I won't fall for the queen who burned my world-Chapter 357: Lorithae again

The teleportation circle hummed softly beneath their feet, the sigils carved into the stone pulsing with a familiar violet glow. Elysia stood at the center of it with one hand wrapped around Malvoria’s fingers and the other resting on Kaelith’s shoulder, steadying her.

It wasn’t like last time.

Two years ago, they’d ridden half the way up the mountain, hiked the rest, their cloaks soaked through from the mist and their legs burning by the time they reached the cabin.

Now, the castle’s upper terrace had its own dedicated teleportation sigil etched specifically to reach the mountain cabin.

Because they weren’t just two reckless lovers anymore.

They were parents.

"Hold still, little star," Elysia murmured, gently nudging Kaelith’s feet closer to the center of the circle.

"I am," Kaelith whispered back, which might have been more convincing if she weren’t vibrating with excitement like a tiny thunderstorm.

Malvoria checked the circle one last time, her expression focused, almost ceremonial. "Cabin waypoint is bound. Weather at destination should be stable. Magical activity, mild."

"You sound like a travel guide," Elysia said, smiling.

Malvoria’s lips curved. "Would you like me to list the amenities? Remote cabin, scenic mountain views, direct access to an ancient divine tree, limited chances of being interrupted by nobles—"

"And a highly unpredictable toddler," Elysia added.

Kaelith beamed. "That’s me!"

Elysia leaned down to press a quick kiss to her daughter’s hair, breathing in that faint mix of soap, berries and lingering kitchen flour that seemed permanently attached to her scent these days.

"Ready?" Malvoria asked.

Elysia looked at her. The dark coat tailored to armor and authority, the eyes that still softened every time they met hers, the way Malvoria held her hand just a little tighter than necessary.

Two years ago, they had come here stunned by the fragile, terrifying admission that they might be in love.

Now, they were returning with a child who called them both "Mama."

"Yes," Elysia said. "Let’s go."

Malvoria squeezed her hand once and lifted her free one, fingers tracing the sigil in the air. The runes embedded in the stone flared suddenly, light rising from the ground like mist.

Kaelith gasped. "Magic!"

The world tilted, folded, and for a single breath, everything was bright and weightless. Elysia felt that familiar pull in her chest, like her heart was being stretched along some invisible thread, and then—

The light flickered out.

They were standing in cold mountain air.

The cabin sat just ahead, nestled among grey stone and wind-sculpted pines. Snow still clung stubbornly to shadowed crevices higher up, but here, the ground was clear, the moss soft and dark underfoot.

The roof was exactly as Elysia remembered it, sloping, slightly crooked, with a curl of faint smoke drifting from the chimney.

Kaelith spun in a circle, jaw dropping. "Big house!"

"It’s actually quite small," Malvoria corrected gently. "But it’s ours. For today."

Elysia’s chest tightened with a soft, private joy.

Once, this had been their secret place. Their escape. Now it felt like... a memory they were inviting their daughter into.

The wind swooped down the slope, tugging at Elysia’s hair. The air tasted crisp and clean, threaded with the sharp tang of pine sap and distant snow.

The view dropped away behind them, revealing rolling layers of mountains fading into the horizon, each one bluer and softer than the last.

"It’s beautiful," Elysia murmured.

Malvoria didn’t look at the mountains. "It is," she said, eyes still on Elysia’s face.

Kaelith, entirely uninterested in romantic subtext, stomped forward and kicked a rock.

"Adventure!" she declared. "We explore now?"

"In a minute," Elysia said, catching her. "We’re starting at the cabin."

The door creaked open at Malvoria’s touch, and Elysia was hit with a wave of nostalgia so strong it made her dizzy.

The interior smelled of old wood, faint herbs and a hint of smoke. The same narrow bed against the wall. The same battered table. The same shelves with carefully sealed jars, Malvoria’s old travel texts stacked in a haphazard pile in the corner.

