Motheaten Memories [Yandere Prince x Enemy Princess Reader]

35. A Tale to Tell.

It had been several days since the fiasco down at the beach and Y/N had been so busy with work that she hadn't been able to get away long enough to tell Enicia what had happened since whenever she had any time to herself she would have to spend it actively avoiding the Prince who would follow her around trying to get her to tell him how she got burned.

It was bad enough that she had failed to kill him, even worse than he had saved her from drowning, the last thing she needed on top of that was the curious Crown Prince pestering her about the origins of her scars.

Finally, after several days of working and hiding from the prince, she decided that enough was enough. That night once the halls of the palace had gone quiet she slipped out of bed and began to make her way down the familiar moonlit path to the kitchen. The hair prickled on the back of her neck and she felt like she was being watched, she looked over her shoulder but saw nothing but a dark empty hallway.

It was a relief once she finally reached the comforting warm light of the kitchen. And stepped inside. "Y/N I was hoping you'd stop by soon to tell me what happened?" Enicia called from where she sat in the corner of the cozy space, again the last one up to finish her work. "I take it not according to plan?" She added.

"No," Y/N sighed as she slumped down in the chair across from her old governess. "The boat tipped over and he saved me from drowning of all things."

"That is rather ironic," she covered her mouth politely as she let out a small laugh before regaining her composure respectively. "This may be a setback, but it isn't the end. We will have another chance, especially considering that I just got promoted." She added with a proud smile.

"That's great news Enicia," Y/N said, feeling a pang that it had taken her so long to hear the good news. "I wish I could have congratulated you sooner..."

"What's troubling you Y/N?" The older woman asked, noticing that she was looking very glum. "You've been subdued lately, did something happen?"

"I just have remembered some things..." Y/N said, thinking about the less than flattering memories that had surfaced about her father. "Enicia, what was my father like, truthfully?" She asked, looking her squarely in the eyes.

Enicia produced a paper and pencil from her pocket and began to write. After a minute she handed it over. At one time your father was a brilliant and kind young man whom everyone adored, he was the best heir and king that Vascini could have asked for.

Tell me the truth Enicia, I'm not a child anymore. Y/N demanded in a quick scribble of her own.

"You're right," Enicia sighed, admitting defeat as she took the pencil back and began writing again. Everything I said before is true, you're father was a kind and brilliant young crown prince, but after his first love left him and ran away with the current king of Luccia something broke inside him. He became obsessed with getting her back, no matter what, nothing else mattered to him. He married your mother because she was the one that resembled his first love the most and named you after her in the last effort to return even the idea of her into his hold.

Y/N felt her stomach churn with nausea as the words on the paper confirmed both what the queen had told her and what she had seen in her dream. I knew that the memories I recently remembered were real. Why did you keep this from me all these years?

Enicia's expression was filled with pain and conflict as she read Y/N's words before she began writing out her reply, it took several minutes before it was done as it was so long she needed to write on the other side of the sheet of paper. Your mother hired me to teach you, but mainly to protect you once she realized that your father may start to treat you inappropriately. I fulfilled my duties and the Queen had been correct in her foresight about her husband's intentions, but you were too young to know about any of that at the time. And after Vascini fell you were an orphaned girl who had just lost everything, her mother, her father, her home, you suffered more already than most do in the span of several lifetimes. I didn't want to destroy one of the only things you had left, the good memory of your father. I thought that since he was gone and you had no memory of his more questionable character there was nothing wrong with letting you believe he was a better man if it gave you the strength to carry on.

Y/N began to cry as she read the words written on the paper until she was sobbing. Enicia had done so much for her, so much more than she ever realized.

The governess reached across the table and cupped Y/N's cheek in her hand before she began writing on the paper again, fighting against the tears in her own eyes. Please don't despair! Your father may have lost his mind but you have forbears before him who were truly incredible sovereigns. The blood of six great kings flows in your veins, and you will be greater than them all by far, Queen Y/N of Vascini.

"Oh, Enicia!" Y/N couldn't keep her voice from shaking as after she read what Enicia had said she burst into a fresh bout of tears. "I owe you everything! I wouldn't even be alive without you!"

Enicia stood and after tossing the paper into the fire she pulled Y/N into a tight embrace. "Shh, it has been an honor and a joy," she said soothingly. "And in these past ten years I have come to care for you like a daughter, we are the closest thing that either of us has to family anymore." The two women both cried as they held onto each other, oblivious that they were being watched from the shadows.

What did they write on the paper? Abeloni thought in vexation at the hidden conversation he would never be able to observe as he watched them through the gap in the kitchen door. He had followed Y/N when he by chance spotted her roaming around the halls so late and he wasn't disappointed What were they talking about? It doesn't seem to match the story they told me.

A/N

Abeloni sure is becoming nosey, he certainly is the stalker-kind of yandere, that's for sure.

Until next time I'll see you on the other side

~J. C. Coltt.~