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Lady Tyra was too stunned to react. Her first thought was that she had heard something wrong. "Esther? Your Majesty, you mean Baroness Esther?"

"Yes, Tyra."

"Is the Crown Prince offering an engagement proposal to the Baroness? You must dissuade him, Your Majesty. There are many daughters of the high-ranking nobles waiting to be his betrothed. Even if Prince Theron fancies the Baroness, I do not think the Baroness will accept his one-sided feelings."

The Queen responded with something even more ridiculous. "From what I understand, their feelings are mutual. Theron is simply asking for my and Esteban\'s blessings."

Lady Tyra could not believe it. \'Mutual? How can it be? How can Her Eminence marry a human and that to the prince of a human kingdom?\'

For a moment, she imagined a strange future where the beautiful young lady with honey blond hair was standing side by side with a handsome brown-haired man, and as if pages of a book were being flipped, years would go by where the lady would remain eternally young, while the man beside him would grow visibly older, hair turning whiter and skin more wrinkled with the passing time.

\'If Her Eminence becomes part of the royal family, her every move will be watched by the public. It will be impossible no one will notice the strange things about her!\'

Seeing her dazed. Queen Theodora asked, "What are you thinking about Tyra?"

It brought her back to her senses. Her throat felt parched at the nonsensical future she imagined. "Pardon, Your Majesty. I am simply shocked by this news. If their feelings are mutual then… I have nothing to say. What are your thoughts about this, Your Majesty?"

"I am not sure about it, Tyra." The Queen sighed. "Knowing she is not an ordinary human, I don\'t know what to think about it. You are her kind, but you never got married and had always remained in the background. Will it be fine to let this happen? I know she is a good person.  If she were only an ordinary woman, I would have given those two my blessings right away…"

Lady Tyra offered her a stiff smile. "I am not sure what your concerns are, Your Majesty. I think there should not be any large issue as there are instances in history when our kind married humans. There will be nothing dangerous about them being together. Baroness Esther…her identity is more special…it would be better if Your Majesty talks to her about it. If you truly become one family, then won\'t that mean she would become your precious daughter?"

The Queen agreed, her expression softening. She truly liked Esther as a person and having her as a daughter-in-law was a delightful thing to look forward to. On the other hand, Lady Tyra could not help but worry about the status of her kind being exposed.

Due to her white powers, Esther didn\'t age and she never would, no matter how many years went by. For Megaris to have a queen who would look the same even after one or two decades, people would surely question her.

\'I am sure Her Eminence had considered this as well.\'

Lady Tyra could only leave this matter in Esther\'s hand and accept her decision.

----

Queen Theodora ordered one of her ladies-in-waiting to invite Esther to her residence. It did not take long for Esther to arrive there from the royal library after receiving the summon. She was escorted by a servant towards the drawing-room.

"Your Majesty, Lady Esther Burton has arrived," the servant announced.

Queen Theodora nodded as she put down the cup of tea in her hand. "Have a seat, Esther."

Esther sat in the chair opposite to the Queen. She somewhat guessed why the Queen had asked for her since she remembered Prince Theron telling her he would inform his parents about the two. However, she was still flabbergasted. She did not expect it to be this soon.

She heard the Queen speak in a relaxed manner, "Theron told us that he wished to marry you."

Blushing, Esther didn\'t know what to say and waited for the Queen to say more.

"I wish to know what you feel about my son."

At this, Esther\'s face went from pink to red. Queen Theodora found her reaction amusing, but at least, that answered her question.

"Knowing him, I am sure my son is certain about his feelings for you as well as your feelings for him, thus rather than an engagement, what he wanted is to ask blessings for marriage. What is your take on this?"

Esther didn\'t wish to beat around the bush and said directly, "I wish to marry him as well, Your Majesty."

"Hmm," was all the Queen said. She studied the visibly nervous young woman. "Do you wish to say anything else…perhaps about your background?"

Upon the mention of her past, Esther stayed quiet for a while, fiddling with her fingers as she arranged her thoughts. Queen Theodora did not rush her, and instead, continued to enjoy her tea while she gave Esther time.

Esther sighed and then looked at the Queen. "Your Majesty, I don\'t wish to hide anything about myself, but telling humans about the secrets of my kind will bring more harm than good. If you have questions, I will try my best to answer them, but there will be times I might not be able to give you the answer you desire."

"That is enough. I respect your choice."

Esther smiled. "You have Lady Tyra by your side. I am sure by now you must have an idea that I am not just an ordinary woman, even by the standards of my kind."

The Queen nodded.

"Your Majesty, although I am not human, I have chosen to be one. I have abandoned my past life and I don\'t use my powers unless it is truly necessary, more often than not to save a life."

"Save a life?" The Queen nodded, as if she expected it. "I did have a hunch that you were the one helping my son whenever his life was in danger."

"Yes, Your Majesty," she replied. "That is me."

"Why did you choose to save him?" the Queen asked but before Esther could say anything, the Queen said, "I prefer to get an honest answer from you. Is it because you already have feelings for him then?"

Esther inhaled deeply and answered, "Your Majesty, during the first time, I saved him because of you. I was grateful for the way you have taken care of me because you gave me an opportunity to live normally among people…"

"Then?" the Queen prodded, seeing the young woman hesitated.

"Then… I saved him again because I could not bear to let him go away," Esther answered, and this time, not only her face—even her ears and neck had gone red from embarrassment.

The Queen smiled. "Do you love my son?"

Esther nodded with her gaze lowered.

The Queen chuckled playfully. "Since both of you share the same feelings, then I shall give you my blessings."

Esther could not help but let out a shy smile as she looked at the Queen whose expression seemed to bloom in happiness. It was as if she would have embraced Esther if not for the table between them.

"For some unknown reason, I have always been fond of you. I am glad to have you as a part of my family. You will be my daughter from now on. I cannot wait for the time you will address me as \'Mother\'."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," was all Esther could say, but the warmth was spreading inside her chest as she cherished the sincerity in those words.