Silent Crown: The Masked Prince's Bride-Chapter 294: The Happy News

The early spring light fell soft and golden across the garden, carrying with it the first warmth after a long, bitter winter. The air was fresh and alive, with the faint hum of bees beginning their work among crocuses and the distant scent of wet soil. The snow still clung to the shaded corners of the garden like forgotten memories, but here by the fountain, the world felt reborn. The sky above was a washed-out blue, cloudless and tender, and the sound of trickling water filled the small courtyard with peace.

Aldric leaned back on the worn wooden bench beside the picnic table, his long legs crossed, his elbows resting on his knees. From where he sat, he could see Sylvia by the fountain, sunlight catching in her hair as she bent over the edge, her laughter carrying softly through the air. She had rolled her sleeves up, and her fingers trailed through the ripples of the pond, scattering the reflections of the sky.

He had never seen her this relaxed... and almost childish. Ever. He considered it a success. She was feeling loved up in his presence and had learned to be free and relaxed.

And... she looked so beautiful like that.

He smiled faintly. "Are you naming them again?"

Sylvia looked up, her hazel eyes gleaming. "This one’s Merin, that one’s Fai, and that fat one is Tupp."

Aldric chuckled under his breath. "They all look the same to me."

"That’s because you don’t look close enough," she said, tossing another pinch of feed into the water. "Merin’s got a shorter tail. Fai’s the brave one. Tupp’s greedy."

He watched her for a long moment, his expression softening in a way it rarely did. It had been a long, dark winter since the escape from the tunnels. He still remembered the smell of damp stone, the silence broken only by dripping water, and Sylvia’s trembling breaths when she’d been too weak to stand.

Now, she was sitting in the sunlight, smiling at fish. Alive. Free.

Once Sylvia had recovered enough to walk, Aldric had scouted a path out of the tunnels and found them this place, a quiet mansion on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by overgrown hedges and crumbling statues. It was close enough that he could reach the heart of the city within an hour if needed, yet far enough to avoid the Emperor’s eyes. The city’s noise and corruption didn’t reach this far; here, the air was clear, the nights still.

For the first time in years, he could sleep without hearing the rattle of chains in his dreams.

Still, there was no real peace. On the table beside him lay several sealed missives, some marked with the sigil of Lazira, others with the sigil of The Swan Divina.

He rubbed his temple. Lorraine... no, Lorraine as Lazira and The Swan Divina, had handled all this alone before. The sheer number of letters, the codes, the delicate manipulation of nobles and informants... Aldric couldn’t fathom how she had managed it. Even with Sylvia’s help, he still felt as if they were always two steps behind, missing something vital between the lines. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

He picked up the newest missive, its wax seal still warm from transit. The letter was a request, an audience with The Swan Divina, but there was something different about it. A familiar pattern in the phrasing.

Aldric frowned thoughtfully.

Then, without a word, he rose from the bench and crossed to Sylvia, the letter in hand. She looked up, her skirt damp from where the fountain had splashed her, strands of hair clinging to her cheek.

"Another one?" she asked.

He nodded and offered it to her.

Sylvia wiped her hands on her dress, and took the parchment. Her eyes scanned the contents, and slowly, a smile formed on her lips.

"This is the Princess’s doing, isn’t it?" she said, almost in wonder.

Aldric tilted his head. "You’re certain?"

Sylvia’s eyes flicked across the lines again, her voice softening. "It mentions a Lady Lorraine—a healer who spoke of a curse. And she’s told Lady Merrowen to seek out The Swan Divina. Who else would thread messages this way?"

Her gaze lifted to meet his, alight with the thrill of recognition. "It’s the Princess. She’s reaching out through this... Lady."

Aldric exhaled slowly, the pieces beginning to fall into place. She had tried to sway this young lady from some village in the corner.

But for what purpose? And Leroy took her there?

Aldric even admired Leroy to find such a place to hide. They got no news about them here. Even now, no one in the city would hear anything about that obscure village.

"What’s her next move, then?" he murmured, half to himself. "Why involve Lady Merrowen?"

Sylvia looked thoughtful, her brow furrowed. "It might not be Lady Merrowen she’s after. She’s sending a message... to us. She wants us to respond."