It looked almost untouched. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"I asked Saelira to keep the protections in place," Malvoria said quietly as they stepped inside. "I wanted it to stay... as it was."

"As we left it," Elysia finished.

Kaelith immediately claimed the bed, bouncing once, then twice, before Elysia swooped in to steady her.

"Careful," she said. "This cabin is older than all of us together."

"Even Grandpa?" Kaelith asked, wide-eyed.

Elysia pretended to think. "Hmm. Yeah. Definitely that old."

Kaelith snorted.

Malvoria set down the bag she had brought and began unpacking with efficient movements—warm cloaks, a small bundle of food, a folded blanket Kaelith immediately latched onto.

"We won’t stay too long," Malvoria said, almost to herself. "Not like last time. We have councils, patrols, and if we vanish for three days, Veylira will send search parties and a forty-page lecture."

"We’ll make the most of today," Elysia replied. "That’s enough."

Once the cabin was loosely settled—bag in the corner, blankets shaken out, Kaelith convinced not to climb onto every single surface they stepped out again, this time without the luggage but with what is necessary for a pic nic.

"Where are we going now?" Kaelith asked, hopping from one stone to another.

Elysia glanced at Malvoria.

"Now," Malvoria said, "we show you something important."

The path to Lorithae had not changed much. Elysia could still feel the curve of it in her bones, the way it sloped gently upward, then dipped, then opened into a clearing she had thought about more times than she could count.

They walked at Kaelith’s pace, which meant stopping every few steps.

To look at a pebble that was obviously just a pebble.

To point at a bird and declare it a dragon.

To poke her faux sword into a patch of moss and whisper, "I have defeated it."

"Terrifying," Malvoria commented dryly. "Nature will never recover."

Elysia laughed, the sound mingling with the wind. At some point, Malvoria moved closer so that their shoulders brushed as they walked. It was a small thing, but Elysia felt it like a promise.

It struck her again how different this was.

Two years ago, she had walked this path with her heart in pieces, still aching from war and betrayal and grief. The mountain had felt like a question back then. A test.

Now, with Kaelith’s tiny boots scraping along the stones ahead of them, it felt like... an answer.

"Are you thinking?" Malvoria asked softly.

"Always," Elysia replied.

"About then?"

"And now," she said. "How we got from that night to... this."

Malvoria’s hand brushed the back of hers. "We were stubborn."

"And foolish," Elysia added.

"And completely unable to stay away from each other."

Elysia huffed a laugh. "That too."

They crested a gentle rise, and Elysia felt it before she saw the faint hum of old magic under her skin, like someone plucking a string inside her chest.

They stepped into the clearing.

Lorithae waited for them.

The Heart Tree rose from the center of the space, roots coiled deep into the earth, branches arching high enough to tangle with the clouds. Two years ago, its leaves had been a luminous pink, each one catching the light like a shard of evening sky.

They still were... almost.

Now, the color had shifted.

Pink tinged with red, like petals dipped in wine, or a sky bleeding into sunset.

Kaelith stopped dead in her tracks.

Her little mouth dropped open. "It’s... it’s... big," she announced.

Elysia took a few steps forward, her breath catching. She remembered the first time she stood here, trembling and furious, trying not to admit how much she wanted the woman standing beside her.

She remembered the second time—on her back in the grass, Malvoria’s body pressing her into the earth, magic spilling from them both in waves until the air itself tasted like fire and lightning.

Afterward, the leaves had shivered.

The color had changed.

"Still red," Elysia murmured, more to herself than anyone else.

Malvoria came to stand beside her, gaze lifting into the branches. "I might have overdone it a little."

Elysia felt heat rise to her cheeks. "You really did."

Kaelith glanced between them, eyes narrowed, clearly sensing some mystery was being referenced and not explained.

"What happened?" she asked suspiciously.

Elysia swallowed a laugh. "We... talked a lot," she said carefully.

Malvoria’s mouth curved in a wicked, private smile.

"Yes," she agreed. "We did."