Chapter 933: The King’s Orders
Earl Quinn froze — and did not notice the wine glass slip from his hand until he heard it strike the floor.
Two names arrived in the same instant: one belonging to a woman who had spent more than half his life beside him, who had loved someone and, when that person was taken away, had turned inward and never come back out. The other name belonged to the one who was lost. Ten years, and the girl before him had grown taller, had grown into her face — but the resemblance was undeniable, and it had nearly made him speak the wrong name aloud.
“Father, do you know her?” Hawn’s voice brought him back.
Horford rose slowly from his chair. “Are you… Andrea?”
“What?” Hawn turned, staring between them. “Is she — the one who—”
“Master, it’s Miss Andrea!” The old butler’s composure broke entirely. “I couldn’t be mistaken. She has all of Madame’s features.”
“It seems you remember me.” Andrea’s expression gave nothing away. “Then our negotiation should be simpler.”
Horford felt the ground shift beneath him, quietly.
The fact that his daughter had awakened as a witch had been kept from everyone — from his wife Fenancy, from the extended family, from every associate and servant who might have spread it further than he could contain. When Andrea’s maid had brought him the news, he had had the maid drowned and the death made to look like an accident. He had done it himself, in his own mind, as a clean and necessary decision: better for Andrea to hate him and live than to remain in this house under that secret.
Now she was here. Now the thorn of it pressed in from a new angle.
But there were more urgent questions — why the City of Glow, why now, and what she had meant by I don’t think so — and these mattered more than the accounting of old wounds. He pushed everything inward.
He looked at Hawn. “Go out.”
“Father—”
“Do as I say.”
Hawn went, reluctantly, pulling the door behind him.
Horford turned to the butler. “Don’t raise any alarm. Close the courtyard gates and darken the hall. If the government’s watchmen ask, say I’m drafting documents and am not to be disturbed.” He paused. “And Miss Andrea’s companions — take them to the ballroom. See to them properly.”
“At once, Master. But—” The butler touched his head, uncertain. “What friends are these, exactly?”
“Take them.” He glanced once at Andrea. “I’ll ask.”
The door closed. The study went quiet. They faced each other across the distance of a decade.
The earl broke first. “Even if you closely resemble my daughter, I can’t confirm it on appearance alone. She was sixteen when she left. Ten years changes a face.” He steadied his voice. “Is there some other way to establish who you are?”
He already knew. He had known from the moment she stepped through the door. No ability to alter one’s face could alter the thing that lay under it — the manner, the bearing, the precise quality of stillness she held herself in. She was the Flower of Glow made ten years older.
But the question needed asking.
Andrea opened her hands.
A bow of magic power formed in her palms — a longbow, glittering, that contracted and shifted as he watched, resolving into a precise, familiar shape. A beginner’s longbow, small and plain. A birthday gift he had commissioned when his daughter was eight, when she had insisted she wanted to learn to shoot.
It had been destroyed with the carriage. He had never described it to anyone, because he himself could not have accurately described it.
“It’s you,” he said. The breath went out of him. “Why come back? I sent you away so you could live.”
“Was that the only reason?” She let the bow dissolve. “Or were you also afraid of what outsiders would say — that the Prime Minister’s daughter had fallen to the demons? I didn’t feel protected. It felt like abandonment. There’s no safe place for a witch. If I hadn’t had the luck to find others who shared my situation, I would have died in some ditch years ago.” Her voice was level. Controlled.
He opened his mouth. Closed it. She was not wrong, and he could not build an argument on a lie. At the time, the calculation had been simple: if Andrea’s nature became known, the Quinn family would face a choice no family should be forced to make. Better that he make it alone. The cost of that choice was standing before him now.
“But I’m not here to dig up the past.” Her tone shifted — firmer, purposeful. “You must be wondering how I entered your residence. The guards should not have let me through, and they certainly didn’t do so willingly.” She looked around the room, then at the door. “The boy who called you father — is he your heir? When did I acquire a brother?”
“He came from a branch.” The words were quiet. “Your mother died a year after you left. The Quinn family needed a successor.”
The statement landed in the room and lay there.
Something moved across Andrea’s face — not grief exactly, but its shadow, brief and quickly mastered. Silence held for a moment.
“Whatever else,” she said at last, “the family head cannot change right now. His Majesty requires you to hold your position and not retreat. In the current situation, he will deal only with Earl Quinn of the three families — no proxy, no substitute.”
Horford frowned. “Whose Majesty? What do you mean—”
“Who else.” She took a breath and said it plainly, one word after another. “His Majesty Roland Wimbledon, King of Graycastle. I’ve come here under his orders.”
She let that settle for a moment.
“My lord,” she said. “How do you feel about becoming the new King of Dawn?”
Chapter 933: The King’s Orders
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
Earl Quinn froze, and he did not even realize that he had dropped the wine glass he had been holding.
The moment he saw her, he couldn’t help but think of the name of two people —One of the two had stayed by him for more than half of his life, but because she had lost someone she loved, she fell into a depression that eventually led to the end of her life. The other person was the loved that was lost, and she was also someone he was supposed never to meet again. Nearly ten years had passed, and even though she was now much taller and more beautiful, Earl Quinn could still recognize her. But the two had such a striking resemblance that he almost blurted out the wrong name.
