The Veil of Darkness
Chapter 225: The Truth (Part Two)

Chapter 225: The Truth (Part Two)

"Great! Then tell me what is the truth."

Annalise’s words were followed by a quick exchange of glances between her parents and the King as if they were communicating telepathically.

She didn’t like at all how lost and scared she felt at that moment, almost like a lost child with no sense of direction. Her only warmth amid the freezing cold were her husbands who were waiting downstairs for her.

She noticed the deep breath the King took as if he was preparing himself to launch into a lengthy story, so she decided to interupt right before he could have even gotten the chance to open his mouth. She directed both her attention and her words at her father as she spoke, "I want to hear the truth from you."

The Grand Duke’s shoulders became stiff visibly at her words as if he wasn’t expecting her to put him at attention just like that. Unfortunate for him, the King was already settling down in his seat as if he had already given up on the idea of being a mediator.

This time, it was the Grand Duke who took in a deep breath and nodded his head slightly when his wife softly patted his hand. He didn’t turn to look at Annalise but at least he started speaking. "Do you want to hear the truth from us before learning about the entire story?"

Annalise almost felt her entire world shattering as her father’s question almost confirmed everything, barely leaving any room for her hope. Still, instead of breaking down on the very spot as she deeply wanted in her heart, she put on a stone like expression and replied, "Start with the truth." Her voice came out stronger than she was expecting and it kind of helped her in feeling good a little bit.

The Grand Duke finally turned his face to look directly at her before he whispered - "The truth is... you aren’t our biological daughter, Annalise."

She thought she was kind of prepared for it, or at least, she was prepared enough to fomentation handle herself but what a fool she was to even think like that. As the last thread of her hope was finally broken, all that left behind was pain... a lot of it.

It was almost like her heart stopped beating in her chest and her lungs refused to breathe. It was so suffocating that she could feel tears burning the back of her eyes. Her vision blurred as her parents completely disappeared from front of her eyes but the idea of crying made her even more angry.

’Annalise... breathe.’ Valerius’ deep commanding voice made its way through the fog surrounding her mind and body, pulling her against a warmth that was nothing like the chill that had taken over her body.

"Ana? Is she alright?" The soft but worry filled voice belonged to the Grand Duchess as she noticed how still Annalise had suddenly went. She almost looked like a statue sitting there on the couch.

"Annalise?"

"Annalise..."

Both the King and the Grand Duke called out for her at the same time as even they got worried for her. The latter’s face even looked pained as if he couldn’t take in the situation they all had landed themselves.

Annalise took in a deep breath as her husbands successfully got her out of the painful grip of the harsh truth. Their presence through the shared soul bonds were the only thing keeping her grounded.

It took her a while to pull herself together but due to some sort of magic, she succeeded in keeping her tears confident within the boundaries of her eyes. Still, she didn’t look at either of the three elders as she stated - "Continue."

Once again, the three of them shared quick looks with one another as if contemplating whether she was alright or not but thankfully none of them questioned Annalise as she was in no state to handle anything emotional coming from any three of them.

There was silence in the study for a while before the Grand Duke finally started speaking, "Twenty-two years ago, the late King and I went on an expedition to the Northern borders of the Empire. We were on our way back through the Misty mountains when we got trapped in an illusion array that led us to a really big cave..."

Despite everything, Annalise couldn’t deny that she was feeling really curious to know where the story was leading. She listened carefully to every word coming out of her father’s mouth as he continued with his story.

"... we continued our journey through the never ending cave, moving deeper into its darkness. At a point, it almost felt like we won’t be able to find our way out of there ever but then amid that darkness, we finally found a ray of light that led us directly..." the Grand Duke stopped speaking to look at Annalise directly into her eyes before he finished - "... to you."

The silence that followed was not only from the room but also from the side of the dark lords as they all were left hanging on a thread as the story finally moved to Annalise.

"There you were, laying in the centre of a huge spirit lily, surrounded by an immense brightness, an aura so powerful unlike your small fragile body wrapped in golden silk and your ocean blue eyes that seemed to bright for us to look directly in them. And your smile... it was so beautiful."

The Grand Duke’s eyes shimmered with a light as he recalled the most beautiful moment of his entire life, the day he found his daughter as the most precious treasure he could ever had.

"We couldn’t leave you behind in that cave, you were just a mere baby. So I picked you up in my arms and we headed ahead. Somehow, we soon found the exit as if you were the lucky charm we needed to escape that darkness."

The Grand Duke’s voice was almost heavy as he stated, "Since we have no child at that time, we decided to accept you as our own daughter."

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