Chương 47: What Medicine Can’t Cure

27 November, 1368. St Ivan's Palace, Havietten.

Lucas's confession about Gabriel's short, tragic life, remained stuck in Celia's mind for a long time afterwards. The two of them never mentioned the little boy again. Moreover, she made a point of focusing their following conversations on more lighthearted, jovial subjects. She didn't want to add to the grief he already carried around, like picking at the scar of an old wound.

When she was alone however, Celia couldn't stop letting his words echo in her mind. To think that during one spring and summer, she had been an innocent child under the same castle roof as Lucas. She would've roamed around Magdaline, learning under her tutors and playing with her friends, completely unaware of a baby's slow decline and death in another part of her grandfather's castle.

The days grew colder, the relentless rain now changing to sleet. Walking through the muddy, bare gardens was no longer an option.