The young Ravenna looked up, her sobbing hitching for a moment. “I... I just wanted to—”

“Sigh, stop it,” Aurora interrupted softly. She reached out and patted the young Ravenna’s shoulder, a mischievous glint entering her eyes. “You know what? There is a grand banquet happening over at the main wing right now. What do you say? Want to sneak in? I bet the food there will instantly lift your mood!”

Ravenna, standing on the grass and watching the exchange unfold, felt a sudden prickle of recognition. Looking at the scene, a sense of forewarning washed over her. “That doesn’t seem like a good idea at all…”

Oblivious to the ghost of her future self, the young Aurora dragged the young Ravenna up by her arm, pulling her out of the hidden garden. Soon, both of the young girls were giggling uncontrollably as they ran along the winding stone paths.

Ravenna stood up, looking back at the ancient oak tree for a fraction of a second before quickly following behind the two sprinting children.

The Grand Banquet Hall, Imperial Palace. Imperial Capital, Ancorna Empire.

The grand banquet hall was bustling with high-society activity. An endless array of exotic food gathered from all over the world was meticulously arranged on a massive central table. Lavishly dressed nobles and important foreign delegations spun gracefully across the central dancing floor, while the more serious, politically minded types mingled about the perimeter, drinking and eating.

Young Ravenna and Aurora crept along the shadows of the columns, sneaking into the edge of the hall to watch the spectacle. Suddenly, something caught the young Aurora's eye near the buffet.

“Wait right here, Ravy! I’m going to go grab you something that will definitely lift your mood,” she whispered. Without giving the young princess a chance to object, she darted into the crowd and vanished.

“Wait...!” the young Ravenna whispered frantically, reaching out, but Aurora was already gone.

Standing nearby, the older Ravenna weighed her choices. “Should I follow Aurora or wait here and watch over my younger self?” She quickly dismissed the first option. “No, it doesn't make sense to follow someone else when the whole point is watching my own buried memory… but it seems this illusion allows me to do the other way as well…”

Left completely alone, the young Ravenna suddenly froze as she noticed a group of murmuring adults heading directly toward her hidden corner. Panicking, she turned and hurriedly ran from the spot without looking where she was going. She bolted blindly into one of the intersecting main corridors and crashed directly into another little girl.

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“Ah!”

Both of them tumbled backward onto the polished floor. The other girl sat up immediately, rubbing her arm, and glared with pure arrogance. “Are you a servant? How dare you bump into me!”

Ravenna stared at the little girl in absolute disbelief, mirroring the stunned expression on her younger self's face.

The adult Ravenna muttered under her breath, “Even if my younger self was wearing simple, unadorned clothing at the time... the unique beauty and the unmistakable jet-black hair of the imperial lineage should be easily recognizable, even by another child.”

“I am not a servant!” the young Ravenna snapped back, quickly standing up and dusting off her skirt. “If anything, you are being incredibly rude over a simple accident! Who in the hell are you anyway?!”

The little girl let out a mocking smirk, deliberately standing up to perform a stiff, overly exaggerated noble curtsey. “I am Jessica Ronin, daughter of Lord Edward Ronin of Ronin County. Now do you understand exactly who you are messing with, you clumsy servant girl? If you don't want to be whipped, you better apologize right now.”

“Jessica!” a sharp, frantic voice rang out from further down the hallway.

A woman in a luxurious, heavily embroidered gown rushed forward to catch up with the little girl. The sheer opulence of her dress easily outdid almost anyone Ravenna had seen inside the grand banquet hall so far. The moment the woman reached them, she quickly grabbed Jessica by the shoulder, scolding her under her breath. “I explicitly told you not to run through the corridors! His Majesty will be arriving shortly, and if he were to witness such unseemly behavior—”

The woman’s lecture abruptly cut off as her gaze drifted over to the young Ravenna, who was currently glaring at both Jessica and her with a thoroughly annoyed, defensive look on her small face.

Taking in the girl's ethereal, porcelain beauty, the stark jet-black hair, and the piercing dark eyes, the woman’s expression instantly shattered into panic. She recognized the child immediately.

Dropping into a deep, sweeping bow, she stammered, “Ah... please forgive us. It is entirely my fault for not noticing you there. I am Ruby Ronin of House Ronin, Your Highness Ravenna.”

The young Ravenna's defensive posture melted instantly into a cold, haughty arrogance. She crossed her arms over her chest and smirked sharply. “Ha!”

“What?! How can that shabby-looking girl possibly be an Imperial Princess? Mother, you must be gravely mistaken!” Jessica shrieked, stamping her foot in disbelief.

Ruby’s eyes widened in sheer terror. She opened her mouth, about to violently yell at her daughter to shut up and force her onto her knees to apologize, when a booming, jovial voice interrupted them from the opposite end of the intersecting corridor.

“Woah! Well, look who we have here… It’s our very first time meeting in person, isn't it, Your Highness Ravenna!” An older man with a mischievous, calculating smile walked toward them, accompanied by a distinguished, foreign-looking gentleman.

“Duke Roland...” Ruby greeted quickly, her voice trembling as she frantically nudged Jessica to curtsey properly as well.

“I am Duke Albert Roland, the Minister of Economy,” the old man introduced himself, his eyes glinting as he looked down at the princess. “His Majesty always makes it incredibly difficult for anyone to meet you, but Duke Morgen never seems to shut up about praising your brilliance!”

Young Ravenna scoffed lightly, tilting her chin up. “That’s just the bare minimum. My uncle’s praises are honestly short of the actual reality.”

“I am very much sure they are, seeing you standing here with such immense confidence, Your Highness,” the foreign man accompanying the Duke said with a warm smile. He looked at her kindly, bowing his head with genuine respect as he introduced himself. “Ah... where are my manners? I am Nicola, from the vassal state of Foster Liam.”

Standing in the shadows of the hallway and taking in the entire scene, the adult Ravenna felt the air completely freeze in her lungs. Her eyes widened as a heavy, chilling realization settled over her mind.

She stared intently at the kind-faced foreign man, muttering in a trembling, horrified whisper, “Don’t tell me... Nicola? As in... the leader behind the protests in Nicola Uprising?”