Chapter 416 A Dream

Clark let out a sigh as he finished reading the letter, then handed it to Isolde.

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She took it gently–it wasn’t long, just a few pages of parting words and carnest instructions. Four lines stood out: he urged Oliver to treat her well, spoke of her future on the battlefield, and offered bits of advice. from his own hard–earned experience. At the end, he made one final request: to be buried beside Prunella.

There were a few lines for Clark as well, mostly guidance for his career. But beneath all the advice, you could feel the final warmth of a man reluctant to let go of the world.

Isolde’s eyes turned red. She looked up toward the flickering firelight and managed a smile. “When I came back from the manor, I wanted so badly for him to like me. I tried so hard to please him. I toned down my wild ways, studied etiquette like a proper noble lady of Argentum… but in the end, it was only at the moment of his death that I truly received his love. Still, I got what I longed for. He said he only wanted to be buried beside Prunella. Maybe that means he doesn’t really care where it is, as long as she’s there?”

Clark didn’t object this time–not because of the letter, but because of what Isolde had said.

Isolde had waited until Geoffrey’s final moments to be loved by him. And Geoffrey, even in death, had still been thinking of her. He probably wouldn’t have wanted to be far from her, even in the afterlife. As for the ancestral grave… maybe it was just a formality. If he could rest eternally beside the one he loved, and watch over the daughter he had never truly let go of, what else really mattered?

Clark found his thoughts drifting. Sadie’s face surfaced in his mind, and his heart warmed.

If he could live and die with the one he loved, nothing else in this world really mattered.

He looked up at Isolde and said softly, “Isolde, if they stay stubborn tomorrow, let’s bring Father and Mother back to Montlins Manor right away.”

Isolde’s eyes shimmered. “Alright.”

The three of them shared a quiet smile. Though tinged with sorrow, it felt–for the first time–like peace. Maybe this was the best outcome after all.

“If we’re really taking them back to Montlins Manor,” Oliver said, “shouldn’t we send someone ahead to start preparing the burial site?”

Clark shook his head. “No need to rush. Let’s wait and see what happens tomorrow. If they still refuse, we go. But if they give in… maybe that was Father’s wish all along. Maybe he did want to return to the ancestral grounds.”

Isolde had already made up her mind to leave, but she nodded. Clark had a point. They needed to see it through.

They talked a while longer, drank a bit too much, and soon the haze of sleep began to settle over them.

Oliver remained awake. He helped Clark lie down and rest, then gently pulled Isolde into his arms.

She was so exhausted, she drifted off almost instantly.

how much time passed when suddenly the flap of the tent rustled open. Isolde

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his waist, hair bound in a jade crown, with striking features and

and winding

had never seen her mother in life, but she’d memorized the portrait, stared at it for hours.

said, smiling through her tears. She stepped

her cheeks. She

tears away. She gently turned and

wind outside howled, but Isolde didn’t feel cold. She followed in a daze, glancing between the woman leading her and the man

Was she dreaming?

light, the world around her fading into softness, then sharpening

hand. Isolde panicked

“I’m right he

from

She looked up.

ahead.

parents stood beneath the jujube tree, smiling at her with so much tenderness.

broke down,

so close. But her

blurred her vision. Only their smiles remained, bright and clear. Then, hand in hand, they turned and disappeared into the

here,” came their

cried out,

She couldn’t move.

in the jujube grove,

“Isolde, Isolde!”

the darkness, anxious

eyes and saw his worried face hovering over

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up slowly, disoriented. “It

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