Wife of The Demon Prince
Chapter 328: Hope

Chapter 328: Hope

The day after the king perished, the news soon spread around the kingdom like wildfire, with hours that continued to run, the elites of Findara heard about the news of the king’s death. Many of them held sorrow for the loss of such a good ruler, Hamon had made remarkable changes in Findara more than what the previous rulers had done. The news of his death left the people of Findara heartbroken.

Although, at first the citizens of Findara questioned the reason for his sudden demise, but then was told he wasn’t human, and his time on earth was over. Hence, as there was no body to perform a funeral for the king, they held a memorial ceremony inviting only the higher ups, officials and nobles. A tomb with Hamon’s name was also placed in the royal family cemetery. The atmosphere in the palace was mournful as the people gathered to pay their respects to the king’s tomb.

However, as all of the ceremony was taking place in the palace, Ara refused to be part of it, as she still strongly believed that Hamon wasn’t dead yet. She was still in denial of his death. Hence, after the night Hamon perished, she locked herself up in her room refusing to eat nor step out of the room until Hamon returned to her, she knew he cared about her the most and would worry if she refused to have her meals, wherever he was, he would come back to her and scold her to have her meals, he wouldn’t just abandon her. She’d even refused to attend to her twins, since Hamon was announced gone she had not once gone to see them.

Ara hadn’t even held them in her arms even once after Hamon left. She had cried to the extent where the tears refused to fall, her eyes were swollen as she remained sitting motionless on the cold floor of her room, clutching tightly to the letter Hamon left behind for her. All she felt now was emptiness and numbness in her heart, that would never be filled again, unless he returned to her.

He’d let her taste what it was like to be loved and cared for, he’d always stood by her no matter what. How could she believe he was no more? She strongly believed he’d return to her if she refused to eat. He would come and coax her into eating just like he always did whenever she refused to eat.

’...I will wait for you to come back, Hamon. You promised to stay by my side...’

As Ara confined herself in her room refusing to come out. In Hamon’s solders quarter, all the soldiers were on their knees showing their respect and gratitude to the late king, and commander. Although, Hamon was no more, he’d left behind a remarkable reward for every single one of his loyal soldiers in his former crown Prince’s residence.

He increased the positions and salary of his most trusted soldiers, he rewarded each of them handsomely in his book of will. The list of the rewards had just been confirmed to them a few hours ago, thus they all kneeled down on the snow to show their gratitude.

"May your soul rest in peace, your majesty! May the gates of heaven welcome you warmly!" They all bowed their heads at the same time, such that their foreheads were kissing the snowed ground.

As the soldiers were showering their gratitude, inside one of the quarters, Merek was seen reading a letter, which was left behind for him by Hamon. His usually indifferent expression showed emotions of pain and grief.

His black orbs skimmed through the short contents of the letter. [ ’I want to thank you as well for always being there for me all those years. And I want to give you what was rightfully yours. I hope you accept them this time and make use of it. Live for yourself, as I am no more, you have no reason to keep yourself from living the life of your own.

I wish you best of luck, my friend.]

Merek held the keys of his fortune, which he’d kept with Hamon all those years of working as an assassin as well as a soldier. With an additional position change, the late king had bestowed upon him a position of a count in the will book.

Although, Hamon hadn’t forced him to remain by his side all those years, Merek had willingly decided to dedicate his life for Hamon after he showed him kindness when even his own mother loathed him to the bones.

Merek had rejected any of the wealth Hamon had given him and sworn to stay by Hamon’s side. But despite that, Hamon had kept all those fortunes safe for Merek and was now giving them back to him through the will book, freeing him from his oath.

A tear drop rolled down from his eyes as he folded the letter, "I won’t let you down, your majesty."

Days passed by after Hamon perished, but yet Ara was still locked in her room. A lot of people who cared about her gathered around the door to try to talk her into unlocking the door or eating, but nothing they said made her move from where she was sitting on the floor. She looked almost like a living ghost with how pale she looked, it was as if she’d lost her soul.

"Waaaah! The crying sounds of the twins came from outside the door, but Ara didn’t even bother to look towards the door.

Emma then spoke from outside, "Your majesty, please don’t get too drowned in your grief, the babies need you more than anything. I know it’s not easy to get over your loss, but do you think his majesty will be happy to see you in such condition if he were here today?"

Hearing that, Ara only began to cry again. Her shoulders trembling, her tears of sorrow fell like a steady stream, leaving wet tracks down her cheeks as she cried in her room. She didn’t know how long she’d cried for, but she soon cried herself to sleep curled on the floor.

---

The heavy winds blew the window open with a force that woke her up with a small start, however she suddenly heard someone’s approaching footsteps, she slowly opened her eyes and turned her head in the direction of the sound, there was a tall broad shadow approaching, in the darkness of the room, the only source of light was coming from the windows, and the light from behind made the figure approaching be cast with a bright halo around him, however regardless of the darkness, she could recognize that figure even with her eyes closed.... Hamon?

