respond.
I hadn’t even named it, afraid to get too attached.
But now, I realized I couldn’t let go.
I looked down at it, its little body as cold as ice
Why didn’t you listen? Why didn’t you stay with me?
My tears burned as they fell, mingling with my pain
Vivienne… It was her.
It had to be.
She would die for this.
I grabbed the horsewhip and rushed to Vivienne’s quarters, hearing her laughter from far away.
“What’s the big deal with my father being caught? He took a little more money, added a couple of concubines–what man hasn’t? That old fool is just trying to get back at me? Well, I won’t let his daughter be happy. I kill her cat today, and will kill her maid tomorrow. She won’t keep anything she cherishes.”
Vivienne seemed to have lost her mind.
And why not? What was once within her grasp had vanished like morning mist–a dream dissolving at dawn. When I first laid eyes on her, I, too, had pearly shattered.
But her madness was hers alone. It didn’t change the fact that I was going to beat her to death.
I don’t know where the strength came from, but I swung the riding crop again and again, each lash biting into her flesh. All I could see was my kitten’s mangled hind legs–so I aimed for Vivienne’s, striking with every ounce of fury I had
Years of swallowed rage erupted in that moment, violent and unstoppable.The whip fell again and again until Vivienne’s once–perfect skin was a ruin of crimson streaks, her cries fading to whimpers.
“Enough!”
Alaric ripped the lash from my hands–only then did I notice I’d torn through his royal surcoat, leaving two ragged gashes in the embroidered lions-
“Have you lost your mind? Over a damned animal? Would you kill her for this?”
“YES!” My scream tore through the hall like shattered glass. “It’s all her fault! And yours! You broke me
1 pressed a hand to my stinging tips. “That latten wasn’t the beast here. You are. Both of you!”
Alaric’s face drained of color when he saw the blood.
“Sera,” his voice cracked like thin ice,
I looked down
Scarlet stained the front of my gown in protesque blossoms, dripping onto the flagstones. I clamped a hand over my mouth, but the coppery warmth seeped through my fingers.
No.
I won’t be pitied. Not by him. Never by him.
I turned to flee–only to crumple when my legs betrayed me. The cold stone rushed up to meet me.
Chapter &
And then came the pain.
A tidal wave of it, crushing my ribs, drowning my vision.
Father… Brother……
Through the red haze, I thought I heard Alaric shout for physicians. But all I could whisper was:
“It hurts…”
Chapter 9
Alaric finally realized that my illness was beyond cure,
He remained silent, and the air was heavy with suffocating stillness.
“A terminal illness? No cure? Who dares
He suddenly erupted, like a vengeful demon, drawing his sword and charging at the physicians
“You bunch of charlatans! Charlatans! Who do you say will die, huh?! Who?! My Sera will live for a hundred years! She cannot be dying so soon! I’ll cut out your tongues! I’ll have you all executed!”
He caused a scene at my bedside, his screams deafening.
“Maric.”
yes and grabbed his cloak, his sword clattering to the floor.
Lopened my eyes.
He responded with urgency, “I’m here, Sera, I’m here. Is something wrong? Are you in pain?”
He reached out to me, his face filled with concern and sorrow.
“Don’t touch me.” I spoke softly, with no emotion. “After all, you love Vivienne, the one you promised to love. Your kindness is meant for her, not for me”
Alaric’s pupils trembled violently. He clutched his head and let out a heartbreaking, anguished cry, one after another, filled with remorse and regret,
It seemed like he was reminiscing on all the ways he had wronged me.
Tears as I
is big as raindrops dripped down his face.
And then, he ran.
The coward, he couldn’t even bear to look at me.
Alaric disappeared for three days.
When he returned, his eyes were swollen, and his face unshaven. He kneeled by my bed.
He begged for my forgiveness, swearing that he loved me, truly loved me.
I almost vomited.
“It’s my fault, Sera. I thought we still had time.
Time for what? More cruelty?
