Chapter 8
The sorcerer handed him a vial of medicine. Alaric fed it to me himself.
While he waited in painful silence, he went to the Forsaken Wing where I had once been imprisoned
The place was bitterly cold, shadowed with decay, and the air reeked of mildew and rot.
In a corner, he found piles of mold–stained parchment–letters I had written with bloodied fingertips, night after night, desperate farewells to a life I was no longer allowed to end.
I had wanted to die. But he used the remains of my family to force me to live–dragging me through agony just to keep breathing
I had done nothing wrong
It wasn’t my fault I was born royal.
It wasn’t my fault my father chose to wage war
But he had placed the full weight of his grief and hatred on me alone.
Clutching his chest, Alaric now felt the same searing pain–the gnawing torment of hexworms that I had borne in silence for years.
The sorcerer wasn’t some benevolent saint. As payment, he forced Alaric to test a new venom himself. Not deadly, but cruel enough to torment him for life.
When I opened my eyes again, the first thing I saw was his haggard face.
He had grown so thin.
His brows were tip
tightly furrowed, lost in some nightmare.
He whispered in his sleep, “Fina… Fina…”
He was dreaming of me.
I stared at the embroidered canopy above my bed. It looked familiar.
It took me a while to remember–it was the same room I once had as a princess.
Perhaps sensing movement, Alaric awoke and stared at me, stunned.
When he realized I was truly awake, he gripped my wrist tightly.
“You’re awake, Fina, you’re awake.”
I couldn’t pull free. I only spoke calmly, “Your Majesty, there is no Princess Seraphina anymore. No Fina.
“I am merely a traitor of the old kingdom, a prisoner of the Crown.
Η
Our gazes locked. His eyes swirled with too many emotions to name,
After a long silence, he gave a bitter smile.
“Your father, King Aldred, has won.”
“He sent you here asa pawn. A masterstroke of strategy.
“I concede. I can’t bear the cost of losing you,” he murmured. “You’re Fina. You’ll always be my Fina.”
For the first time, Alaric allowed himself to be vulnerable before me.
He confessed–honestly, humbly–that he could not survive losing me.
But it was too late.
