As the night grew later and the air in the hallway grew colder, Edmund suggested that Primrose take Lazarus to the royal family room.
Primrose simply nodded in response, wiping her eyes with her sleeve along the way.
She still couldn’t believe she was finally seeing her father again, even before she had firmly established her position in the palace.
"Rosie, why are you still crying?" Lazarus sighed heavily, handing his handkerchief to his daughter. "You’re starting to make me feel like you’re sadder to see me than happy."
Edmund opened the door for them, letting his wife and father-in-law enter first before he asked the soldier to call a maid to bring warm tea and some small treats.
Primrose pouted, sniffling a little. "But it is sad! I thought ... I thought I would never get to see you again."
She wiped her tears clumsily as she sat down in a chair near the fireplace. "You must be so lonely living in that big house all by yourself."
If her father hadn’t been the Duke of Illvaris, Primrose might have dragged him straight to Noctvaris and forced him to live with her.
Lazarus clicked his tongue. "Do you really think your old father would die just from living alone? Besides, I’m not literally alone, there are still guards and maids at the manor."
[My daughter has only been living far from me for a few months, and she’s already crying like her eyes are about to fall out.]
Lazarus sighed inwardly. [If I had left her for years, she probably wouldn’t survive very long.]
And he wasn’t wrong.
Primrose had literally died three years after their separation in her first life.
But actually, she was a bit confused as to why her father was able to come to Noctvaris now, when in her first life, he couldn’t even leave Illvaris City.
Back then, through his letters, Primrose had learned that the Emperor of Vellmoria had forbidden the Duke of Illvaris from visiting his own daughter.
It was because Lazarus had fiercely opposed the Emperor’s decision when he wanted to marry off Primrose to the Lycan King.
At the time, Primrose thought it was because her father hated the idea of her marrying a beast.
However, now that she realized Lazarus and Edmund seemed to have known each other beforehand, Primrose concluded that her father had simply been trying to keep the promise he had made to her long ago.
Since she was little, Lazarus had always told her that she should marry someone who truly loved her, and whom she loved in return.
He had promised for years that he would never force Primrose into a marriage for business or political reasons.
Letting her marry Edmund, without her consent, would have been like betraying everything he had ever told her.
He didn’t hate the Lycan King.
He simply didn’t want his daughter to marry someone she didn’t love, or to become a mere pawn in a political game.
Unfortunately, his stubbornness had cost him the Emperor’s trust.
Frustrated and curious, he finally opened the door.
To his surprise, it wasn’t a servant or a persistent visitor.
It was his little daughter.
Primrose had quietly crawled to his door, smiling brightly and giggling once she saw her father’s face.
The maids rushed over, explaining that they had been frantically searching for her all around the manor, never thinking she’d be outside the Duke’s door, waiting so sweetly and stubbornly for him to come out.
Without a word, Lazarus dropped to his knees and pulled his daughter into a tight hug, whispering, "I’m sorry."
He had been drowning in his sorrow for so long, he had almost forgotten that a piece of Iriana still lived, right here, in their daughter.
Primrose was the embodiment of their love, the last precious piece of Iriana, far more valuable than any diamond.
From that day forward, Lazarus slowly began to reconnect with the world, pouring all his love and attention into his daughter.
"I just don’t want you to feel lonely," Primrose said quietly, her voice thick with emotion. "I get really restless whenever I think about you eating alone."
Lazarus chuckled softly and reached out to pat her hand. "Alright, alright. I’ll start eating with my friends if it will ease your heart." He gave her a fond look."So you can stop worrying about this old man."
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