Chapter 170

MILA

Our baby boy, Samuel, was born in April, a few days after Felix’s 31st birthday. He was named for the first King of Fresonia and to commemorate the love that had brought his parents together. As the future King of Fresonia, he had an official naming ceremony in front of the entire kingdom, and it was a celebration that lasted for nearly a week.

He was a perfect baby, tiny and chunky at the same time, with huge blue eyes and the wispy beginning of light brown curls on top of his head. It had been an easy birth, and my mother and Felix were both in the room with me to support me.

From the moment I first held Samuel in my arms, I knew that my whole world had shifted on its axis. All of my petty problems faded away at the sight of his tiny face, and I knew that I would dedicate the rest of my life to making the world a better place for my son.

Samuel was sweet and good-natured and quickly became our whole lives. I was thankful for both his sets of grandparents and their ability to watch him when we had to go on trips, but I also was so happy to be his mother. I still harbored some fears about being a parent, but they eased with each day.

Isla and Joseph, Samuel’s godparents, had asked if the infant could be the ringbearer for their upcoming wedding, and Marie had delighted at the idea of making a tiny tuxedo. It was a gentle reminder of how important my found family was, just as important as my blood family.

They all had changed and affected my life and made me someone capable of being a Queen and a mother.

In a few years, Samuel would oversee the hatching of a new dragon egg, and form a lifelong bond with the dragon that emerged. He would follow in his father’s footsteps of being a Dragon Knight and a great King, and in his mother’s footsteps of protecting magical knowledge for future generations.

I knew my son was destined for greatness, but I also knew that he needed to find his own way. We would never dictate to him what he needed to do or be, but rather, would let him travel on journeys of his own.

We knew what it was to be trapped by destiny, and we never wanted Samuel to experience that.

I loved my baby so deeply, and being parents only deepened my love for my husband. We were tired and spent many sleepless nights in those early weeks staying up with the baby, but Felix and I were better and happier and more in love than ever.

Truly, our relationship and our love had only gotten better with time. Despite our busy schedules, we always made time for each other, and I was grateful to have a partner who would not hesitate to put me first. Our love would always be the brightest light in our lives.

It was hard to believe where my life had ended up. Mila Benson, the shy girl from the United States who never allowed herself to dream bigger than having her own apartment, was now Queen of Fresonia and the greatest enchantress in the world.

And she was a best friend, a wife, and a mother.

Things really can change on a dime.

After Samuel’s birth, the magical kingdoms began settling into their new normal. Schools had adjusted curriculum to ensure that students were also learning about magic, and I was in the process of coming up with a transportation system to take people to the Library of Magic whenever they wanted.

People from all over the kingdoms traveled to Fresonia to visit the famed library, wanting to learn more about their own powers or about the concept of magic in general. I was thrilled at the possibility of continuing to expand our magical understanding and was in the process of cataloging everything in those miles of shelves.

Most importantly, I was in the process of writing a book about the woman who had started it all: Sofia.

I had not forgotten the vow I made to her in the void. I was going to make sure the entirety of the magical kingdoms knew who Sofia was and knew what she had done to save us all. I would never let her name be forgotten to history again.

She needed to be memorialized for her sacrifice and bravery, and praised for her work in bringing me and Felix together again once more. I was pleased with how the book was turning out, even if her story still felt open-ended.

I had no idea if Sofia had found Samuel, wherever he was, but sometimes when I looked up at the night sky, there were two close, bright stars that I had never noticed before. I liked to think that our past lives were looking down at us, thrilled to see that Felix and I had finally broken that vicious cycle of heartbreak.

My book would give Sofia the happy ending she so desperately yearned for. It would reunite her with the man she loved more than life itself. Better yet, it was my last gift to her, finally closing the chapters of all my past lives, and living in the present.

Perhaps one of the best changes in my life was the presence of my parents. I went to visit them in Beauveis every Saturday, frequently bringing Samuel and occasionally Felix with me. It was lovely to spend the day with them, learning about who they were as people, and creating a strong bond with them.

It was good for my parents to spend so much time with Samuel as well. I knew that they would always carry around the guilt of giving me away to such an awful, abusive family, but participating in Samuel’s life now helped them ease some of those negative feelings.

All they had ever wanted was to raise a child, and now they got to be part of the village that was raising my son. It was, in many ways, healing for all of us.

I learned about my father’s fishing business as well, curious about the economies of the smaller villages in the kingdoms. As Queen, I wanted to do everything in my power to eliminate poverty from Fresonia. It was still an issue in the more rural areas, and I frequently collaborated with advisors to come up with solutions.

There would never again be a reason for a couple to be forced to give up their child for adoption simply because they could not afford to raise it. I would never allow that to happen again, not under my watch.

But my favorite part of each day was when I got to crawl into bed next to Felix and just lie with him, falling asleep to the sound of his heartbeat.

We had fought to be together for a thousand years. Now, we finally had our time together, and it was better than anything I could ever imagine.

It was, at last, time for our happily ever after.

The End