As much as my heart fluttered, a groggy moan from behind me reminded me of the others. That had probably been Kaine. Antonia and Ysabel were still stuck in a bubble. And I really hoped Donya had gotten medical aid for Alzira. “We’d better go help everyone else.”
“One more thing first.” Araceli kissed me.
The tentative touch made me tremble all the way down to my toes. The aches and pains all over my body faded away as I became lost in this moment. Araceli deepened the kiss, and our tongues gotinvolved. I knew I ought to break it off so that we could handle many important matters, but I could not think straight. Her lips were so soft and hot, I melted. My breathing roughened, becoming ragged and desperate. Our bodies pressed so close I could feel the frantic pulse of her heart, matching the speed of my own, until I did not know where one ended and the other began.
In the end, Araceli drew back first with a cocky grin. “Done.”
Epilogue
Iwiped a tear from my eye as Araceli swore the oath to become regent for Queen Antonia. I knew this wouldn’t be an appropriate occasion for clapping (Donya had drilled that into me during my etiquette lessons). But I wanted to. My heart was about to burst from joy and pride.
Next to me, Ysabel reached over Kaine’s lap and squeezed my hand. Since she couldn’t heal herself, a bandage peeked out from under her lacy collar. Fortunately, the cut hadn’t been deep. The royal doctor had reported her fetus to be unharmed. Even so, Kaine and Alzira had been more clingy than usual. The two of them sat on either side of Ysabel, sandwiching her away from even me, her own sister. Ysabel had healed Antonia, Alzira, and Kaine, fortunately. I’d even gotten to witness my eternally proud sister apologize to Alzira. That had been a rare sight indeed. However, Alzira had insisted it was her own fault for failing to protect her charge, and somehow it had turned into a screaming match with both of them shouting that the other one didn’t need to apologize until Kaine intervened and shoved them into a hug. Those three were an endless source of entertainment.
The surviving Avengers sat in the back. I’d felt a bit weird about inviting them, but they were the closest things to friends that Araceli had in the entire world. Also, my sister had fined them of all their money as a punishment and soaked Durnip’s bandages with hot peppers, so at this point, I thought they’d suffered enough. Ma’qas at least was smiling sincerely.
Donya sat behind Ysabel with a small perfume bottle full of ice-cold water and a scowl. After Ysabel found out about me bringing a prostitute to the last coronation, she’d joked about topping me with something even more scandalous. It had definitely been a joke. As a sister, I could tell from her tone. Donya had taken it deadly seriously and vowed to spray anyone who disrupted the ceremony with water. I would swear she was watching me, too, even though I was happily partnered now.
After the oath concluded, Queen Antonia leapt up from her seat and jumped on Araceli.
Araceli caught her and spun her around. “Whoa, there.”
“You’re staying with me forever now?” Antonia asked hopefully.
Araceli’s smile was gentle. “Yes. Forever and ever.”
Since Araceli had revealed her identity as the rightful heir to South Sherda, she’d taken over the deceased Blood Duchess’s role as the queen’s guardian and the royal regent. Sherda had accepted this because they were denying all responsibility for anything the duchess had done. They seemed to be pretending not to see our kingdom. Since the Blood Duchess had proven to be a criminal hiding her unregistered gift, we’d turned into heroes for killing her. Just like that, our past crimes had been swept under the rug by a grateful Conclave of Kings—grateful no one was questioning their association with an attempted dark lord, mostly.
Araceli had privately confided in me that she suspected she’d have a more difficult time taking back her former duchy. At least Arahasnor was secure and under our control. We could build up our influence enough to fight for Araceli’s original family lands, too. We had Conollia and Kaine’s backing.
In the meantime, we were plenty busy straightening out Arahasnor. Everyone knew about the body swap now. Since I’d claimed to have amnesia at the trial, this had been used as a polite fiction to allow me to escape the consequences for impersonating a duchess. I suspected that almost everyone I’d personally come into contact with knew better. Whenever I met someone whom I’d encountered during my acting, I squirmed with embarrassment. I kept expecting someoneto be angry at me. Instead, most people seemed intimidated, as if facing a mad dog. That might be even worse. I’d desperately brainwashed myself during my masquerade by telling myself that no one would ever knowIhad done those things. Now I’d been left helplessly exposed. I felt off-balance. Sometimes I found myself painfully shy and nervous, as if to compensate. Sometimes I felt tempted to slip into a villainous persona rather than be myself. Araceli assured me that I could still throw my weight around, and she’d back me up. But I’d rather develop my own style of leadership. I wanted to be confident without being mean. It was a work in progress.
Looking over Antonia’s head, Araceli’s eyes caught mine. She looked absolutely stunning in her green dress with layers of lace flowing from the skirt. She gestured me over. I stood up and joined the group hug. Honestly, it was a welcome excuse to avoid the tension dripping off my sister’s pair of paranoid bodyguards.
I myself wore a pink sleeveless dress with flowers winding down the skirt. I’d swept my hair up into a bun with a silk lily on the pin, attempting to finally set a new fashion trend and get rid of everyone’s love for heavy hats. They gave me a headache.
Antonia carefully examined my face. She’d seemed a little uncertain about me after my body first swapped back. She looked at my features as if she wanted to memorize me, then smiled. She grabbed my arm. “It’s you, Bora. I know it.”
I smiled. “I’m back in my body, thanks to you.”
“She still has that same silly, blank look,” Antonia whispered to Araceli.
“Hey!”
Araceli laughed. “I know. It’s cute.” Okay, that made me feel better.
Antonia shook her head. “How did you ever have trouble telling her apart from the Blood Duchess?”
“I figured it out almost immediately!” Araceli protested.
I shook my head. “I’m never, ever acting the part of the Blood Duchess again. It’s a relief, honestly.”
“Mmm, I wonder about that.” Araceli winked. “Maybe we’ll need a villainess again someday.”
From the pews, a nobleman in a gray doublet muttered, “Just look at him, parading around in a dress. This is our lord regent? Disgraceful.”
Araceli flinched slightly.
I marched over. “Excuse me, I heard what you just said. Perhaps my sister’s last sensitivity training wasn’t sufficient for you?”
