Happy Ending (3)

Together they all went into the king's study. In there was still the Count, who looked incredibly relieved when he saw them all together. King Ulric offered them all to sit down. But he held Lyanas hand tightly so that she could not leave his side. "You all have a right to know what happened today and why," he said calmly and then began to tell his story. The Sun Princess always stayed by his side and helped him, as it was still difficult for him to talk about his sister's death. When he finally got to the end of his story, there was initially silence in the room. Then the Sun King got up and walked towards him. Without saying anything, he knelt in front of him and bowed his head.

"Forgive me and my family. We have done you a great injustice."

"Please get up," asked King Ulric and gave him a hand, which Lyanas father immediately took. "It's not your fault. You are not your grandfather. Thanks to Lyana, I have now understood that too. Still, I would like to ask you a favor."

The Sun King nodded slowly. "Of course. What do you want?"

"I want you to break off the engagement of the Princess and Grand Duke Afram. If Lyana agrees, I

would like for her to rule the Ice Kingdom as my queen."

The sudden proposal surprised not only her father but also Lyana. She hadn't even fully understood

that her love was being returned and he was already about to marry her? Her father looked at her

questioningly. "If that's what you want, my child, I won't stand in your way. Afram certainly has no

objections either." Her cousin nodded with a smile in confirmation.

Lyana looked lovingly at King Ulric. "I couldn't think of anything that I would rather do than stay here with him."

So her father agreed to break off the engagement. As much as he would have loved to see his daughter as his successor, her happiness was a hundred times more important to him.

The Sun King found it difficult to part with his daughter, but he promised to visit her again as soon

as possible and to take care of everything necessary until then. With that he left the castle again with

his nephew and the count also said his goodbyes.

When evening finally fell, Lyana was lying with King Ulric in Feronias garden, leaning against the

wisteria. The stars shone brightly through the glass, but Lyanas eyes were closed. Her head rested

on the king's chest and she listened to the pounding of his heart. He gently stroked her hair. "If I had

known how it would all turn out, I would never have treated you so horribly. Can you forgive me?"

Lyana just shook her head. "You do not have to apologize. I guess I always knew deep down that

you didn't mean to hurt me on purpose. Even if I briefly thought that I was the only one with romantic feelings."

His torso trembled slightly as he laughed softly. "I think the moment you threw yourself in front of

my wolf, it had a big impact on my feelings. I only realized that it was more than gratitude after I

saw the wound on your face when the hunters attacked you and Alesh. Until then, I had only felt this kind of anger after Feronias death. And don't look at me so scared. Do you really think I didn't know that you secretly gave him a name? Nothing was hidden from me. Why else would I have asked Baridi to buy you a pair of slippers?"

"You knew that I was in the garden?" Lyana couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Your bare feet peeked out from under the curtain, my dear. But for some reason I let you go." He wrapped his arms around her and she began to listen to the beating of his heart again.

"Do you like that sound so much?" He asked her with a smile after a while." You don't seem to want to break away from it at all."

The princess turned so that she could now look directly at him. "It's my favorite sound in the

world."

The king leaned down slightly and gave her a gentle kiss. "Then I hereby assure you that until my death it will only beat for you and for you alone, my little sun princess."