Abandoned Maid of the Grand Duke - Chapter 50
Ernst’s hand, which had been poised to crumple the letter he intended to leave for Lilian, paused. Julie, smiling softly, reached out and gently took the letter from him, shaking her head with great effort.
After what seemed like countless moments of worry and hesitation, Julie placed the letter by their daughter’s bedside, murmuring words of reassurance to someone unseen.
“Because only then will she return to me.”
Though parting now might be sorrowful, enduring these hardships would ensure Lilian’s eventual return to them.
This story, while concluding here, would inevitably lead to another beginning, forming an endless cycle.
With this in mind, Julie kissed her young daughter’s cheek and whispered her heartfelt confession.
To my most cherished and beloved little girl.
Lilian, tomorrow morning, when you wake up and read this letter, you will cry your heart out. Fear and anxiety will fill your chest, but they will not crush you. Heroic tales always begin this way. Trust in people, face betrayal, meet new allies, and confront fear and distrust with courage.
Among those you encounter, there will be those who cherish you more than life itself. And through them, you will grow.
‘And at the end of that…’
At the end of her new story, holding the Crown Prince’s hand, Lilian would find herself in the underground chambers of the Grand Duchy, where she would discover the portraits of the beautiful hunter who raised her and the woman he loved all his life.
Interestingly, the novel never described the woman in the portrait. Gazing at the portrait, Lilian would simply smile, as if she had shed all the secrets of her birth.
‘Back then, I thought it was the portrait of the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess.’
Perhaps, only one person knew the truth of the portrait?
Julie, who had been resting her head on Ernst’s chest, suddenly looked up and asked hesitantly,
“Hey, is there a portrait of me in the Grand Duchy?”
Ernst’s eyes widened in surprise. His eyes darted nervously, revealing the truth he tried to hide.
As he stood speechless, Julie, equally surprised, murmured,
“It’s true, then. When was it painted?”
“Well, it’s just that…”
“Never mind. Sneaking around, weren’t you?”
After living together for so long, she knew him all too well now. Besides, Grand Duchess Luina had hinted at it.
Even during the war, the Grand Duke was relentless in his pursuit, always requesting a portrait of Julie. He wanted to know every detail of her daily life, whom she met, and what she did.
Perhaps it was because of the threats to push Kainri into dangerous territories that she couldn’t refuse, despite cursing under her breath. At one point, Julie even visited to apologize formally.
But who could have imagined that he would actually place Julie’s portrait in the Grand Duchess’s seat, as if they were a married couple? It felt a bit creepy.
“How on earth did you find out?”
Ernst, his face flushed red to the tips of his ears, gritted his teeth, suspecting that Luina had told her. Julie, with a radiant smile like lilies blooming in the fresh July air, cupped his cheek.
As she stood behind their sleeping child, she made a promise to him.
“Trust me, when the time comes, we will all be together.”
She was always mysterious—her ageless face, her seemingly prophetic certainty about the future, and even the natural way she led him. Just as he had followed her promise when she carried Lilian in her womb, he unconsciously nodded and followed her again now, as if he were a sailor ensnared by a siren’s song.
‘Perhaps from the very beginning, I…’
Ernst thought that maybe from the moment he first met Julie’s gaze, he was already enchanted by her. Holding her hand now and following her seemed like a destiny long determined.
With a sigh, Ernst finally removed an old ring from his finger and placed it on their daughter’s. He gently stroked her round forehead once more before stepping back. Watching silently from behind, Julie closed her eyes and let her memories unfold.
Let’s recall the final epilogue.
The novel’s last scene ended with the girl, light-heartedly freeing herself from her past at the Grand Duchy. But was that really the end? Wasn’t it, in fact, the beginning of a new story she had long suppressed?
‘Not at all.’
The story doesn’t end. Surely after that, the child will run to find her real parents. She will cry and embrace them, and her parents will hold her tightly, saying they waited for her to grow up and find them by herself.
They will say that on the day they reunite, they should never part again.
‘I’ll be waiting for that day to come, my beloved child.’
With a heart full of longing and a truth-filled thrill, Julie kissed her daughter’s forehead. Holding Ernst’s hand, she quietly closed the door behind her.
On a serene night, filled with the gentle scent of lilies, a new story was finally about to begin.
—The End.
