Free Web NovelChapter 521: Chapter 521
Ragnar took her left hand, the one Nheera had injured. The wound had healed cleanly overnight, leaving only a faint pink line across her palm. He brought it to his lips and kissed it with care. "I love you. I don’t think I’ll ever find enough words to tell you how much I adore you."
Her eyes shone with tenderness as she looked up at him.
"I love you too," she said softly. "Every day I wake up loving you a little more than the day before."
He pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her so their bodies fit together. He simply held her, breathing in the scent of her hair, feeling the steady beat of her heart against his chest.
Ragnar cherished moments like this. Tranquil, intimate moments where it was only the two of them wrapped in each other’s arms. It felt like the complete opposite of the stiff, suffocating tension that had filled the throne room the previous day. Here, there was only love and the burning need to keep her close at all times as the two of them remained trapped in their own little world.
He did not want the moment to end.
He wanted nothing more than to hold her like this for as long as he could, to remain suspended in this fragile peace before reality inevitably dragged him back.
But as the minutes slowly passed with Circe tucked against his chest, his thoughts began to wander despite himself. They drifted back toward the chaos of yesterday, and the revelations that had shaken him more deeply than he cared to admit.
Morana.
Her sudden appearance still lingered vividly in his mind and worse still was the discovery that had followed.
She was his mother.
The same woman he had unknowingly hired to serve as Circe’s midwife during her pregnancy, the same woman he had trusted to care for the person he loved most, was the very woman who had abandoned him as a child.
His mother.
Even now, the thought felt so absurd that his mind struggled to fully process it. Part of him still wanted to reject it outright, to dismiss everything as another one of Nheera’s manipulations. He could have convinced himself that it was all a lie.
But he could not forget the look in Morana’s eyes.
When he had turned back toward her in the throne room, he had seen the truth there plainly. It had been impossible to miss. No deception could have created that expression.
She truly was his mother. freewebnσvel.cøm
The woman who had vanished without a trace over three decades ago. The woman who had never returned for him. The woman who had never once checked to see whether her son was alive or dead during all the years they had spent apart.
A distant look settled into Ragnar’s eyes as the thoughts consumed him, and Circe noticed it immediately.
She tilted her head slightly against his chest. "What’s on your mind?
For a moment, Ragnar considered brushing the question aside. But in the end he thought better of it. So he told her. freёwebnoѵel.com
His fingers absentmindedly stroked her arm as he admitted that he had not stopped thinking about the future of the kingdom. Soon, the crown would belong to him, and the weight of that reality sat heavily on his shoulders.
He confessed his fears about the eastern territories, about the endless destruction left behind by the rebels. Entire villages had been reduced to ash. Families had lost everything. Ragnar worried that no matter how hard he tried, he might never be able to restore that part of the kingdom to what it once had been.
And finally, after a long hesitation, he spoke about his mother. About how conflicted he felt now that she had returned.
Years ago, he had searched desperately for answers about her disappearance. Back then, he had wanted nothing more than to find her, to understand why she had left him behind. There had been nights when he had convinced himself she must have died somewhere alone because the alternative—that she had willingly stayed away—had hurt too much.
But now she was here and strangely enough, he did not want to let her close. He barely knew her. She felt more like a stranger than a mother.
As Ragnar continued speaking, he noticed the attentive expression on Circe’s face. She listened to him patiently, never interrupting. Yet as he looked at her more carefully, another memory suddenly resurfaced in his mind.
Back in the throne room, Circe had not looked surprised at all by his mother’s true identity.
"You didn’t look surprised by any of this," he remarked quietly after a long pause. Then he lifted his gaze to meet hers directly. "You knew, didn’t you?"
Although Circe heard no anger in his voice, her heart still sank painfully. Guilt tightened around her lungs, suddenly making it harder to breathe.
When she had given Morana two weeks to tell Ragnar the truth, she had genuinely believed she was doing the right thing. She had wanted Ragnar to know who his mother truly was, but she had also understood how delicate the situation had been. Forcing Morana to reveal everything immediately could have caused even greater damage.
At least, that was what Circe had convinced herself at the time.
But now, seeing the hurt lingering in Ragnar’s eyes, doubt crept into her heart.
Had she made the wrong decision after all?
"I’m sorry," she whispered sincerely. "I’m so sorry."
She placed her hand over his much larger one, holding it tightly as remorse filled her expression.
"I never meant to hurt you. I promise."
Ragnar remained silent for a moment before asking softly, "How long have you known?"
"Not long," Circe admitted. "The moment I realized the truth, I urged her to tell you herself. I gave her two weeks to do it before I stepped in and told you myself. I thought I was helping." Her voice faltered. "I’m sorry."
For several seconds, Ragnar simply looked at her. Then he leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss on her forehead.
"You have nothing to apologize for, my love," he murmured. "You are not the one who abandoned me for all those years, so please do not carry guilt that does not belong to you."
His thumb brushed tenderly across her hand before he continued. "And as for Morana... I will speak to her when I can. I will hear what she has to say. But I will also make it clear where I stand."
