Chapter 139

MILA

The rest of my trek down the mountain was dark and cold. I was too nervous to summon any sort of transportation magic, so I just slid my way down.

I did make the decision to magically conjure a pair of thicker boots, however. My leggings and oversized sweater could only shield against the cold so much.

Once at the foot of the mountain, night falling around me, I decided to try my hand at a portal.

It took a great deal of concentration, but I was able to summon those glowing portals I had seen so many times before. It was an odd sensation to use magic–it started with a buzzing in my fingertips and made its way out of my body in a warm glow.

I experimented with a few short-distance portals as I made my way west. Fresia and the castle were on the opposite side of the castle from me, and though I wanted to see Felix more than anything else in the world, I also knew that I needed to finish my own journey first before reuniting with my husband.

As painful as that thought was.

The air grew warmer as I teleported my way towards the coast. Each portal carried me a bit further than the last, until summoning them felt almost like a second nature to me.

As the air warmed, my sweater grew thick and heavy on my back. I squeezed my eyes shut and pinched the fabric, pleased to see that I was wearing a loose-fitting, tea-length blue dress and sturdy boots when I opened my eyes again.

Who knew? Maybe the best part about magic was never having to spend money on clothes again.

Of course, if I stopped patronizing Marie, I think she’d strangle me.

Although I was confident that I could magically travel through the countryside, I decided to walk the last few miles to my birth village. The weather was vastly different in the valley than it had been on the mountaintop, and a walk would do me good after so many days stuck in the void.

And being, you know, dead. Or at least comatose.

I needed a second to clear my head. The last few days had completely shattered my sense of reality, and I wanted to take a few moments to settle into my power and become stronger. I knew Sofia had complete ease and control over her power, and that was the level of comfort I was aiming for.

It was a beautiful day in Fresonia. The sky was blue with a few fluffy clouds making their way across the dome in lazy paths, and the sun shone brightly. I had not spent much time in the true rural areas of the kingdom, at least in this lifetime, and it was lovely to see what the kingdom actually was like.

Was this where I had spent so many of my days prior to this lifetime? Amongst these wildflowers, in the fresh air? Was this where my home truly was?

My magic crackled in my blood. Being here, in the countryside, was what I truly needed to fuel the powers in my veins. I was starting to understand what Sofia meant by tying the magic to the land–it was as if Fresonia itself was charging my magical battery, so to speak.

I had been insecure and shoved to the side for most of my life. I had felt less than, ugly, dumb and tragically not confident in the slightest. I thought coming to Fresonia would change that, and in many ways, it did.

My relationship with Felix had made me feel beautiful and loved. I thought that was true confidence. I thought being with Felix meant that I would never feel like that scared, uncertain girl again.

But once things started falling apart, not just with his health, but with us, it felt like that rush of confidence had gone out the door with it.

Truthfully, our marriage was in trouble even before Felix got sick and everything happened with my forced sacrifice. Felix had made me feel beautiful and beloved, yes, but sometimes I felt like I was just a pretty object to be placed on his shelf, a doll that he could dress up and play with.

After all, he had kept secrets from me after our wedding, starting with that war council of his. Did he not think that I deserved to be kept in the loop of what was going on in my own kingdom? Did he not trust me to make good, fair, balanced decisions with him as his queen?

Truthfully, that had been as much a blow to my confidence as my unfair treatment by my adoptive family had been. It had shattered me in a way I felt I could never recover from.

But now, armed with my magic, I felt a kind of confidence that I’d never felt before, even in my relationship with Felix. I felt capable and strong, two qualities I would have never previously used to describe myself.

I was no longer Mila Benson, above-average chef.

I was Queen Mila, Protector of Fresonia.

It was a title that I wore with pride. This was my future, my way forward. Gone was that mild, meek girl who did not believe that she was worthy of love, affection, or respect. I now carried my head higher and looked at the world with fresh eyes. There was a new Mila in town, and this was the best version yet.

The best way for me and Felix to truly heal the cracks in our relationship was to accept our roles as joint rulers of the kingdom. I could only hope that when I saw him again he would be willing to have those conversations with me and wouldn’t just turn me away.

Especially now that we knew I was a true-born Fresonian.

As I walked over another ridge, the sparkling sea and shimmering coastline came into view.

To my right was Carnea, the town I loved so dearly. As much as I loved the capital, Carnea would always have a special place in my heart. It would always be my favorite town in the kingdom.

But to my left was the unknown. Beauveis. The possibilities of what I would find in the tiny seaside village were endless, but I knew better than to expect a homecoming. Who knew if my mother and father were even still together, or alive, for that matter?

Alexander and Charlotte had felt so real in that vision I’d seen on the side of the mountain. Would they be excited to see me after all this time?

Nerves ran through my body, and I paused in my walk.

My adoptive family had always hated me, but of course, that was because I paled in comparison to their biological daughter. Would my birth parents not want me? They had given me up, after all, but it had seemed begrudging on their part.

Maybe they had a new family now, with the daughter they had always wanted. Perhaps there was no room for me in their stories anymore. Perhaps there was no love left in their hearts for the child they had given away.

There was only one way to find out.

I walked until I reached the edge of Beauveis.

I was home.