The woman’s voice floated through the lantern-lit air like a thread of silk wrapping around Luca’s stillness.
"I fell deeply in love with you after you left..."
Alessia’s breath caught, the sound sharp in her throat.
She didn’t move—couldn’t.
The edges of the square blurred as heat flushed up her neck, settling with a cold sting in her chest.
Luca didn’t flinch. His head remained bowed, the silver-veiled woman standing close enough that their shadows touched.
Her fingers rested lightly over his heart.
Too gently, too familiar.
Alessia’s stomach twisted.
The crowd behind her laughed, clapped, drank, oblivious. Music curled around them, sweet and seductive, but to her it sounded like mockery.
The woman continued softly, "You shouldn’t have co back here, Luca. Seriona is not kind to n like you... or to the won who love you."
Alessia’s pulse stuttered.
"Love? "... The word hit like a blade.
She stepped closer, swallowed hard, and kept moving until the dancers’ circle shielded her no more.
Her gown brushed the cobblestones, golden veil trembling with each breath she took.
The woman brushed Luca’s collar, as if straightening sothing only a lover would dare touch.
He finally lifted his gaze—tired, stern, controlled. "This is neither the ti nor the place, Helena."
Helena, a na like a whispered sin.
Alessia stopped behind a pillar, her heart pounding against her ribs so violently she feared the whole plaza would hear it.
Helena laughed, soft and bitter. "Ti and place are illusions in this city. You know that or have you forgotten everything you left behind?" Her voice sharpened. "Everything you abandoned?"
Luca’s jaw tightened.
"Don’t," he warned.
Helena tilted her head as if recognizing the tone... as if she’d heard it before, countless tis.
"You think I’m here to cause trouble?" she murmured. "I ca to protect you. The Council already knows you’ve returned. They know you brought a wife." Her gaze darkened beneath the veil. "And that is... inconvenient. Dangerous.... Foolish."... Wife.
Alessia’s throat burned at the way Helena said it—as if the word itself was a stain Luca should wipe away.
Luca stepped back, creating space between them. "This conversation is over."
"It isn’t," Helena whispered, and this ti her voice trembled. "You didn’t give closure. You didn’t give anything, Luca. You just vanished and left to pick up the ruins. You owe this."
His silence was a quiet confession.
Helena exhaled shakily, then reached for him again.
And Luca caught her wrist—firm, decisive.
Alessia sucked in a breath.
His voice was low and cutting. "That part of my life is dead."
Helena went still.
Her veil fluttered slightly with her breath before she whispered, "Then why did you look for the mont you stepped into Seriona?"
Alessia’s vision swayed... "Looked for her?".
Warmth drained from her fingers.
She took a step back, heel scraping the stone.
The sound echoed louder than it should have, but neither Luca nor Helena turned.
The world felt like it was closing in—lanterns shrinking to pinpoints, laughter fading, the sea breeze suddenly suffocating instead of cool.
The mory of Luca’s hand on hers earlier that night flashed painfully.
You look like a queen... Just us...No more ghosts...
But maybe she had been right.
Maybe ghosts did exist here.
And one of them wore silver today.
Alessia turned away.
But before she could escape into the crowd, Helena’s words speared the air again, sharp and slicing.
"You left with your child, Luca."
The world stopped.
The music.
The laughter.
Even Alessia’s heartbeat.
She froze mid-step, breath trapped in her lungs, skin prickling as if the entire square had turned to ice.
Luca’s reaction was instant.
His hand dropped from Helena’s wrist. "Don’t."
The warning in his voice was lethal.
Helena lifted her chin, defiant, luminous beneath the lantern glow. "What? Tell the truth?" She touched her stomach as if feeling mories still embedded there. "You think I hid it out of sha? No. I hid it because I loved you. Because I thought you would co back. Because I thought... "
"Enough." Luca’s voice snapped like a whip.
Alessia pressed a hand over her mouth, the taste of salt on her tongue.
Her eyes blurred, tears threatening but refusing to fall.
His child?
He left her with his child?
And he told nothing?
Her chest hollowed.
Luca’s body went rigid, the tension rolling off him in waves so strong even Helena seed startled.
"I don’t have a child," he hissed, voice low but trembling with sothing dangerous. "You know exactly what happened. You know what my father did." His breath shook once, barely noticeable. "Don’t twist the past into sothing it wasn’t."
Helena’s expression softened—aching, pained. "I lost everything because of you, Luca. Everything."
Luca swallowed hard and looked away for the first ti. "I know."
Alessia’s strength snapped.
She stepped out from behind the pillar, unable to hide anymore, unable to breathe through the storm inside her.
"Luca."Her voice cracked.
Both their heads whipped toward her.
Helena’s eyes widened; Luca’s face drained of color.
Alessia walked toward them slowly, each step heavy as chains. The wind tugged at her veil, gold rippling like firelight.
She stopped only an arm’s length away.
Luca opened his mouth. "Alessia.... "
"Don’t." Her voice wasn’t loud, but it shook with sothing raw and breaking. "Not a single word."
Helena lowered her gaze, almost respectfully, as if recognizing this mont wasn’t hers to claim.
Alessia stared at Luca, feeling every piece of her splintering. "You said you ca here with to rest, to heal and to breathe." She swallowed, trembling. "But you ca with unfinished business. With... soone you still owed your heart to."
"That’s not... " luca tried to speak.
She backed away from him, shaking her head. "Don’t lie."
Luca’s jaw clenched. "I never lied to you."
"Silence is a lie," Alessia whispered. "Especially from a man like you."
The crowd suddenly erupted in cheers as fire dancers ignited the center of the square, but the sound felt distant—like another world entirely.
Alessia turned away, breath trembling, vision blurring.
She didn’t know where she was going.
She just knew she had to get away from the weight of Helena’s stare...
From the anguish in Luca’s eyes...
From the betrayal that felt too sharp to swallow.
She reached the steps leading away from the plaza when a hand closed around her wrist.
Luca... His grip firm, Pleading. "Alessia, Stop... Listen to ."
She pulled, but he wouldn’t let go.
"Let go," she whispered.
"No." His voice was rough, desperate—unlike anything she’d ever heard from him.
People were looking now.
Helena stood in the shadows, watching with a strange mixture of regret and resignation.
"Please," Alessia said, voice cracking. "Luca... I can’t breathe."
He released her instantly.
But she didn’t run.
She just looked at him—really looked—and saw sothing that terrified her more than Helena’s confession.
She saw a man terrified of losing her.
A man who didn’t know how to fix what he’d broken.
A man who wasn’t lying...
but wasn’t innocent either.
"Alessia," he murmured, taking a hesitant step forward. "If you walk away now... I won’t be able to let you go."
Her lips trembled.
She turned and walked.
Not running, not dramatic.
Just... walking away from him.
Luca’s breath hitched, barely audible.
Helena closed her eyes.
And Alessia disappeared into the golden-lit streets of Seriona, her veil trailing behind her like a quiet surrender.......
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