章 401: The separation

They could all see the pain in Sir Richard's eyes as he talked about how Anne's family were killed. It was the first time either of them was seeing him that way.

 No one spoke immediately. They knew there was still more for him to say since it hadn't ended there. 

However, the whole narration had a major impact on Alicia. 

She dug her nails into her palms and tried to endure the headache as memories that weren't hers came flooding in. 

Parts of the conversation were about something she was familiar with. But now they hit her differently. 

"This is all my fault. I... I am so sorry, mother." Anne cried as she knelt with her head touching her mother's feet. 

"I know." The woman sounded broken. She crouched down and raised Anne's head to look at her teary face. 

Lady Avery smiled sadly as she cleaned off the tears with her hands, but they just kept pouring. 

"Do not blame yourself. All of this was bound to happen."