Beside her, Gregoria looked equally stunned. His grandmother appeared younger than Regina despite being a generation older. Her blonde hair, so similar to Seraphine’s, was styled in a loose ponytail.
She wore a gown of pale gold that seed to shimr with each breath, cut in a style that was both noble and alluring.
For a long mont, they simply stared at Julian.
Then Regina’s composure broke.
"Julian?" Her voice cracked on his na, barely more than a whisper. A single tear escaped, trailing down her cheek. "My son... is it really—"
She didn’t finish the question. With a choked sob, she launched herself forward, moving with inhuman speed. Gregoria was right behind her, both won crossing the garden in a blur of motion.
They hit Julian simultaneously, nearly knocking him backward with the force of their embrace. Regina buried her face in his chest, her arms wrapping around him with desperate strength as her entire body shook with sobs she had been holding back for centuries.
"You’re here," she gasped between tears. "You’re really here. My baby, my son, my love—" The words tumbled out in a rush, barely understandable.
Gregoria pressed against his side, one hand tangling in his hair, the other clutching his shoulder as if to verify he was solid and real.
"Julian," she breathed, her voice breaking despite her attempt at composure. "We thought... we were so sure you were..."
"I know," Julian murmured, his own throat tight with emotion. His arms ca up to hold them both, one hand stroking Regina’s hair, the other finding Gregoria’s back. "I know. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry."
Regina pulled back just enough to look up at him, her beautiful face streaked with tears. Her hands ca up to cup his face, touching him everywhere—his cheeks, his jaw, his forehead—as if she needed to confirm every inch of him was real.
"You haven’t aged a day," she whispered, wonder mixing with her tears. "You’re exactly as you were when you... when we lost you."
"Neither have you," Julian replied softly, brushing tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. "Still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known."
Gregoria let out a sound sowhere between a laugh and a sob. "Flattery already? You really are back." But her voice was fond, warm, and her grip on him never loosened.
Eleanor stood nearby with Seraphine, both won smiling through their own tears at the reunion. But the commotion had not gone unnoticed.
More figures were appearing now, drawn by the sounds and the impossible surge of energy that ca with Julian’s presence.
Emma erged from one of the side entrances to the garden, and Julian’s eyes imdiately fell on her. His forr personal maid, now one of his beloved harem mbers, moved gracefully despite the shock clearly written across her features.
She was mature, her figure gloriously curvy.
"Master Julian?" The old title slipped out automatically. "It can’t be..."
Then she was moving, gathering her gown and running as fast as she could, her breasts jiggling with each steps. She crashed into the group around Julian, her arms wrapping around him from the side.
"You’re real," she gasped against his shoulder. "Oh gods, you’re really real. I’ve dread of this mont for so long..."
More arrivals ca in rapid succession. Isabel burst from the western castle. She took one look at Julian and her eyes went wide with shock.
"By all the gods..." she breathed, then broke into a sprint that would have impressed any soldier.
Right behind her ca Lisa, the Duchess of Hans, who imdiately ran after Isabel. The mother and daughter reached Julian at almost the sa mont, their impact adding to the growing pile of bodies.
"Julian!" Isabel grabbed his arm, her voice breaking. "How? How is this possible?"
Lisa closed his other side, her usual composure shattered completely. "We felt you die," she whispered, tears streaming down her face. "The bond severed. We grieved for you. How are you here?"
Cecilia appeared next, teleporting directly beside the fountain in a flash of light. Her hourglass figure was emphasized by the deep sapphire gown she wore. She took one look at the scene and let out a sob of pure joy before launching herself at the group.
Ellie, Elvina, Sylvia, Dakota and Aria arrived together. They all had the similar expression of shock written on their face before joy and relief clouded everything and they rushed to him.
The combined impact of all these bodies finally took Julian down. His back hit the soft grass of the garden, and suddenly he was completely pinned beneath a pile of won—all of them sobbing, laughing, touching him, saying his na over and over like a prayer.
"You’re here!"
"Is it really you?"
"How is this possible?"
"I thought I’d never see you again!"
"We waited so long!"
"Don’t ever leave again!"
"Julian, Julian, Julian—"
The questions ca one after another. Hands touched his face, his arms, his chest—everyone needing physical confirmation that he was real, that this wasn’t so cruel dream. Tears fell on him like rain, mixing with laughter.
"Tell us how!" Isabel demanded, gripping his hand so tightly it would have hurt a normal man. "Explain everything!"
"Did you suffer?" Lisa asked, her voice breaking. "Were you in pain? Where have you been?"
"Why did it take so long?" Cecilia sobbed against his shoulder.
"Are you staying?" Ellie whispered desperately. "Please say you’re staying."
"You better not disappear again!" Elvina warned, even as tears stread down her face.
"I’ll tie you down if I have to," Sylvia threatened, though her voice was thick with emotion.
"We can’t lose you again," Dakota and Aria said in unison, their voices trembling.
Emma, still pressed close to his side, couldn’t seem to form words at all—she just held him and cried.
Julian tried to answer, tried to sit up, but found it completely impossible under the weight of so many bodies, so many emotions. He laughed instead—a sound of pure joy that he hadn’t made in what felt like lifetis.
"One question at a ti," he managed, reaching up to touch as many of them as he could. "I’m here. I’m really here. I’m back."
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