She held up the letter, tapping the edge of it with her finger. "We need to send a swan feather."

Aldric raised an eyebrow. "A feather? I’ll find one."

"This is the signal. The Princess had said that if anyone ever invoked The Swan Divina’s name, we’d confirm legitimacy by sending a single feather. We’ll know what the Princess wants to do, once I talk to Lady Merrowen."

He nodded slowly. It was a small, subtle act—but it would tell Lorraine that her allies were listening, that her network still lived.

"Then we’ll send it tonight," he said.

Sylvia smiled faintly, the corners of her mouth curling with quiet determination. "Good. Because if the princess is where I think she is... she’s... She might be willing to return to the Capital."

The word capital hung between them like a weight. Both knew what it meant, the heart of the Empire, the seat of danger, the one place they had been forbidden to return to.

Aldric looked toward the horizon, where the city walls glimmered faintly in the distance. "If she calls us back," he said after a long pause, "we’ll go."

Sylvia reached out, her hand brushing his arm. "And if she doesn’t?"

He glanced down at her, his expression steady, resolute. "Then we stay where we are. Lorraine wanted us here for a reason. Until she says otherwise, we hold this post."

The garden fell quiet again except for the soft splash of the fountain. Sylvia went back to feeding her fish, and Aldric sat beside her, watching as the afternoon sunlight turned the water gold.

Above them, the first blossoms of spring opened on the branches—fragile, brief, and impossibly bright.

Suddenly, Sylvia went still. Her hand flew to her mouth, and without a word, she pushed herself up from the fountain’s edge and stumbled toward the nearby hedge. Aldric’s heart lurched.

"Sylvia?" he called, already on his feet.

She didn’t answer, she just bent over the bushes, clutching her stomach, retching as her body trembled. Aldric’s pulse kicked up sharply, his mind instantly spiraling through possibilities.

Was it the stew she made this morning? The wound...was it reopening? No, it had healed... unless it was sepsis...

He was beside her in an instant, one steady hand on her back, the other holding her hair away from her face. The sound of her coughing made something cold twist inside him.

When she finally straightened, wiping her mouth with the back of her sleeve, her face was pale but her eyes, oddly, weren’t filled with fear. They were... almost bashful.

"Are you all right?" Aldric asked, his voice rougher than he intended. "You’ve been eating properly, haven’t you? Tell me what hurts."

Sylvia tried to wave him off, but he was already scanning her face for signs of fever, his thumb brushing her cheek, checking her pulse. "You should lie down," he muttered, "I’ll call the healer~"

Her hand caught his wrist, stopping him. "Aldric," she said softly, her lips trembling, though not from pain.

He looked down, frowning. "What?"

Sylvia’s cheeks flushed pink as she bit her lip, her eyes darting to the ground. For a moment she just sat there, fingers twisting in her skirts.

"Don’t look at me like that," she whispered.

"Like what?"

"Like I’m dying."

"Then what is it?" he asked, exasperated and worried all at once.

She hesitated, and then, with a breathy laugh that wobbled at the end, whispered, "I’m not sick."

He blinked, confused. "You just vomited in the bushes—"

"I’m pregnant, Aldric."

The words hit him like a thrown stone, stopping all his thoughts mid-stride.

He stared at her—utterly still. For a full heartbeat, he couldn’t speak, couldn’t even breathe. Sylvia looked away, cheeks burning, her hands folded protectively over her abdomen.

Then, in a rush, his brows lifted, disbelief giving way to something brighter, something almost boyish. "Pregnant?" he repeated dumbly, as if testing the word.

She nodded shyly, still unable to meet his eyes. "I... I didn’t know for sure until now. But it makes sense. The sickness in the mornings, the way I—"

Aldric dropped to one knee in front of her, both hands catching hers before she could finish. "You’re sure?"

Sylvia’s smile trembled. "As sure as I can be."

He stared at her for a long, breathless moment, and then, to her surprise, he laughed. A low, unsteady sound that broke through the tension like sunlight through a cloud.

While they were happy, a set of eyes was watching them from behind the trees. Waiting...