Ch. 18th Birthday 27 18th Birthday 27

Chapter 27 

(Lily’s POV) 

I froze. 

For a second, I wasn’t sure I heard Aunt Lamia right. 

“What… did you say?” 

She smiled gently, like she was trying to soften a blow. “The King and Queen have asked that you come stay at the palace for a few weeks. They want you home.” 

Home? That word burned. 

I stared at her, my chest tightening. “They want me back?” I let out a bitter laugh. “Now?” 

Aunt Lamia’s smile faded. “Lily-” 

“It’s been years, Aunt Lamia!” I snapped, stepping back. “They didn’t want me all this while. Not when I cried every night. Not when I begged the Moon Goddess for answers. But now… now they suddenly remember I exist?” 

She tried to reach for me, but I moved away. 

“Don’t you think I wanted to feel loved? To be wanted by my family?” My voice shook. “They could have fought harder to take me back! They shouldn’t have let me- go.” 

Aunt Lamia’s sigh was heavy. “I know it hurt, but-” 

“You don’t know!” I yelled, my voice breaking. “You don’t know what it feels like to be cast aside like I never mattered. You don’t know what it’s like to see them try to visit and leave. To watch them never come back.” 

A memory flashed in my mind: Mother standing outside with tears streaming down her face, Zelda beside her clutching a small box… maybe a gift. I had watched them from my window, biting my lip until it bled. I had refused to see them, because I was too angry. Too bitter. 

“They wrote letters,” Aunt Lamia said quietly. “They called too, and I gave you the phone every time.” 

“And I never picked up,” I whispered. “Because I didn’t want to hear sorry. Because sorry won’t change the fact that they let me go. They abandoned me when the world decided I was a threat.” 

A thick silence settled between us. The kind that says everything words can’t. 

Then I turned and stormed toward my room. 

“I’m not going anywhere!” I shouted over my shoulder. “Tell them to leave me alone!” I slammed my bedroom door and locked it behind me. 

My breaths came fast and uneven. My chest ached as I stumbled toward my bed. The second my body hit the mattress, I grabbed the pillow and clutched it to my chest. Tears poured from my eyes, soaking into the fabric as I screamed into the 

cotton. 

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Chapter 27 

Everything I’d buried for so long… every ache I shoved down, came clawing out. 

Why now? Why did they want me now? 

I didn’t know how long I cried. Night had fallen, and shadows stretched long across my room. 

I lay curled up, my face still damp, when I heard a soft knock. 

“Lily,” Aunt Lamia’s voice came through, barely above a whisper. “Please… let me in.” 

I sat up slowly, wiping at my face with trembling fingers. My feet padded to the door on their own. When I opened it, Aunt Lamia stood there, tears trailing down her cheek. 

Something in me cracked open again. 

I threw my arms around her, and she hugged me tight. We sank to the edge of the bed together, crying softly in each other’s 

arms. 

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I didn’t mean to yell at you.” 

“It’s okay, my darling,” she murmured. “I understand.” 

We stayed like that for a while, until our sobs faded. Then she pulled back slightly and brushed my hair from my face. 

“I need to talk to you about something else,” she said gently. 

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. 

“I have to leave the kingdom for a while. It’s something I was supposed to do a long time ago, but I kept postponing it because of you.” 

I blinked. “Leave? Where?” 

She nodded. “The King and Queen requested I handle an assignment for the kingdom. It’s… important. And since I’ve put it off for years, I thought now was the right time.” 

My stomach twisted. “Wait, is that why they want me back? So I have no choice but to go 

there?” 

She gave me a sad smile. “No, dear. I made the choice. I thought it was time you reconnected with your family. To see them not as the people who hurt you, but as people who might be hurting too.” 

I bit my lip. “But how do I stay under the same roof with Zion?” I whispered. 

I hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but her eyebrows lifted slightly. “Prince Zion?” 

I looked away, my pulse racing. “Nothing.” 

She didn’t press further. Instead, she gave my hand a soft squeeze. “I’ll be gone for a few weeks. Just… please think about it. Not for them, but for yourself.” 

I stared at the wall. 

Could I really go back? Could I walk the palace halls again? Could I see them? See him? 

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Chapter 27 

I didn’t know. 

But something inside me wanted to try. 

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