“Father, do you know her?” Hawn’s words made him regain his senses.
Horford stood up slowly and asked calmly, “Are you… Andrea?”
“What? Are you saying that she’s… the one, the one that had passed away…” Horn stared back and forth between them as he in muttered disbelief.
“Master, it really is Miss Andrea!” The old housekeeper was more excited than anyone else in the room. “I can’t be mistaken. She has inherited all the characteristics of Madame!”
“It seems like you remember me,” said Andrea, in an expressionless manner, “in that case, our negotiation will be much easier.”
Horford could not help but feel rattled in his heart. The fact that his daughter had awakened as a witch was a secret hidden from everyone. Even Andrea’s mother, his wife Fenancy, had no idea about this. When Andrea’s maid had
informed him about the incident, he instantly chose to drown the maid by pushing her into the river and had his men cover it up as a fake accident.
Although he knew that doing so might make his daughter hate him forever, at least this way she would remember who her father was. But upon meeting again, the decision he made all those years ago had turned into a sharp thorn in his heart.
This stabbing sensation became even more apparent, as he started to question whether he made the right choice back then.
But the earl knew that there were more pressing matters now—why Andrea would appear in the City of Glow and whether her identity was true or false. Moreover, he couldn’t figure out what she meant by “I don’t think so.” These questions were more important than pursuing past mistakes.
He suppressed all the doubts and thoughts in his heart and waved at Horn. “You can go out first.”
“Father!” Hawn responded worryingly.
“Just do as I said!” Horford replied firmly.
Seeing that he could not change his father’s mind, Hawn left the room reluctantly.
“Don’t alarm the others,” the earl said to the steward, “and at the same time close the courtyard door and put out the lights in the hall. If someone in the government asks, just say that I’m drafting some documents and that no one should be allowed to disturb me. Do you understand?”
“I will do that right away! But…” The butler touched his head and said, “What about those friends that Miss Andrea brought?”
“Friends?” He glanced over at Andrea, suspiciously. “Take them to the ballroom and take care of them properly.”
“Yes, Master!”
As the door shut with a squeak, the study suddenly plunged into silence. The pair stared at each other for a long time, until the earl could not resist anymore and broke the silence first. “Although you and my daughter are a bit alike, I can’t confirm so rashly that you’re Andrea. After all, she was only 16 when she left, and now ten years have passed…” He paused and said, “Do you have other ways to prove your identity?”
In truth, he had already believed that this was his daughter, so the question was just to confirm that—even the best kind of face-morphing abilities could not change one’s soul. From her every move, the earl could see the shadow of the Flower of Glow.
Instead of answering, Andrea opened her hands, and a bow of magic power appeared in her palm. The glittering, longbow converged and diminished little by little, evolving into a distinctive appearance—that was a gift that he had made for his daughter’s birthday, a long time ago.
At this point, Horford no longer had any doubt. This bow and arrow for beginners had long been destroyed together with the carriage, and even now he could not accurately describe its appearance.
Andrea, who was especially interested in shooting at an early age, clearly still remembered this gift.
“It’s you…” said the count with a long sigh. “Why did you come back? I gave you away in the first place so that you could continue to live safely.”
“Was that the only reason?” Andrea retrieved the longbow and said, “Or were you afraid that outsiders would find out that the Prime Minister had a daughter that had fallen under the temptation of the demon? I didn’t think I was being protected. It felt more like abandonment. There was no safe place for a witch like me. If it weren’t for my luck that I got to meet a group of people who had the same fate as me, I would have died ages ago in who knows where.”
He opened his mouth but could not refute her argument because that was indeed one of his concerns back then. Once people found out that Andrea was a witch, the whole family would be in danger—not everyone would be
comfortable with sending their family to the church or the other nobles. Rather than let the entire Quinn family face this difficult choice, it would be better for him to make that decision alone.
“But those were all in the past, and I’m not here to dig up old wounds.” Andrea said positively, “You must be curious as to how I could enter the earl’s residence so easily, even though the guards wouldn’t easily believe my rhetoric. And when I saw the butler, I deliberately waited for a while outside the door. Is the one who called you father the heir to the family? When did I have such a brother?”
“He came from a branch… Your mother died a year after you left, and the Quinn family needed a successor,” Horford whispered.
If that incident did not happen 10 years ago, this position would have belonged to the eldest daughter.
After hearing this news, Andrea was stunned at first; then her eyes started to turn dim. After a moment’s silence, she spoke, “In any case, the family leader of the Quinn can’t be changed at the moment, and His Majesty would like you to go one step further and not back down now. In the current situation, other than Earl Quinn of the three big families, he won’t recognize any other agent.”
“What does that mean?” Horford was a bit confused about the meaning of her words, “The Majesty you referred to is—”
“Who else but the king of Graycastle, His Majesty Roland Wimbledon. I’ve come here this time under his orders.” Andrea took a deep breath and spelled out her next words one by one. “My lord, how do you feel about being the new King of Dawn?”