By the time I
I to the palace, the sky had already darkened.
Alaric waited for me in
royal chambers.
In the dim light, we silen
stared at each other.
He must know that I killed Vivienne.
But I still needed to say it, to
speak it aloud to him, to make him feel the weight of it.
“Vivienne was eaten by wild cats. Her legs were completely gnawed off, and yet, she still had the strength to curse at me. Before she died, she kept calling your name. I reckon, had you rushed to her side, you could have saved most of her… if you had only been there.”
Alaric’s voice came low. “Stop. Don’t say any more.”
I picked up the tea on the table, took a sip, and mocked him. “What, you can’t bear it?”
He reached out and wiped the tear from the corner of my eye.
“Sera, don’t cry. It breaks my heart. You did the right thing. Vivienne had it coming. Do whatever you want, as long as it makes you happy.”
How disgusting. How utterly disgusting.
He had sworn he would never love anyone but Vivienne, yet now, to please me, he discarded everything.
A man’s face–selfish and hypocritical!
I grabbed the teacup and smashed it over his head. With my body taut, I shouted at him, “Do you think I’ll still believe your lies? Get out! If you leave, I’ll be happy. Just go!”
I often regretted it–had I known that one day I would hold Alaric in the palm of my hand, I would have done it much sooner.
But alas, true feelings are fleeting, and hypocrisy? He thrived
on it.
Scoundrel.
On my birthday, I began coughing up blood early in the morning. Not a good sign.
It turned out to be just as I had expected. If I died today, then every year thereafter, my family would only need to mourn once.
That would be a relief.
Alaric knelt beside my bed, holding my hand, tears flowing from his eyes as though they were real.
He took a pair of rings from his breast pocket, crying as he tried to slide them onto my ring finger.
My hand hung over the side of the bed, and I could hear the sound of the golden rings slipping off my finger, clinking onto the floor. The sound was satisfying.
I had become nothing but skin and bones. Nothing could bind me anymore,
“Sera, Sera, we should be together, live and die together. Why won’t they fit? Why won’t they fit?”
He screamed, his voice broken, loud, and unbearable.
“Alaric…”
I called him to my side, looking at him coldly.
“I, Sera, have never bowed to anyone in my life. When you pampered me, I was adored, worshipped by thousands. But when you stopped loving me, I fell into the mire, yet I never once admitted defeat. The only time I begged you, I told you not to take my cat. I said I would die if you did. You knew I never lied, but you didn’t care, Alaric, remember this: it was you who killed me. You killed Seraphine de Lumiére!”
I gasped for breath, and Alaric shook his head, weeping, “Sera, it’s all my fault. Please, get better. I’ll buy you a whole litter of cats. We can keep them in the palace. I never stopped loving you. I’ve always loved you. In the next life, forever, I will atone for my sins. Don’t leave me…”
His voice slowly faded into the distance.
I heard the faint sound of a cat meowing–my sick little cat had come to meet me.
I didn’t want any cat but it.
Chapter 11
Alaric shook me, crying uncontrollably.
“Don’t be so cruel, Sera! You’re just saying those things out of anger. I don’t believe it! Live, Sera. Just give me some more time, and you’ll forgive me. Wake up, don’t fall asleep…”
His unwillingness and regret would, in the end, cost him his life.
Chapter 11
