SERAPHINA’S POV
By the time I returned to Mother's room, Ethan hadn't moved.
He was still sitting beside her bed with one hand loosely wrapped around hers, his thumb absentmindedly brushing slow circles across her skin as though the gentle rhythm could somehow guide her back to us.
He looked up when I walked in.
“Everything okay?”
I nodded, though it took me a second longer than it should have to answer. “It will be.”
I lowered myself into the chair beside him and laid my head on his shoulder.
Outside, I could hear the distant sounds of the estate carrying on with its ordinary routines—footsteps on gravel, someone calling instructions across the training grounds, birds singing in the gardens.
Life.
It felt almost surreal that it had resumed so easily.
I studied Mother's face again.
She looked peaceful, and I found myself wondering whether she was dreaming or simply floating somewhere between worlds, waiting patiently for her body to remember how to wake.
