EPILOGUE
I wiped a tear from my eye as Araceli swore the oath to become regent for Queen Antonia. I knew this wouldn’t be an appropriate occasion for clapping (Donya had drilled that into me during my etiquette lessons). But I wanted to. My heart was about to burst from joy and pride.
Next to me, Ysabel reached over Kaine’s lap and squeezed my hand.
Since she couldn’t heal herself, a bandage peeked out from under her lacy collar.
Fortunately, the cut hadn’t been deep. The royal doctor had reported her fetus to be unharmed.
Even so, Kaine and Alzira had been more clingy than usual.
The two of them sat on either side of Ysabel, sandwiching her away from even me, her own sister.
Ysabel had healed Antonia, Alzira, and Kaine, fortunately.
I’d even gotten to witness my eternally proud sister apologize to Alzira.
That had been a rare sight indeed. However, Alzira had insisted it was her own fault for failing to protect her charge, and somehow it had turned into a screaming match with both of them shouting that the other one didn’t need to apologize until Kaine intervened and shoved them into a hug.
Those three were an endless source of entertainment.
The surviving Avengers sat in the back. I’d felt a bit weird about inviting them, but they were the closest things to friends that Araceli had in the entire world.
Also, my sister had fined them of all their money as a punishment and soaked Durnip’s bandages with hot peppers, so at this point, I thought they’d suffered enough. Ma’qas at least was smiling sincerely.
Donya sat behind Ysabel with a small perfume bottle full of ice-cold water and a scowl.
After Ysabel found out about me bringing a prostitute to the last coronation, she’d joked about topping me with something even more scandalous.
It had definitely been a joke. As a sister, I could tell from her tone.
Donya had taken it deadly seriously and vowed to spray anyone who disrupted the ceremony with water.
I would swear she was watching me, too, even though I was happily partnered now.
After the oath concluded, Queen Antonia leapt up from her seat and jumped on Araceli.
Araceli caught her and spun her around. “Whoa, there.”
“You’re staying with me forever now?” Antonia asked hopefully.
Araceli’s smile was gentle. “Yes. Forever and ever.”
Since Araceli had revealed her identity as the rightful heir to South Sherda, she’d taken over the deceased Blood Duchess’s role as the queen’s guardian and the royal regent.
Sherda had accepted this because they were denying all responsibility for anything the duchess had done.
They seemed to be pretending not to see our kingdom.
Since the Blood Duchess had proven to be a criminal hiding her unregistered gift, we’d turned into heroes for killing her.
Just like that, our past crimes had been swept under the rug by a grateful Conclave of Kings—grateful no one was questioning their association with an attempted dark lord, mostly.
Araceli had privately confided in me that she suspected she’d have a more difficult time taking back her former duchy. At least Arahasnor was secure and under our control. We could build up our influence enough to fight for Araceli’s original family lands, too. We had Conollia and Kaine’s backing.
In the meantime, we were plenty busy straightening out Arahasnor.
Everyone knew about the body swap now. Since I’d claimed to have amnesia at the trial, this had been used as a polite fiction to allow me to escape the consequences for impersonating a duchess.
I suspected that almost everyone I’d personally come into contact with knew better.
Whenever I met someone whom I’d encountered during my acting, I squirmed with embarrassment.
I kept expecting someone to be angry at me.
Instead, most people seemed intimidated, as if facing a mad dog.
That might be even worse. I’d desperately brainwashed myself during my masquerade by telling myself that no one would ever know I had done those things.
Now I’d been left helplessly exposed. I felt off-balance.
Sometimes I found myself painfully shy and nervous, as if to compensate.
Sometimes I felt tempted to slip into a villainous persona rather than be myself.
Araceli assured me that I could still throw my weight around, and she’d back me up.
But I’d rather develop my own style of leadership.
I wanted to be confident without being mean. It was a work in progress.
Looking over Antonia’s head, Araceli’s eyes caught mine.
She looked absolutely stunning in her green dress with layers of lace flowing from the skirt.
She gestured me over. I stood up and joined the group hug.
Honestly, it was a welcome excuse to avoid the tension dripping off my sister’s pair of paranoid bodyguards.
I myself wore a pink sleeveless dress with flowers winding down the skirt. I’d swept my hair up into a bun with a silk lily on the pin, attempting to finally set a new fashion trend and get rid of everyone’s love for heavy hats. They gave me a headache.
