Chapter 63: I Want to Go Home

After returning to the villa.

Sylvia carefully arranged the small trinkets she bought today in her room.

The little bunny went on the nightstand, the music box by the windowsill, and the flower crown was hung on the wardrobe handle.

These things really were quite cute.

But as she looked at them, a wave of emptiness surged up in Sylvia’s heart.

“Sister, did you have a good time today?”

Avira asked from where she sat at the edge of the bed.

“Mm, it was fun.”

Sylvia nodded.

But her voice sounded a bit weak.

Avira noticed something was wrong.

“Sister, are you tired?”

“A little.”

Sylvia lay down on the bed, hugging the little bunny.

“Sis, how much longer do we have to stay here?”

“It should be ending soon.”

Avira answered, not entirely sure.

“Mother’s plans are almost complete.”

Sylvia closed her eyes and said nothing more.

***

In the following days.

The diplomatic visits continued.

Sylvia was scheduled to tour Dawnlight Academy, the headquarters of the major knight orders, and several embassies from various kingdoms.

Everywhere she went, it was the same scene.

Frenzied gazes, excited praise.

And those headaches caused by the endless “miracle” interpretations.

“Her Holiness blinked seventeen times today!”

“This must signify something deep and meaningful!”

“Her Holiness’s way of drinking water is so elegant—it’s the very embodiment of divinity!”

“She just yawned—it must mean she’s exhausted by our sins!”

Listening to these words,

Sylvia didn’t even have the strength to complain.

She began to lose sleep.

Every night, lying in bed,

her mind would echo with those frenzied voices from the day.

Those burning gazes and constant over-interpretations made her feel suffocated.

Her appetite grew worse and worse.

Avira noticed the changes in her younger sister.

“Sister, what’s going on with you lately?”

Avira asked worriedly.

“Are those toys not interesting enough?”

Sylvia shook her head.

“It’s nothing, I’m just a bit tired.”

“How about I go tear down the headquarters of all seven knight orders one by one to cheer you up?”

A dangerous glint flashed in Avira’s blood-red eyes.

“Those guys chirping away every day over there are just annoying.”

“Sis, don’t.”

Sylvia hurried to stop her.

“That would be a huge problem.”

Avira pursed her lips in frustration.

“Then what do you want, sister?”

“Just say the word, and your big sister will get you anything.”

Sylvia was silent for a long time.

“I don’t want anything.”

These words stunned Avira.

There was a kind of weariness in her sister’s voice that she had never heard before.

A kind of despair that reached the bone.

Ophelia also noticed her daughter’s strangeness.

“Sylvia, come here.”

The queen sat in her chair, her voice calm.

Sylvia obediently walked over and let her mother pull her into an embrace.

“What’s wrong?”

Ophelia gently stroked her silver hair.

“Nothing.”

Sylvia leaned against her mother’s arms, her voice muffled.

Ophelia was silent for a while.

“Is the light here making you uncomfortable?”

Sylvia shook her head.

“It’s not the light.”

“Then what is it?”

Sylvia didn’t answer, only hugging her mother more tightly.

A cold light flickered in Ophelia’s blood-red eyes.

She thought it was the “light” of Dawn City hurting her daughter.

Even suppressed, the power of that holy light still subtly affected Sylvia.

This made the queen deeply dissatisfied.

Day by day, Sylvia’s condition worsened.

She became listless all day, barely speaking.

Even her favorite snarky remarks no longer interested her.

Avira grew frantic with worry.

“Sister, what’s wrong with you?”

“Tell me—who made you unhappy?”

“I’ll chop them all down!”

Sylvia shook her head.

“No one made me unhappy.”

“Then why do you look so miserable?”

Avira crouched by the bed, her blood-red eyes filled with worry.

Sylvia looked at her sister, wanting to say something, but in the end

closed her mouth.

She didn’t know how to explain this feeling.

The suffocating pressure of being worshiped as a holy vessel.

The exhaustion of being endlessly analyzed.

And that feeling of inescapable suffocation.

All of it left her more tired than she’d ever been.

That night.

Sylvia curled up on her bed, hugging her knees.

Moonlight streamed in through the window, making her look even more fragile.

Ophelia and Avira pushed open the door and saw her in this state.

“Sylvia?”

Ophelia called softly.

Sylvia looked up, exhaustion thick in her blood-red eyes.

“Mother, Sister.”

Her voice was as soft as a whisper.

Avira sat by her side, heart aching.

“Sister, seeing you like this makes me so worried.”

Sylvia looked at them and was silent for a long time.

In the end, she spoke the words in her heart.

“Mother, Sister… I want to go home.”

Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

But the entire room fell silent.

Ophelia froze.

Avira was stunned as well.

They saw the sorrow and fatigue in Sylvia’s eyes.

A weariness that cut to the bone, making both their hearts ache.

“I know this visit is important.”

Sylvia continued, her voice trembling.

“And I know I shouldn’t be willful.”

“But I’m really tired.”

“Every day, people stare at me. Every day, they treat my every movement as a miracle.”

“I just want a little peace and quiet, but even that isn’t allowed.”

“I feel like I’m suffocating.”

By the end, Sylvia’s voice was choked with tears.

Ophelia’s fury ignited in an instant.

Not at Sylvia, but at the entire Holy Radiance Alliance.

It was this “tainted” land that made her beloved daughter so uncomfortable.

It was these fanatical believers who forced Sylvia to endure suffering she never should have borne.

The temperature in the room plummeted.

Tiny cracks appeared in the space itself.

Avira’s response was even more direct.

“They… made my sister unhappy.”

“They all deserve to die!” Blood-red thorns began to spread throughout the room, fine cracks appeared along the walls.

Seeing her mother and sister’s reactions, Sylvia quickly said,

“It’s not their fault.”

“I’m just too weak.”

“No.”

Ophelia hugged Sylvia, her voice gentle but full of resolve.

“It’s my fault.”

“I shouldn’t have let you endure all this.”

The queen gently stroked her daughter’s silver hair, the fury in her eyes slowly fading.

“All right, we’ll go home. We’ll leave tomorrow.”

Her words were soft.

But the will within them seemed to freeze the space of the entire villa.

Leaning in her mother’s arms, Sylvia finally felt at peace.

“Can we really go home?”

She asked quietly.

“Of course.”

Ophelia pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.

“The Evernight Empire is your true home.”

Avira came over too, hugging her little sister tightly.

“Sister, I’m sorry.”

Her voice was full of guilt.

“I didn’t protect you well enough.”

“It’s not your fault, sister.”

Sylvia shook her head.

“You’ve done really well.”

The three embraced tightly.

In this moment, Sylvia felt warmth she hadn’t felt in so long.

Not that false warmth from being worshiped as a holy vessel.

But the true care that came from family.

“We’ll leave here tomorrow.”

Ophelia promised once more.

“Return to Nightfall City, to the Silent Court.”

“No one will disturb you there.”

Sylvia nodded, a spark finally returning to her eyes.

“Mother, I miss the Moonshadow Lotus Pond.”

“I miss those quiet nights.”

“I miss everything at home.”

A gentle light welled up in Ophelia’s eyes.

“You’ll see it all again soon.”

At the side, Avira spoke fiercely: “Before we go back, I want to settle all the scores from these days.”

“Anyone who made my sister unhappy won’t get off easy.”

Sylvia was amused by her sister’s words.

“Sis, don’t go overboard.”

“I won’t. I know my limits.”

A dangerous glint flashed in Avira’s eyes.

“I’ll just make them understand what regret really means.”

Ophelia didn’t stop Avira’s intentions.

Sylvia nestled in her mother’s arms and slowly closed her eyes.