She blinked her eyes in disbelief,

"H-Hamon?" She called in a hoarse voice,

"Hamon..." this time her voice sounding like a breath of relief but more tears spilled from the corner of her eyes, "...you came back for me..." her voice sounding hoarse and dry from crying all day.

"Why are you crying, my wife?" He asked softly, but hearing his familiar voice along with that soothing tone she’d been yearning to hear, she only cried even more, then finally seizing her sobs, she said,

"You left... I thought you left me...but don’t worry I won’t cry anymore now that you’re back, I promise." She quickly raised her hands and wiped away her tears, she knew Hamon disliked it when she cried, hence she wouldn’t anymore now that he was here.

Hamon smiled sadly, "Ara..." He called softly reaching his hand as if to touch her face but stopped, he added, "...the babies need you, go to them. Take good care of yourself and the babies... until we meet again, stay safe. Farewell." He whispered softly at the end of his words his voice slowly began to drift away like the wind before his body began to turn faint. Seeing that, Ara panicked, the fear of losing him again and returning to the painful emptiness and loss she’d just been feeling filled her chest, she hurriedly stood up and reached to grab him, but only ended up grabbing air.

"HAMON!" She screamed his name as she suddenly woke up from her dream. Clutching tightly to his letter, she pushed herself up from the floor to sit up looking at the window that was safely shut and the spot beside her on the floor he’d just been in her dream, a tight pain clutched her heart and she closed her eyes, a tear slid down her cheeks, "Hamon..." She called his name again, as if he had truly been right in front of her. She now knew that he was gone, he wouldn’t be here to feed her like he always did, he wouldn’t be here to take care of her like he always did, he wouldn’t be here to show her the greatest amount of love anyone had ever felt in this world,

"I will do as you say, I will look after our twins, I will also rule the kingdom until the day you return,I will wait for you to return Hamon."

Though she knew that he was gone, Ara still believed that there was a chance for Hamon to return since he was a part of the magic stone, and Emma had once told her that there was a possibility magic stones revived themselves after years of perishing sometimes. Even if most people thought this was just a fantasy, an unrealistic dream as Emma said, even if it was just a faint hint of hope, she would still hold on to this little hope and wait for Hamon.

"No matter how long it will take, I will wait for the day I’ll get to see you again, Hamon." She wiped away any traces of tears from her face, seeing him in her dreams had given her strength and the will to hope, and now that she had this hope, she would hold on to it until that day arrived.

---

Months flew by after Hamon perished, and Ara finally got a hold of herself, however the new Ara became indifferent. She barely spoke much with anyone, she also took the position of a ruler in the kingdom, giving the officials the excuse of ruling until her son came of age. However, deep down she still believed her husband would one day come back and take his place.

She spent most of her free time with her twins. Hara and Raha grew rapidly, they were only four months, but were already crawling around and sitting, surprising Ara. They seemed to grow a little faster then other children, which made her worry as well as happy that they must have taken after their father’s blood.

"Hara how did you get here?" Ara asked the little baby girl who’d crawled towards the door as if sensing that Ara was coming into the room. Ara crouched down and picked her up into her arms.

"You really are a troublesome baby. What if I’d hit your little head with the door?" Ara said as she played with Hara’s little hand, however a sad smile soon crossed her face as she recalled something Hamon had said once.

_’I prefer two beautiful girls who will look like you.’

_’But you should also consider boys, too.’

_’No, they are too troublesome, you won’t be able to tame two demon boys on your own.’

Remembering it now, it seemed Hamon had long been preparing for his departure. However, she wondered what he’d think if he knew that his daughter was the troublesome one among the two. Raha rarely moved from his place, he was the gentle and calm one, while Hara, she’d always like to move around like a mischievous little rat.

The more the twins grew, the more Ara noticed that Hara looked so much like Hamon with her facial features, although she inherited Ara’s hair color and lips shape, her eyes and nose were a resemblance to Hamon’s. While Raha, looked so much like Ara, with glistening silver hair.

With each passing day, her affection for her twins only grew, and she became more distant to the rest of the people in the palace. She spoke to her children even though they were too young to understand what she was saying, she told the little toddlers about their father.

People were starting to worry about Ara’s health, but she didn’t care what they said she still strongly believed that her husband would return and she would repeatedly talk to her toddlers about it.

Just like everyday, today she was with her babies taking care of them, when she heard approaching footsteps and turned to the direction, and saw Emma.

"Your majesty, why don’t you let me do that while you rest?"

"No." She said sternly, "I don’t want anyone doing this for me." She refused as she gently rocked Raha in her arms while Hara was already sleeping. She wished to take care of them by herself. But despite her stern expression, Emma was still worried that Ara wasn’t giving herself enough rest.

"Your majesty, you should at least take a break for now."

Ara didn’t heed to her words and instead asked, "Have you checked what I asked of you earlier?"

Emma sighed, "Yes, I have. Since we aren’t the ones to destroy the stone, it may revive itself, and it might not. I can’t tell for now, only time can tell. However, a magic stone reviving on it’s own might take more than decades or never...I wouldn’t want you to put your hopes up, because it might disappoint you."

"I don’t care how long it would take, but I’m willing to wait. At least I have something to hope for and look forward to in life."