My whole words silence the room.
Lucian froze and his eyes widened like I had slapped him. All the color drained from his face, leaving only shock... and probably hurt?
"Seraphina..." he breathed, voice breaking at the edges.
But I didn’t back down.
My anger clouded whatever sanity I had left, and as a woman pushed to her limit, I let my words beco weapons.
"You keep telling not to risk myself," I continued, my voice trembling with anger and hurt, "but if it were your mother lying there... if she was the one dying, would you still tell to walk away? Would you still say I’m trusting too easily?"
Lucian swallowed hard, his throat bobbing.
"She is dying, Seraphina..." he said quietly. "And I told you... I won’t use your fla to save her. Why would you still ntion her?"
Sothing inside twisted painfully.
"So I shouldn’t trust Celeste," I shot back, my voice trembling, "but how far should I trust your words?"
The mont the words left my mouth, Lucian stilled, like the air had been punched out of him.
His eyes softened with sothing wounded, sothing that looked like betrayal and heartbreak wrapped into one.
"Seraphina..." he whispered, almost cautious. "Don’t say it like that."
But my emotions were spiraling too fast.
"How can I not?" I demanded, heat pricking the back of my eyes. "You’re asking to doubt her, but you want to take everything you say as the truth. Why? Because it’s you?"
His jaw clenched, but the hurt remained.
"I’m not asking you to worship my words," he murmured, voice low and rough. "I’m asking you to trust that I wouldn’t put you in danger."
"But you did before," I whispered, the pain slipping out before I could stop it.
"You married to use my fla. You hid your mother. You kept secrets from . And now I’m supposed to trust you blindly?"
Lucian exhaled shakily, taking my hand carefully.
"Let’s stop for now," he murmured, voice soft but strained. "You’re too angry at this mont. I’ll go out and get you a glass of water. We’ll talk again after you calm down, hmm?"
I didn’t answer. I didn’t even blink.
I just glared at him, anger boiling too close to the surface to swallow down.
Lucian’s expression softened with sothing fragile.
He lifted one hand and gently rubbed his thumb along my cheek, trying to soothe the fire still roaring inside .
"Seraphina..." he whispered, almost pleading.
But he didn’t push further.
He slowly lowered his hand, turned around, and walked out of the room.
The door clicked shut behind him. Silence wrapped around , heavy and hot. But my mind didn’t go quiet.
My eyes drifted toward the large fra on the wall, the hidden entrance to the basent. Where his mother rested, frozen. Suspended between life and death.
My legs moved before my mind caught up, carrying toward that entrance as if sothing inside had already chosen.
"Let’s just try," I whispered to myself, voice shaking. "If I can heal her... I might heal Celeste too..."
My fingers brushed the edge of the fra, heart pounding painfully.
Even though Lucian said no and begged to not risk my life, my heart strongly believed I couldn’t just stay still and wait for him to find a solution.
Celeste didn’t have ti.
And Lucian’s mother... She had been waiting for years.
"No one... no one will know," I murmured, taking another step. "Just a test. Just to see. If my fla can help her, then I’ll know what to do."
I closed my eyes for a mont and took a deep breath.
Then I lifted the fra, revealing the concealed door beneath it.
My fingers trembled as I pushed it open.
Cold air rushed out, brushing against my skin like a quiet warning.
But I ignored it.
I carefully walked down the sa path I had taken with Lucian the other day.
The stone steps felt colder tonight, heavier under my feet. At that mont, I instantly used my fla to warm up my body.
My heart thudded faster the deeper I went.
"I’m doing a good deed," I whispered again, as if saying it would make it true. "I’m not doing anything wrong... I’m just trying to save soone."
Each step echoed faintly in the quiet, reminding how wrong this was and how Lucian would react if he found out.
But Celeste’s pale face kept flashing in my head. Her weak voice. Her trembling smile.
The final step led to the second door.
"Ah, shit, I forgot..."
I frowned in anger, shoulders sagging.
’How could I forget this part?’
The reinforced door, the one Lucian opened with his palm the other day.
The one locked with his ice magic signature.
"What should I do?" I muttered, pacing once. "I can’t even get through this stupid door."
I looked around helplessly, as if sothing might jump out and help .
Nothing.
I sighed and pressed my palm flat against it, mostly out of frustration, not hope.
"To hell with it. Just—open."
Unexpectedly... the door clicked.
I jerked my hand back, eyes widening.
"What?" I whispered, staring at my own palm like it betrayed physics.
I unconsciously turned my head back toward the path I ca from, realization hitting in a ssy, confused wave.
"Did he... register my palm the other day?" I murmured. "When he asked to touch this door?"
I frowned, trying to replay the mont in my mind, Lucian gently guiding my hand, telling to place it there, not explaining anything.
"Maybe he did..." I whispered. "Maybe he gave access without telling ."
I swallowed hard and looked back at the door.
"Yeah... he probably registered it," I said to convince myself.
The mont I stepped inside, the ice coffin imdiately caught my eyes, cold, towering and glowing in that faint bluish light that made everything feel like winter.
I took a deep breath.
"Let’s go, Seraphina... you can do this."
I stepped forward, each step echoing softly in the still air, then stopped right in front of the frozen crystal.
Lucian’s mother lay inside, peaceful, asleep in a world she could never wake from.
I raised both of my palms and pressed them gently against the icy surface.
"Let’s lt the ice first..."
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