Gloria Regali

Chapter Twenty Four

Lukas found her sleeping in the crown prince's nursery. Anastasiya was in the emperor's arms and the imperial couple was sleeping soundly. He heard that the emperor made it back earlier than usual but he refused to believe it until he saw him. The captain was on his way to give the empress the reports of the skull fragment's identity.

They seemed to be the perfect couple indeed yet the captain knew what was going on behind their facade. Once seeing the emperor with his own eyes, Lukas already left.

Anastasiya stirred and found herself entangled in her husband's arms. She did not know if the moments they shared were just them pretending as the past couple of months seemed to have blurred the lines between the two of them. Sunlight seeped through the crown prince's nursery as it was already past seven in the morning.

The soft cooing of her son caught her attention as always. Elias had a toothless grin flashing at her when she went closer to his crib. The empress had picked up her son and held her with such lovingness. He always seemed to be in a good mood when he was in the empress' arms.

"Ba't hindi mo ako ginising, mi alma?" Alejandro asks as he sneaked up behind his wife and nuzzled her on the crook of her shoulders.

"Galing kang biyahe kaya nanaisin kong makapag pahinga ka." Anastasiya said, never taking her eyes off her darling son. She had cherished such moments when it was just them. The prince nestled in her arms comfortably as he fed from his mother. It was how their mornings went as the prince had longed for his mother's presence for quite some time.

Anastasiya had found it endearing.

"I supposed you are really committed." The emperor remarks as he had watched the interaction between his wife and his son. Anastasiya's gaze drifted towards him and a ghost of a smile was on her lips.

"Sinusulit ko na yung mga pagkakataong ito." Her voice has a hint of a somber yet grateful tone. Her free hand swept the small hairs away from her son's forehead. "Kasi darating ang panahon na hindi na siya magpapayakap at hindi niya na gugustuhin makasama ang kanyang ina. Susulitin ko na ang mga hiram na pagkakataong ito."

"Gusto mo bang sa balkonahe na lang mag almusal?" Alejandro asks, pertaining to the balcony that was outside of their son's room. Anastasiya had wordlessly agreed.

He had stepped out in order to give out his command to a nearby attendant. While waiting, he had come across the music box that was one of his wife's childhood possessions. Alejandro opened it and the familiar tune of the music box engulfed his son's room.

Anastasiya felt the tune was too familliar when it happened to pull her out of her dwellings. The hairs on the back of her head slowly stood up once realizing the eerie sound that the music box possesses. Nostalgia fills her once more as she zoned out of reality and into a dream-like state.

Everything seemed blurry as she was walking in the middle of the night in a trance.

The hollow of the winds frightened her yet Anastasiya kept walking. A distinct sound of the music box was heard and she had followed its sound. With each step she take, the sounds grew louder. The sound of the music box was laced with a woman crying.

"Hindi maaring wala na siya! Anak ko, idilat mo ang mga mata mo! Andito ang mama, nasa iyong tabi lang."

In her dream-like state, she had touched the doorknob and slowly opened it. Her mother came into the view and Anastasiya saw her crying over a child's body.

Anastasiya did not have any living siblings beside Antonio. It was the first time she had encountered this scenario in her mind. The identity of the young child remained a mystery to her. In her years without a single memory of the past, it was a breakthrough through the endless sea of emptiness within her.