Antonia carefully examined my face. She’d seemed a little uncertain about me after my body first swapped back. She looked at my features as if she wanted to memorize me, then smiled. She grabbed my arm. “It’s you, Bora. I know it.”
I smiled. “I’m back in my body, thanks to you.”
“She still has that same silly, blank look,” Antonia whispered to Araceli.
“Hey!”
Araceli laughed. “I know. It’s cute.” Okay, that made me feel better.
Antonia shook her head. “How did you ever have trouble telling her apart from the Blood Duchess?”
“I figured it out almost immediately!” Araceli protested.
I shook my head. “I’m never, ever acting the part of the Blood Duchess again. It’s a relief, honestly.”
“Mmm, I wonder about that.” Araceli winked. “Maybe we’ll need a villainess again someday.”
From the pews, a nobleman in a gray doublet muttered, “Just look at him, parading around in a dress. This is our lord regent? Disgraceful.”
Araceli flinched slightly.
I marched over. “Excuse me, I heard what you just said. Perhaps my sister’s last sensitivity training wasn’t sufficient for you?”
He leapt to his feet. “Fine, I’ll say it again! It’s disgraceful that our future queen might be raised to see men in dresses as something normal.”
“You look tired,” I said with fake sympathy.
“I heard your wife had a new baby recently. How wonderful! But you must be exhausted between changing all the diapers and still carrying out your usual duties. Have you heard about my sister’s newest suggestion for improving society?
It’s paternity leave. I’m removing you from the Council so that you can spend more time with your new family. You’ll thank me later!”
His face reddened. “What nonsense are you talking about? Babies are women’s work! I don’t change diapers!”
My smile deepened. “Don’t expect to return to the Council until that changes. I’ll be watching you. Guards!”
Half a dozen guards stepped forward. Laurent, now Captain Laurent, winked at me before he dragged the sputtering nobleman out.
I turned around. Araceli and Antonia regarded me with identical amused expressions.
“I see you still have a bit of the Blood Duchess in you,” Araceli said.
“That was me being nice,” I protested. “The Blood Duchess would have thrown him in the dungeon.”
“The Blood Duchess would have killed anyone who crossed her. I’m glad you’re better than that.”
“Err … even as head of the Council, I didn’t exactly have the authority to remove him without talking to you first …”
“I’ll have the decree stamped by nightfall.” Araceli smiled, then bent over to kiss my forehead. “I appreciate you standing up for me, love.”
Sometimes I missed being tall, but I found it cute when Araceli did that.
Antonia beamed. “Someday I’m going to annihilate all my enemies, just like you two.”
I hoped we weren’t being as bad an influence on her as the nobleman had claimed. She was scary enough already. (I was just kidding. It was nice to see her smiling, unlike the terrified child she’d been when we’d first met.)
Leaning over to Araceli’s ear, Kaine spoke softly. “I meant what I said before. It means a lot to me, to see you living openly like this. Maybe because of you, more people will feel free to do the same someday.”
Even at a whisper, he didn’t dare speak of himself in a public area. I felt a pang of sympathy for him. Someday.
Araceli turned around. “Thank you.”
“I should be the one thanking you,” Kaine said.
“You already have,” I said. “Many times.” It had started to get excessive, honestly. “You don’t have to keep bringing it up.”
“Yes, I do.” Kaine cleared his throat. “Bora, I owe you a debt. You saved my life, and you saved Ysabel, who means more to me than my own life. There is no greater debt possible for me to owe. If you ever want a favor in return, name your price. You can have anything, even if you want me to destroy the world.”
I frowned. “I can’t accept. Even leaving aside that I don’t want you to destroy anyone, Ysabel is my sister.
I’m not doing you a favor by saving her life.
If anything, I should be the one thanking you for making my beloved sister happy.
You’re my sister’s husband; it’s only natural for me to help you if I can. Frankly, bringing up debts insults me.”
“I understand. I apologize for my rudeness, little sister.” Kaine swept me up into a hug. “There are no debts between family.”
He had spoken “little sister” with such solemness, as if bestowing a royal title on me. I tapped his arm. “Oxygen …”
“Sorry.” He set me down. “I’m excited about having a new family member.”
Ysabel came up behind her husband and took his arm. “Bora is already family.” Alzira lurked behind her, glaring hard enough to scare everyone away from us.